Chapter 20

Xiao Yao entered the city before dawn. He pushed a cart into the city to sell prey to his granddaughter. This time, he thought that he would definitely get a lot of money because the prey in the trap was still alive. Yesterday, he only took the wild chicken to cook like his granddaughter. The rest were three wild rabbits. As for a wild boar this big, he thought that the price should not be less than a hundred taels. It had been a long time since he had hunted a wild boar to sell.

Upon arriving at the regular inn, Xiao Yao immediately approached the shop owner.

“Boss, today I have a big wild boar for sale. I wonder if you would like to buy it or not.”

“Take it. Hurry up and show me. It’s been a long time since I cooked with wild boar.”

Xiao Yao hurriedly walked over and pulled the cart over to show the boss.

“Oh, do you still have some rabbits that are still alive? Do you want to sell them all together?”

"Selling, sir. I wonder how much the boss would like it to cost."

“I’ll have the kid weigh it first. The price is fair, so don’t worry. Live rabbits are even harder to find. Thank you for finding good wild animals to sell to me often.”

Xiao Yao smiled at the boss who had helped him buy wild animals for many years. The price the boss gave him had never been low, so he trusted the boss very much. After weighing the boar, it weighed 120 jin. The boss charged Xiao Yao 1 tael per jin. He also charged 300 taels per jin for the wild rabbit. Because the rabbit was still alive, he gave such a good price. Today, Xiao Yao received a total of 129 taels. This made Xiao Yao very happy to receive such a large amount of money at once. After selling it, he also promised the boss that he would often find live wild animals to sell. As for the wild boar, it depended on whether he could catch it again or not.

Xiao Yao didn't buy anything. He went straight home to give the money to his talented niece who had made a lot of money in one go so that his younger sister wouldn't have to suffer like before.

Ning Qing had no idea that her wild animals would earn so much money. She continued to take care of the herb garden leisurely, while helping her father pick up five more traps so that she and her uncle could go up the mountain and set more traps.

In the morning, Xiao Yao returned to the village. He quickly gave his niece 129 taels of silver. Ning Qing refused to accept all the money. She gave half to her uncle for the bait he had sold. At first, Xiao Yao refused to accept the money because he was only helping his niece set up a trap. However, when everyone pressured her and Ning Qing threatened that she would not let her uncle take her up the mountain anymore, but would go up herself if her uncle did not accept the money, Xiao Yao only accepted 60 taels of silver. He gave the remaining 69 taels to his niece to keep safely.

After agreeing on this, Ning Qing smiled sweetly at her uncle. She wanted her uncle to have some savings as well, so she did this. Moreover, her father had already made more traps for her. Today, the two uncle and niece went up the mountain to set another trap. Ning Qing chose a location where she thought wild animals might wander into the trap like usual. As for the hole they dug yesterday, they checked and saw that a tiger that had followed the scent of blood had fallen into it and died. It wasn’t very big, so Ning Qing had her uncle bring it up to sell again today. She would make a new trap just like before, in case other animals fell into it.

After the agreement was reached, the two uncle and nephew divided up the tasks and it didn't take long for Ning Qing to set up all ten traps. She also went to help bring the tigers upstairs. This time, she didn't know how much they could sell for because Xiao Yao didn't know the price of the tigers either. Ning Qing and her uncle went to the city together because Ning Qing wanted to buy some clothes for everyone in the house. Right now, her siblings were wearing clothes that were too short, and her father had been wearing the same clothes many times. Now that she had money, she wanted everyone to live more comfortably.

Ning Qing went to talk with her uncle about Ning Yang's studies. She wanted her brother to enroll in the next school recruitment. She didn't know how much the fees would be, so Xiao Yao told her that if he stayed overnight, the tuition and accommodation would be 12 taels a year, while those who went back and forth would only have to pay 10 taels. Ning Qing planned to let her brother enroll in the school right away. She also thanked Xiao Yao for helping her earn money this time. If it weren't for her strong uncle, how could someone like her have been able to pull the tiger and the boar out of the animal trap?

The innkeeper saw Xiao Yao coming back with a girl again and was surprised. After asking, it turned out that he had bought a tiger to sell, which was very rare for ordinary people to find. The innkeeper quickly asked Xiao Yao to show him. The tiger was in as good condition as the wild boar that morning. So he offered 5 taels of tiger per jin. It was very difficult to find such a good tiger in the city. Even with many hunters, no one had ever caught a tiger. Xiao Yao was really lucky. After weighing it, it turned out that the tiger weighed 80 jin. This time, Xiao Yao earned another 400 taels. Of course, he gave all the money to his niece without thinking much. Ning Qing returned 200 taels to her uncle to make him feel better. But this time, Xiao Yao refused. He only asked for a hundred taels. Otherwise, he would not take her to set traps anymore. Ning Qing could only feel disappointed with her kind uncle. She did not know if these several hundred taels of tiger would be enough for her to buy a house in the city. Because she didn't want her younger brother to stay overnight at school, she had to move to the city. She was also worried that it would be difficult to travel to take care of her father, and she wanted to take him to see a doctor in the city.