When they heard they were going to harvest wild cliff honey, Great Grandpa, the elderly man, showed little reaction, but his sons and grandsons grew excited.
“Cliff honey? Is there a lot? I want to go!”
Great Grandpa scolded, “All of you, quiet down!”
The old man still held considerable authority in the household, and everyone immediately fell silent, only daring to gaze eagerly at Lin Zhen.
Great Grandpa took a puff of his dry tobacco.
“Are there many wild cliff bees?”
Song Wei nodded. “Quite a few, but we’ll have to go deep into the mountains.”
Great Grandpa nodded. “Oldest and Second Oldest, you two go with them. The rest stay behind.”
His three strong, young grandsons immediately grumbled in dissatisfaction.
“Why? Shouldn’t we young ones be the ones going?”
Great Grandpa tapped his tobacco pipe. “Young ones? Precisely because you’re too young and impulsive. Do you think harvesting a honeycomb is some kind of game? The journey is dangerous, whether in the forest or climbing the cliffs. Are you going to make Lin Zhen and Educated Youth Song protect you?”
Song Wei didn’t think much of it—she’d even dared to fight tigers and bears, so protecting a few people wasn’t beyond her.
“Great Grandpa, if Brother Mutou and the others want to go, let them. Even if we’re not harvesting honeycombs, there are plenty of other things in the mountains. As long as they don’t run off recklessly, there won’t be any danger.”
The three young men stared pleadingly at Great Grandpa.
Great Grandpa said, “I’m worried these three reckless fellows will hold you back. Don’t be fooled by their size—they’re rash and anything but steady.”
The three grandsons seethed but didn’t dare voice their anger.
Lin Zhen persuaded, “Having more people will make it safer. Let our cousins come along.”
Among the three, one was older than Lin Zhen, while the other two were younger.
Eventually, the old man agreed to let the three youths, full of energy and enthusiasm, join the trip.
However, they needed to make bee-proof veils, so the trip was postponed until the next day.
The old lady brought out an old mosquito net she couldn’t bear to throw away.
“This net has been used for many years and has a few large holes, so it’s no longer usable. I’ll make bee-proof veils for you. You’ll need to find some straw hats—we don’t have enough at home. When you go, wear thicker clothing. If you have rain boots, bring those too, and gloves. Don’t leave any skin exposed, or you’ll end up with swollen bumps from stings.”
The old woman prattled on with instructions, and both Song Wei and Lin Zhen nodded to show they understood.
After leaving Great Grandpa’s house, they went to the brigade leader’s home.
When they heard about harvesting the honeycomb, the brigade leader’s two sons grew equally excited.
Most men are naturally drawn to adventure. Compared to the monotonous drudgery of farming, occasional adventures make life exciting.
However, the brigade leader was too busy to go, so both Jiang Wenyong and Jiang Wenwu were eager to join.
Aunt Xinghua said, “Then I’ll sew those bee-proof hats for you.”
“No need, Aunt Xinghua. Great Grandma is already sewing them for us.”
Aunt Xinghua said, “How can we trouble an old lady with that? I’ll go help.”
With that, Aunt Xinghua hurried off energetically.
Sewing the hats didn’t take much time.
Once prepared, the group set off into the mountains the next day, each carrying a basket on their back.
Along the way, the young men were brimming with excitement.
Whenever they spotted wild rabbits or pheasants, Wolf One and the others would chase after them.
“Xuehua, run faster! Bite it!”
The border collie from the brigade leader’s family, named Xuehua, had also come along and was now following behind Wolf One, joining the hunt.
It had to be said—Xuehua was genuinely delicate and pretty, a very good-looking little female dog.
The name “Xuehua” (Snowflake) was given to her because of the white patches mixed in with her light black fur, making her look like she was dusted with falling snow.
Now three months old, Xuehua wasn’t as skilled at hunting as Wolf One and the others, but she was learning. Wolf One took good care of her—he would chase down a rabbit, bite it to injure it so it couldn’t run as fast, and then let her practice hunting by chasing it.
In the end, with Wolf One’s help, Xuehua successfully brought back a plump wild rabbit in her mouth.
“Xuehua, you’re amazing!”
Jiang Wenwu squatted down happily and rubbed her head.
Xuehua barked cheerfully and then went to find Wolf One.
Song Wei remarked, “Why does it look like Wolf One is raising himself a little wife?”
Xuehua was high-value and beautiful, while Wolf One was a purebred wolf—handsome and fierce. If they really ended up together and had mixed-blood pups, it was hard to imagine what they would look like. Suddenly, she found herself looking forward to it.
Jiang Wenwu chuckled. “If they really get together in the future, how about we split the puppies half and half?”
There was no doubt—the pups of Wolf One and Xuehua would be highly sought after.
“Let’s talk about it later. Xuehua is still young now.”
Amid the laughter, they had already hunted quite a few animals along the way.
The deeper they went into the mountains, the more frequently prey appeared, but the animals also grew more cautious.
“We’re almost there.”
“I see it!”
Jiang Wenwu had climbed a tree at some point, monkey-like, scanning the distance.
“Over there, over there—holy crap, there’s so many!”
Hearing this, the other young men couldn’t resist climbing tall trees to get a look. What they saw left them exclaiming in awe repeatedly.
When they got closer, the sight was even more astounding.
“Whoa… there are so many bees. It’s kind of terrifying how densely packed they are.”
Although the cliff was steep, there were paths to climb up—they just had to be careful.
“Maybe you young ones shouldn’t go up. Falling from there is no joke.”
“Why not? We’ve climbed steeper mountains before.”
“Exactly, and there are places to stand, right? There are vines on the cliff face—we definitely won’t fall.”
Since they had come all this way, there was no way they weren’t going up themselves.
“Fine, you can go, but be careful not to take too much honeycomb. Two people bringing down one slab of honeycomb is enough.”
“Got it, got it.”
They put down their baskets and eagerly began climbing the cliff.
Lin Zhen, with his excellent agility, led the way, finding sturdy footholds for the others. Song Wei brought up the rear to ensure no one was left behind.
Fortunately, there was enough space to stand below the honeycomb—it was just placed very high up.
As soon as they approached, the bees became agitated and swarmed toward them.
Luckily, everyone was wearing thick clothing with their faces covered. Although their vision was somewhat obstructed, the bees couldn’t harm them.
“Lin Zhen, lift me up. I’ll climb up and cut the honeycomb.”
Lin Zhen nodded, effortlessly lifting her by her calves.
“Brother, your arm strength is insane.”
The others were thoroughly impressed.
“Let’s find a lower spot to cut the honeycomb.”
Song Wei cut from about two-thirds of the way up the honeycomb, while the others moved farther away to cut from different areas, ensuring they didn’t harvest too densely.
“Ouch, my glove wasn’t on properly, and I got stung.”
“There are so many bees crawling on my hat—I can’t see clearly ahead!”
The voices of Jiang Wenwu and the others echoed noisily. After cutting the honeycomb, they carried it, bent over, and scurried away with a sense of stealth.
“Run, run! I feel like if we stay any longer, these bees are going to go crazy.”
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