"Just put it on the tab."
Mrs. Hong: "You haven't settled last month's bill. Let's clear that first, then we can talk about this month's."
"What do you mean? A single bun costs so little, and you think we can't afford it?" one of the men who followed Lin Boqin interrupted her angrily.
These men often came by to eat for free, and their presence scared away those paying customers.
After they left, Mrs. Hong turned around and cursed them angrily.
"Brother Lin, wasn't that mute from your village just now?" one of Lin Boqin's companions said while chewing on a bun, "It looks like they've managed to earn quite a little bit of money recently."
"Impossible. With the kind of money they make, I heard the Hong family was worried just yesterday about whether they could recover their debts by the end of the year," another person doubted.
"Why don't we go and find out?"
Lin Boqin and his friends who had lost all their money in the gambling den recently, were desperate for cash.
Yesterday, Huo Tianzhou had been busy selling wild animals and couldn't check the job postings.
Taking a shortcut through an alley today, he was soon blocked by a group of people.
The leader was Lin Boqin from their village, he's a few years older than Huo Tianzhou.
Lin Boqin had been a troublemaker since childhood, stealing and causing trouble, and hadn't returned to the village for a long time.
"I heard that you've cleared your debt to the Hong family. We're from the same village, and although we're not related, you should still call me 'brother.' If you've found a way to make money, shouldn't you share it with me?"
The three men completely blocked the alley, and the passersby who saw the confrontation avoided the area.
Huo Tianzhou stopped and looked up at them.
"I'm not unreasonable," Lin Boqin said as he approached him, "I'm short on cash lately. Since you've made some money, shouldn't you show some respect and share a bit with us?"
Last time Liang Hongyu returned from the mountains without setting traps, but today, after wandering around all morning, she had caught two nests of wild rabbits, totaling more than ten.
Many were small and would need to be raised for a while before they could be sold.
The backpack she brought today had compartments to hold all the rabbits.
As it was almost noon, she started a fire on the spot to prepare lunch.
Climbing the mountain was exhausting.
She had brought rice and made bamboo tube rice before leaving.
Not minding the extra effort, she also caught a fish to grill and even brought spices, refusing to compromise on her meal.
This part of the forest was remote and not very hospitable; Liang Hongyu hadn't encountered much wildlife since she arrived in this world.
After eating, she cleaned up the fire pit and didn't linger.
She picked up her backpack and headed out.
The previous night, she noticed that there was hardly any soap left at home and decided to gather some more.
There was a soapberry tree at the foot of this mountain.
Few people came here, so the tree had plenty of unpicked soapberries.
Dried soapberries could be sold in town.
Many villagers kept some on hand.
Huo Tianzhou had gathered them before, but there were too many people selling soapberries in town, and they didn't sell as well as his bamboo crafts.
Plus, they took a lot of time to process, so he eventually stopped.
Liang Hongyu took half an hour to walk from the deep mountains to the outskirts.
The soapberry tree was tall and dense, with thorns on the trunk, making it hard to pick.
Usually, people would use a bamboo pole to knock them down or wait for them to fall when ripe.
This wasn't the best time for harvesting soapberries.
Liang Hongyu scanned the tree and saw that there weren't many that were ready to pick.
Deciding that using a bamboo pole wouldn't be efficient, she put down her backpack, found a spot away from the thorns, and climbed up the tree.
Once she had dropped enough soapberries to the ground, Liang Hongyu climbed down and packed them into a cloth bag.
She had to cross the mountain in front of her to get back.
Since there were fewer animals here, she decided not to set any traps.
Calculating her time, she planned to move ahead, set traps in the forest near the village, and return by evening.
As soon as she exited the mountain, she saw someone in the distance, staggering while carrying another person on their back, as if being chased.
After walking a bit further, the person could no longer continue.
He leaned against a tree to rest.
The person on his back said something, and he looked back, seeing no immediate danger, then carefully set the person down.
Liang Hongyu walked closer and recognized the man.
"Uncle Qian?"
Startled by the voice, Qian Huizhong turned around quickly, and, seeing it was Liang Hongyu, he sighed in relief and collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
"What happened to you?" Uncle Qian's condition looked dire, and Liang Hongyu quickly walked over.
Uncle Qian leaned against the tree root, clutching his lower leg with a pained expression.
His thigh was haphazardly wrapped in clothing, blood soaking from there down to his shoe.
He looked up to see Liang Hongyu, but he was too weak to speak because of the blood loss.
Qian Huizhong is about the same age as Huo Tianzho.
Unlike his eldest brother who grew up by following his father into the mountains since he was a child.
He wasn't used to such emergencies.
He pressed his hand over his father's wound and was on the verge of tears.
"We were setting traps when suddenly a few wild boars appeared. My father got injured when he tried to protect me; he was bitten by a boar and broke his leg..."
Qian Huizhong looked down at his father's wound, unable to continue due to guilt.
He felt he shouldn't have come to the mountain today.
Hearing this, Uncle Qian patted his hand.
Injuries were common while hunting, and as long as one was still breathing, it wasn't considered serious.
"My father said we need to inform the village chief quickly so the villagers can take precautions against the wild boars who might be going down the mountain and destroying the crops."