Lying on the hard wooden bed, Zhang Cheng slowly stretched his aching arms.
Exhaustion was palpable even in the deepest recesses of my bones.
Fighting a fully grown snow wolf with bare hands would be too much of a drain on this body.
To Zhang Cheng's slight surprise, he saw Shi Yangyang silently adding water to the earthenware pot and then clumsily placing it on the fire to heat it.
She can actually boil water?
Watching the slightly busy figure in the dimly lit mud house, Zhang Cheng felt a stirring in his heart.
A subtle, almost imperceptible joy quietly emerged.
Does this mean that her condition is gradually improving?
The crazy woman was just a little confused; many of her instincts were still intact.
He's not entirely stupid.
Otherwise, in her previous life, she wouldn't have known to go door to door begging after losing her arm, managing to feed herself until the following spring.
Shi Yangyang carefully walked to the bedside, holding a rough white porcelain cup.
Zhang Cheng propped up his aching body and reached out to take it.
The warm water slid down my throat, dispelling much of the chill and fatigue.
He looked at Shi Yangyang, a rare gentle smile appearing on his face.
"Honey, you don't need to bother with that."
"It's freezing cold, hurry up and get under the covers to warm up."
Shi Yangyang tilted her head, seemingly trying to understand what he was saying.
A moment later, she turned and ran to the door, struggled to lift the beam from the ground, and used it to prop the door shut from the inside with a click.
After doing all this, she ran back to the bedside, took off her worn-out cotton shoes, and quickly slipped into the quilt that was still warm from Zhang Cheng's body.
Zhang Cheng reached out, grabbed her cold little hand, and without hesitation tucked it into his warm clothes.
Then he took the opportunity to pull her somewhat stiff body into his arms.
"Honey, when spring comes and the weather gets warmer, I'll try to earn more money."
His voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable firmness.
"When the time comes, I'll take you to the county, no, to a big hospital in the city, so you can get a proper medical checkup."
"We will definitely cure your illness."
"Once you recover, let's have a healthy baby, preferably a boy and a girl..."
"Er Gouzi! Er Gouzi!"
Just then, Zhang Da Tou's signature loud voice suddenly rang out from outside.
The rough shouts shattered the cozy atmosphere inside the mud house.
Zhang Cheng frowned slightly; he really didn't have the energy to deal with the villagers.
Especially Zhang Da Nao and his group.
He shouted towards the outside, "Big Head Bro, I'm exhausted tonight. Let's talk about it tomorrow!"
"Well, okay then..."
Outside, Zhang Da Tou's voice sounded somewhat disappointed, but quickly became excited again.
"Brother Er Gouzi, you get some rest! I'll come again first thing tomorrow morning!"
The dust hadn't dispersed outside.
Zhang Cheng knew that Zhang Da Nao and the others were still around.
Through the crack in the door, one could vaguely see many people standing outside.
They were all young people from the village.
Each of them stared excitedly at their dilapidated mud house.
Clearly, they had all heard Zhang Da Nao's vivid description—that Er Gouzi had killed a snow wolf with his bare hands!
This is simply like a fantasy!
Zhang Jianhao walked to the snow wolf's carcass, grabbed its leg, and laboriously lifted the snow wolf, which was larger than an ordinary domestic dog.
Looking at the snow wolf's heavy head and feeling its astonishing weight, Zhang Jianhao was filled with admiration and shock.
"Brother Er Gouzi, you're amazing!"
"This was a real snow wolf, and he killed it with his bare hands!"
"Brother, do you think Brother Er Gouzi has been chosen by some reclusive master in the deep mountains and forests and taken as his last disciple?"
"I think it's highly likely! Otherwise, how could he suddenly become so powerful?"
"Maybe Brother Er Gouzi has secretly practiced some kind of qigong..."
The young people chattered amongst themselves, their gazes towards the mud house filled with even greater awe and curiosity.
...
All sixteen snow wolves that entered the village were eventually killed.
The Snow Wolf crisis has been completely resolved.
This is undoubtedly great news for Zhangjia Village.
The snow wolf is a treasure from head to toe.
Wolf meat can be eaten, and wolf pelts can be sold for money.
These snow wolves greatly alleviated the village's food shortage problem.
Wolf meat is quite substantial; after skinning and deboning, each wolf can yield thirty to forty pounds of meat.
Sixteen wolves, a total of five or six hundred catties of wolf meat.
If divided equally among each household, they would each receive more than ten kilograms.
In the dead of winter when food is scarce, a dozen or so kilograms of wolf meat, if eaten sparingly, is enough to sustain a family for more than ten days.
The snow continued to fall without any sign of stopping.
The heavy snow, like goose feathers, covered the entire village completely.
With wolf meat, there was no need to worry about going hungry for the time being, and Zhang Cheng did not plan to risk going into the mountains again.
The snow is so thick now that if you're not careful, you could easily fall into a snowdrift, which is very dangerous.
To express their gratitude to Zhang Cheng, the village, led by the old village chief, sent him eighty catties of coarse grains.
In the current climate of scarcity, this is already a very valuable gift of gratitude.
With these eighty catties of coarse grains, plus the supplies they had previously acquired, it would be enough for Zhang Cheng and Shi Yangyang to last until the spring of next year.
Zhang Da Nao and his friends went to Zhang Cheng's mud house almost every day.
A group of strong young men surrounded Zhang Cheng all day long, showering him with concern and attention.
Seeing that they were idle anyway, Zhang Cheng asked them to help him set up a simple fire pit in the house.
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