Zhang Guoqing carried the bamboo basket of pheasants and rabbits back to the well, plucked the feathers and removed the internal organs with hot water, left four chickens behind, and quickly strung the others together with ropes and hung them under the eaves of the west wing. He then put the pheasant eggs in the small living room.

He planned to eat one pheasant a day and stew it directly on the stove for Zhou Jiao to eat. He also hung the rabbit for her to change the taste.

He took four chickens out for a meal and brought back four big mud balls, which he casually put into the two stoves. It just so happened that the family had two pots of braised pig's head, pig's tail, pig's trotters and pig's elbows to cook in the evening. By the time the pig's head was braised, the beggar's chicken would be almost ready.

Fortunately, Zhang's mother was not at home, otherwise she would have blamed him for being wasteful. Xizi followed him all the time, watching his uncle put the chicken on the fire and waited in the kitchen.

Zhang Guoqing took his clothes, took a shower, and returned to his bedroom. Seeing Zhou Jiao and his mother-in-law, he smiled and said, "Mom, I'll take my son to sleep in the outer room tonight. You take your daughter to sleep here and have a good chat."

Zhou Jiao laughed, "Okay, Mom will accompany me. Ping An is drinking milk powder in the early morning, so let him secretly cherish his son."

"Jiaojiao, when you're out of confinement, I'll take you to the woods. There are so many medicinal herbs there that I don't recognize, but you can still find a lot of mushrooms. You don't know about those pheasants and rabbits, I just hit them with a stone. There are also a lot of pheasant eggs, and I brought some for you to supplement your diet. Too many might break and be hard to carry. The further you go in, the more rabbits you'll see, and there are also some silly spores. You can even see deer footprints beside the stream. And this isn't even deep in the mountains yet."

Zhang Guoqing enthusiastically talked about what he saw and heard in the mountains, and also about his experience of hunting wild boars. The mother and daughter listened with great interest, exclaiming from time to time, with a look of longing on their faces.

Zhou Jiao said regretfully: "If I hadn't been in confinement, I would have gone with you."

After sighing, he thought of the packages he brought back, "Brother, where did you get those packages and bags? They look like fine furs and fine wine."

Zhang Guoqing patted his forehead, happily found the largest package, picked it up, opened it and took out the items one by one.

"I came back and saw you, but I had forgotten about you. I took a detour back from the county town and asked someone to look for these things. It took a lot of effort.

These two wolf furs were specially given to my grandparents. I see my grandpa often touches his knees and sleeps on wolf fur to ward off the cold in the winter. I went looking for them this time. Grandpa Wang is the only one in the surrounding villages who has one this big, so I snatched it up.

I'd long remembered the time he defeated the Wolf King. As a child, I often went to his house with my grandfather. I knew he was skilled in martial arts and had a large hidden collection, so I went to his house this time. I first told him about the birth of my son, and he gave me two wolf fangs, saying they warded off evil. Then I pestered him relentlessly, and finally, like squeezing toothpaste, I got two of the largest wolf skins. The wine was tiger bone wine, and he kept it in this pot so it wouldn't break.

"Mom, he has a tiger skin at home that he won't give me no matter what. I think he wants to pass it down to his family. Forget it, it's a pity." After saying this, Zhang Guoqing felt very regretful. He thought about it and realized that he really liked the tiger skin. Jiaojiao would definitely cry and ask for it after seeing it.

"The rest were bought from other people. These furs are for Mom. I found the biggest of these two ginsengs, and I'll give them to you. You can divide them up as you like. We'll keep one for ourselves as a backup. There's a big hunt in the village before the New Year. We'll go to the mountains then. If you're lucky, you might find one." Seeing his mother-in-law refuse, Zhang Guoqing quickly persuaded her.

Lin Lishan looked at the two ginseng roots, which were at least a hundred years old and must have cost a lot of money. "Since you have them, then Mom will take them. But Xiaowu, if it's dangerous to go to the mountains, don't go. A gentleman doesn't stand under a dangerous wall. You still have a son, and our family is not short of money, so there's no need to risk your life. Remember? Since you nodded, I'll take it as your consent. But, Xiaowu, how much did you spend on these two roots? They're very expensive, right? These are hundred-year-old ginseng roots, and they're hard to find on the market."

Zhang Guoqing smiled and pointed at the two people. "Two for 600 yuan. One family said 300 yuan. Later, I gave them 300 yuan directly. Going to the city, one is at least 500 yuan. Is it cheap? I won't buy it if it's too expensive. We sometimes go hunting together and know each other. It's too much. He couldn't tell me."

Lin Lishan nodded. "You can't get this price without someone you know. You've spent so much, you don't have much money left, right? We're leaving tomorrow, so I'll give you the bills and the remaining money. Don't worry about it. When Mom comes back, she'll bring the money to buy a yard in the county town, and we'll go look at houses together then. Use the money you have first. We're not short of money, so don't worry about it."

She took out the loose bills, overseas remittance coupons and coins from her bag, counted them and found more than three hundred yuan. She took out the three hundred yuan, the overseas remittance coupons and loose bills and put them all in the drawer, keeping some change for herself.

Zhang Guoqing quickly took out the money and bills and said, "Mom, we still have money, don't worry. Why are you pushing it back and forth like this? You only have Jiaojiao and me, and we won't be polite with you. Listen to me first, you have general bills with you that can be used on the train and in Beijing. You can't just ask grandma for money as soon as you get home. Take them back this time, and leave the tickets to the provincial capital to me. As for money, we really don't lack it." After speaking, he quickly asked Zhou Jiao for help.

Zhou Jiao couldn't help laughing: "Mom, take the money back with you. Didn't you say you would buy me a cashmere coat? I have enough money now. When you come back, buy me a yard in the county town."

Lin Lishan thought for a moment and nodded. She separated the receipts, leaving enough for her train expenses. The rest were placed in a drawer. She only had one daughter and son-in-law, so there was no need to be polite.

"These bills will last me three days. They won't be of much use when I get back. I'll keep them for you to eat and sleep in the cafeteria and at home. Use them if you have any money. You'll have more when your father comes back."

"I understand. Don't worry. If you really have no money, I won't ask you to give me money. Just come back in a few days. If you can't take leave, just wait for me to find you in Beijing. I have your address and phone number. Don't make a mistake. If you don't get approval, just follow Dad here." Zhou Jiao felt helpless seeing her worried look.

Lin Lishan touched her head and said happily, "It's not impossible to get leave. Even if I go abroad, I can find an excuse and ask your aunt to issue a sick leave certificate. Besides, you are expecting the baby, but the higher-ups approved my leave. If I wasn't afraid that your grandfather would brag about it in the compound when he returned to Beijing, I could have said that you haven't given birth yet, so you still need to wait for the birth."

Zhang Guoqing took a look and saw that there was nothing for him to do, so he left them in the house and took the wrappings to go out and find her mother. Now the wrappings were all good stuff, and he also wanted to use them to pack the wild boar meat.