Though the day’s work had left everyone exhausted, being able to enjoy a meal with meat made all the hardship feel worth it.
“We farmers toil in the fields all year round for those bits of grain, all just to fill our bellies.”
“Exactly! The chicken is so delicious, and the rabbit meat is too.”
“Brother Lin Zhen, teach us how to train too. We want to go hunt wild rabbits and pheasants in the mountains. If we can eat meat often, even city folks would envy our lives!”
Lin Zhen replied, “Sure, as long as you can stick with it.”
“Absolutely!”
Everyone kept their heads down, focused on eating, but the atmosphere was lively with laughter and chatter.
With chicken and rabbit as the main dishes, even the usually heartburn-inducing sweet potatoes and coarse flour tasted delicious. Dipped in the oily sauce, they were incredibly fragrant.
Not a single bite was left—the bowls and plates were wiped clean.
Lin Zhen’s family said goodbye to Great-Aunt and the others.
In the unpolluted environment, the moon shone exceptionally bright, illuminating both the sky and the ground so clearly that they didn’t even need a flashlight to see the path.
Husband and wife walked hand in hand along the narrow path, savoring the cool evening breeze and the chorus of insects and birds in the wilderness. Their hearts felt light and at ease.
They both cherished moments like these, even without speaking.
Well… it was still quite lively around them.
The eaglet soared in the sky, while Xiong Zai ran ahead, playfully roughhousing with the wolves. With his fur trimmed, Xiong Zai felt much lighter and, in his excitement, cheekily provoked Wolf One and the others.
Young Lin Ping’an had to play the role of mediator, and then there was the chubby fox.
“Chubby Fox, you need to lose weight! You’re as round as a ball!”
After just a few steps, it was already panting heavily.
Song Wei declared, “Starting tomorrow, this little guy gets more vegetarian food. No restrictions only after it loses weight.”
“Ying ying ying!”
The chubby fox felt as though the sky was falling.
It had earned its food through its own efforts—why shouldn’t it be allowed to eat?!
Song Wei was firm and meant what she said.
The next day, the fox’s food was indeed reduced, especially the meat.
Under Song Wei’s strict orders, no matter how pitifully the fox whined and acted spoiled, the other animals didn’t dare feed it.
Little Fox: If I can’t eat, I might as well just die!
Song Wei pinched its ear. “If you want to eat, you can go work in the fields with Lin Ping’an. You may not be strong, but you can at least help gather wheat ears, right?”
The fox howled a couple of times but, for the sake of food, reluctantly went to work.
Lin Ping’an was quite happy about it.
Though the fox was lazy and chubby, it was surprisingly quick at finding wheat ears.
After a day of such physical exertion, the fox was nearly exhausted.
Fortunately, at noon, like Xiong Zai, it got an extra treat of sparrow meat.
After delivering lunch, Song Wei didn’t leave. Instead, she stood on the shore wearing a straw hat, keeping a close eye on the chubby fox.
She held a vine whip in her hand, and despite her prominent belly, her presence was no less imposing.
“Don’t even think about slacking off, you chubby fox! You’ve got four legs but can’t even keep up with a two-legged child! All you do is eat all day without doing any work. The eaglet is much smaller than you but already helps hunt for the family. What about you? You’ve eaten so much and only gained weight without contributing anything!”
The chubby fox, looking utterly dejected, pawed at the wheat ears in the field, picked one up in its mouth, and trotted over to Lin Ping’an with a few whimpers.
It gazed pitifully at Lin Ping’an.
Lin Ping’an patted the fox’s head and glanced guiltily at his sister-in-law.
“I can’t beat Sis. She’s the boss in our house—you’d better just behave.”
Chubby Fox: (╬◣д◢)
Furious, but dared not show it openly.
Left with no choice, the fox could only vent its helpless rage by dashing back and forth across the wheat field, searching for more ears.
The onlookers found the scene amusing.
“Lin Zhen, your wife treats all the animals like kids, doesn’t she? And she scolds them just like real children too, hahaha…”
Everyone thought it was quite funny.
“But it works! That fox is even more obedient than my darn kid. When I tell my boy to help gather wheat ears, he just runs off to who knows where to play around.”
The field work wasn’t done in silent drudgery—that would’ve been too exhausting and boring.
Those working nearby kept their hands busy while chatting and joking with each other.
“Hey, doesn’t Xiong Zai look a bit thinner?”
Lin Zhen: “Song Wei trimmed some of its fur yesterday.”
“No wonder! I noticed Xiong Zai isn’t collapsing under the shade after just one trip with the wheat bundles anymore. Today, it made three trips before taking a break.”
“And your haircut—was that Song Wei too? It looks pretty neat.”
One of the men glanced at Lin Zhen’s tidy crew cut.
“When my wife takes the shears to my head, it ends up looking like a dog chewed it—patchy here and bald there. She makes me even uglier!”
Hearing this, the man’s wife immediately fired back.
“Oh? You were born ugly—you think a haircut’s gonna magically make you handsome? Dream on! You’re stuck like this for life. My eyes have gotten used to your face, so it doesn’t even faze me anymore. If you want to be good-looking, try wiping your eyes clearer in your next life!”
After being roasted by his wife so mercilessly, everyone around burst into laughter, leaving the man thoroughly embarrassed.
A smile also touched Lin Zhen’s eyes.
Song Wei didn’t stay in the fields for long. After returning home, she brought the fish caught yesterday to Great-Aunt’s house—another meat dish for the day.
They decided to save the softshell turtle for later, planning to nourish their exhausted bodies with it after the busy farming season.
The harvest brought joy, but it was also exhausting and troublesome.
The work was tedious, and they constantly had to keep an eye on the weather.
There were a couple of days with unfavorable conditions, but fortunately, it only drizzled lightly without turning into heavy rain.
Whenever the weather seemed doubtful, everyone rushed to the threshing ground, working quickly to gather the drying grains before the rain came.
Once the sun was out again, they carried the grains back out from the storage to continue drying.
It was truly backbreaking work.
After nearly half a month, the wheat and rice were mostly harvested and sufficiently dried.
But there was still more to collect: corn, soybeans, sweet potatoes…
One crop after another kept them busy for over a month before everything was finally gathered.
Almost everyone had lost weight from the exhaustion, and their backs were so sore they could barely straighten them.
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