Chapter 10: Dividing the Meat and Catching Rabbits

When the villagers finished fetching water, the king hunter had just finished dealing with the antelope. In order to save time, he did not deal with the sheep's internal organs, but buried them in a pit.

The group walked back happily. Even though Xu Nian had six or seven bamboo tubes hanging on his body, he didn't feel tired and had endless energy.

When we returned to the camp, families gathered around us, especially the children, who were spinning around in circles with joy.

The two antelopes were not small, but apart from the internal organs and other things, there were only more than 200 kilograms of meat left. After dividing it equally among the 19 households, each household could get more than 10 kilograms of meat.

Xu Weian ran back happily with the meat he was given.

"Mom, look how much you got."

Wang was also happy, but it was a pity that the weather was too hot to store the meat. Otherwise, there would be enough meat to eat for many days.

"It's hot, it would be a shame if the meat went bad, so I'll let you eat as much as you can today, and you can eat as much meat as you want tonight."

After listening to what Wang said, everyone in the Xu family was very happy.

Those who were collecting firewood and those who were making fire were all busy and happy.

Xu Nian was planning to look around to see if he could find any seasoning to remove the mutton smell, but unexpectedly, seven-year-old Xu Ling came after him.

"Sister, wait for me."

Xu Nian wanted to laugh when he looked at his little cat-faced sister.

"Run slower."

The two sisters did not go far, but looked around not far from the camp.

Xu Nian didn't find any seasoning, but she did pick some wild vegetables. At this time, she heard Xu Ling shouting, "Sister, I saw a rabbit."

Xu Nian dropped the wild vegetables and went to look for rabbits. Following the direction Xu Ling pointed, he saw two rabbits eating grass.

Xu Nian tiptoed over, but before he got close to the two rabbits, he ran out alertly. Xu Nian saw the big fat rabbit one second, but it disappeared the next.

Xu Ling was stunned: "Sister, the rabbit runs too fast."

Xu Nian didn't believe that it ran away, unless these two rabbits could fly.

Sure enough, Xu Nian found a rabbit hole next to a bush. Xu Nian blocked the entrance with stones, and then continued to wander around with Xu Ling. They found two more holes, and Xu Nian blocked them all using the same method.

"Ling'er, go back and call your three brothers over. Remember to have them bring baskets and flints."

Xu Ling knew that her elder sister was going to catch rabbits, so she ran back happily.

When Xu Ling brought Xu Ji, Xu Kang and Xu Jian to the place, they saw the elder sister swaying around with her butt sticking up.

Xu Nian certainly didn't know how funny her actions were at this moment. She was thinking about the two big fat rabbits.

Xu Nian asked Xu Ji to take the three of them to the other two rabbit holes to light wet firewood and use smoke to smoke the rabbits out.

Xu Nian didn't know whether this method would work or not, but fortunately she was lucky today. After a while, a rabbit ran out of her hole.

Xu Nian was about to shout "The rabbit is coming out", but after thinking it over, he closed his mouth and threw the rabbit into space with his mind.

In the end, a total of six rabbits were smoked out of the hole, but five of them were put into the space by Xu Nian.

Xu Ling came over excitedly to see the rabbit, but was a little disappointed to find that there was only one.

Xu Nian could only say sorry in her heart, and silently said: "Sister, I am doing this for sustainable development, so that you will have endless rabbit meat to eat in the future!"

The other three were very happy because the rabbit ran very fast and they couldn't catch it before.

"Big sister, you are really amazing. I will catch rabbits like this in the future."

Xu Nian felt happy when he saw Xu Jian's obedient and fawning look, so he said generously.

"Follow me from now on, and I'll make sure you have the best food and the best drinks."

Xu Ji looked at Xu Nian who was commanding the team in front, and exchanged a glance with Xu Kang, both of them smiling lovingly.

When they returned to the camp, the Xu family members were delighted to see the rabbit jumping around in Xu Nian's hands.

"Our eldest daughter is so lucky today. Here is both mutton and rabbit."

Wang took the rabbit with a smile, "This rabbit is quite fat."

Others were happy to see meat to eat, but Xu Cai was different. He actually thought of raising rabbits.

Finally, under the "love" education of his father Xu Youliang, he gave up this idea.

The dinner that day was the most sumptuous one the Xu family had had in a long time. There was mutton and rabbit meat. Although the only seasoning was salt and the taste was not very good, everyone was very happy, as if they had forgotten all the hardships of the past few days.

Xu Nian also ate several pieces of meat. In the past, she would definitely not have been able to swallow it, but there is a saying that goes, "If you are still picky, it means you are not hungry enough."

After dinner, the night watchmen continued their vigil and the children went to bed early to rest.

After Xu Nian lay down, he first entered the space. Seeing that the corn was ripe, he thought about picking the corn. However, something strange happened after he had just picked four or five corns.

The corn stalks that were picked disappeared. To confirm, Xu Nian picked two more stalks, but they were still gone.

In the end, Xu Nian had no choice but to use a sickle to cut the corn first and then break it. But this also had an advantage. She didn't have to plow the soil next time she planted the seeds.

It took almost three hours to collect all the corn. Xu Nian did not rush to deal with the corn, but went to look at the five rabbits.

The rabbits were gathered by the stream to sleep. They didn't move even when Xu Nian walked past. Originally, Xu Nian was planning to build a nest for them, but now it seems that's not necessary.

If she had known earlier, she would not have worked so hard to cut the corn stalks. However, since they had already been cut, they could not be wasted, so she planned to divide the land into several plots and enclose them.

There was no time to do it today, so she went to the stream, drank some water and soaked her feet for a while. She felt a little drowsy, and as soon as her head nodded, she was popped out of consciousness.

Xu Nian, who was completely unaware, smacked his lips, turned over and fell asleep.

The next day, the majority of the troops continued their journey. As they had sufficient food and water, their progress was not slow.

Ten days later, as we got closer to the drought-stricken state capital, the mountains were no longer as green as before and began to look dry and withered.

The village chief and several people who were clearing the way found a cave to house everyone, and then began to plan the next step.

"Village chief, the weather ahead is getting drier and drier. It may not be easy for us to find food and water."

Xu Yaozu said this with some worry. Actually, what he said was already very subtle. He was afraid that by then, everywhere would be barren and there would be nothing left.

The village chief also knew this truth, and many families had run out of salt to eat. If people did not eat salt for a long time, they would not have the strength to survive.

For a while, the atmosphere here was very depressed.

At this time, Wang the Hunter suggested: "Uncle, how about I take a few people down the mountain to investigate the situation."

There is no other way. If we don’t go down the mountain, we won’t be able to get salt and other things.

Finally, the village chief agreed to the suggestion and asked Wang the Hunter to take a few people to investigate the situation under the cover of night.

Because they have been walking in the mountains, they don't know which city is at the foot of the mountain, and whether they can enter the city is unknown.