Chapter 577: Rescuing the Two of You

The father and son of the Wei family were in the middle of a beautiful dream about turning their lives around when, suddenly, a fierce, biting cold wind from the foot of Mount Changbai brushed against their faces, making them both shiver uncontrollably.

Wei Yongzheng sighed, "Damn it, the wind in this godforsaken place is too vicious. One gust has chilled me to the bone. Let's get out of here quickly."

"Alright!" Wei Wei Changming also felt a bone-piercing chill. He hurriedly hunched his neck, stood up, patted the snow off his backside, and reached out to pull his father up.

It had to be said that during the time the father and son had been relying on each other for survival at Mount Changbai, their bond had deepened significantly compared to before.

In the past, although Wei Yongzheng favored this eldest son, for a selfish person like him, it was truly difficult to be genuinely good to someone from the bottom of his heart.

Therefore, his feelings for Wei Wei Changming were actually just average—better than those for Wei Liang, but not by much.

Wei Wei Changming had always been a spoiled second-generation rich kid, thinking only of wining, dining, and chasing women every day; his relationship with his father hadn't been very close either.

This was mainly because, when Wei Wei Changming was young, he often heard his mother instilling in him that his father was a man who didn't care for his family and kept women everywhere.

This made Wei Wei Changming harbor resentment toward the old man from a young age.

However, upon arriving at Mount Changbai, the father and son had to work together to strive for survival, which allowed them to set aside their mutual prejudices and become increasingly reliant on each other.

Everyone knew that in this kind of environment, one could not afford to lose the other.

If they lost each other, the one left behind would certainly have neither the courage nor the ability to continue living.

The father and son walked from the foot of the mountain toward the scattered, twinkling lights in the distance.

The place with the lights was the village where they lived, still three or four *li* away from the foot of the mountain.

As the father and son walked, Wei Wei Changming said, "Dad, Li the hunter in the village hunted a roe deer in the mountains yesterday. I heard that roe deer meat is delicious. Should we go to his place later and see? Find a chance to swipe a couple of pounds of roe deer meat!"

"Swipe his meat?" Wei Yongzheng sighed, "That guy surnamed Li is stingy as hell. Last time he hunted a wild boar weighing over 500 pounds, I asked him for a section of pig intestine, and he wouldn't even give it to me, telling me to pay him."

As he spoke, Wei Yongzheng grumbled, "Do you know what this hunter Li is called?"

Wei Wei Changming shook his head, "How would I know what he's called? I only know his surname is Li."

Wei Yongzheng spat on the ground and said with disdain, "Damn it, a hunter who doesn't know a single big character, yet he gave himself the name Li Zhang Wenhao. I even asked him, 'You're a "literary giant" (Zhang Wenhao)? Can you even write your own name?' Guess what he said?"

Wei Wei Changming asked curiously, "What did he say?"

Wei Yongzheng chuckled, "He said he could only write 'Li Wen'; he couldn't even write the character 'Hao'."

Wei Wei Changming laughed, "If I'd known, I would've taught him to write 'Hao'. Once I taught him, I'd have him give me two pounds of meat as tuition."

Wei Yongzheng said, "Still asking him for meat? He wouldn't even give you pig skin."

Wei Wei Changming said, "I see it's cold now, dozens of degrees below zero outside. The roe deer he hit must have been slaughtered long ago, and the meat is hanging in the courtyard freezing. Later, we'll climb over the wall, steal a string of it to take back and taste, and consider it replenishing our nutrition."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yongzheng hurriedly said, "Then hurry and hide one of the ginseng roots we dug today in your clothes. Don't hand them all over. Tomorrow, we'll use this ginseng to stew the roe deer meat. It'll definitely be a great tonic!"

"Alright, leave it to me!"

As he spoke, Wei Wei Changming took out a ginseng root and stuffed it into his underwear.

The ginseng, frozen stiff, went into his underwear, chilling him so much he yelped.

Wei Yongzheng said with a look of disgust, "How can you stuff it there? How the hell are we supposed to eat it?"

Wei Wei Changming said, "It's fine, just wash it a few more times. If I don't stuff it in my crotch, there's no way to hide it. They'll search us, you know that."

"Fine!" Wei Yongzheng said helplessly, "Then make sure to wash it a few more times later. It's best to blanch it in boiling water."

Wei Wei Changming waved his hand, "Oh Dad, you don't understand. Ginseng is something that, if you blanch it in hot water, all the nutrition goes into the water."

Wei Yongzheng could only nod, sighing, "If only we could get two pounds of liquor. Soak the ginseng in the liquor, take it with us when we go into the mountains, and have a sip when it's cold—that would be wonderful!"

Wei Wei Changming said, "Widow Li seems to know how to brew liquor. I'll go chat with her another day; maybe she has some hidden away."

The father and son chatted as they walked through the cold wind, and after more than half an hour, they reached the entrance of the village.

The two did not return to their dilapidated house immediately but instead felt their way in the dark to the home of Li the hunter.

Although the foot of Mount Changbai was poor, everyone relied on the mountain for food, so they didn't lack anything.

In the past, the whole village often went into the mountains to hunt.

But now that most of the young people had gone out to seek their fortunes, not many people hunted anymore.

Li the hunter was the only professional hunter in the entire village.

If anyone in the village wanted to eat game, they would use money or other things to trade for some meat from the hunter.

Wei Wei Changming had been coveting his game for a long time because he was so poor he couldn't even afford to fill his own stomach, let alone have anything extra to trade for meat.

Today, he was truly too hungry, and since Li the hunter had just hunted a roe deer yesterday, he set his mind to it—he had to get some meat to take back and taste.

Arriving outside the wall of Li the hunter's house, Wei Wei Changming peeked over the wall and saw, sure enough, pieces of roe deer meat hanging in the courtyard.

So he whispered to his father, Wei Yongzheng, "You crouch down and let me step on your shoulders to get up."

Wei Yongzheng was also truly hungry, so he hurriedly crouched down by the corner of the wall, let Wei Wei Changming step on him, and climbed into the courtyard himself.

Wei Wei Changming quickly succeeded, stealing a roe deer leg, and was climbing back out with it hanging from his waist.

Just as he climbed out, he said excitedly to his father, "This leg is at least ten-plus pounds; it's enough for us to eat for a week."

"Good, good, good!" Wei Yongzheng clapped his hands in excitement.

It had been a while since they'd eaten meat, and with this much, they could really have a good feast.

The father and son were excitedly about to head back.

Suddenly, more than a dozen masked men dressed in black rushed out from the shadows.

Even more terrifying was that these dozen people were all holding weapons; seven or eight held knives, and five or six held pistols.

The father and son were stunned. Wei Wei Changming said with a mournful face, "Big brothers, we're just stealing a bit of meat to eat; is such a big show really necessary?"

Wei Yongzheng was also scared out of his wits and hurriedly said to him, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and give the meat back to them."

Wei Wei Changming hurriedly threw the roe deer leg from his waist onto the ground and begged for mercy, "Everyone, please show mercy."

These dozen people surrounded the father and son, and one of them blurted out, "Are you Wei Yongzheng and Wei Wei Changming?"

Wei Yongzheng nodded blankly and asked, "What are you big brothers here for?"

The man said coldly, "We were sent by the Wu family of Suhang to rescue you father and son. The car is already waiting at the village entrance. Come with us now; we're taking you back to Jin Ling!"

Upon hearing this, the father and son were instantly dumbfounded, and immediately after, both of them burst into tears.

The two looked at each other and hugged, crying bitterly.

They never expected that they would actually have a day where they could see the light at the end of the tunnel!

So the father and son knelt on the ground, bowing and crying, "Thank you, big brothers, thank you for your great kindness. We father and son will never forget this in our lives!" ===== CHAPTER 578 =====