Chapter 192

"Sister, wake up. You have to go sell bear meat with your godfather! Sister! Wake up."

"Hmm..."

Fan Xiaoxiao was woken up by Fan Shi. She forced herself to sit up, still sleepy, and yawned as she looked out the window.

"Sister...it's not even dawn yet..."

"It seems there's some kind of market in Tianshan Town today. The people from Ginkgo Village just called us over. You should hurry over now; you might get a good price."

"market?"

Fan Xiaoxiao rubbed her eyes and reached for the clothes placed to the side. She had just woken up and was still a little groggy. From what Fan Shi was saying, she could only barely make out that the other person was talking about a market.

"Tianshan Town actually has a market... Haha~ Sister, aren't you going?"

“I won’t go. We’re going up the mountain with my godmother today. Didn’t you say yesterday that you wanted to dig up chestnut trees? We’ll check if the chestnuts are ripe while we’re at it. And we’ll also see if there are any other fruit trees that we can transplant back.”

Fan Xiaoxiao caught the key point in Fan's words, and her drowsiness instantly vanished: "Just you and godmother going?! That's not safe!"

"Don't worry, Young Hero Xiao Hei gave us a powder to ward off wild beasts, saying it was made by the old man. As long as we carry it with us, we won't be able to get close to any ferocious wild beasts."

The old gentleman Fan mentioned was the ghost doctor who treated Gu Chongtai in Tianshan. His products were always reliable, which reassured Fan Xiaoxiao somewhat.

Outside, Uncle Wang seemed to have already harnessed the horse-drawn carriage, and the sound of the wheels rolling could be heard from the courtyard.

Fan Xiaoxiao yawned and went downstairs. Only then did she realize that everyone was sitting in what she called the living room. Even Xiao Bao, who always got up late, was already dressed.

"Auntie, you're finally up! The sun'll be shining on your bottom soon!"

"Hey! You little rascal! What are you doing up so early?"

Fan Xiaoxiao walked towards the kitchen, her shoes dangling, holding a willow twig in one hand. She dipped it in salt and put it in her mouth to brush her teeth.

"I went with Brother Xiao Hei to collect stones!"

Xiao Bao followed Fan Xiaoxiao like a little tail, holding half of the pancake that Aunt Wang had given him.

"Collecting stones? What kind of stones?"

"Auntie, you're silly! Didn't you tell Grandpa Lu you wanted to build a house where you can grow vegetables? We need to find stones for Grandpa Lu so we can build the vegetable house you mentioned!"

"Oh dear, I have to stop now, Sister Xiaoyu is calling me!"

Xiao Bao called out to Xiao Yu, stuffed the pancake in his hand into his mouth, waved to Fan Xiaoxiao, and ran out the door with his short legs.

Fan Xiaoxiao stared blankly at the little dumpling's back, then belatedly realized that he was talking about a greenhouse.

"Little sister! Are you done yet? Godfather is waiting for you outside!"

"They're here! They're here!"

Fan Xiaoxiao spat out the mouthwash, hastily wiped her face, and hurriedly left the house.

"Take this and eat it on the way!"

Seeing her hurrying along, Madam Fan quickly caught up and stuffed the things in her hands into her arms.

Fan Xiaoxiao didn't have time to see what it was, so she hurriedly put it away and climbed onto the carriage.

"Alright, I got it! Godfather, let's go!"

"Alright! Hold on tight, girl! Giddy up!"

The carriage slowly emerged from the forest path. They were carrying a load of bear meat, so their pace was naturally slow. The horses' hooves made a soft, rustling sound as they stepped on the gravel. Fortunately, when the road was paved, Fan Xiaoxiao had considered that a carriage would be passing by, so the road was paved with tree trunks to prevent the carriage wheels from getting stuck.

"Uncle Wang! Uncle Wang!"

"Godfather, it sounds like someone is calling you."

Fan Xiaoxiao tilted her ear; the voice came from behind them. Uncle Wang reined in his horse and peered back. The newcomers were none other than Hu San, sitting on the oxcart, and the stern-faced Village Chief Fu.

"Hey? Tiger Three, Village Chief, are you going to the market too?"

The oxcart was slow, so Wang Dabo stopped and waited for him for a while. Hu San quickened his pace and caught up with their carriage. The village chief, who was sitting close to them, nodded to the two of them as a greeting.

"Yes, are you also going to the market?" Hu San glanced at their carriage with some curiosity. This one seemed different from the one he had seen when he was working at the Fan family's house. It didn't seem to be a carriage.

"Yes, let's go sell some things."

What are you selling?

Tiger Three asked another question, and the village chief, Fu, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it anymore and slapped him on the head.

"Why are you asking so many questions! Just focus on getting on the train!"

"Heh, I was just asking casually. If Elder Fu wants something, we can inform Tianshan directly..."

"You still dare to talk back?! You think you're so smart!"

Hu San shrank back, raised his hand to block the village chief's fake slap, and muttered, "We're all from the same village, what can't we ask?"

Fan Xiaoxiao listened to their conversation without showing any emotion, then smiled and leaned forward to give Village Chief Fu a slight smile: "Village Chief, Brother Hu is right. We are all from the same village, so there's nothing we can or can't ask. We're carrying bear meat on this cart."

"Bear...bear meat!?" Tiger Three's expression changed, unable to believe what he was hearing. Even the village chief, Fu, looked somewhat astonished.

"You guys actually managed to kill a bear?!"

"Yes, we owe this to the village chief. Before you left yesterday, you reminded us to be careful of wild beasts lurking in the back mountains. The more we thought about it, the more worried we became, so we went up the mountain, thinking of setting some traps behind our houses. But who would have thought that we would encounter a giant bear not long after we got up the mountain."

Fan Xiaoxiao paused slightly at this point, then sighed deeply and shrank her neck.

"Thinking back to yesterday, I'm still a little scared. Fortunately, my older brother came back then. He knows some kung fu, which saved our lives."

After listening to Fan Xiaoxiao's story, Hu San's face showed a hint of sighing. But then he seemed to remember something and nudged the village chief, Fu, who was standing next to him.

"Village chief! Since they have bear meat, then..."

"cough."

Village Chief Fu cleared his throat, interrupting Hu San. He then turned to Fan Xiaoxiao and asked, feigning concern, "Miss Xiao, hunting a giant bear here was already dangerous enough, and I remember you were short of food, weren't you? Why are you thinking of selling it? Didn't I remind you before that it might be difficult to buy food this year?"

Fan Xiaoxiao pretended not to notice the little interaction between Village Chief Fu and Hu San. When she heard his question, she let out another long sigh.

"Alas, although we are somewhat short of food, we have just finished building our house, and all we have left is the money we were saving to buy food from you. So, we are also short of money. Moreover, this beast almost killed us, and we really can't bring ourselves to eat it."

Fan Xiaoxiao spoke with utmost sincerity, as if it were the truth. Village Chief Fu stroked his goatee and let out a long "Oh." Hu San scratched his head, seemingly hesitant to speak. Fan Xiaoxiao took in their expressions and words, silently concealing her inner turmoil. On the same journey, the three were lost in their own thoughts.

Uncle Wang tightened the reins: "We're here!"

(End of this chapter)