Upon hearing this, Huang Dani forced herself to cheer up and said:

"Third sister-in-law, why don't you come and hold Zhuangzhuang and watch the shop while you're at it? I'll go to the West Mountain to meet him."

What if they come back today?

The two sisters-in-law were not only worried about the fish in the pond, but also about their two sons who had gone with them.

Chen Xiaomai was somewhat tempted by the offer, but seeing that it was still early, she steeled herself and directly refused.

"Second sister-in-law, Xiaoyu and the others went late yesterday afternoon."

Even if they find the person smoothly, it's impossible to descend the mountain overnight.

It gets light late now, and the roads are difficult to travel.

Even if they set off and returned at dawn, how long do you think they could get there to take the wounded?

How could Huang Dani not know this principle?

She was just worried, that's why she wanted to go and greet her.

So she didn't say anything when Chen Xiaomai spoke.

And Chen Xiaomai seemed to be convincing herself by persuading Huang Dani, and continued:

"I've thought about it, and they won't be back until after 3 PM at the earliest."

If it's slow, it could even be tomorrow.

I have no objection to my second sister-in-law wanting to go greet me, but we need to think it through carefully.

It's so cold outside, are we sure we'll run into them if we go?

What would you do if you didn't run into them on the road?

Or do you intend to just wait at the foot of West Mountain?

What's the difference between there and here? Without it, I'd be freezing, and it'd only make others worry.

Huang Dani had already been persuaded, and upon hearing this, she let out a soft sigh.

On the contrary, Chen Xiaomai, who was trying to persuade others, failed to convince herself and instead changed the subject:

"Second sister-in-law, if you're really worried, why don't we go together after lunch?"

As for Zhuangzhuang and the shop, should we call Aye's wife and Aden's wife over to keep an eye on things?

Now it was Huang Dani's turn to look at her. After a moment of staring at each other, the two smiled helplessly.

"Let's wait a bit longer. If they don't come back today, I'll go check on them first thing tomorrow morning."

"Okay, then Second Sister-in-law, call me when you come along!"

In fact, as a female member of a hunter's family, whether it's her father-in-law, a man, or a son.

Whenever someone goes up the mountain, they have to be prepared that they might not come back.

Or perhaps they return, but severely injured, or missing an arm or a leg...

In the last ten years or so, fewer people in the village have been injured, which has made them almost forget the risks of being hunters in the deep mountains.

*

As for Chi Yu and his group, since they had decided to return that day, they naturally had to make preparations first.

First, while everyone was cutting down trees to make stretchers, we changed the dressings for the injured again and gave them more medicine to treat and prevent colds.

Secondly, everyone needs to be well-fed so they have the strength to resist the cold and carry people or wild animals down the mountain.

Therefore, after all that trouble, it was past noon by the time they finally descended the mountain.

The fish carried a thick stack of flatbreads and many steamed buns in its basket, and ate them all.

Not only that, but they also ate everything in the basket on Chi Dahu's back, including the fish.

Now, the two men's baskets contain only wild boar meat left over from lunch, along with medicine, bottles, and jars.

"Has everyone eaten and drunk their fill? Now that you're full and energetic, let's head down the mountain!"

Killing the wild boar was Chi Yu's idea.

Therefore, after lunch, seeing that everyone was in good spirits, she hurriedly arranged for people to go down the mountain.

Chi Dahu and Chi Hua quickly agreed, "We're full, let's go home!"

As soon as the two finished speaking, the others chimed in, "Let's go home!"

After that, everyone followed the previous assignment: those carrying people carried people, and those carrying wild animals carried wild animals.