Chapter 9: Zhao Yunjing became suspicious.
Zhao Yunjing quickly retreated into the woods, tossed the three children, one in each hand, onto a large tree, and told Zhou Mujiao, "They are wild boars, two of them."
Zhao Yunjing had said that there weren't even pheasants in this forest, so these two wild boars were most likely brought about by her mystical constitution. However, Zhou Mujiao still showed surprise at the right moment: "Wild boars? Are they big? Are they fierce?"
"Very big, very fierce."
Zhao Yunjing walked over and extended his hand to her: "You go up too."
Zhao Yunjing had a wood-chopping knife, a forked stick, and a bow and arrows at his waist. Zhou Mujiao reached out and snatched the wood-chopping knife away, saying, "I'm not going up there. I'm hunting wild boars."
"No need, I'm alone—"
Zhou Mujiao had already rushed past him and out, and the two wild boars also came into view, rushing towards Zhou Mujiao at a rapid pace, and the distance between them was closing extremely quickly!
Zhao Yun Jing's pupils contracted, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and with a whoosh, three arrows were fired in quick succession.
All three arrows were aimed at one of the wild boars, but the boar did not slow down and continued to run towards Zhou Mujiao.
Zhao Yunjing's heart was pounding. He ran quickly towards Zhou Mujiao, and when the two wild boars were still two zhang away from them, he grabbed Zhou Mujiao's waist and rolled her into the bushes.
Zhou Mujiao was completely dumbfounded. She hadn't even started the fight yet, and Zhao Yunjing had already dragged her away to admit defeat?
This is similar to how, when she encountered a tough project, she automatically stepped down from the negotiating table before even meeting her opponent.
Defeated without a fight is not Zhou Mujiao's style!
—She should at least throw away the machete in her hand first!
The machete slashed through the air and pierced the front leg of one of the wild boars. The boar lowered its body and knelt down, only a meter or two away from Zhou Mujiao. It crawled forward with difficulty, its eyes wide open. Zhou Mujiao seemed to see incomprehension and grievance in its eyes.
Another pig came running over, but stopped abruptly at the edge of the bushes. It nudged its snout into the bushes, got pricked by the thorns, and howled in pain. After trying several times to get close to Zhou Mujiao, it lay down on the ground with its front legs outstretched, grunting at Zhou Mujiao as if to say, "Come and hug me!"
Two pigs, one looking aggrieved, the other wanting a hug... Zhou Mujiao sighed, "These pigs must be sentient!"
Zhao Yunjing was about to leap up, gripping the fork, when Zhou Mujiao stopped him, saying, "Brother Zhao, wait a moment."
Her hands were a little cold. Zhao Yunjing thought she was scared, so he took her hand in his and held it tightly: "Stay put and don't move. I'll distract the uninjured side, and you can climb the tree immediately."
"Brother Zhao, they don't seem to have any ill intentions."
As soon as Zhou Mujiao finished speaking, the two pigs started grunting excitedly. Zhao Yunjing gave each of them a death stare and threw a few bamboo arrows at them. The two pigs seemed not to react at all and just stared at them longingly.
Wild boars are considered ferocious beasts, but such a gaze is far too soft for wild animals.
After weighing the options, Zhao Yunjing released Zhou Mujiao and said, "Stay here and don't move. I'll try."
He crawled out of the bushes, gripping a sharp fork, his hair standing on end in alarm. But the two pigs ignored him and kept staring at the bushes.
“These are two stupid pigs,” Zhou Mujiao said softly. “Quickly tie them up and take them home later.”
Zhao Yunjing moved quickly, tying the two pigs together in a few strokes. One was injured and the other was fine, so that even if the uninjured pig suddenly went mad, the injured one would hold it back and prevent it from doing anything evil.
A wild boar weighs at least 200 pounds, and even when it's dead, it takes four or five people to carry it back. Now that both of them are alive, how are we going to get them back?
Zhao Yunjing took the three children down and handed them to Zhou Mujiao: "Ajiao, take Shiba and the others back first. When you come back later, bring all the knives from the house."
If we can't take the whole pig with us, then we'll have to cut it into pieces.
Zhou Mujiao glanced at the two pigs and tentatively said, "I think they're pretty stupid. How about we try to herd them back first?"
Domestic pigs, raised in captivity from birth, are more likely to be slaughtered. Wild boars, on the other hand, roam freely in the mountains and forests from birth. How could they possibly be obedient and let themselves be herded?
"I'll give it a try."
Zhou Mujiao broke off a tree branch to use as a pig-herding stick: "Pig, get up!"
The uninjured pig immediately stood up, pawed at the ground with its front legs, and tried to run away, while the injured pig grunted for a long time but couldn't get up.
Zhou Mujiao almost blurted out, "Mengmeng, stand up!" but quickly swallowed it back and smacked the injured pig with a stick: "Get up!"
The injured pig got up, dragging its injured leg and keeping pace with its pig brothers. Its two tails swished back and forth, and it was visibly happy, its buttocks almost wiggling out of shape.
At first, Zhou Mujiao would shout it out, but later she simply started to daydream, thinking about whether there was anything useful by the roadside. And sure enough, she found something good.
She pretended to accidentally twist her ankle. Zhao Yunjing's hands were full of things, and he didn't have time to help her. She sat down next to the things, and when she got up, she pulled them off and casually tossed them aside, smiling brightly: "Brother Zhao, I'm fine."
Zhao Yunjing pursed her lips, looked her up and down, breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to take a step when her eyes were drawn to something at her feet.
He had seen this thing before at Huichuntang in the city; if his memory served him right, it was ginseng.
A ginseng root the length of an average adult male's finger sells for one tael of silver at Huichuntang, but the one at Zhou Mujiao's feet is at least as long as an eighteen-year-old arm. To grow so thick and long, it must be quite old. Even if it's only fifty years old, such a large one can still sell for a thousand taels of silver.
Looking at Zhou Mujiao, Zhao Yunjing felt that everything before him was beyond his comprehension.
Since he turned eighteen, the Zhao family has been plagued by misfortune for eighteen years. Apart from sparing their lives, God had nothing else to offer, and every day was extremely difficult. Zhou Mujiao, on the other hand, seemed to be able to obtain what he had dreamed of all his life with ease.
This is no longer just bad luck for the Zhao family; it's clearly because Zhou Mujiao is incredibly lucky!
But if Zhou Mujiao really had such good luck, how could she have had such a difficult life in the Zhou family? And how could she have been sold to Butcher Zhang by Aunt Zhou for two taels of silver in the end?
Zhao Yunjing frowned deeply, his thoughts turning over several times in just a few breaths. In the end, he attributed it all to the fact that the Zhao family was too unlucky and in too difficult circumstances. Heaven finally couldn't bear to see it and took advantage of Zhou Mujiao's stay at the Zhao family's residence to bestow a little bit of good fortune upon the Zhao family.
Zhao Yunjing convinced himself, and his brows relaxed: "Ajiao, pick up what's at your feet. It's ginseng, and it's very valuable."
Zhou Mujiao picked up the ginseng, held it in her arms, and then casually lifted Shiba and placed it on the wild boar, gently saying, "Boar, let's go."
Riding a pig home was a first for Shiba, and he was incredibly excited, screaming and laughing all the while.
Normally, the sixth and ninth days of the lunar new year would definitely jump up and fight with her for a seat, but today it was unusually quiet.
Zhao Yunjing glanced at the two of them, feeling that something was amiss.
The group walked home happily. Zhou Mujiao had good eyesight and looked up to find someone standing at the entrance of the Zhao family's house. Just as she was about to ask Shiba who that person was, Zhao Yunjing darted out from behind her and ran desperately towards the Zhao family's house.
Zhou Mujiao immediately realized the seriousness of the situation, lifted Shiba off the pig's back, and slapped the pig's rump: "Pig, run!"
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