Chapter 209

Chapter 209

The three boars were carried down the mountain, drawing the whole stockade to watch the excitement.

Jiang Yunsui was taken away to have her wounds treated.

It hurt a tiny bit.

But Little Mushroom could endure it!

Ji Yan’an sighed at her pitiful expression.

“What bad luck did you encounter this time?”

Jiang Yunsui haltingly explained, “I saw lots of bees and wanted honey, but we met wild boars before we reached the hive. I… I didn’t know there would be wild boars there.”

Ji Yan’an said irritably, “What do you know?”

He bandaged the wound on her elbow.

“You’ve been stung so many times, yet you never learn.”

Jiang Yunsui gave him a placating smile, hoping he would stop. He was making her sound stupid.

Rumble, rumble…

Her stomach growled. Little Mushroom clutched it and stared imploringly at Ji Yan’an.

“I’m so hungry. I only went into the mountains because I wanted fruit.”

“I haven’t eaten since they caught me.”

Nanshu walked over and could not resist asking, “Then who ate every last snack on that table?”

Jiang Yunsui’s face reddened. “That was only a little. It wasn’t enough. And I ran so far that I’m hungry again.”

Nanshu laughed at her expression. “All right, all right. The chief has already asked someone to prepare food for you.”

Jiang Yunsui immediately put both hands on her knees and sat obediently on her little stool.

Only her head kept turning toward the door.

The moment she saw someone carrying food, she hurried after them.

“Is that for me?”

Unfortunately, the person did not understand. They rattled off a stream of words that left Little Mushroom dizzy.

What? What were they saying?

But when the food box opened, the rich aroma almost made her drool.

There were vegetables and meat – even cured pork.

The smoked pork had a flavor unlike fresh meat. Delicious.

“Ji Yan’an, Nanshu, aren’t you eating?”

“We already ate,” Nanshu said.

Oh. Then she could focus on enjoying the meal.

After filling her belly, Jiang Yunsui ran out to watch the stockade butcher the boars.

No one noticed her leave.

She quietly avoided the adults until she found Lin Shitou and several familiar children. Only then did Little Mushroom enter everyone’s sight.

“Shitou.”

Lin Shitou jumped. “When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

She stood beside him and rose on tiptoe to look at the boars.

The carcasses had been scalded with boiling water, and their bristles scraped away with knives.

Now the adults were gutting them.

Jiang Yunsui covered her eyes, leaving enormous gaps between her fingers.

It was a remarkably obvious attempt at self-deception.

Lin Shitou asked, “Do you want to watch or not?”

“I think I want to watch. It smells bad.”

Lin Shitou: What did that even mean? How were those statements connected?

“The boar tusk is mine! I want one!”

The children suddenly became excited. An adult had knocked out the boars’ tusks.

Each boar had four prominent teeth. The upper pair curved and were longest, while the lower pair were smaller but still much longer than ordinary teeth.

There were three boars, and every child wanted one of the largest tusks.

But only six existed, so they began scrambling.

Before Jiang Yunsui understood what was happening, the crowd pushed her forward until she had no idea where she was.
The next instant, someone shoved something into her hand.

“Hold on to it!” a person shouted.

Little Mushroom nodded blankly. Looking down, she found a wild-boar tusk – one of the largest.

Jiang Yunsui stared at the tusk in silence.

No wonder it smelled. She wanted to throw it away.

Her pretty little face twisted with indecision.

The crowd dispersed. Children who had obtained their desired tusks cheered.

Lin Shitou ran over with a large one too.

“Wow! Jiang Yunsui, you got one too.”

She shook her head. “No. Someone put it in my hand.”

“Huh? Who?”

“Me.”

A girl approached, holding another tusk.

Jiang Yunsui recognized her. She had been the only girl among those who returned to find her during the boar chase.

She ran and jumped even more nimbly than the boys.

“Sister Lin Ran, you’re still the quickest.”

Lin Ran lifted her chin slightly, her eyes bright as she looked at Jiang Yunsui.

“Little Yunsui, take it home and clean it. You can make beautiful jewelry from it. Look.”

She displayed the tooth pendant hanging around her neck.

“This is a wolf fang. Father gave it to me. Pretty, isn’t it?”

“But this one smells,” Jiang Yunsui said with distaste.

Still, it was a gift from a friend. She decided to treasure it.

“It won’t smell after you wash it. Come on. Give it to me and I’ll clean it for you.”

Lin Shitou said, “Wait for me! I’ll come too.”

The other children who had won tusks followed. They set a pot over a fire in the courtyard and tossed the teeth inside to boil.

Then everyone played while they waited.

By now it was very late.

They probably would not eat the boar meat until tomorrow.

The children began talking about honey again.

“There really is honey over there. I want some so badly.”

Sweetness was a luxury in this era, especially for children.

Children naturally craved sweets, but shop-bought sugar was too expensive.

Their only sources of sweetness were wild fruit and honey.

Most mountain fruit was sour or astringent. Some had a hint of sweetness, but very few were sweet throughout.

Honey was hard to find, but it was the children’s favorite.

Simply remembering the honey they had failed to reach made them miserable.

“We caught the wild boars. There shouldn’t be any other danger, right?”

“Exactly. Why don’t we go again tomorrow?”

Jiang Yunsui was speechless.

These children forgot pain for food even faster than she did.

“But if the adults find out, you’ll be beaten.”

Lin Lang said, “So what? If Father tries to hit me, I’ll run. He can’t catch me.”

“Right, right…”

The other children voiced their agreement.

Somehow, as they talked, they decided to make another attempt the next day.

Jiang Yunsui blinked in bewilderment.

Had she missed part of the conversation? How had they already begun discussing what to take when harvesting the hive?

“Little Yunsui, are you coming? But the hive looked like it was on a cliff. You probably can’t climb up.”

Who were they looking down on?

Jiang Yunsui’s competitive spirit blazed.

“I’m going! I’m amazing!”

“Don’t tell the adults. They definitely won’t let us go.”

Jiang Yunsui thought they were remarkably skilled at courting death.

When she returned that evening, she decided she would tell Ji Yan’an anyway. At the very least, they needed a powerful guard with them.