The seven little wild boars Cheng Zongyang carried let out piercing SQUEALS, drawing the attention of everyone at the encampment, who all turned to look toward the opposite riverbank.

The four boys and the little girls closest to the sound also looked warily toward its source. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Seven Herbs Powder had been sprinkled almost everywhere nearby, essentially clearing the area of all sorts of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. They weren’t worried about such creatures appearing.

But wild boars were a different story.

"Zhendong! Xiaoxiao! The rest of you, get back here!"

Cheng Guanghai and the other adults immediately dropped what they were doing, snatched up nearby Firewood Knives, Bows and Arrows, and other tools, and ran toward the river.

Five-year-old Zhou Xiaoxiao’s legs were a little weak from her stance training, but her sharp eyes still spotted her cousin, Cheng Zongyang.

"It’s my cousin!"

She shouted back to the adults, then ran over with her four older brothers and cousins: Zhou Zhennan, Zhou Zhenqi, Zhou Zhendong, and Cheng Zongwen.

"Big Brother!"

"Cousin!"

"Cousin!!"

The five of them shouted happily.

"They’re little wild boars!" Zhou Zhennan said, very excited.

When they saw Cheng Zongyang carrying several piglets in each hand, their eyes lit up. They hurried over and each took one. Cheng Zongyang carried the rest.

Because of her training, Zhou Xiaoxiao’s face was flushed red. She was also very excited. She wanted to hold a piglet like her brothers but didn’t dare, so she just followed beside her cousin Cheng Zongyang, staring curiously at the squealing animals.

"Cousin, where did you catch these?" Zhou Xiaoxiao asked, looking thrilled. She had seen the big wild boar this afternoon and thought it was ugly, but the little ones were quite cute.

Cheng Zongyang smiled. "I followed the big boar’s tracks into the mountains and found them. We’ll raise them from now on."

"Really? Does that mean we’ll have more meat to eat when they grow up?" Zhou Xiaoxiao’s eyes sparkled.

"Mhm. From now on, if you see any wild vegetables or plantains, besides what we eat ourselves, we can also use them to feed the pigs."

"Okay, okay, I’ll keep an eye out."

Back on their side of the river, everyone was thrilled about the capture of the seven piglets.

This meant they would now have a sustainable source of livestock.

"Before we eat, let’s build a pigpen so these little things aren’t uncomfortable," the old man standing nearby said with a cheerful laugh, quickly giving orders to a few of the adults.

The women were also overjoyed.

Seven little wild boars, once grown, could breed and produce even more. This represented a sustainable source of meat.

Even when winter arrived and game in the mountains became scarce, they would still have a steady supply of meat to eat.

The little ones stopped their roughhousing and playing, instead gathering around the piglets, watching them with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Cheng Zongyang walked toward the kitchen. In a large, well-seasoned iron wok, oil was SIZZLING. On a nearby table sat a basin of lard rendered that afternoon, though there wasn’t much of it. There was also a small bowl of pork cracklings.

Oily smoke swirled from the wok. Several women, their faces wreathed in smiles, had their sleeves rolled up as they busied themselves with their tasks.

Cheng Zongyang took some fruits and seeds out of his back basket and said to his mother:

"I found this fruit in the mountains. Wash it after dinner and let everyone have a taste. Those are the seeds; we can see if they’ll grow."

Mrs. Zhou of the Cheng Family smiled. "Alright. You should go outside, the smoke is thick in here."

On the wooden table, fresh wild vegetables and meat were already washed and chopped. Glistening water droplets clung to the vegetable leaves.

Several adults were skillfully using available wood to fence off an area and build a pigpen. Cheng Zongyang went over to help.

As dusk fell, the pigpen was completed.

They placed the seven piglets into the pen. The seven little ones immediately scurried back and forth before running into a small shelter to hide, trembling.

They had been terrified from being carried all this way.

"Not bad, they seem spirited enough. Three boars and four sows." The old man said with a cheerful laugh after inspecting them. "We’ll keep them for now. After the first generation is born, we’ll keep one for breeding, and the other two boars can be castrated, fattened up for a while, and then butchered and shared."

No one had any objections.

In the kitchen, the flickering light from the firewood burning in the stove seemed to dance across the faces of the busy women, reflecting their heartfelt joy and contentment. The sound of their occasional chatter drifted out the door, mingling with the laughter of the children.

Several young children sat on small stools, watching as Brother Zongyang corrected the stances of the older boys. Every so often, they would turn their heads, drawn by the fragrant aromas wafting from the kitchen, and eagerly await tonight’s dinner.

As the sky darkened, dinner was almost ready.

Two large tables were filled with all sorts of dishes. Although it was just one type of ingredient prepared in two or three different ways, to them, it was a delicious feast that looked and smelled wonderful.

The families gathered around the tables, enjoying the simple yet satisfying dinner.

After the meal, some people sat out front to cool off and eat fruit, while others continued with unfinished chores.

As night fell, the children began their medicine baths with the Foundation Establishment Medicine Liquid prepared by Cheng Guangshan. This continued until the sky was completely dark and dotted with stars.

Cheng Zongyang and his second uncle watched over his younger siblings and cousins throughout their entire bath.

After their last discussion, everyone had agreed to have all the children undergo the medicine baths. Later, because Cheng Zongyang had brought back a large amount of Medicinal Materials, they decided that anyone under the age of sixteen would take part.

Even for a fifteen-year-old, a year of medicine baths would still be effective. Of course, this excluded Cheng Zongyang. He had already reached Entry Grade and had no need for it.

There were enough small tubs for everyone.

The water wasn’t boiling, but it was still quite hot. The little ones, only a few years old, yelped from the heat, but at the adults’ insistence, they could only sit in the tubs and endure it, their eyes red and brimming with tears.

As the water temperature gradually dropped until it was cold, half an hour had passed.

With that, the medicine bath was considered complete.

The Foundation Establishment Medicine Bath itself was a long-term, gradual process; one or two sessions wouldn’t show any obvious effects.

Afterward, to appease the little girl, Cheng Zongyang continued a story he hadn’t finished before.

At this, the little girl dragged all her older brothers and sisters over.

Cheng Zongyang felt helpless but had no choice but to start spinning his nonsensical tale:

"Alright, I’ll tell everyone a story."

Instantly, all the children’s eyes lit up.

"A long, long time ago, there was a very fair princess named Snow White. But she had a stepmother who was jealous of how fair she was, so she made her tend the fires in the kitchen. She got covered in soot and wasn’t white anymore, so she became Cinderella..."

At this, the little girl turned to Zhou Xiaoxiao beside her and said, "See? Big Brother says the same thing. I wasn’t talking nonsense."

Cheng Zongyang was speechless. He remembered the story the little girl had told everyone back in the village.

"Quiet down. Do you want to hear the rest or not?" Cheng Zongyang said with a laugh.

"Okay, okay, I believe you," Zhou Xiaoxiao quickly said to Cheng Zongyun.

"Cousin, please continue," Zhou Xiaoxiao said excitedly.

Cheng Zongyang nodded and continued:

"Later, Cinderella went to fetch water. When she saw her blackened reflection, she started crying by the riverbank. But she suddenly discovered that her tears were turning into pearls, only all the pearls fell into the river.

Just then, a River God appeared in the water. He held out a golden axe and asked Cinderella, ’Is this what you dropped?’ Cinderella shook her head. The River God then held out a silver axe and asked the same question..."

"Is that River God crazy?" Zhou Xiaoxiao suddenly muttered, her little brow furrowed. "She dropped pearls, so why is he showing her axes? And he did it twice?"

Cheng Zongyang sighed and continued helplessly:

"When the River God saw Cinderella shake her head, he laughed and said, ’You are an honest child. I must reward you.’ Then, he grabbed a frog from the river and said that if she kissed it, it would turn into her prince. But Cinderella asked if he could just give her pearls back first. By the time she looked again, the River God had vanished, leaving only the frog behind.

Now, Cinderella got angry. She thought the old man had run off with her pearls, which she could have sold for money, so she kicked the frog into the air. But the frog flew up into the sky, transformed into an Evil Dragon, and immediately snatched Cinderella away.

But the Seven Dwarfs, who were picking mushrooms in the forest, saw this. They immediately pulled Gourds out of their pockets, shouted ’Transform!’, and became the seven Huluwa. The seven Huluwa then set off on a journey to save Cinderella. Okay, that’s it. The end."

All the children were completely dumbfounded.

They hadn’t had their fill of listening. The story was so exciting, with a River God and an Evil Dragon.

Just as they were hoping to hear more, they saw Cheng Zongyang walk off toward the adults.

Next, it was time for the elders and the older cousins to take their medicine baths!