Zhao Xin was thus kept behind by Chiang Songhai.
While Chiang Xiao and Ge Dejun toiled on the mountain for two hours, they picked a lot of bracken and gathered a full big basket of tree fungus, Xu Linjiang arrived back gasping for breath.
Running back and forth for two hours had truly exhausted him.
Chiang Xiao quickly handed him a bunch of mountain berries, "Uncle Xu, take a seat and have a break! I just found these, specially kept for you!"
Looking at the sky, Xu Linjiang shook his head, "No rest, we should hurry and carry the things down the mountain. It’s not safe here after dark." Saying this, he unscrewed his water bottle and took several big gulps of water.
Because he was so tired, his clothes were soaked with sweat, his hair was dripping wet, and his face was red from the fatigue, heat, and the rush. Chiang Xiao also noticed a small hole worn through the shoulder of his shirt.
It seemed that dragging the wild boar down the mountain was a truly exhausting chore, and while the reward was substantial, it certainly demanded hard work.
There were quite a few lazybones in the village who wouldn’t be willing to endure such hardships to climb Bai Gu Mountain and forage for wild vegetables and hunt, even if they knew it was full of treasures.
One basket of tree fungus, two baskets and a sack of bracken, plus a fat wild rabbit, that was their harvest for the day.
And that was because they didn’t have much time or energy to get more, seeing that they could reap the same rewards on the next trip to the mountain, they didn’t think they carried too little at all.
Chiang Xiao also carried a basket, while Ge Dejun carried the most.
Xu Linjiang attempted to carry the wild rabbit too, but Ge Dejun pushed his hand away, "Enough, I’m not so old that I don’t have the strength. Let’s go."
He felt pity for his son-in-law who had just run that distance; by nightfall, he would surely be so sore that he could hardly bear it.
After all, he grew up in the city, although he did plenty of work from a young age, he had never done such strenuous physical labor. The more he looked at his son-in-law, the more satisfied he was. Even though their family had a pile of broken affairs, Xiao Tong’s stepmother-in-law and the cheap uncle were not easy people, but this man was good.
The fact that Xu Linjiang had the courage to take Ge Xiaotong and leave the city, escape the clutches of those family members, and come to Peace Town was what pleased Ge Dejun the most.
Although the three of them were extremely tired, their spirits were high with a full load of bounty.
The descent took them more than an hour. By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, the sun had already set, and the faint afterglow cast upon the mountain made the dense forest appear even more gloomy.
Which was indeed cause for trepidation when it became dark in the mountains.
Fortunately, they had already made it down.
"Uncle Xu, where did you hide the wild boar?" The three of them put down their baskets and sat down on the grass to rest, feeling as if their legs no longer belonged to them and their shoulders were painfully burning.
Yet, Chiang Xiao was still thinking about the wild boar.
Xu Linjiang pointed to a large rock not far away, "It’s behind that rock."
"Let’s do this. Uncle Ge, Uncle Xu, you two rest here. I’ll run back and rent a bullock cart, bring it here directly to load everything, and send it straight to town," said Chiang Xiao.
She felt that they definitely shouldn’t take these goods into the village; the target was too big, especially the wild boar.
Some wild vegetables might be excusable, but it was a huge wild boar, all meat! Showing up in the village would surely attract a lot of envy.
She wasn’t interested in testing human nature or inviting trouble.
The wild boar was already dead, and leaving it another night might cause it to spoil or draw predators, better to sell it quickly at the town for cash.
Xu Linjiang stood up, "Little, I’ll go with you. We’d better rent the bullock cart and bring it here ourselves, no need for someone else to drive it."
Otherwise, the cart driver seeing all these things might spread the word.