Chapter 128

Bai Qiqiu felt much better after venting his anger.

"I'm determined to make my life with Mu Zhaoye prosperous and thriving, so that they'll be envious but helpless. I'll have a dozen or so children, and our family will be lively and bustling, which will infuriate those two families."

"A dozen or so?!"

Mu Jin glanced at Bai Qiqiu's belly and felt sorry for her. She thought that if she kept giving birth, she would be approaching thirty or forty years old.

Bai Qiqiu swallowed the last bite of chestnut cake. "Mu Zhaoye has been all alone since he was a child. Having more children will make the house more lively."

Mu Jin thought for a moment, and then she saw a group of chattering children surrounding Mu Zhaoye, so he couldn't be lonely anymore.

The thought of Mu Zhaoye with a fierce face, covered in tiny creatures, is strangely amusing.

He patted Bai Qiqiu with a smile, "Keep it up, get the eldest one born first."

Bai Qiqiu stood up, nodded, and said with a smile, "I won't let him rest tonight. I'm going to earn money for my eldest son to get married."

Mu Jin remained silent. This young man from the northern frontier was truly remarkable. Even Mu Jin, a married man who knew about bedroom matters, felt somewhat ashamed upon hearing this.

He glanced at Wen Zhaoran, who was still eating chestnut cake, seemingly oblivious to Bai Qiqiu's outrageous words.

Mu Jin sighed inwardly, realizing that compared to the young man from the Northern Frontier, he was still rather naive and shy.

The brothers in the family each had their own things to do, and before they knew it, it was noon.

With Zhou Lin and Mu Zhaoye still not back, the group couldn't help but feel worried.

"They might have gone to your house for a drink. Go back and check. If they're not home, come back and let me know, and we'll go look for them at the foot of the mountain."

Bai Qiqiu nodded, turned around, and hurriedly went home.

Wen Zhaoran stretched out the last piece of cloth and comforted him, "Brother, don't worry. Brother-in-law and Brother-in-law Qi Qiu are both steady men and know what they're doing."

Unexpectedly, Mu Zhaoye and Zhou Lin were not drinking at home, nor were they seen at the foot of the mountain.

Mu Jin couldn't go hungry, so Bai Qiqiu cooked a meal at his house. The boys, despite their slight worries, had a simple lunch.

As the sun began to set, not a single person returned from the doorway.

Mu Jin's initial concern rose to seven or eight points.

This man is furious; who knows what he might do?

As the sun began to set, Bai Qiqiu was the first to lose patience. In winter, there was no food for the wild animals in the mountains, and he was afraid that they might encounter wild boars.

He suddenly stood up. "Brother, you stay at home. I'll go to the mountains to look for them."

Before Mu Jin could stop him, she heard a group of men making a ruckus at the door.

Mu Jin's eyes lit up. "You're back."

The brothers hurriedly got up and went out, only to see Mu Lingqiao, his father, Zhou Lin, and Mu Zhaoye carrying two wild boars on thick wooden sticks as they walked over.

Behind them followed several hunters whom Mu Jin had seen last year, carrying two sika deer and a large basket, the contents of which were unknown.

Only when they got closer could Mu Jin and Bai Qiqiu hear what they were saying.

"Zhaoye, you're a good kid! We're counting on you today. When you quit running the carpentry shop, come hunting with us and you'll get the lion's share!"

"Brother Zhaoye is not only handsome, but also incredibly skilled. From now on, you will be my sworn brother!"

"Today was supposed to be the last time we went hunting, but we caught more than last time, all thanks to Brother Zhaoye."

The group of hunters chattered excitedly, their faces flushed despite the cold weather.

Seeing Mu Jin and Bai Qiqiu waiting at the door, several men grinned at Bai Qiqiu with their mouths wide open.

"My brother-in-law happens to be here. You've married a fine man! He can do everything, and he does it all so well! His archery skills, wow, no wonder he's a man who's been on the battlefield!"

Seeing that Bai Qiqiu's expression was not good, Mu Zhaoye said, "Thank you all for helping to carry the prey back. Just leave it here."

The group praised Mu Zhaoye again, and then, while they were at it, they also complimented Zhou Lin to Mu Jin. Finally, they happily returned to Mu Lingqiao to divide the spoils.

Seeing that Mu Jin looked unwell, Zhou Lin quickly went over and whispered, "When I found Zhao Ye, he was with Brother Ling Qiao and the others. They gave me a hunting tool. Once you get used to it, you can do it again, so I went with them."

Mu Jin kept a long face and didn't say a word.

Bai Qiqiu said angrily, "It's a shame that Zhaoran spoke up for you two. You're both steady men, especially you, brother-in-law. You're about to become a father, and you didn't even send a message first. Hunting is so dangerous. If you have any anger and nowhere to vent it, you can go chop firewood and add some firewood to the house."

Wen Zhaoran nodded in agreement, "What a waste of my words on your behalf."

Zhou Lin looked apologetic. "It's my fault. I should have just brought Zhao Ye back."

Mu Zhaoye's voice softened a bit, "It's my fault. Next time I'm angry, I'll go chop down trees instead of hunting."

Bai Qiqiu glared at him, her voice tinged with anger. "It's not that I don't want you to hit me, but you should at least tell me first. You've made my brother and me worry at home."

Mu Zhaoye's lips curled slightly. "I'll do whatever you say."

Bai Qiqiu's anger came quickly but subsided just as fast. He returned unharmed, a weight lifted from his heart. Looking at his prey on the ground, a smile appeared on his face.

"You guys did all this?! I'll let it go since you gave me face today."

The men of the northern frontier revered martial prowess, and Bai Qiqiu, upon looking at Mu Zhaoye again, felt not only fondness but also a growing admiration.

Even after they managed to appease her on one side, Mu Jin still didn't smile.

Zhou Lin said in a low voice, "I mostly finish off enemies; when I encounter danger, I always avoid it."

He's about to become a father and cherishes his life very much.

Hearing this, Mu Jin's heart softened a little. "Are you injured?"

Zhou Lin shook his head. "In winter, the mountains and forests are mostly bare trees, so you can see everything clearly. You'll see if you don't believe me."

As he spoke, he circled around in front of the hibiscus.

Mu Jin was somewhat amused and exasperated, and gave him a reproachful glare.

Mu Zhaoye spoke up at the right moment: "Brother Lin, let's each take one wild boar and one sika deer. I hunted more foxes, so I'll keep four. Jin-ge'er and Zhao-ge'er will each take two, and we'll keep two rabbits."

Zhou Lin quickly waved his hand, "I didn't help much, how could I take so much?"

"Why didn't you help? It's settled then. We'll divide it up quickly so we can take it to town to sell tomorrow morning."

As Mu Zhaoye spoke, he emptied the fox and rabbit from the large basket.

Mu Jin looked at the foxes scattered on the ground, about fifteen or sixteen in total, mostly red with five silver ones. The arrows all went straight into their eyes without damaging their fur.

Wen Zhaoran shook her head and said, "Brother-in-law Qi Qiu, I don't want to."

Bai Qiqiu smiled and said, "Just take it. There's so much here."

Mu Zhaoye left Bai Qiqiu three silver foxes with the best fur and three red foxes. He picked out the rest with the best fur and gave one silver fox and one red fox to Mu Jin and Wen Zhaoran respectively.

The rest, we'll take them to the prefectural city tomorrow and sell them to a wealthy family.

Bai Qiqiu said, "Keep one for Si'er too, and send it to him tomorrow."

Mu Zhaoye nodded and deftly sorted the prey.

He went home, drove the mule over, and helped carry Zhou Lin's game back home. He then loaded his own game onto a cart and pulled it all home.

Zhou Lin had originally planned to go to town with Mu Zhaoye, but Mu Zhaoye needed to go to the prefectural city where foxes could fetch a good price. Zhou Lin thought it was too far, so he didn't go with him.

Looking at the remaining prey on the ground, Mu Jin looked at Zhou Lin and whispered, "What should we do?"

Zhou Lin thought for a moment, "I'll take the sika deer to town to sell tomorrow, keep the two rabbits for home, slaughter the wild boar and sell it in the village tomorrow, and keep the rest for ourselves. I'll take the fox to Brother Lingqiao later and ask him to help tan its fur."

The two hares on the ground also displayed the hunting style of Mu Zhaoye, both dying from arrows piercing their eyes.

"The rabbit pelt is still intact. Take it with you and ask Brother Lingqiao to skin it. It can also be used to make a rabbit fur hat for Little Peach. The last one is for Brother Li."

Zhou Lin nodded and quickly delivered the rabbit and fox over.

When I returned, I saw some bloodstains at the door. Fearing that the wild boar would seek revenge, I used a shovel to shovel the blood-stained soil into a basket, then carried it to the bamboo grove.

Wen Zhaoran sighed, "Brother-in-law Qi Qiu is really generous. He gave away this fox fur without hesitation. The silver fox he gave us is worth at least fifty taels of silver. The one he left for Brother Qi Qiu is shiny and thick with silvery sheen, worth at least two hundred taels."

"So expensive?!"

"Red foxes are cheap, probably around ten taels. Those with good fur are around twenty taels. The rarer they are, the more expensive they are. The one that Brother Qi Qiu left behind is quite rare. White fox fur is even more expensive."

Having learned something new, Mu Jin felt even more eager to keep the silver fox pelt. Once it was tanned, she figured she wouldn't be willing to use it herself, so she decided to pass it down as a family heirloom to her children.

Early the next morning, Zhou Lin took the sika deer to town. Following Mu Jin's instructions, he first went to the Zhao residence to see if Steward Zhao would accept the money.

Mu Jin and Wen Zhaoran boiled a pot of water early in the morning to gut, scald, and remove the hair from the remaining wild boar.

Bai Qiqiu went to the prefectural city with Mu Zhaoye today and didn't come.

Wang Li stood by, helping to clean the pig intestines with wood ash.

As the north wind rises, steam rises from the large wooden tub.

Mu Jin went to invite Mu Lingyun early in the morning. After the pig bristles were removed, she quickly slaughtered the pig at the gate of the courtyard.

Before selling the pork, Mu Jin specially reserved some good meat for Bai Qiqiu and Zhou Si to take away later, and also reserved ten catties of pork belly for Mu Nianjun.

The villagers came running when they heard about it, all picking out the fattest cuts of meat to buy, and they ate them with relish.

When Zhou Lin returned from town, most of the pork had been sold, leaving only some offal, pig heads, and less fatty meat unsold.

Mu Jin called Lin Huzi and Mu Youyu over, kept the pig's head, and divided the rest among them.

Mu Jin stewed a pot of steaming, fragrant pork stew and enjoyed a lively lunch together.

After dinner, the house gradually quieted down, and Mu Jin and Zhou Lin went back to their room.

Zhou Lin placed the money pouch on the table, his eyes smiling. "What a coincidence! The Zhao family is hosting a banquet for distinguished guests in a couple of days, and Steward Zhao has covered the entire bill, giving twenty-eight taels of silver."

Mu Jin poured the money she got from selling pork today onto the table. "I sold the wild boar for a little over two taels and one mace, which is just enough to make a total of thirty taels of silver."

Zhou Lin smiled and said, "I specifically asked Steward Zhao to give me twenty taels of silver, plus five taels of whole silver, and three taels of loose silver to keep for household use."

Mu Jin nodded, put the twenty-five taels of silver into the hidden compartment, and hid the rest in a small box on the bookshelf.

"Hunting is dangerous, but it's also very profitable."

Upon hearing this, Mu Jin sighed and said, "Last year, a hunter from the neighboring village had an accident. This silver is not something that just anyone can earn. It's good if a capable person takes you along, but if you don't have anyone, then forget it."

Zhou Lin nodded, only sighing that he couldn't make a living by hunting.