Returning to the small mountain village of '86, intelligence updated daily.

This trip into the mountains was very fruitful, yielding more than just game.

The four men, once again carrying or lifting, headed towards the village as dusk settled in.

At this time, almost every household had gone home, and the roads were deserted with few people.

In the distant villages, scattered points of light are the homes of those who have turned on their lights before it is completely dark.

"It's still too late, your mom and the others are probably getting worried."

Walking down the street, Zhou Shiwei said with some concern.

He understands his wife well. They aren't exactly telepathic, but they can still roughly guess each other's thoughts.

Zhou Rui also understands his mother.

"Yes, Mom must be worried. It's probably around six or seven o'clock now. Usually, our family would be eating around this time."

Zhou Rui suddenly felt a little guilty. If he hadn't insisted on going deeper, his mother wouldn't have worried.

Moreover, because of his stubbornness, the group almost couldn't get out of the mountains.

This is a warning. My father just reminded me that we should learn from this experience and, at the very least, know how to choose when to leave such a large prey in the future.

You must not be greedy when it comes to making choices.

Zhou Rui himself realized that this time, he was a bit too eager for quick success and instant benefits. Even after living two lives, he inevitably had some shortcomings.

If the prey had been a little heavier, if my father hadn't pushed himself to the limit, and if it had taken a little longer—it wouldn't have taken an hour, maybe even just half an hour.

They will now be in the mountains at dusk.

From now on, we must not let greed blind us... The intelligence system is good, but we can't go down the wrong path.

A sense of lingering fear gradually welled up in Zhou Rui's heart; he was not a perfect person.

However, he and the Zhou family desperately need money right now, which forces him to take the risk.

Take a deep breath and suppress your guilt. Since some things have already happened, try to see the good side. However, you must remember the lessons learned.

Zhou Rui remained silent for a moment before expressing his thoughts:

"Dad, Second Uncle, Brother, I was wrong this time. I insisted on going deep into the mountains, which almost got us trapped."

"Besides, we're all exhausted this time. Dad, your shoulders... Uncle, you've been pushing yourself the whole time, and little brother, you're only a teenager."

"If I hadn't suggested going deeper back then, if we had lost something."

……

Although no one said it, Zhou Rui clearly realized that he was wrong.

My father didn't criticize him at all; he just said that we should learn from this experience.

Zhou Shiwei, standing behind, gritted his teeth and endured the pain. He looked at Zhou Rui in front of him, whose shoulders were already covered in bloodstains.

Zhou Rui wasn't much better off; he paid a heavy price along the way.

Zhou Shiwei did not directly respond to his eldest son's words, but instead spoke in a voice that was barely moderately gentle and calm:

"What nonsense are you talking about? I can still handle it, old man."

He was still using his remaining strength to comfort Zhou Rui.

Zhou Shijie was right next to him, not saying a word, while Zhou Ming was behind him, seemingly having recovered somewhat.

"Brother, why didn't you say that without you, we would never have encountered such a big water deer?"

"If you ask me, we should be happy."

Zhou Rui stopped being stubborn, took a deep breath, and kept her self-blame to herself.

Perhaps because he was powerless to change too many things in his previous life and could only watch helplessly as everything happened, in this life he remembered everyone, but he didn't remember that he also paid the price.

Moreover, the elders in the family are probably already getting restless and anxious.

By the time the group reached the edge of the village, it was completely dark.

Sure enough, at that moment, a beam of flashlight light appeared from afar.

There is only one road connecting the village to the back mountain, with fields and farmland on both sides of the road.

The light grew larger and larger, and soon Zhou Rui saw the person who had arrived.

It was his mother, Zeng Jiamei, and his second aunt, Yang Laidi, who were supporting his grandfather, Zhou Yong'an. His grandmother was also there.

The whole family came looking for them.

Zeng Jiamei's steps were hurried, and Zhou Yong'an, leaning on his cane, muttered to himself:

"Where have those idiots been all day?"

Just as Zeng Jiamei was about to respond, she saw several people in the distance, and also the huge object that the four of them were lifting together.

However, compared to the visual impact of the enormous prey, Zeng Jiamei's eyes only reddened slightly as she quickly took a few steps forward.

He walked up to Zhou Shiwei, rolled up his sleeves to wipe the sweat from his brow, and looked at him with concern.

Zhou Shiwei smiled at his wife: "Why didn't you wait for us to come home?"

Zeng Jiamei didn't say much at first, just silently wiped her sweat. After a while, she slowly answered:

"How could the four of us finish so much food? We still need to wait for a few more pillars of support."

"You must be hungry. The food at home is ready. I even went out and bought some meat today."

After saying that, Zeng Jiamei smiled. She didn't say anything about how hard she had worked, but simply showed her concern through her actions.

Zhou Yong'an, who was behind him, was no longer walking so unsteadily. He was using a cane and seemed much more energetic, though he was still thin.

He first walked up to Zhou Rui, then looked at the other three carefully, and in an instant, tears streamed down his face.

"What are you doing? There's enough food at home. I'm an old man and I don't need to eat much. I've been telling you not to let this old man be idle..."

He didn't stop them. He looked at them, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and then made way for them.

Zhou Yong'an believed that the family was running out of food because of him.

However, Zhou Rui then offered words of comfort:

"Grandpa, it's alright. This harvest is huge! Look, there's such a big deer!"

Zhou Yong'an barely glanced at the prey, but instead, leaning on his cane and hunched over, he walked beside them and said:

"So what if it's such a big deer? Look how tired you all are, your shoulders are all injured."

The old man's eyes were full of heartache. He didn't care how big the prey was; he just wanted his son and grandson to be well.

Yang Laidi felt sorry for her husband, but her eyes were full of admiration. She looked at the 100-kilogram water deer and then at Zhou Shijie.

Zhou Shijie responded with a smile.

Yang Laidi suffered cold treatment from childhood and never went to school. She could barely read or write. However, although Zhou Shijie was muddle-headed, he never bullied her.

The two were at peace, but seeing her husband bring back such a large prey, she had mixed feelings.

By the time they reached the outskirts of the village, it was completely dark. After entering the village, the family did not speak loudly or make a commotion. Instead, Zeng Jiamei walked home with a flashlight.

The Zhou family's house is a mud-brick house with blue tiles.

All four were exhausted. After resting for a while and washing their hands, Zeng Jiamei invited everyone to sit in the hall.

On the dining table, there are four large bowls, with smaller bowls placed on top of each large bowl to prevent heat loss.

Zeng Jiamei lifted the lids one by one. Inside the small bowls, there were water droplets formed by condensation of steam, indicating that the food had been cooked for a while.

"You guys eat first. The twice-cooked pork is getting a bit cold. I'll go heat it up."

Zeng Jiamei picked up the large bowl of twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts from the table and walked towards the stove.