Qian Xiao had had enough of beating him. He stood up, spat at Wang Xuewen, and then kicked Wang Xuewen, who was still howling, a few times with his little feet.
"Pah, you coward! From now on, I'll take a detour when I see your grandma. Otherwise, I'll beat you every time I see you. Let's see if your skin is tougher or my fists are tougher."
The five boys on the ground, still clutching their stomachs and groaning, quickly closed their eyes and groaned even louder when they saw Qian Xiao's sidelong glance at them.
Qian Xiao snorted coldly, picked up his big basket, spat again, and walked quickly home.
The six people on the ground listened intently until the footsteps faded into the distance before they stopped howling.
It took Wang Xuewen a lot of effort to sit up. He looked at the direction Qian Xiao had left with a vicious glare and spat out, "You brat, you just wait."
"Damn it, what are you looking at? Hurry up and come help me up. You just wait, once I'm healed, I'll teach you a lesson. Damn it, you just watched her beat me up and didn't even try to help."
"Damn it, go easy on me, go easy on me! Can't you see I'm covered in injuries?"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Take me home! I'm not letting this go with that brat!"
The five underlings didn't dare to say a word. They followed Wang Xuewen not just for a bite to eat, but also because none of them could beat him. If they didn't follow him, he would bully them every day.
Qian Xiao ran all the way to her doorstep, but before she could even enter, she heard her grandmother's loud voice.
"Where have you been running off to, you brat? Didn't I tell you not to go into the mountains alone? Are you going to let that bear carry you away before you're done?"
Qian stuck out her tongue, looking completely used to it. Her grandmother had a naturally loud voice, a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and she never spoke her caring words properly; they sounded like she had a grudge against someone.
"Don't scold my milk, keep your voice down or someone will come looking for it. Who knows who will benefit from the good stuff I brought back?"
Upon hearing this, the old lady quickly shut her mouth, stood up and looked around. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was paying attention to her family. She then took a few quick steps to Qian Xiao's side.
With lightning speed, he grabbed Qian Xiao's ear: "You little brat, trying to pull this on me? Don't try to fool me, tell me, did you go into the mountains alone again?"
"How many times have I told you? There are wolves and bears in those mountains. Are you out of your mind? Why are you always trying to squeeze your head into those old forests?"
Qian Xiao quickly grasped the old lady's hand. This little old lady was thin but surprisingly strong: "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma, my dear grandma, please be gentle, your granddaughter's ear is going to fall off."
The old lady raised her hand and slapped Qian Xiao on the head. Her hand was raised high, but it fell without making a sound. It was all bark and no bite.
Qian smiled and helped her grandmother sit on a small stool in the yard, then diligently placed her specially made basket in front of her.
Just like teasing a child, she mysteriously lifted the top layer of wild vegetables and mushrooms to reveal the gray-haired prey underneath: "Look what your granddaughter brought back for you."
The old lady glanced at it, then quickly turned her head to look around. She walked briskly towards her front door, peeked outside for a while, and then slammed the door shut, bolting it shut behind her.
Then, when she reached her granddaughter, she asked in a barely audible voice, "Did no one see us?"
Qian Xiao patted her thin, bony chest: "Who am I, your granddaughter? If I don't want anyone to know, no one will. Let's hurry up and get it out while no one's around."
Right now, everyone in the village is busy in the fields. There aren't many people in the village, and no one will suddenly come to visit. It's the perfect time to do things secretly.
The old lady's eyes were like radar, scanning Qian Xiao up and down, left and right.
Qian Xiaoxiao shamelessly said, "I'm perfectly fine. With my skills, even a bear would turn tail and run away as soon as it sees me."
The old lady was immediately amused by Qian Xiao's shameless behavior and raised her hand to give her granddaughter a powerful slap.
"You brat, look at yourself, you don't look like a girl at all. Wait till your mother gets back, she'll give you a piece of her mind. Go wash up and change into some clean clothes, I'll take care of that."
"We'll salt them all and pickle them for the autumn harvest to improve our meals. We can't let them go to waste now."
Qian Xiao was dumbfounded: "No, Grandma, it's been so long since we've smelled meat. Why do we need to marinate it now that we have meat? Let's just cook it for dinner tonight. Your granddaughter's mouth is so bland."
"Slap!" Qian Xiao received another slap on the back.
"You brat, what are you saying? A young lady acting like a hooligan every day, be careful your mother doesn't come back and beat you up, I won't stop her then."
"Okay, okay, I'll be careful. I promise I won't say these things in front of you and my mother next time," she said, raising her two stick-like arms in a gesture of surrender.
The old lady was at her wits' end with her eldest granddaughter. This girl had been even more mischievous than the boys since she was little, and she had a stubborn temper. She dared to directly confront anyone and refused to submit to anyone.
The old lady wanted to carry the large basket to the backyard to collect the game her granddaughter had hunted, but Qian Xiao quickly reached out and took the basket from her. With her there, how could she let her grandmother do such strenuous work?
"Could you boil some water for me? I can do that; I'm fast."
The old lady looked at her granddaughter's thin frame, so frail it seemed a gust of wind could knock her over, shook her head and sighed. These days, the child has suffered so much.
But then I thought, who doesn't have a hard life these days? And who knows when this kind of life will end?
Just as Qian Xiao finished tidying up the roe deer she had brought back, there was a knock on the door: "Grandma, Grandma, open the door quickly."
Upon hearing the sound, Qian Xiao didn't even bother to tidy herself up before rushing to open the door. As soon as she opened the door, two little bean sprouts that looked almost identical were revealed.
"Big sister, big sister, why is our door locked?"
"I went to the outhouse just now, and I locked the door in case someone came in. You all came back on your own. Where's Mom?"
These two little ones are Qian Xiao's twin brothers, two years younger than her, and now they are exactly five years old.
"Oh, Mom's still in the fields. She'll come back with Second Aunt and the others in a bit. Eldest Sister, have you cooked yet? We're all hungry."
Qian Xiao glanced at the sun in the sky: "What time is it and you're already thinking about dinner? Dinner hasn't even started yet. Come with me and I'll help you both wash up."
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