Ch 16: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

“The Shen family’s— no, Qing Ge’er’s mother! Qing Ge’er is back!” The villagers of Lantang ran over one after another to inform Miao Shi.

Miao Shi rushed out anxiously and asked the messenger, “Where is he? Is he hurt?”

“He’s about to come down the mountain. Looks like he’s fine. We ran into him just as we went up—dragging a huge wild boar! Your Qing Ge’er is truly capable! I rushed down first to tell you so you wouldn’t worry. You’d better get ready to handle the wild boar. The weather is cold now, and the blood will congeal fast—if it freezes, it won’t taste good.”

The messenger was a warm-hearted person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have run down the mountain so quickly to deliver the news. But at this moment, Miao Shi couldn’t care less about whether the meat would taste good. Just hearing the words “wild boar” made her dizzy!

Second Aunt Lian, who was standing beside her, quickly supported her and gave the messenger a helpless look. “Brother Wang, how could you say that? Right now, who cares about the wild boar? The important thing is that Qing Ge’er is safe!”

Old Wang scratched his head sheepishly and chuckled. “Well, I saw that Qing Ge’er was completely fine. That boar was huge, and he was carrying it down the mountain all by himself. My boy wouldn’t even be able to lift it!” Not to mention, taking down a wild boar single-handedly was something even skilled hunters rarely did.

The sky was already dark, long past the time when Shen Qing would usually return home. Miao Shi grew increasingly uneasy and decided to go to the village chief’s house, pleading with him to gather some strong young men to help search the mountain.

This was only natural—people in the same village were supposed to help each other. In the past, when other families encountered similar situations, Qing Ge’er had also joined search parties. Now that it was Qing Ge’er’s turn, the village chief wouldn’t refuse. He didn’t even hesitate to put down his dinner and set out to gather people.

Ever since Shen Qing and his mother had moved out of the Shen family home and taken up woodcutting, Village Chief Zhao, like Miao Xing, had always felt that it was too dangerous a job and strongly disapproved. However, the mother and son had no other way to make a living, so he couldn’t say much about it.

Now, seeing Miao Shi’s red-rimmed eyes, he felt a sense of resignation. He held back his words of blame and sighed, then went door to door gathering volunteers.

The village had no shortage of kindhearted people, and soon, more than a dozen young men were assembled. They carried torches and gongs and split into groups. If someone found Qing Ge’er, they were to strike the gong so the others could descend the mountain together without getting lost.

But the Shen family… as soon as they heard the village chief calling for help, they shut their door tight, leaving Village Chief standing outside with no response.

He was furious. “That’s their own flesh and blood, and in a life-threatening situation, they won’t even lend a hand to search?!” Shen Zhigao had been the one to act foolishly, yet now he had the audacity to resent Qing Ge’er and his mother. Zhao Youdang looked at the tightly shut door and reassessed the Shen family in his heart.

He told Miao Shi to stay at home and arranged for Second Aunt Lian to keep her company before personally leading the search party up the mountain.

Before they even had a chance to split up, they saw Shen Qing walking down, dragging a wild boar behind him.

Even though it was just a half-grown boar, it was still nearly two hundred pounds. Half of it rested on Qing Ge’er’s back, while the other half dragged along the ground. His blade had struck the boar’s neck multiple times, and his entire body was splattered with blood, making him look rather terrifying under the glow of the torches.

Lantang Village was in an uproar.

A single person had taken down a wild boar! In the past, only the father of Hunter Liu had ever done such a thing. Even hunters from other villages would typically need two or three men working together. Yet Qing Ge’er, a young man, had done it alone—and without a single scratch!

“Not entirely unscathed,” Shen Qing corrected as he sat inside his house, surrounded by villagers. He rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a long gash from where the boar’s tusk had scraped him. “It was still pretty dangerous. This was just a small boar. I cleaned up the blood trail in the forest, but I’m worried the mother boar might follow the scent. It would be best to have the village take extra precautions for the next few days.”

After running into the villagers, they had all helped carry the boar down the mountain, leaving Shen Qing with only his small basket, which now sat inside his bedroom.

“We’ll inform the village chief, don’t worry about it,” one of the men said, shaking his head at Qing Ge’er. He grabbed a clean cloth and started tending to the wound. “You really are fearless, charging at a wild boar like that! Do you have any idea how much you scared your mother? What would she do if something happened to you?”

The wound wasn’t deep, but it stretched across his arm, looking ghastly under the torchlight. Shen Qing had already treated it with wild chrysanthemum juice and wrapped it up himself, so it had stopped bleeding. The man simply cleaned up the surrounding area and re-bandaged it. “Keep it dry for the next few days.”

“Thank you, Uncle Li. I wasn’t trying to kill it at first—it wouldn’t stop chasing me,” Shen Qing explained, using his free hand to pat Miao Shi reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Mother. I’m fine, and nothing will ever harm us again.”

Miao Shi, who had been trembling with fear, burst into tears as she looked at the wound on his arm. “Maybe you should stop chopping wood. I can go to the county town and find work washing clothes—we could still get by…”

“I brought you out here to have a better life, not to have you support me,” Shen Qing said, shaking his head firmly.

“You’re something else,” Second Aunt Lian scolded him with a glare before turning to look at the boar in the courtyard. “So what are you going to do with this pig? Old Wang wasn’t wrong—if you leave it too long, the meat will start to smell gamey. There’s only two of you in this house; you can’t possibly eat the whole thing. Why not sell some to the villagers at a lower price? I was thinking of getting some ribs.”

Second Aunt Lian wasn’t actually short on food—she was simply helping him find a way to sell it. She knew better than anyone how difficult things were for Miao Shi’s household. Selling the boar would bring in some much-needed money.

Her suggestion was well received. Meat was rare in the village. Since Qing Ge’er’s wild boar was essentially free, he could sell it cheaper than the county butchers. And with the cold season approaching, it was the perfect time for making cured meat.

After thinking it over, Shen Qing agreed. “Alright, thank you all for supporting us. I’ll go borrow a scale from the village chief.”

“You stay put. I’ll go,” Second Aunt Lian said, waving him off. “Your arm is still hurt. I’ll have my kids come help.”

“I’ll head home and grab some money,” others chimed in as they left.

Shen Qing added, “You can trade grain for it too. We don’t have land, so we still have to buy grain. It’s easier that way. And I really appreciate everyone coming to find me and keeping my mother company—I’ll be sure to give you all a good deal.”

Everyone was delighted—except the Shen family.

Standing at her door, Old Lady Shen spat onto the ground. “That little brat… still alive, huh?”

From inside the house, Li Jiaofeng called out, “Mother!”

Old Lady Shen tossed out a basin of dirty water, snapping, “What are you yelling for? Calling for ghosts?!”

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