The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Gu’er looked at Sun Jiaming, whose eyes were filled with mirth.

’There’s nothing on the mountain in the dead of winter, so it can’t be foraged goods. And there’s nothing in the village, either. What could they possibly be delivering?’

’It couldn’t be a dowry. Nothing has been settled between me and Sun Jiaming yet. Besides, even if it were a dowry, Uncle Zhao and the others wouldn’t be the ones to deliver it. They’re not my family.’

Gu’er cursed herself inwardly. ’How shameless of me. Why did my mind jump to a dowry?’

She steadied her nerves and kept thinking.

’No, that’s wrong. The mountain isn’t completely empty! There are wild beasts.’

"Is it a wild boar?"

Gu’er recalled something she had heard before.

Surprise flashed in Uncle Zhao’s eyes as he gave Gu’er a thumbs-up.

Sun Jiaming, however, grinned until his eyes were mere slits. He knew they could never hide it from Gu’er.

"It’s really a wild boar? How did you get it? Did it fall into a trap?"

Gu’er’s eyes widened. In her past life, she had heard plenty of stories about this. The villagers almost always managed to catch a wild boar during the winter, but she had never seen one with her own eyes.

"Yep, we were surprised too. Shanwazi just went up to take a look, but he never expected to actually find a boar. Looked like it had been dead for two or three days. There were two silly roe deer, too! So, Shanwazi ran back to get help. Over a dozen of us went up the mountain and hauled the boar and the roe deer back down. At first, everyone wanted to just split the meat, but Jia Ming said it’d be better to bring them to the city to sell. That way, we could use the money to buy other things for the New Year. It’s better than just dividing up the meat. Everyone agreed, so here we are with the boar and the deer."

Uncle Zhao cheerfully recounted the events.

After he finished, Gu’er went outside to take a look.

The wild boar was long dead, but in the freezing winter, the meat wouldn’t spoil even if it sat for a long time.

The boar’s bristles hadn’t been removed yet. Its massive body, the dark, gamy-looking meat, the sharp tusks, and the dried, dark-red bloodstains made for a rather gruesome sight.

Compared to the boar, the roe deer looked tiny and even a little pitiful.

"This boar’s not small. I’d guess it’s over two hundred pounds."

Gu’er was amazed. Usually, people only caught small boars, around a hundred pounds or so. Anything over one hundred and fifty was considered large, and two hundred pounds was incredibly rare. Of course, a three-hundred-pounder would be legendary, but Gu’er had never even heard of a village catching a boar that weighed over three hundred pounds.

"That’s right. We were just talking about how lucky we got. If not for so many of us going, we probably couldn’t have hauled it back. You don’t know how it is—the snow on the mountain is waist-deep and so hard to walk through. But bigger is better. It’ll sell for more money."

Uncle Zhao said with a simple-hearted honesty.

Gu’er nodded. It was true; meat was sold by the pound, so the bigger it was, the more money it would fetch.

"You all haven’t eaten yet, have you? Should we eat first, or sell the boar first?"

Gu’er glanced at Sun Jiaming. He rarely spoke when others were around, but his eyes never left her.

"Jia Ming, Gu’er, how about we sell the boar first? We won’t be able to eat in peace with this hanging over our heads. Besides, food is easy. We can just buy a couple of steamed buns and munch on them later."

Uncle Zhao directed his question to both Sun Jiaming and Gu’er. Despite being the eldest, he still deferred to Sun Jiaming to make the final call.

Gu’er looked to Sun Jiaming, who nodded at her.

"Alright, let’s sell the boar first."

Gu’er knew that Uncle Zhao and the others wouldn’t be able to rest easy until the boar was sold.

’But how should they sell it?’

’If they sold it retail, piece by piece, it would take forever. It’s cold out, so not many people are around, and even then, one person can only buy so much. How long would it take to sell over two hundred pounds? Plus, the bristles haven’t even been removed yet. Finding a place to do that would be another hassle.’

’Their only option was to find a large restaurant.’

’But which one?’

’Gu’er thought of the local hotel. It was quite famous, and its restaurant wasn’t really open to the public. The only people who ate there were those with status and influence—in other words, people with money to burn.’

’What did people like that want to eat? They’d surely want something special, something different. Given that, the hotel was a likely customer for their wild boar.’

When Gu’er shared her idea, Sun Jiaming nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they had reached an agreement, Uncle Zhao hurriedly put on his hat, wrapped his scarf around his neck, and called to his son. It was time to pull the cart.

Gu’er locked the door. With the men there, she didn’t have to help pull the cart; she could just follow along behind them.

The group arrived at the hotel.

They had just reached the entrance, and before Gu’er could get to the door, the hotel’s main doors were suddenly pulled open. Several people emerged from within.

Gu’er took a good look. They seemed to work at the hotel, and by their demeanor, they were managers.

"Hello."

Gu’er didn’t know why they had come out, but she offered a greeting anyway.

The man in the lead was taken aback. He gave Gu’er a puzzled look and asked, "Hello. And you are?"

"I’m from one of the villages. We caught a wild boar and two roe deer, and I was wondering if your establishment might be interested?"

Gu’er explained her purpose for being there.

The man was surprised; that wasn’t what he’d expected her to say.

"We’ll discuss that in a moment."

The man glanced past Gu’er, hastily tossed out the words, and hurried forward to greet someone. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Gu’er turned to look as well. Behind her and Sun Jiaming’s group, a car had now appeared. Several people were getting out. Though they were dressed similarly in padded winter coats and scarves, Gu’er sensed they carried an air about them—an aura that ordinary people simply didn’t possess.

’Of course,’ she thought. ’How could ordinary people afford to ride in a car? The value of a single vehicle like that was something Gu’er couldn’t even begin to fathom.’

Gu’er watched as the manager who had just spoken to her scurried over to a middle-aged man getting out of the car, bowing and scraping with a fawning smile as he showered him with pleasantries.

The middle-aged man had removed his scarf, allowing Gu’er a clear look at his face.

He had sharp, blade-like eyebrows that were slightly raised, giving him an air of authority. His eyes weren’t large, but his gaze was piercing. He had an aquiline nose and thin lips, projecting an imposing presence.

Gu’er felt that the man’s presence was far more powerful than that of her own father, Lin Shan.

’This man looks familiar,’ she thought. ’I feel like I’ve seen him before, but where?’

’He’s clearly someone important. A face like that should have left a deep impression if I’d seen it before.’ Gu’er racked her brain, but even as the group walked past her, she couldn’t place him. ’I must have seen him in my past life. He was probably a significant person, but we never crossed paths, which is why I can’t remember.’

Just as the middle-aged man was about to enter the hotel, he glanced back over his shoulder. His attention wasn’t on Gu’er or Sun Jiaming’s group, but on their cart—or to be more precise, what was on it.

Once everyone was inside, Gu’er stood before the door, wondering. ’Should I open the door and go in now?’

’Clearly, an important guest had arrived, and everyone inside would be busy tending to them. They probably wouldn’t have time for us. But... it’s precisely because of an important guest that this is the perfect opportunity to sell our game.’

Just as Gu’er was about to step forward and open the door, Sun Jiaming walked over. He looked at her, gave her a reassuring smile, and then moved to the front. He had the same thought as Gu’er—that this was a perfect opportunity—but he didn’t want her to face any potential trouble, so he decided to be the one to go.

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Thank you to Ning Zhihai for the praise, and thank you to Super Assassin for the monthly ticket! For the Chapter title, "Big Wild Boar," I almost accidentally typed "Wild Romp"... I didn’t even realize I’d done it. Thank goodness I caught it before publishing, otherwise I would have died from embarrassment.