70: Raising a wife, the whole village is inhaling the aroma of stewed meat.

One box, which Brother Wang took away.

The remaining 29 boxes are buried deep in the mountains.

He gets restless if he doesn't go up into the mountains for a day.

After all, think about it, that's enough to make Zhou Qingwen incredibly wealthy.

With such wealth, who could be at ease not checking on it every day?

Therefore, hunting is the best excuse.

However, it's not Zhou Qingwen's style to hunt every day and not bring back any prey.

Therefore, hunting is both an excuse and the best shield.

Firstly, it ensures the safety of one's wealth; secondly, hunting provides a source of meat.

Thirdly, hunting can earn money.

Isn't this one of the ten best jobs of our time?

Zhou Qingwen didn't take the matter to heart.

Because he had his own purpose.

And this purpose is probably not something he will tell anyone in his family.

Even his wife might not know.

Because this wealth is so enormous, it can be described as an immense fortune.

Zhou Qingwen lay in bed and slowly fell asleep. That night, he dreamed that Zhuang Maoshan and several other people went to dig up his treasure.

Startled, Zhou Qingwen rolled over and got up.

Zhou Qingwen looked at it and realized it was the middle of the night; he was dreaming.

Zhou Qingwen calmed himself down before lighting the oil lamp and getting dressed.

In this freezing weather, even early spring brings a cold snap. In Henan, it snows every few days.

My ears hurt from the cold.

Zhou Qingwen took his weapons and went into the deep mountains.

Because he had a dream, he immediately went to check out the cave.

They discovered that the cave was perfectly fine, and none of the things from their dream had happened.

Only then did he feel relieved and pat his chest in relief.

Fortunately, no one noticed.

Zhou Qingwen went hunting elsewhere.

The caves here are used as resting places.

They don't usually hunt here.

Because it serves as a temporary rest stop.

However, the fewer people who discover it, the better.

Zhou Qingwen went to the deep mountains and hunted two wild goats.

Goodness, they're all quite chubby.

Zhou Qingwen hunted the wild goat with a dart and bled it.

Then they carried it down the mountain on foot.

I was a little thirsty on the way, so I stopped and took a sip of rice wine.

At this point, all the water we brought had to be frozen, so we only carried a little bit of low-alcohol rice wine.

Zhou Qingwen took a sip and continued walking down the mountain.

The wind was blowing fiercely, and my hands were freezing.

His fingers were so frozen he couldn't feel them.

No wonder the old saying goes that the late spring cold snap is the most terrifying time of the year.

Many elderly people survived the harsh winter, but could not escape the biting cold of the late spring.

After Zhou Qingwen came down the mountain, he heard a family crying in the village.

It turned out that the old man couldn't hold on any longer and passed away.

Zhou Qingwen didn't go over to check. He went straight home, skinned the wild goat, carried one of the goats, and went to that house.

The wild goat was given to Brother Liu Guiliang, who then delivered it to his home.

Liu Guiliang said excitedly, "Qingwen, you hunt with great difficulty, risking your life. We can't accept this."

"Brother Guiliang, keep this. Although this wild goat meat isn't the best for a funeral, it's still fresh. At least use it to send Grandpa Liu off."

Liu Guiliang choked up as he said, "Okay."

Zhou Qingwen could no longer go hunting wild boars in the mountains; he had to go back to town to see his wife and children.

Sending Liu Guiliang a wild goat to his family is already a huge favor.

If Liu Guiliang were to actually hunt a wild boar and send it over, he feared he wouldn't be able to repay the favor for years.

Zhou Qingwen went to Liu Guiliang's house and then went back to clean the wild goat.

Then, I cut two pounds of mutton from the wild goat, carefully chopped it into pieces, and put it in a pot to make mutton soup.

Tonight we're making flatbread and having mutton soup.

Zhou Qingwen was busy in the kitchen.

The whole village went to Liu Guiliang's place.

Upon learning that Zhou Qingwen had sent a sheep over, everyone who had a chicken grabbed one, and those who had eggs gave away some.

Some people also gave me dried vegetables, sweet potatoes, and the like.

Anyway, the money given as a wedding gift in this era comes in all sorts of forms.

Others came to help, busying themselves at Liu Guiliang's home.

Grandpa Liu left the car for two days and then went up the mountain.

Liu Guiliang finally managed to handle Grandpa Liu's funeral arrangements properly.

In those days, there wasn't much good food. They just stuffed some white flour, steamed buns, a five-cent banknote, and some copper coins into Grandpa Liu's coffin.

Once these are inside, no one dares to take them.

Zhou Qingwen returned to town and kissed all the children, his heart filled with joy.

The children are in particularly good spirits today. They are all awake after drinking milk and their eyes are looking around.

It was like taking a look around the place where they were staying.

Zhou Qingwen also became interested, and each person hugged this and looked at that.

Of course, all of this happened inside the room. "Honey, this late spring cold snap is really deadly. Liu Guiliang's father, Uncle Liu, is gone."

Yu Yalan said with slight worry, "That's really heartbreaking. How could he leave like that?"

Just then, Liu Yue'e came in and heard someone say, "What? Grandpa Liu is gone? Oh dear, he still owes me five yuan!"

Zhou Qingwen raised an eyebrow and said, "Mom, let's not talk about this anymore. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out."

"What should I do? I've lost five dollars!"

Zhou Qingwen took a deep breath: "Did anyone see me borrowing the money?"

Liu Yue'e thought for a moment and said, "At that time, Liu Cunhua heard us talking about borrowing money, so she should be considered a witness."

"Mom, forget it. I also gave Guiliang a wild goat as a gift. Guiliang didn't mention it at the time, so let's just let it go."

Liu Yue'e said angrily, "How can that be? I lent him five yuan last year when he said he wanted to eat dumplings for the New Year!"

Zhou Qingwen sighed softly: "Mom, is this five yuan important to you?"

"Of course it's important!"

Zhou Qingwen said in a slightly deep voice, "Grandpa Liu is no longer here. Aren't you afraid people will say you're being too stingy by saying this?"

Liu Yue'e took a deep breath: "But that money was indeed lent out."

Zhou Qingwen pursed her lips slightly and said, "Then I said forget it, I don't want it anymore, are you still going to ask for it?"

Liu Yue'e noticed a slight red mark at the corner of Zhou Qingwen's eye, indicating that he was clearly angry.

"Oh, never mind, I don't want it."

If it were Liu Yue'e's family in the past, five yuan would have been enough for several months' worth of oil and salt.

For Liu Guiliang's family, asking them to repay five yuan would likely be the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Liu Guiliang's father, Uncle Liu, had been ill for a long time. He had thought that if he could get through last winter, he could live a little longer.

Who knew that a few days ago, after going in, the person stopped responding.

It was ice-cold to the touch.

Obviously, they went.

The anger in Zhou Qingwen's eyes had not yet subsided.

This was the first time Liu Yue'e had realized how much she valued money.

That's why she didn't notice Qingwen's emotional change.

My aunt immediately said, "Yue'e, shall we go outside?"

Liu Yue'e said worriedly, "Then, I'll go out first."

Yu Yalan exclaimed in surprise, "Qingwen, was what Mom did wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Zhou Qingwen quietly wiped his eyes: "When I delivered wild goat meat a couple of days ago, I heard Brother Guiliang say that we should take out Grandpa Liu's coffin and wipe it down."

Instead of holding a funeral banquet, family members will simply dig a hole and bury the body themselves.

Yu Yalan gasped.