The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

Li Kaixin had just walked near the courtyard at No. 93 with a cloth bag when two small figures darted out from the group of children.

"Big brother's back!" Li Xiaoxiao, with pigtails, grabbed Li Kaixin's arm and peered into the bag with her eyes darting around.

Li Kai, with his chubby face, was even quicker, taking the bag and opening it to look inside: "Let me see what's good today..."

"Ooh!" The boy's scream had barely escaped his throat when Li Kaixin choked it back, making him look like a rooster being strangled.

"Little rascal, keep your voice down!" Li Kaixin glared at him, still able to feel the hot breath his younger brother was exhaling from his palm.

Xiaoxiao tiptoed and peeked, her almond-shaped eyes widening instantly, but she cleverly covered her mouth.

"Let's go home!" Li Kaixin made a quick decision and winked at his sister.

The brother and sister each supported Li Kai, who was still clinging tightly to the cloth bag, and staggered towards the yard.

The children playing shuttlecock nearby were dumbfounded. One little girl with a topknot, munching on a candied hawthorn, mumbled, "What's wrong with Kai-ge?"

"He must have been naughty again and got caught by Happy Brother!" the little girl with her hair in two buns said with certainty.

The three stumbled through the hanging flower gate. Li Kai finally managed to pry open a gap between his fingers and cried out in a low voice, "Brother! So much meat?! Am I seeing things?"

Before he could finish speaking, Xiaoxiao pinched his arm: "Keep yelling? Trying to attract everyone's attention?"

Seeing his younger brother's face, which had just turned red from holding it in, Li Kaixin couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The three of them went into the kitchen. Li Kaixin glanced at the sky and neatly rolled up his sleeves: "Mom and Dad will be off work soon. I'll cook dinner tonight."

Li Kai immediately leaned in and asked eagerly, "Brother, where did this meat come from? Can we have meat tonight?" Li Kai's questions came one after another.

Li Xiaoxiao, the younger sister, also looked at her older brother with a thirst for knowledge.

Seeing the eagerness and curiosity on her younger siblings' faces, Li Kaixin explained, "This meat was obtained normally. I'll explain it to you all when we eat."

Then, smiling, he added, "We must have meat tonight; I'll cook."

Li Kai didn't dwell on where the meat came from; he just heard that they were having meat tonight, and he jumped three feet high on the spot. Xiao Xiao also smiled broadly.

The siblings jostled to get to the stove, each wanting to be the one to tend the fire.

Li Kaixin took out wild boar meat from the bag and swiftly cut off more than three pounds of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean.

While her younger brother and sister weren't looking, she ran her fingertips along the edge of the cutting board, and the wild onions and garlic she had planted in the secret place sprouted out, along with a few newly sprouted wild yams.

Seeing that the oil can was almost empty and the soy sauce bottle was more than half gone, Li Kaixin shook his head: "Braised pork is out of the question!"

While blanching the meat, the floating oil made my younger siblings gasp, but the two children wisely kept quiet. Then the meat chunks and yams were simmering in the pot.

Li Kaixin nudged his younger sister: "Xiaoxiao, the cornmeal porridge is yours now." He really couldn't figure out how much water to add to that yellowish-white granular powder.

As wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys, the aroma of meat seemed to travel on its own, filling the small courtyard. Children from the four households in the front and back yards all gathered at the kitchen door, sniffing and craning their necks, swallowing hard.

Just then, the adults who had finished work returned one after another, and the courtyard suddenly became lively.

Li Kaixin used his chopsticks to pick up three slices of meat, quickly cut them into even small pieces, and handed the bowl to his younger brother: "Your brothers outside are staring at you like crazy, go and share this."

Li Kai held the bowl and pouted, "We don't even have enough to eat for ourselves!"

Li Kaixin bent down and said a few words to Li Kai.

Li Kai's eyes suddenly lit up, and he rushed to the doorway, shouting, "You ate my meat today, so from now on you'll have to acknowledge me as your boss!"

The children stared at the glistening chunks of meat, swallowing hard.

The second son of the Sun family in the front yard was the first to jump out: "Brother Kai! I will always be your number one little brother!" The other seven or eight children swarmed forward, even the two who were usually unconvinced squeezed in.

Li Kai proudly raised his chin: "Line up! One piece per person, no grabbing!" After the meat was distributed, the children ran home shouting with delight, holding their pieces of meat.

At this moment, Li Kaixin's parents also entered the courtyard one after the other.

Aunt Zhao and Aunt Sun from the front yard thanked them with smiles, saying, "Thanks to your family's Happy Stewed Meat, my mischievous little monkey was able to taste some meat!"

The couple were completely bewildered, and smiled at Aunt Zhao and Aunt Sun.

The parents strode into the backyard, and a rich aroma of meat wafted out of the kitchen, filling their nostrils.

The mother couldn't help but sniff, and exchanged a glance with the father, both of them with the same question in their eyes: Where did this meat come from?

Pushing open the kitchen door, all three children were there. Li Kaixin was ladling food into bowls when she heard the noise at the door and looked up.

Seeing the undisguised question on his parents' faces, he knew what was going on.

"Father, Mother," Li Kaixin said with a smile before they could speak, "Let's eat first, and I'll tell you all about it while we eat."

Once the family was seated at the table, a steaming pot of wild boar stewed with yam was placed in the center of the table, its aroma filling the air.

The parents and younger sister all focused their attention on Li Kaixin, and the atmosphere became inexplicably heavy.

Little Li Kai sat on the stool, his eyes darting around, glancing at his parents' serious faces one moment and then longingly staring at the pot of meat the next, secretly swallowing his saliva.

Seeing that no one was touching their chopsticks, Li Kaixin cleared his throat and began to recount how he found wild yams on the outskirts of the mountains, how he encountered the injured and lone wild boar, and finally the lively scene of the whole village sharing the meat.

He recounted the story vividly, deliberately omitting the thrilling moments and emphasizing luck.

Even so, after hearing the story, the father's brows furrowed tightly, and the mother's face turned pale instantly.

Li Kai and Li Xiaoxiao mostly lived in the city and didn't have much of a concept of how fierce wild boars were. At this moment, they only thought their older brother was amazing, and their eyes shone with admiration.

"You child! How dare you venture into the mountains alone!" The mother suddenly stood up from the stool, walked quickly to Li Kaixin's side, put her hands on Li Kaixin's shoulders, and looked him up and down.

"Are you hurt? Did you bump into anything? Let Mom take a good look."

The father's steady voice followed, stern and unquestionable: "You! You must never take such risks again! Look how scared you've scared your mother."

Although he remained seated, his eyes, filled with concern as he looked at his son, were almost overflowing with affection.

Li Xiaoxiao then belatedly realized what was happening. She grabbed Li Kaixin's arm and shook it gently, her soft voice pleading, "Big brother, please don't go to such dangerous places anymore. It's okay if we eat less meat."

Li Kai quickly nodded vigorously beside him, "Yes, brother, safety is the most important thing!"

Seeing the unreserved worry in her family's eyes, Li Kaixin felt a surge of warmth throughout her body.

He hurriedly and solemnly assured them, "Dad, Mom, Xiao Kai, Xiao Xiao, don't worry, I will definitely act within my capabilities from now on and will never be reckless again."

Hearing Li Kaixin's assurance, everyone's tense expressions relaxed slightly.

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Li Kaixin felt it was time.

She took the carefully folded letter of introduction out of her bag, handed it to her father with both hands, and said with a hint of barely perceptible excitement in her voice, "Dad, Mom, there's something else."

"Today I went to the neighborhood office and found a job. I'm an apprentice at the transportation station."

The father's hand trembled slightly as he took the thin piece of paper. The mother leaned forward, asking anxiously, "Old man, what does it say on it? Is it true?"

The father adjusted his non-existent glasses, leaned closer to the light, and carefully read each word. Then he looked up, an uncontrollable smile spreading across his face.

He nodded emphatically: "It's real! It's the transport station's stamp!"

"Oh my! This is really..." The mother's face lit up with joy. She wiped her hands on her apron again and again, too excited to say anything.

"Big brother is awesome!" Li Xiaoxiao cheered. Li Kai puffed out his chest with pride, as if he were the one who had found the job.

Looking at the joy radiating from his family, Li Kaixin felt a solid and warm sense of satisfaction.

He greeted her with a smile, "Alright, alright, now that we've finished talking about the good news, let's start eating, the food's getting cold."

At this, everyone seemed to come to their senses. The father laughed loudly and waved his hand: "Wife, go and get me that bottle of wine! I'm happy today, so I'll have a couple of drinks with Kaixin."

The mother smiled and went to get the wine. She returned quickly with the wine. Only after she poured it for the father and son did the delayed dinner officially begin.

Li Kai, quick as a flash, snatched a thick, glistening piece of wild boar meat with his chopsticks. Li Xiaoxiao, not to be outdone, steadily picked up a piece and blew on it.

Li Kaixin smiled as she looked at her younger siblings before leisurely picking up a piece and putting it in her mouth. It was stewed just right; although it still had a hint of wild boar odor, it was much better than the unblanched wild boar from last night.

Dinner ended with everyone taking bites and the parents asking the old man about the family situation.

......