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

The lights were on in the Zhou family home, and on the dining table were three dishes and a soup.

Zeng Jiamei had just heated up and served twice-cooked pork, a cucumber salad, a stir-fried yam, and an egg drop soup.

It was quite a sumptuous meal.

The four men who had just returned home were so engrossed in eating that they temporarily forgot their fatigue.

They were so tired.

Grandpa Zhou Yong'an kept putting twice-cooked pork into the bowls of the four people, and in no time, a large bowl of twice-cooked pork was completely devoured.

Zeng Jiamei immediately stood up.

"There's still some in the pot, I'll go get more."

Most families don't intentionally cook extra food, because everyone's appetite is likely to be fixed.

If they're still hungry, they'll usually say, "How about another bowl of noodles?"

However, there was a clear surplus of food tonight. This was thanks to Zeng Jiamei's wisdom; she deliberately cooked a little extra, especially twice-cooked pork, which made enough for two large bowls, and there's still half left in the pot.

Because she knew everyone would be hungry when they came back tonight, she bought two pounds of meat when she went to buy groceries at noon, and then bought another pound for fear it wouldn't be enough.

While the others were wolfing down their food, Meng Dan had already finished eating and was rummaging through drawers and cupboards in the house.

She was looking for iodine solution, which was already widely available at that time, but she couldn't find it after searching for a while.

In the end, they had no choice but to use gauze.

She didn't rush to bandage the wound while the four of them were eating. Instead, she waited until they had finished eating and drinking before picking up the gauze to prepare for bandaging.

At this moment, Zeng Jiamei poured a basin of hot water, soaked a towel in it, wrung it out, and carefully wiped Zhou Shiwei and his son.

Then, she took the gauze from Meng Dan's hand.

"Mom, let me do it."

Meng Dan did not insist and handed the gauze to her daughter-in-law.

Yang Laidi was about to get up and clear the dishes when Zeng Jiamei stopped her:

"Hey girl, come here and wipe his second uncle's face too."

Yang Laidi was clearly not as good at reading the situation as Zeng Jiamei; she actually thought that Zeng Jiamei would bandage her own husband as well.

Realizing what was happening, Yang Laidi quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and came over, taking the hot towel. Just as she was about to wipe herself down, Zeng Jiamei reminded her again:

"Change the water; this water is dirty."

Yang Laidi then brought a basin of clean hot water and a clean towel.

She was rather dull, but none of her family members said a word against her.

Grandpa Zhou Yong'an sat next to the three of them, looking at this one and that one, wanting to go forward to help, but then taking a half step back. He cared about his children and grandchildren, and wanted to help but couldn't get involved.

Zhou Ming had no injuries on his shoulder. He was well protected because Zhou Rui had also created a "buffer" layer for him. In addition, he bore the least weight and was someone who often did heavy work.

So he became the only one of the four without any wounds.

Grandma Meng Dan cleaned up the dishes, but Zeng Jiamei said she would wash them later, so Meng Dan sat down next to them and watched the three of them.

She held Zhou Ming's hand tightly and murmured:

"You've really suffered."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming shook his head and said:

"Grandma, it wasn't hard. The trip went smoothly. We didn't encounter any danger. It was just that the prey was too heavy."

He told a half-truth, saying that he didn't encounter any danger, but he didn't mention the race against time behind it all.

Meng Dan clearly didn't believe it, and Zhou Yong'an remained silent.

So Zhou Ming tried various ways to amuse his grandparents. Soon, his grandmother was laughing heartily, and his grandfather's expression softened.

However, blood was still visibly seeping from Zhou Shiwei's shoulder.

After a short rest, everyone finally regained some of their strength.

It's time to take stock of the harvest.

After such a hard-won journey, this final moment of harvest is always filled with joy.

They paid a heavy price for this trip, risking getting lost and exhausting themselves, but they still managed to bring the water deer back intact.

Now it's time to take stock of the harvest.

Zhou Ming pulled the whole family up and led them to the storeroom.

The guns had been hidden away, and on the ground lay a carcass of a sambar deer with a huge three-pronged antler on its head. It weighed over 300 pounds.

Four baskets were placed next to it.

Inside, besides a water jug ​​filled with deer blood and leftover food supplies, there was a wild rabbit, two deer antlers, and a few lingzhi mushrooms.

The musk deer and the gun have already been hidden by Zhou Ming; the matter is too serious, so caution is necessary.

Zhou Yong'an was knowledgeable and could tell at a glance that the antlers of the water deer had been removed. He reached out his skinny hand to touch them.

"I've lived this long and seen all sorts of prey, big and small, but deer are still very rare."

"I never thought our family would be so lucky to get our hands on this. It's a treasure; it could fetch a lot of money."

"Back then, Zhang Ronghua's father, Zhang Zhengzhi, a hunter in our village, shot a water deer. When the whole village heard that he had shot a game weighing more than 300 jin, they rushed over to join in the fun."

"Later, Zhang Ronghua also caught one, but it was much smaller than the others."

Zhou Yong'an has a wealth of experience. Now in his sixties, he has seen it all and even carried a gun in his youth.

Ordinary people, especially those of Zhou Rui's generation, have seen them less often.

Most people have only heard about this rare item from older generations.

Zhou Yong'an, however, had personally witnessed many hunted water deer, a feat that even some experienced hunters might not have.

Zhou Shiwei, standing nearby, also remarked with emotion:

"Yes, but this time it was thanks to Zhou Rui's excellent archery skills that we were able to successfully shoot and kill them one after another."

Zhou Shiwei told half the truth and half the lie. It was indeed Zhou Rui who shot him, but not with an arrow, but with a gun.

Zhou Shiwei glanced at Zhou Rui, who nodded in agreement.

When they returned from the village, they had already put the gun and the musk deer back into the bag, so the two old men didn't notice.

Furthermore, after simple treatment, the gunshot wound was not visible on the deer, so it was left undetected.

It wasn't that I intentionally wanted to deceive them, it was just unnecessary. The elderly are getting on in years, there's no need to make them worry.

Zhou Ming, who was standing nearby, chimed in at the right moment, recounting his various experiences on the trip. He told almost everything he had heard, which made the old man nod repeatedly.

Because it was the truth, it was more credible. Hearing that none of them had encountered any ferocious beasts, Zhou Yong'an finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's alright, it's alright."

Yang Laidi's eyes were wide open. She had never seen such a scene before. When she heard the others talking about how much money water deer could sell for and how rare they were, she was even more shocked.

Even though she wasn't good at speaking, she kept praising it.

The two elderly people watched the prey for a while before going home to rest.

Immediately afterwards, Zeng Jiamei took Yang Laidi to wash the dishes. It wasn't that she couldn't finish washing them by herself, but that this way she could get the clueless Yang Laidi away.

When only four people remained in the warehouse, Zhou Shiwei spoke.

"Xiao Rui, what do you plan to do?"

He still left the decision-making power to Zhou Rui.