Chapter 124 Returning to the Village
Lu Guang was pacing back and forth, actually because he was struggling with whether or not to tell Atai about his malicious speculations about Atai's uncle's family.
His son didn't notice, but his wife did.
But as his wife said, it's fine for them to speculate and discuss in private, but they shouldn't say such unfounded things to Atai and Xiaomei.
After all, so-called "reasonable suspicion" and "reasonable speculation" are ultimately just "suspicion" and "speculation," and cannot be relied upon accurately.
After giving his children a stern warning, telling them not to say anything unnecessary in front of Atai and Xiaomei, Lü Guang dusted off his clothes and went out to meet up with Atai.
He was still carrying half a bag of bean flour left by Atai. When he saw Atai, Lü Guang shoved the bag at him without saying a word, saying, "You brat, take this back, or your uncle won't be watching over your house and land for you."
Atai couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he had no choice but to take the half-bag of bean flour home again.
He carefully packed the eggs and brown sugar he had prepared to give to the clan chief, saying, "Uncle, you can come and pick the vegetables from my garden yourselves from now on."
Lü Guang nodded, "Okay."
Ah Tai can't just shovel the vegetables in the garden; if they don't help eat them, the vegetables will just go to waste.
As the last rays of dawn broke, the two arrived at the clan chief's house. Atai presented the chief with a basket containing half a pound of brown sugar and ten eggs, and told him that he and Xiaomei were moving to Mingfu Village to stay temporarily, and that he had entrusted Lü Guang to look after his house.
The clan chief sighed and nodded. "Alright, don't worry. With me watching over things, no one will be able to cause trouble for your uncle's family."
He wasn't a very righteous person. When dealing with clan affairs, he would always turn a blind eye to minor issues and gloss over them if he could. But this matter involving Atai and his uncle's family was clearly not a "minor issue" that he could gloss over.
In order to prevent the two families from having a bigger conflict and causing any serious consequences, the clan chief decided to keep the two families as separate as possible from now on, letting them live their own lives.
After leaving the clan chief's house, Atai thanked Lü Guang and happily went home.
He and Xiaomei lit an oil lamp and packed all their belongings overnight, waiting for the oxcart that Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang had hired for them to arrive the next day so they could load their things onto the cart.
Nothing happened that night. The next morning, at Jiang Yuan's request, Aunt Ge went to the only two households in the village that owned cattle to help him hire a cart.
Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang went up the mountain again early in the morning. Together they killed a lone wild boar and caught six rabbits by guarding the rabbit hole.
Not long after they dragged their game back to the village, the oxcart that Aunt Ge had hired for them was driven away by the oxcart owner to Aunt Ge's house.
They tied up all the game they had caught and put it on the oxcart. The four of them then rode the oxcart towards Baihe Town.
Along the way, Jiang Yuan sold the still-alive wild goat, six pheasants, and two rabbits to a local gentry who had often bought game from him and Hao Yu before.
The remaining pheasants and rabbits, as well as the wild boar they had caught that day, were taken to town to be sold.
Fumantang Restaurant, the largest and best restaurant in town, buys all kinds of wild game year-round. Because they need large quantities and offer fair prices, hunters in the area generally choose them first.
Hunters would only consider the town's market, mountain goods shops, and other restaurants if they didn't think it was good enough for their own family or couldn't afford it.
Of course, there were also those who were bold and quick-witted enough to take their prey to knock on the doors of local gentry and wealthy families, asking if they wanted to buy some rare treats to eat.
These people usually offer slightly higher prices than restaurants, eateries, or local specialty shops.
As for Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan, it wasn't that they couldn't think of this approach, but they simply didn't want to waste time searching for buyers everywhere.
Since they are capable and have the time to wander around the streets and alleys, they might as well spend more time on the mountain.
After selling all the prey to Fumantang Restaurant, Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang went back to the village to help Atai and Xiaomei move.
The two men brought back only a small amount of farm tools, household items, food, and daily necessities from their uncle; the rest were converted into cash.
With Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan's help, they quickly loaded all the things they wanted to take onto the oxcart.
Most of the villagers only learned at this point that they planned to move to Mingfu Village temporarily.
Everyone was talking at once, with all sorts of opinions. Of course, only a few people were envious; most people were not optimistic about Artest's decision.
Atai and Xiaomei heard it, but they were not swayed by it.
Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan had once saved their village when it was ravaged by bandits. The bandits not only stole money and goods, but also killed and raped young women.
Although their village was a hunter's village, and the villagers were not as easy to bully as the ordinary people of Mingfu Village, they were few in number, and hunting and killing were quite different. When it came to dealing with their own kind, they were far less skilled than the bandits.
On the contrary, Hao Yu, who had been on the battlefield, and Jiang Yuan, who had been trained by Hao Yu as a soldier from the beginning, became the saviors of their village when it faced a huge crisis.
Otherwise, Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan would come over to their area to hunt from time to time, and their village wouldn't be so devoid of a single person complaining.
Furthermore, when Jiang Yuan said he would take them away, none of their clansmen stopped them from considering whether Jiang Yuan was trustworthy or reliable.
Atai longed for change. He didn't want himself and his sister to continue living a life of being bullied, nor did he want to die like his parents during a hunt.
After bidding farewell to their familiar tribespeople, Atai and Xiaomei boarded an oxcart and headed to Mingfu Village with Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan.
Because they had oxcarts, this time they didn't travel over mountains and valleys, but instead circled around the foot of the mountain.
As the oxcart entered the village, the villagers of Mingfu Village saw Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan, and two other strangers sitting on it, and couldn't help but ask them about them out of curiosity.
"Oh, it's Miss Xie! What brings you here?"
"I went out for a bit," Xie Wanniang said vaguely. "Auntie, aren't you busy today?"
The woman who asked the question shook her head. "Of course I'm busy! It's almost dark, so I came back to cook for my family. Hey, where did you bring these two kids back from? Are they relatives?"
Xie Wanniang's attempt to change the subject failed, so she could only continue to give a vague answer, "No, it's the child of one of A Yuan's friends."
The oxcart clattered along, with the woman who had asked the question following closely beside it. Around them were several other villagers, who were listening intently and eager to join in.
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