After finishing her meal, Gu Qingcheng went to see Wu Yu and informed him that the she-wolf had been shot and killed. It was indeed a nursing mother, which explained its aggressive behavior. The she-wolf had given birth to a litter of four pups, but three had already died, leaving only one, which she had brought back to raise.
Upon hearing this, Wu Yu felt relieved. However, after a moment, he spoke with renewed concern.
“Young Master Gu, if there was a she-wolf, there must be a male wolf. Perhaps the male wolf was out hunting when you went. Now that you’ve brought its cub back, the male wolf might follow the scent and attack the village.”
“Ah? Is that so?”
Gu Qingcheng was taken aback, having not considered this consequence.
“Should I return the cub now?” Gu Qingcheng asked.
“It’s no use. You’ve brought the cub back, and it now carries human scent. The male wolf won’t accept it. Moreover, male wolves are very vengeful; it will surely come to attack the village.” Seeing Gu Qingcheng’s crestfallen face, Wu Yu chuckled, “I’m considering the worst-case scenario. Perhaps there’s no male wolf, or even if there is, it won’t attack the village. You should just be more careful when going up the mountain to hunt.”
“Alright, I’ll have the village guards and hunting team be on high alert.” Gu Qingcheng also felt it was best not to be overly worried.
She then inquired about Wu Yu’s injuries. Seeing that he had no fever and had clearly passed the stage of infection, she instructed him to rest well and promised to return in five days to remove his stitches.
Wu Yu was deeply grateful.
Wu Yu was in good spirits and recovering well, which gave Gu Qingcheng a sense of accomplishment. He was the first severely injured person she had personally treated. If her father knew, he would surely praise her. She was, after all, a doctor’s daughter. Although she hadn’t chosen to study medicine, her upbringing had provided her with the necessary knowledge to be useful in critical moments.
Gu Qingcheng exchanged a few more pleasantries with the two brothers before taking her leave. However, Wu Yu’s words still weighed on her mind, and she couldn’t entirely shake off her concern.
Yan Xin was in the communal canteen processing the she-wolf. She was skinning it, cutting the meat into large pieces, salting it, and air-drying it to make jerky. The wolf hide, after being carefully tanned, could be sold down the mountain for five taels of silver. The hunting team had also been steadily increasing the village's income, enough to cover their own monthly salaries, which was a pleasant surprise for Gu Qingcheng. It seemed the hunting team was on its way to becoming self-sufficient.
Gu Qingcheng found Yan Xin in the communal canteen and relayed Wu Yu’s concerns.
“Young Master Gu, if there is indeed a male wolf, it will surely come seeking revenge. We do need to pay attention. But the most critical concern is the village’s livestock farm. If any cattle or sheep are killed by wolves, the losses would be immense. I’ll have the hunting team take turns on guard duty. As for the villagers, if the wolf plans to sneak in, it would be in the dead of night when everyone is asleep. We no longer live in makeshift shelters, so it would be difficult for a wolf to break into a wooden house, and it would be detected by vigilant villagers. Therefore, the livestock farm is the most pressing concern.”
Gu Qingcheng found Yan Xin to be quite intelligent and his analysis accurate. She then discussed with him the idea of reassigning members of the hunting team to strengthen the village guard.
Yan Xin mentioned that the hunting team only had twenty members, and they were already taking turns hunting in the mountains. If some were assigned to night duty, the team would be short-handed. Gu Qingcheng then proposed that she wanted Yan Xin to lead a martial arts competition, with events in shooting and weightlifting.
The two competitions would be divided into adult and youth categories. In the archery contest, each participant would shoot ten arrows, and the winner would be determined by the highest combined score. In the weightlifting competition, participants would attempt to lift the heaviest training stone. Each person would have three chances to lift the same weight of training stone, and the one who could lift the heaviest stone would win. Gu Qingcheng had based these competition rules on modern sports, so she could easily recite them without much thought. It was remarkable that Yan Xin immediately understood the rules and agreed that it was an excellent method for selecting hunting team members. Gu Qingcheng suggested that the top twenty participants in both competitions could be considered for observation and potential inclusion in the hunting team. Another purpose of holding the competition was to encourage everyone to practice archery and strength training more diligently in preparation for achieving good results.
Gu Qingcheng announced that the top three winners in each event would receive 20 taels of silver, 15 taels of silver, and 10 taels of silver, respectively, in descending order of their placings. Upon hearing the generous prize money, Yan Xin rubbed his hands together and chuckled, “If members of the hunting team were allowed to participate, I would love to enter myself.”
“Haha, you can start organizing the competition. Don’t worry about the money; all expenses will be covered by me.”
After Gu Qingcheng finished her conversation with Yan Xin, Mei Xiang brought over a bowl of sweet fermented rice soup, one of Gu Qingcheng’s favorite sweets. Sweet fermented rice soup was known for its skin-beautifying, blood-circulating, and stomach-warming properties, offering numerous benefits for young women. Her mother, Hu Lanfang, used to make it for Gu Qingcheng before her menstrual cycle. Sweet fermented rice soup was a specialty from Mei Xiang’s hometown. After trying it once, Gu Qingcheng had praised it, saying it tasted like her mother’s, and Mei Xiang had remembered.
“Young Master Gu, the weather is getting cold. Have some of this to warm you up,” Mei Xiang said with a smile as she placed the sweet fermented rice soup on the table. Her version was deliciously sweet and sour. In summer, it was refreshing when chilled; now that the weather was cold, adding a poached egg and heating it up made one feel warm and nourished from the inside out.
Gu Qingcheng thanked Mei Xiang and began to eat with relish. Seeing her enjoy the dish, Mei Xiang beamed, her eyes crinkling with joy. “Young Master Gu, you’re too kind. Everything we do is out of duty. Without you, where would Phoenix Village be? Where would we all be, living such good lives? Just three or four months ago, we were refugees. The officials refused to accept us, making excuses. We were looked down upon and didn’t even dare to speak loudly. Now, we are villagers of Phoenix Village and live better than the local residents. We can finally hold our heads high. My son is thirteen this year. I’ve told him to work hard and practice archery diligently. If he gets the chance, he should join the village’s hunting team.”
“Oh? Your son wants to join the hunting team? Aren’t you worried about Wu Yu’s injury?”
“I am worried, of course. But learning martial arts is about serving the village and protecting Phoenix Village. If no one comes forward to protect the village, it might be annexed by others in the future.”
Gu Qingcheng was deeply moved. She hadn’t expected a village woman and cook like Mei Xiang to possess such foresight and wisdom. However, she realized that such an outlook must have been forged through experiencing great hardship.
“Aunt Mei Xiang, tell your son to practice his archery well. If he needs any advice on archery, he can come directly to me or Mi Guo. We will gladly guide him.” Gu Qingcheng said generously.
“Certainly, Young Master Gu. I thank you in advance.” Mei Xiang smiled, though a flicker of doubt arose in her mind: did Young Master Gu also know archery? Gu Qingcheng’s archery skills had never been displayed in front of others, so the villagers of Phoenix Village only knew that Mi Guo had excellent archery skills and was the best archer in the village. They were unaware that in front of Gu Qingcheng, Mi Guo was merely a younger sibling. Of course, Mi Guo was indeed Gu Qingcheng’s younger sibling!