He kept the roe deer leg and some offal for himself, and cut the rest of the meat into pieces of varying sizes.

"Big Head Bro, Sword Master, Ironclad, Hongyi..."

Zhang Cheng called out names and distributed the largest pieces of roe deer meat to Zhang Da Nao, Zhang Jianhao, Zhang Tiezheng, Li Hongyi, and other people who had stood up for him the most or had helped him before.

"Brothers, thank you all for coming with me today. We've done a great job and brought honor to our Zhangjia Village."

"This little bit of meat is nothing special, please take it home and add some dishes to your family's meal."

The other young people who had gone along also received a small piece of meat.

Although it wasn't much, it was a rare treat of meat in those years of scarcity.

Everyone immediately beamed with joy and expressed their gratitude.

"Ergouzi, you're too kind!"

"We're all from the same village, it's only right!"

Let me know if you need anything in the future!

Zhang Cheng's actions undoubtedly boosted his prestige among the younger generation in the village.

After the meat was divided, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Zhang Cheng carried his share of roe deer meat and walked towards the mud house in the backyard.

After a busy day of fighting, running away, and standoffs, all I got in the end was a few pounds of meat.

It seems like a case of losing more than you gain.

But Zhang Cheng knew that his trip to Wangjia Village today, with all the fanfare, would yield far more than just a little meat.

What he gained was the upholding of rules, the enhancement of his own deterrent power, and a change in the villagers' attitude towards him.

These intangible things are far more important than a few pounds of meat.

Pushing open the creaking wooden door, I saw the fire in the hearth burning brightly, dispelling some of the chill.

Zhang Cheng was somewhat surprised to see that there were two dishes on the low table.

One plate contained leftover stewed wolf meat from the morning, still steaming hot.

The other plate contained pickled vegetables that had turned black from being pickled.

"Where did this pickled vegetable come from?" Zhang Cheng asked instinctively.

Sitting at the low table, Shi Yangyang, who was taking small bites of wolf meat, looked up, tilted her neck, and stared at him blankly.

Just when Zhang Cheng thought she was confused again and didn't know how to answer, she mumbled a few words: "Sister-in-law... brought it."

sister in law?

Er Ya?

Zhang Cheng raised an eyebrow, placed the roe deer meat on a wooden plate in the corner, and walked to the table to sit down.

He looked at Shi Yangyang, a slight smile playing on his lips: "You still know she's your sister-in-law?"

Shi Yangyang stopped eating the meat, thought seriously for a moment, and then said, "Sister-in-law... teach me... to call her... sister-in-law..."

Okay, it seems I'm just repeating what Er Ya said.

However, being able to remember and say it is already a great improvement.

"Eat!" Shi Yangyang pointed to the wolf meat on the table with his oily fingers.

"Okay, let's eat together." Zhang Cheng smiled, picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of meat in his mouth.

After a long and tiring day, a hot meal of meat immediately relieved my fatigue.

A dozen minutes later, the two finished their dinner.

Zhang Cheng stepped out of the mud house and, using the faint moonlight and the reflection of the snow, once again assumed a horse stance in the courtyard.

Today, he fought with Wang Jian's gang in the mountains. It only took half a minute, but he felt his breathing was unstable and his strength was greatly depleted.

The body's foundation is still too poor.

Physical training cannot be stopped even for a single day!

Real-world combat is the best way to test training results, but it also exposes shortcomings.

Strength, endurance, and explosiveness all need to be significantly improved.

Just as Zhang Cheng was immersed in the movements of military boxing, feeling the tearing of his muscles and the gathering of power, the front door was gently pushed open.

Er Ya, heavily pregnant, walked over cautiously.

She seemed a little afraid of Zhang Cheng. When she saw him practicing his boxing, she quickly lowered her head and slipped into the mud house.

Zhang Cheng noticed that she seemed to be carrying something in her arms, but he didn't pay much attention and continued practicing his boxing.

Two or three minutes later, Er Ya came out of the mud house with her head down again, still not daring to look at Zhang Cheng, and hurriedly returned to the front yard.

Zhang Cheng was a little curious. He stopped his punching stance, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and turned to go back inside.

"Flatbread?"

To his surprise, there were two palm-sized, golden-yellow coarse grain flatbreads on the low table.

These days, does Old Zhang's family still have coarse flour to spare?

After being robbed so badly by the Li family, they should have run out of food long ago!

"Eat!" Shi Yangyang picked up a flatbread and awkwardly handed it to Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng smiled and shook his head, pushing the flatbread back: "I just ate a lot of meat, I can't eat anymore. You can keep it and eat it tomorrow morning."

It seems that Er Ya really cares about Shi Yangyang.

Night was falling.

In this era, at this time of year, the nights in the countryside are monotonous and quiet, with almost no entertainment except for the sound of wind and snow.

Zhang Cheng boiled some water and helped Shi Yangyang wipe her face and hands.

Then, he added more firewood to the hearth, embraced the cool but soft Shi Yangyang, wrapped himself tightly in the quilt he had "exchanged" from Zhang Jucai's house, and fell into a deep sleep.

We need to conserve our energy; tomorrow, we might have to go into the mountains again.

Zhang Cheng, who was fast asleep, was suddenly awakened by a series of urgent and chaotic drumming and gonging sounds. He didn't know how long he had been asleep.

"Bang bang bang!!!"

"Knock knock knock!!!"

The sound was louder and more urgent than when they caused trouble in Wangjia Village that afternoon! It was also mixed with faint shouts!

"What's going on?!"

Zhang Cheng sat up instantly, all sleepiness gone, his brows furrowed tightly.

Who's banging a gong in the dead of night?

Something happened?

As he listened to the increasingly close and louder sound of gongs and drums, his expression became somewhat strange.

He quickly crawled out of his warm bed and hurriedly put on his cotton-padded jacket and trousers.

Shi Yangyang, who had been woken up, opened her eyes and looked at him blankly.

"Keep sleeping, don't be afraid." Zhang Cheng patted her shoulder reassuringly. "I'll go out and see what's going on!"