During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

Ye Qingqing blinked. "Oh, Dad, stop being so mysterious, just tell me!"

Ye Youliang slowly took a puff of his pipe and opened his mouth to speak.

"A lone wolf is easy to hunt, but a pack of wolves is hard to hunt! A single wolf and a pack of wolves are two different things."

You've only been a hunter for a few days, you don't understand the temperament of wolves...

He told Ye Qingqing what the village head had said to his wife.

It boils down to one thing: if a pack of wolves enters a village, as long as the wolf defense measures are in place, none of them will dare to go all out. Otherwise, these villages and hamlets that rely on the mountains for their livelihood would have been devoured by the wolves long ago.

"That's not right..."

Although Ye Qingqing thought her father was right, he hadn't hit the nail on the head, so she quickly asked, "Dad, you know you can't defeat a pack of wolves, so why did you say that?"

"If others can't take it, then your father and I went up the mountain to be hunters with your grandfather when I was thirteen. How could I not take it?"

Ye Youliang gently tapped his daughter's head and said with a chuckle, "I have a plan. With Dazhuang's skills, if wolves come tonight, we can at least hunt two or three!"

"Two or three heads?"

Li Chunyan's eyes widened in disbelief, "Last time, a single wolf pelt sold for ten taels of silver. If we could hunt down two or three... my goodness!"

Indeed, experience is the best teacher!

"Really, Dad!"

Ye Qingqing's large, clear eyes lit up instantly, and she clung to her father's arm, urging him on.

"What method? Tell me quickly!"

"Speak quickly, Father!"

Ye Cuicui stared wide-eyed at her father nervously, her curiosity bubbling like a cat's claws.

Ye Dali leaned close to his wife, straining his ears to hear every word.

Even Ye Dazhuang, a man of few words, couldn't help but secretly hold his breath.

Little Huanhuan, bouncing around on the kang (a heated brick bed) and eating the fried pork lard noodles her mother had made for her, couldn't understand what the adults were saying so happily, but the atmosphere was so lively that she came over, stretched out her little arms to hug Ye Youliang's neck, and whine sweetly in her childish voice.

"Grandpa, tell me quickly! Grandpa, tell me quickly!"

After a few people whispered amongst themselves, a burst of enthusiastic laughter suddenly filled the room.

"Hahaha... Father truly lives up to his reputation as an old hunter!"

"Dad, you're too cunning!"

"Dad, our family is going to earn money again..."

……

"Clang clang clang..."

Li Zheng was in the village's "intelligence center," in an open space, when he rang out a broken copper gong.

"Everyone, put down what you're doing and have something important to say!"

Hurry up, hurry up...

The broken gong made my ears ring, and the person striking it felt an indescribable sense of panic.

Before long, the open space was packed with people.

The early winter wind pierced through their tattered cotton-padded coats, and everyone huddled up, their necks hunched, hands tucked into their sleeves, stamping their feet and making a noisy commotion.

"What's the matter, village head, that you've called everyone out in this freezing weather?"

"We just paid the government the fee for buying a son, are they going to send someone to ask for something else?"

"We can't afford to live like this!"

……

"Clang! Clang!"

The village headman struck the gong a few times, his brow furrowed in a stern expression. "If even those who want money are this afraid, what will we do when those who want our lives come?"

Everyone looked at each other, bewildered. "What's so deadly?"

"If the government comes asking for money again, they might as well take my life!"

"Village head, what are you dawdling for? Speak up! If you don't tell us, everyone's freezing to death..."

……

Having created a lively atmosphere, the village head cleared his throat and said with a serious expression,

"Second Sister's family hunted two wild boars up the mountain, and they spotted wolves near our village. They're keeping an eye on us, and they might come into the village tonight!"

"Are wolves coming into the village?"

Someone raised their voice and shouted in terror.

The crowd erupted as if a ladle of water had been poured into a frying pan of oil.

"Oh no, this is going to be a wolf plague!"

"Last year, that family was wiped out by a pack of wolves!"

"What are we going to do now, village head!"

……

Everyone felt a sudden tightness in their chest, their faces filled with panic, and their bodies involuntarily trembled.

Last year's wolf attack that wiped out an entire family left behind a trail of severed limbs and bloodstains on the white snow. Who in the village didn't get chills just thinking about it?

"What's the panic? What's the panic! Luckily, Second Sister discovered the wolves' tracks, otherwise, who knows whose family would have been wiped out by wolves this year!"

The village head raised his voice and shouted, frowning as he spoke.

"What else can we do when there's a wolf problem? Just like in previous years, we'll organize a wolf-fighting team, with every household contributing able-bodied men to guard the village entrance and exit tightly. If wolves come, we'll fight them off!"

Just like in previous years, those with money contribute money, and those with grain contribute grain!

Those with machetes, take them; those with bows and arrows, get them. At least one person from each household must come out. The old, the young, and the women, all of you, stay inside! Don't wander around outside unless you have to!

Ye Qingqing, standing at the back of the crowd, heard everything clearly and couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

The old man spoke with righteous indignation, but he didn't mention a single word about her family providing grain!

I wonder what kind of good fart he's holding back!

"Second Girl, something's not right!"

Li Chunyan also sensed something was wrong, and tugged at Ye Qingqing's sleeve, whispering, "Didn't we agree..."

Dad said that if we're going to provide grain, we should provide steamed buns and pork; we can't be stingy with food.

People only truly care about someone if they've eaten well at that person's house.

Ye Qingqing shook her head and lowered her voice.

"Who knows what kind of nonsense he's up to! It's alright, sister-in-law, keep listening."

The villagers were in a state of chaos, but by this point they realized it wasn't time to hide, so they started talking all at once.

"Alright! Everyone, hurry back and grab your weapons!"

"Yes! We're a whole village of healthy people; we can't let wolves eat us alive!"

"Just like in previous years, those with grain will contribute grain, and those with strength will contribute strength..."

……

Just as everyone was about to disperse, someone in the crowd shouted at the top of their lungs.

"That doesn't make sense. We didn't bring the wolves here, so why should we be the ones providing both manpower and food?"

The moment he shouted, the air went silent for a second.

Everyone turned to look at the guy who had spoken. He was hiding his hands, looking timid and sneaky. It was none other than Ye Laolai, the notorious lazybones in the village!

As soon as he raised the issue, others immediately responded.

"Exactly! They have two wild boars at home, and the stew they make smells amazing all over the yard, which is what attracted the wolves. Why should we be the ones to protect them from the wolves?"

"If their family hadn't hunted down the wild boar, the wolves wouldn't have had anything to eat on the mountain. Would they have come down to attack us?"

"Hey everyone, don't let yourselves be used as pawns! They've stockpiled a house full of meat, while we're eating coarse grains and cornbread every day. If the wolf comes, who will we eat?"

……

Ye Qingqing narrowed her eyes slightly and saw the village headwoman standing not too far from the group of people who were talking, and she kept giving them provocative looks.

Haha, so that's where she was waiting!