The next day was the weekend.
Zhang Guoqing came out of the old captain's house and hurried home. As soon as he entered the inner room, he quickly pulled Zhou Jiao away.
"Why does the old captain want to see you?" Zhou Jiao asked when she saw him come in.
"I'll tell you tonight. Let's go first."
"Brother, why are you in such a hurry? Where are you taking me?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled mysteriously, "Let's go quickly. If someone comes soon, we really can't leave."
"You're such a fool! You didn't even tell me where you were going. Your son has nothing to do with his mother?"
Zhang Guoqing gave her a sidelong glance. How unlovable—was he really that unreliable?
Zhou Jiao was helplessly pulled out of the door by him. As they walked, Zhou Jiao stopped and looked at him with a puzzled look on her face. Could this be the promise she had thought of?
Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily at this. He nodded at Zhou Jiao, "You've guessed it. It's seven in the morning now, and until four in the afternoon, you make the decision, and I'll go with you."
Zhou Jiao burst into laughter at Zhang Guoqing's amusement. She looked off into the distance with great delight, reaffirming, "I command, and you obey? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, sure! You have the final say today." Zhang Guoqing nodded confidently upon seeing this. His wife was getting bolder. Did she really want to try the medicine?
Zhou Jiao smiled and said, "I just want to test the efficacy of the medicine. You know the situation in the mountains better than I do. I will follow your instructions."
Zhang Guoqing nodded and whispered, "I'll take you to the wild boar herd. I'll test the medicine on the wild boars, and you'll keep watch from a tree with a cannon. If you encounter a wolf, you can open the cannon. Are you afraid?"
"What are you afraid of? My dad says I'm a genius. Don't worry, I'll definitely protect you." Zhou Jiao said proudly, raising her chin. She had completely forgotten who was the one who was afraid to go into the mountains alone before.
Zhang Guoqing suppressed a smile and gave her a thumbs-up. "Great! We'll take a different route and basically won't encounter wolves. We'll just ignore any other animals we encounter on the road. This time, our target is the wild boar. As long as the drug works, we'll have a great harvest."
After we kill the wild boar, I'll take you to the cabin. There's a meadow and a big pond there. We can fish and cook meat at the same time. If we cook the meat there, you won't have to worry about anyone smelling it."
Zhou Jiao excitedly grabbed him and hurried forward. The idea of cooking meat struck a chord with her. Ever since Lin Juhua came to her house late at night while she was cooking meat, she hadn't dared to do anything else.
As they walked further in, Zhang Guoqing saw that she was too slow and immediately asked her to lie on his back.
He carried Zhou Jiao on his back and ran so fast that she blushed. She didn't dare to speak and just hugged his neck obediently.
Zhang Guoqing, carrying Zhou Jiao on his back, weighed her suspiciously, noting that she had become even lighter since she took off her winter clothes. He secretly wondered if he should go get some tonic herbs. He was truly worried that after the summer's hardship, she might have gained eighty pounds.
Running all the way quickly, Zhang Guoqing couldn't help but stop when he arrived at the narrow gap in the sky.
Zhou Jiao leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Are we there yet?"
"Not yet. The wild boar forest is just ahead. This is the narrow passage. Do you want to go in and pick some herbs?"
Zhou Jiao quickly shook her head, realizing he couldn't see it, and whispered, "You guys picked them all last time, where are there any left? Did you forget I bought a lot? Go test the medicine quickly—that's the key point."
Zhang Guoqing looked up at the sky and decided to find a time to go up the mountain in the next few days. The processed tonics in the pharmacy were nowhere near as reliable as those he could find himself. He decided to consult Old Man Wang first to find out what was most nourishing.
After weighing Zhou Jiao again, Zhang Guoqing sighed secretly and ran forward quickly.
As he moved, Zhou Jiao glared at the back of his head. Don't think she doesn't know what he's thinking? Where has she lost weight? Zhou Jiao was so angry that she wanted to pull his ears and yell, "Why don't you see how strong you are?"
She looked around and shook her head regretfully.
Arriving under a big tree, Zhang Guoqing checked his surroundings. Then he climbed up a branch, pulled Zhou Jiao up the tree, and let her sit on it.
Zhou Jiao glanced at the dead snake below and looked at Zhang Guoqing suspiciously, "You're not going to leave me here like this, are you? The Wild Boar Forest... as the name suggests, it's a forest with wild boars. The forest in front is at least 500 meters away from here. Who do you want me to fight with my wooden cannon?"
Young man, you don’t think I’m really the genius my dad praised me for, do you? Believe it or not, if I pick up some peanuts and say they’re pearls, my dad will also praise me for my good taste.
Zhang Guoqing was so amused by her words that he covered his stomach and dared not laugh out loud, his face flushed red.
Finally stopping his laughter, Zhang Guoqing whispered, "I'll go in and lead them out. Just point the hatch at your surroundings and protect yourself. Even if I don't have medicine, those wild boars can't hurt me."
Zhou Jiao thought of the black bear he had fought, and his incredible strength, and finally nodded. She told him to go quickly and come back soon. If she really went forward, she would probably just cause trouble.
Watching Zhang Guoqing's receding figure, Zhou Jiao tightly gripped the wooden cannon in her hand, paying attention to the movements over there. She couldn't help but wonder if her father, Zhou Xiaozheng, had anticipated her climb and was giving her a hand. Thinking of this, Zhou Jiao smiled brightly and secretly praised him - how clever!
Zhou Xiao, currently in the meeting, listened to everyone's discussion with boredom, his heart filled with contempt. This meeting had lasted three days. They might as well have just gone to sleep and voted straight away. What a hassle!
He never imagined that the weapon he gave his daughter for self-defense was mistakenly thought to be for hunting. If he could hear Zhou Jiao's thoughts at this moment, he would definitely suspect that his daughter had inherited his wife's stupidity. Did he really need to prepare such a small and exquisite wooden cannon just for hunting?
A burst of animal howling could be heard. Zhou Jiao looked ahead nervously, but when she saw no one had emerged, she knew she had been tricked. Just as she was about to climb down the tree, she realized even the sound had stopped. Was this the effect of the medicine?
Zhou Jiao was suspicious when she saw Zhang Guoqing running towards her. She quickly slid down the tree and saw that his clothes were neatly dressed and there was nothing unusual on his body. She was immediately relieved.
"Jiaojiao, get on my back quickly." Zhang Guoqing bent down and said without having time to explain.
Zhou Jiao knew this was not the time to talk. If she guessed correctly, the wild boar in the forest was still unconscious. She immediately lay on his back and hugged his neck.
As they got closer, Zhou Jiao saw the wild boar on the ground and blurted out in surprise: "What a sin." After saying that, she couldn't help laughing.
Zhang Guoqing put Zhou Jiao down and told her to quickly put it back into the space. If the wild boar herd disappeared, it wouldn't be long before another animal's territory became theirs. Seizing this opportunity, he had to look for other goodies besides wild boars.
Zhou Jiao put the wild boars into her space one by one, only to find that Zhang Guoqing had stabbed them all. She secretly nicknamed Zhang Guoqing: Zhang Budao.
After packing up, Zhou Jiao couldn't help but feel frightened. She secretly ran to Zhang Guoqing and whispered in his ear, "Brother, I have collected more than a hundred wild boars, and some piglets weighing about 20 kilograms. Will this cause the wild boar to become extinct?"
"No, there are still several wild boar herds, but those herds only have about thirty at most. The wild boars in the Wild Boar Forest are the most numerous within a ten-mile radius. It's better to kill them. Then we won't have to worry about the wild boars coming down the mountain during the autumn harvest."
After saying this, Zhang Guoqing was about to mention his plan to kill the wolf pack on the nearby mountain. But when he saw Zhou Jiao's shining eyes, he held back.
"That's good. It would be a shame if they became extinct. Did you try the drug just now? How effective is it? How many can you get with one small bottle?"
Zhang Guoqing smiled sheepishly, "I used it all. They spotted me as soon as I arrived, so I had to pour it all out. If you're testing the medicine, you have to test it on each pig individually. But I think two small bottles can incapacitate a boar weighing 600 to 700 kilograms."
Zhou Jiao calculated and realized that a lot of medicine had indeed been wasted. She smiled. As long as the patient was fine, who would care about the medicine? She could always get it. I wonder if her father has found the medicine to be effective?
Zhang Guoqing nodded in agreement. While it was a pity, he had the prescription, so there was nothing to worry about. He could just make up for it if needed. However, he still instructed Zhou Jiao not to lose the drug. If it fell into the hands of someone with bad intentions, it would be very harmful.
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