Little Hongling is over six months old and this is her first time in the mountains. She is perched on her mother's shoulder, her big, dark eyes wide open, curiously looking at the dense forest around her, not wanting to blink.
Fu Hong followed behind and saw the little girl wearing a lifelike tiger-head hat, a tiger-striped dress, and exquisite tiger-head shoes. She even held a small cloth tiger toy in her hand. At first glance, she really looked like a little tiger. She was so cute that she couldn't help but reach out and touch her little face.
Xiao Hongling had already become familiar with Fu Lan, so when she saw that Fu Hong looked like Fu Lan, she didn't resist and curiously looked at her with her big, watery eyes.
Fu Hong's heart melted at the sight of him: "This child is so beautiful, so adorable, I really want to take him home."
When Little Red Riding heard that she was to be taken back, she hugged her mother's neck tightly, turned her head away, and ignored her, thinking that she was a bad person.
Fu Hong looked surprised: "Did this child understand what I said? How old is she?"
"That's right, the little girl is very clever." Fu Lan said, and went up to Xiao Hongling and coaxed her for a while before she came back.
Fu Hong noticed that the clothes Xiao Hongling was wearing looked familiar and asked, "Did you make these clothes?"
Fu Lan nodded and asked smugly, "How was it? Not bad?"
“Not bad, it’s obvious at a glance that you’ve already inherited your grandmother’s skills,” Fu Hong said.
Upon hearing Fu Hong mention Grandma Fu, Fu Lan's smile involuntarily faded.
Fu Hong sighed softly, somewhat helplessly, and said, "Actually, Grandma has already regretted it."
Fu Lan kept her head down and didn't say a word.
Seeing that she was unwilling to talk about it, Fu Hong didn't continue and quickly changed the subject: "By the way, you don't know, but these past two days, Sister Wan next door... no, Lin Wan's house has been quite lively."
Fu Lan became interested and looked up at Fu Hong.
Even Xing Zhaozhao, who had been walking ahead, couldn't help but feel curious and slowed down to walk alongside them: "Lin Wan has been released?"
Fu Hong shook her head: "That's definitely impossible. This incident has caused such a big stir. If they can even get out alive, it's probably a miracle that God is asleep."
“Their parents are all gone, so the neighborhood director notified their hometown. A while ago, both families sent people over, and sure enough, they started arguing like cats and dogs. They can’t stop arguing every day.” Fu Hong couldn’t help but feel a headache when she thought of the arguments that came from next door from time to time.
"Who came?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
“Chen Dachuan’s own family is gone. It seems that his uncle and cousin from another branch of the family came. Lin Wan’s whole family came.” Fu Hong said, her lips twitching slightly as she recalled the large group of people she saw when the Lin family came.
Xing Zhaozhao and Fu Lan were both taken aback: "A family?"
Fu Hong nodded, looked at Xing Zhaozhao and Fu Lan, and said with a speechless smile, "From the old people at the top to the naked children at the bottom, everyone has come."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
Fu Lan: "..."
Because Xing Zhaozhao's mother had long since cut off contact with her maternal family, Xing Zhaozhao had never met her maternal uncle's family members before. She only knew that they were probably difficult to get along with, but she never expected them to be this extreme.
“Chen Dachuan and Lin Wan aren’t dead yet, and they’re already planning to come and take over other people’s places? Even if they’re both dead, Xia Xia and Xiao Qiu are still here, it’s not their turn.” Fu Lan didn’t understand.
Xing Zhaozhao and Fu Hong exchanged a glance, both understanding each other perfectly.
“Xia and Qiu are still young, and they’re girls. Their parents are gone, and it’s uncertain whether they’ll grow up safely. Even if they do grow up, they’ll eventually get married. It’s already good enough if they’re willing to give a dowry; they might just easily send them away. Although I don’t know how much money Chen Dachuan and Lin Wan have made over the years, that house alone is worth a lot of money, so we have to keep an eye on it,” Fu Hong said with a helpless sigh.
Xing Zhaozhao said with a stern face, "Their parents are still alive, and they're already thinking of taking advantage of their family's assets. It's disgusting. However, I reckon their wishful thinking is going to fail. Given the kind of shady dealings Chen Dachuan and Lin Wan have been involved in, their money is probably all dirty. Even if they leave behind any assets, they'll most likely be confiscated."
“We will definitely leave some for the two children, but whether they will actually get their hands on it is another matter,” Fu Hong said.
“Oh, right,” Fu Lan said, glancing worriedly at Xing Zhaozhao, “Isn’t Lin Wan Xing-jie’s cousin? Then what about her family…”
Xing Zhaozhao knew what Fu Lan was worried about, and her temples twitched involuntarily: "It should be my maternal uncle's family."
Fu Hong couldn't help but feel a headache for Xing Zhaozhao when she thought about that family's behavior: "If they knew you lived here, they would come knocking on the door..." She couldn't believe it.
Xing Zhaozhao wasn't worried: "It shouldn't be that bad. I cut off all contact with them back when my mother was around. Even if they really came looking for me, I'm not going to take it lying down."
“However, I estimate they probably won’t be able to come anytime soon.” Fu Hong said, thinking of something. “I heard them arguing again yesterday. The Chen family said they’ve contacted their relative who’s a high-ranking official in Beijing, and that the other side has agreed and will send someone to handle the matter.”
Xing Zhaozhao became interested upon hearing this. She wondered who from the Chen family would come to clean up this mess this time. Surely it wouldn't be Chen Wei again?
However, the Chen family is indeed quite audacious. On the other side of the gate, Lin Wan's scheming against her son was considered a family matter, and Mingcheng was willing to give her brother face, so the matter was dropped. Now that this matter has blown up so much, they actually dare to interfere…
Xing Zhaozhao suddenly felt a little expectant, wondering if they would be the ones to suffer a setback.
Just then, the three little ones who had been running ahead excitedly to scout the way after entering the woods returned.
"Mom, hurry up! We found a huge patch of wild vegetables ahead, let's go pick them!" Hongyu excitedly gestured to Xing Zhaozhao.
"Okay," Xing Zhaozhao replied and immediately followed.
As they walked and chatted, Fu Hong hadn't noticed anything amiss. Only now did she realize that they seemed to have gone quite deep into the area, and that they couldn't see anyone else around them. She couldn't help but feel a little panicked.
She took Fu Lan's hand and asked, "Weren't there quite a few children who came into the mountains with us just now? Why can't we see any of them now?"
"They're still on the outskirts; we've gone a bit too far in," Xing Zhaozhao said, walking ahead as if on flat ground.
"Won't there be any danger?" Fu Hong asked worriedly.
“This area is alright now. There are some risks, but not many. At most, we might encounter a wild boar. Fewer people are coming in, so we can get more rewards. Further in, even if you want to go in, I won’t take you,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
Fu Hong and Fu Lan exchanged a surprised look. Encountering wild boars? How could they say the risk was low? They felt a little uneasy.
Fu Lanhe chuckled dryly: "Xing Zhaozhao was able to beat two men into a pulp in Qingxi Town, so dealing with a wild boar shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Is that so?
Fu Hong was unsure of herself. She had heard her grandfather mention before that he had seen wild boars attack people when he was a child. Those were not things that two men could handle, especially since they were unarmed.
Hongyu and his group found a good spot, a clearing in the woods where no one had been before. There were patches and patches of wild vegetables, more than they could possibly pick themselves.
Hongyu and the others each carried a small basket on their backs and had already started picking.
Xing Zhaozhao, along with the Fu sisters, Fu Hong and Fu Lan, pointed out the plants one by one, explaining to them, "You should all know what prickly ash sprouts are, right? This is monkey leg vegetable, this is mustard greens, and this..."
Soon, the baskets they brought were all full.
The two sisters, Fu Hong and Fu Lan, were still somewhat unsatisfied, looking at Xing Zhaozhao expectantly, wondering if they could find some other treasures; just picking wild vegetables was getting a bit boring.
Xing Zhaozhao was also hesitating. Should she take them further inside?
Just then, the black general who had come along, who had been circling around the three little guys, suddenly started barking in a certain direction.
Xing Zhaozhao's ears twitched, her expression immediately hardening, and she shouted, "Quickly, everyone retreat into the woods..."
Hongyu and Hongfei were both experienced, and when they grabbed Xiao Qin, they ran ahead, not forgetting to bring their baskets with them.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Fu Hong and Fu Lan came to their senses and turned to run away in a panic, with Xing Zhaozhao protecting them behind them.
Before they could hide in the woods, a huge creature rushed out from the woods on the other side.
A huge wild boar was chasing and biting the three men running in front of it.
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