Chapter 13: Killing Two Rabbits with One Shot

“Go ahead, beat me. If you beat me to death, I won’t have to go to the back mountain,” Xu Yuanyuan said, giving up all resistance and lying flat, letting herself be beaten.

Wang Xiuzhi also didn’t want to go up the mountain. Xu Yuanyuan had disappointed her too much, so she decided to let Xu Yuanyuan go up the mountain to hunt wild boars instead.

The mother and daughter argued noisily, back and forth.

Xu Qingmo picked at her ears, then chased the two of them out of the courtyard. Those who had helped received their share of meat and left, humming little tunes.

Some people still lingered, craning their necks, waiting for Xu Qingmo to use meat again to buy more help at any time.

Grandma Liu and Grandma Wang went into the kitchen to wash their hands and cook. Just like the night before, they didn’t eat there, instead packing up their portions and taking them home.

After eating and drinking her fill, Xu Qingmo felt a little bloated and wandered around the courtyard.

The weather was getting hotter by the day. Keeping Xu Yuanlong’s body in the main hall wasn’t appropriate, so she told Wang Xiuzhi to stop making a fuss and find a way to bury him.

Wang Xiuzhi still wanted to keep Xu Yuanlong at home for a few more days. When she heard Xu Qingmo insist on burying him as soon as possible, she plopped down on the ground and wailed, accusing Xu Qingmo of being unfilial.

“He’s your father after all! You despise him so much—without him, where would you have come from? Unfilial children never come to a good end!” Wang Xiuzhi carried on endlessly.

Xu Qingmo was so angry she laughed. The real Xu Qingmo had already died in that cowshed; the original owner’s life had already been repaid to Xu Yuanlong.

The current her would never fall into Wang Xiuzhi’s verbal trap.

“You’re right. Unfilial children really don’t come to a good end—so Xu Yuanlong lost his life.” The childish voice delivering such words made Wang Xiuzhi freeze in shock, forgetting everything else she wanted to say.

She stared blankly at Xu Qingmo.

It took her a long while to find her voice again. “You’re a born evil seed. You’re the one who brought your father to his death.”

Xu Qingmo shot back immediately, “You’re the born evil seed. First you killed your own husband, now you’ve killed your own son. It won’t be long before you bring death to your only daughter as well.”

Xu Yuanyuan, who had been pacing anxiously at the doorway, panicked even more.

She barged into the room without caring about anything else, dropped to her knees in front of Wang Xiuzhi, and begged, “Mom, I’m still young. I don’t want to die. Please, be kind and go up the mountain to hunt wild boars in my place. I’m begging you.”

Xu Yuanyuan cried with tears and snot streaming down her face.

Wang Xiuzhi’s expression changed drastically. Xu Yuanyuan’s behavior was practically acknowledging Xu Qingmo’s words.

The villagers immediately pointed at Wang Xiuzhi and started whispering among themselves.

“Do you remember the year Wang Xiuzhi married into the village? There was a drought that lasted the entire year. We didn’t harvest a single grain. Then when she gave birth to Xu Yuanlong, the drought ended, but it poured nonstop, flooding most of the crops. All the pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks people raised were washed away. After that, there were two straight years of plague.”

“Now that you mention it, every time our village suffered a major disaster, it was after Wang Xiuzhi married in.”

“Could she be the reincarnation of a plague god?”

“Her husband died after she gave birth to three children, yet she’s still alive to this day. Now her youngest daughter and granddaughter have to go up the mountain to hunt wild boars. Not only does she not stop them or help, she even acts like it has nothing to do with her.”

“Having someone like that as family is eight lifetimes of bad luck.”

For a moment, after all the villagers’ discussion, Wang Xiuzhi became a walking plague.

Xu Yuanyuan seized the chance to kick her while she was down. “Mom, everyone says your fate is tough. Maybe you can even curse wild boars to death. You should be the one to catch the boar.”

“I’ll curse you to death right now, you walking disaster!” Wang Xiuzhi struggled to her feet and chased after Xu Yuanyuan, beating and scolding her again.

…

After lunch, Xu Qingmo stood up and washed her face, looking completely refreshed.

Several hunter families from the village wanted to go along to hunt wild boars. After all, Xu Qingmo was so small, yet she had previously dragged back a wild boar by herself.

The villagers believed it was just her luck—that she happened to run into a stupid boar that had gone blind and accidentally smashed into a tree, dying on the spot, letting Xu Qingmo pick up the spoils.

As for how Xu Qingmo, at only five years old, could drag back a wild boar weighing over a hundred jin, they believed she was simply born with incredible strength.

But luck wouldn’t always be on her side. The hunters said they were going to hunt together, but in truth, they felt sorry for the little girl and were afraid she might be hurt by a wild boar.

Xu Qingmo saw through the intentions of the Liu and Wang family hunters. Normally she disliked trouble, but this time she didn’t refuse.

That was because Grandma Liu and Grandma Wang cooked very well, and she had no ill feelings toward their families.

Grandpa Liu brought his son. Grandma Wang also brought her son. Along with Xu Qingmo and the unwilling Xu Yuanyuan, the six of them entered the back mountain.

Along the way, Grandpa Liu kept reminding Xu Qingmo to stay far away if they encountered a wild boar—they had guns and would handle the kill first.

Xu Qingmo didn’t pay him much mind and continued forward.

Halfway there, Xu Qingmo noticed two wild rabbits behind a patch of grass. She snapped off a wooden stick, aimed at the two rabbits, and threw it. The stick pierced straight through both rabbits’ bodies.

One shot, two rabbits!

Before the experienced hunter Grandpa Liu could even think of how to catch the two rabbits, Xu Qingmo was already holding them by their ears and pulling them out from the grass.

She tossed the rabbits into the basket on Xu Yuanyuan’s back. Rabbit blood splashed onto Xu Yuanyuan’s face, making her scream and stomp in place.

“Take it away! Hurry and take it away…” Xu Yuanyuan panicked and tried to run.

Xu Qingmo stuck out her leg and tripped her to the ground. “Trying to take the chance to run? Give up on that idea.”

Xu Yuanyuan’s mouth filled with dirt as she fell. She climbed up with a dark expression.

Her knee was scraped open, blood seeping out.

Her eyes turned red. Wang Xiuzhi had always taken good care of her three children. Xu Yuanyuan had never really suffered before. Now that her leg was injured and she was limping, she started cursing Xu Yuanlong in her heart for dying at the worst possible time and leaving behind a little tyrant like Xu Qingmo.

“Mo-mo, how did you spot the rabbits in the grass?” Grandpa Liu asked curiously.

Even with all his experience, his reactions were slower than a five-year-old child’s.

If he told others, no one would believe him—they would think he was bragging.

“That patch of grass was the fattest and most tender. Rabbits like it,” Xu Qingmo made up a casual excuse.

In truth, she had only seen the grass move and guessed there was something inside, so she threw the stick straight out.

She hadn’t expected to skewer two rabbits at once.

She couldn’t say that outright—it would be like slapping Grandpa Liu and the others in the face.

“So that’s how it is.” Grandpa Liu nodded, then shared this “experience” with his son and with Grandpa Wang beside him.

As the trees and bushes grew thicker, the higher they went up the mountain, the cooler it became.

Xu Qingmo spotted the mark she had left earlier. Beside the mark was a cave—the wild boar’s den was inside.

Xu Qingmo told everyone to stop, pointed at the cave not far away, and told Xu Yuanyuan to go in.

Xu Yuanyuan looked extremely unwilling. “My leg is injured. Why do I have to go in? I’m not going.”

Xu Qingmo said, “As long as you go into that cave, I won’t make you stay to catch the wild boar. You can take the rabbits back home first.”