Cannon Fodder Group Ch.169

Chapter 169 – Bloody Hunt

Jiang Xiao murmured in the yard, her face filled with strange expressions.

Little did she know, in a corner she couldn’t see, someone was quietly observing her.

That person was her mother-in-law.

The old lady looked at the strange Jiang Xiao before her, and this had happened countless times in the past half year.

Thinking about how different Jiang Xiao was now compared to before.

There was a faint guess in the old lady’s heart.

Thinking about this guess, if it was true, she felt a bit afraid.

Don’t rush, don’t a rush, wait a bit longer, observe a bit more, at least wait for her son to come back before saying anything.

*

After the identification process was completed for Shen Hongling’s family of three, they didn’t delay much and went straight to Beijing with their newly obtained proof.

On the day Shen Hongling’s family left, many people in the village came out specifically to see them off.

Most people expressed their blessings for Shen Hongling’s family’s future.

After all, who knew what opportunities Shen Hongling’s family, especially Xu Yu, would encounter in the future.

Befriending them would also be a valuable connection.

In the future, when they go out, they can say that they have connections in Beijing.

This was the first time in many years that Shen Hongling’s family of three had felt so much goodwill and enthusiasm, even though much of it was purposeful.

And those children who had b*llied Xu Yu before kept their distance, afraid to approach.

After these few days of adults’ influence, the children had come to know that Xu Yu wasn’t a fool; in fact, the future Xu Yu would live much better than them, possibly even becoming an unreachable figure.

Though some children didn’t fully understand this, they all knew that the current Xu Yu was no longer someone they could b*lly.

Xu Yu had become someone they had to avoid encountering.

The parents and grandparents of these children kept their grandchildren far away, fearing Xu Yu’s potential retaliation for past actions.

After all, Xu Yu now had influential figures backing him up even in Beijing. What if Xu Yu complained to those people about them? It wouldn’t be good for them.

But they couldn’t bring themselves to apologize to Xu Yu and Shen Hongling; it would be too much of a blow to their pride.

They could only watch and worry.

They hoped Xu Yu’s family would leave quickly and never come back.

Shen Hongling realized a truth as she looked at the villagers in front of her: once you become successful, your “relatives and friends” multiply, and everyone around you seems good.

That’s how the world works.

However, within the entire Qinghe Production Brigade, Shen Hongling only truly cared about Xu Jinning’s family.

After bidding farewell to them, Shen Hongling, along with her mother-in-law and Xu Yu, set off on the road to Beijing.

As they departed, no one knew when they would return.

As they parted ways, perhaps to meet again, each person would be a different version of themselves.

With Shen Hongling’s family leaving, the Qinghe Production Brigade quieted down once more.

Time passed slowly in these daily routines.

Unbeknownst to them, the year drew to a close.

The end of the year was eagerly anticipated by the villagers.

As the Spring Festival approached, the festive atmosphere grew stronger both in the village and the county town.

For traditional Chinese people, the Spring Festival was the biggest holiday of the year, marking the end of one year and the beginning of the next.

At the year’s end, the production brigade started distributing grain and money. The year of hard work finally bore fruit.

Carrying their share of grain and the money they received, both adults and children had joyful smiles on their faces.

The piglets raised since the beginning of the year had grown sturdy over the months.

After paying the required amount to the government, the remaining three pigs were divided among the villagers.

The division was based on the amount of work points earned by each household throughout the year.

Each piece of pork was cut into roughly equal weights according to the number of people in each household.

Of course, those with more work points had the privilege of choosing their desired cuts first.

Zhang Ailian, representing the Xu family, also got a nice piece of pork leg and two pig’s trotters.

She planned to use these pig’s trotters to make peanut pig’s trotters soup to nourish Ningning’s body.

On this day, the entire Qinghe Production Brigade was filled with the aroma of pork.

Braised, stewed, smoked, stir-fried… there were all kinds of flavors.

As the year drew to a close and winter approached, there wasn’t much work to be done in the fields.

So everyone turned their attention to the mountains behind them.

As the saying goes, “Live off the land and sea.”

During the famine, they relied on this mountain to survive.

Therefore, calling this mountain a treasure mountain was not an exaggeration.

Everyone held a sense of reverence towards the mountain, but they also didn’t stop exploring it.

Now, the elderly men of the Qinghe Production Brigade, with time on their hands, planned to organize a group to go into the mountains to see if they could hunt some game and make the year more bountiful.

The Xu family had Xu Xiangdong, a strong man, naturally included in the invitation, and Xu Xiangbei, a young man, was also going.

However, Xu Aiguo was busy with the textile factory and couldn’t join.

“This time, there will probably be about thirty people going, all young and strong men. Everyone will also bring weapons like sickles, axes, and such. Even if they encounter wild boars, they’ll have the strength to fight,” Xu Xiangdong explained.

In fact, they were specifically going after wild boars this time.

“Some people said that a few days ago when they went up the mountain, they heard the wild boars’ calls.”

“It’s estimated that there’s a group of wild boars, probably three or four of them.”

“If we can hunt down these three or four wild boars, we’ll have pork to eat for the year.”

Xu Xiangdong spoke with excitement, visibly eager and ready to try his hand at it.

Little did he know, Xu Jinning’s face turned pale upon hearing about hunting wild boars in the mountains.

[Can you not go, big brother? Do you realize that going there might cost you a leg?]

Xu Xiangdong and Xu Xiangbei, who were joking and laughing moments ago, froze upon hearing Xu Jinning’s inner thoughts, then exchanged a glance.

[You might lose a leg, and others might die too.]

[Big brother, you will indeed encounter a group of wild boars, but it’s not just one group, it’s two.]

[One group indeed has only four, a male, a female, and two piglets.]

[But you’ll also encounter another group with seven full-grown wild boars.]

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiangdong and Xu Xiangbei both gasped.

Xu Jinning remembered clearly that during this hunting trip, the thirty or so people going would encounter two groups of wild boars. Despite their numbers, each wild boar weighing three to four hundred pounds and with two sharp tusks, were not to be underestimated.

This hunting trip was later referred to as the Bloody Hunt by the Qinghe Production Brigade. Xu Xiangdong not only risked losing a leg, but five young men would also die as a result. This cast a shadow over what should have been a good year!

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