Chapter 39

Before they even reached home, they saw many villagers surrounding the door, whispering and discussing, their faces filled with envy, jealousy, or fear.

The two squeezed through the crowd and rushed into the courtyard to look, and they were stunned.

On the ground lay many corpses, at least a dozen, big and small, gray and black, with brains splattered and throats pierced by arrows—it looked particularly creepy.

Wolves, they were all wolves.

Du Ruo's heart skipped a beat, and she ran into the house.

Jiang Li was sitting on a stool, his body leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, his handsome sword-like brows locked tightly, as if he were still guarding against something. His expression looked very exhausted.

But fortunately, his breathing was still steady; he shouldn't have suffered any serious injuries.

Du Ruo reached out and placed her hand on Jiang Li's forehead, calling the system in her mind.

The system quickly measured Jiang Li's physical condition: "Temporary weakness caused by exhaustion. Just drink some nourishing soup, no major problems."

Du Ruo breathed a sigh of relief and checked Wang Bujiu and Iron Egg, who were lying on the ground. Wang Bujiu had a few superficial wounds, but none were serious; the dog was also just tired, with no problems.

She gave Jiang Cheng a look, and the two stepped out lightly.

Jiang Cheng was busy cleaning up the wolf corpses in the courtyard.

Du Ruo walked to the door and smiled at the onlookers: "It's just a few dead wolves, nothing to see, everyone go back."

Everyone laughed, some sensibly dispersed, while others were full of sourness.

"Saying it so lightly, just a few dead wolves? Do you know how much these dead wolves can sell for? That wolf skin, and wolf meat, are all treasures, at least they must sell for dozens of taels of silver! Some people are just lucky, going up the mountain casually and earning several years of money for others. I don't know what kind of dog-shit luck they had."

Du Ruo's smile faded, and her gaze fell on the slovenly woman.

She knew this woman; she was the famous "Pig Mother" in the village, who had given birth to ten daughters and two sons. Most of the daughters were sold, and the silver obtained was half used for the eldest son's marriage and half for the youngest son's schooling.

Jiang Wan's only good friend, Chunhua, was her youngest daughter.

"Aunt Zhu, if you really think this silver is easy to come by, why don't you ask your son to go up the mountain and see if he has this dog-shit luck, and if he can earn dozens of taels of silver for you, how about that?" Du Ruo said mockingly.

Zhu's jealous face became even uglier.

Her son only knew how to hang out behind Jiang Zongbao all day, and couldn't even farm. He didn't have Jiang Li's ability to hunt; this Du woman was clearly mocking her.

"Pfft, sharp-tongued ugly woman, just wait and see, Jiang Li will divorce you sooner or later!"

After scolding, she spat on the ground and twisted her bucket waist as she left.

Du Ruo couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her. This kind of person was born with red-eye disease (jealousy), couldn't stand others doing well, and the more you paid attention to her, the more vigorous she became.

Once everyone had dispersed, she closed the courtyard door and entered the kitchen. Jiang Wan was very sensible and had already sat by the stove. The sister-in-law and sister boiled two large buckets of hot water, and Du Ruo started preparing dinner.

Jiang Li and Wang Bujiu had stayed in the mountains for a day and a night and hunted so many wolves; they must be tired and hungry.

After the meal was ready, Du Ruo carried the water to the room, preparing to wake the two men to wash and eat.

Jiang Li was still leaning against the wall. Perhaps he was too tired, so in his sleep, he completely released his nature, his thin lips slightly parted, his hands clenched into fists, looking as innocent as an ignorant teenager.

Du Ruo couldn't help but lean closer to look at him.

It had to be said that this man was truly very handsome, clear and handsome, not as rough as ordinary hunters, but with more wildness than a scholar. This temperament between the two was very charming.

Du Ruo slowly stretched out her "magic claw," wanting to wipe away the unsightly bloodstains on Jiang Li's lips.

Just at this moment, Jiang Li suddenly opened his eyes, his sharp gaze shooting at Du Ruo like an arrow. Before she could react, a fist full of wind smashed toward her face.

Du Ruo was scared silly, even forgetting to scream.

It's over, my life is finished!

"Wife?" Fortunately, Jiang Li woke up in time and hurriedly retracted his fist, his handsome face filled with apology: "Sorry, I thought you were a wolf."

Du Ruo steadied herself and then retracted her claw as if nothing had happened.

Really, she is ugly, but she doesn't look like a wolf, right? At most... she can barely count as a "lustful wolf."

I'll assume you were too tired and had hallucinations, hmph.

"Husband, the water is boiled, go take a bath and come out to eat."

Jiang Li agreed, got up, and kicked Wang Bujiu on the ground awake. Wang Bujiu heard the word "meal" and instantly jumped up like a carp.

"Meal, where is the meal?" He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and looked around, now completely awake, hands on his hips, laughing wildly: "I didn't expect I'd still have a life to come back and eat the meal Sister-in-law made! Hahaha, heaven doesn't want me, Old Wang, to die!"

Tie Dan on the side was startled.

The dog had fought the wolf pack all night to save this big fool, and later dragged several wolf corpses over mountains and through water, already tired to the point of not being a dog. It had finally fallen asleep but was woken up by the big fool, and it was so angry that it jumped up and gave his butt a claw.

The big fool was swatted and staggered, but he wasn't angry; instead, he smiled very obsequiously.

"Dog brother, thank you for your help last night." He patted his chest with a thud: "Don't worry, I, Old Wang, know how to repay kindness best. In this life, if I have a bite of meat, I will never lack a bowl of porridge for you!"

As he spoke, he dragged the dog out: "Go, go, go, let's go to the pond outside to wash together. Don't be like Jiang, wanting to take a hot bath, so womanly."

The man and dog went out with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Du Ruo was dumbfounded.

What's the situation? When they set off yesterday, wasn't Wang Bujiu still looking down on Iron Egg? How did they become "brothers" after one trip into the mountain?

Jiang Li smiled and explained: "Yesterday we had our eyes on a big cat, but who knew we would encounter a wolf pack before we could even make a move. Wang and I were two fists against four hands, and we almost didn't make it back. It was Tie Dan who rushed over and bit the wolf king to death. Without the leader, the wolf pack scattered, and we saved our two lives."

So that's how it was; Du Ruo understood.

The system's product is indeed extraordinary, even knowing the trick of "shooting the horse first to shoot the rider, capturing the thief first to capture the king." Tsk tsk tsk.

Amazing, my dog!

After all, they were young. After a nap and a meal, Jiang Li and Wang Bujiu's spirits quickly returned. They called a few good friends in the village and carried the dozen or so wolves to Xiushan Town in the afternoon.

When it was dark, the group returned. They were riding in a horse carriage, which Jiang Li and Wang Bujiu had bought for nearly forty taels of silver.

The wolves sold for 【missing number】 taels, and the remaining ten taels of silver were split between the two.

This matter quickly spread through the village. A horse carriage—this was the first one in the village, even the richest village head's house didn't have one!

In an instant, gossip faces were everywhere in the village. Some smacked their lips in envy, some spat in jealousy, and some regretted it until their intestines turned green.

"Oh my, if I had known the Jiang family's Second Branch would get rich, I should have married my daughter off early. Then I would be the father-in-law of a constable now!"

"Forget it, Jiang Li doesn't even look at Lin Qingshuang, would he look at your family's dark Pinellia? Don't daydream!"

"What's wrong with my Half-summer? Yes, Half-summer isn't as pretty as Lin Qingshuang, but she's still much better than the Du woman, right?"

"That can't be compared. The Du woman's father is the county assistant, and your Half-summer's father is just an old man digging for food in the fields. Who do you think Jiang Li would choose?"

Everyone laughed out loud.

Actually, it was just for the sake of talking. Don't look at Jiang Li showing off today and hunting so many wolves back, but how many times can such a good thing happen in a lifetime?

Those wolves, at most, sell for dozens of taels of silver. His sister needs medicine, his grandmother needs filial piety, his second brother needs to study, and his third brother needs to marry a wife. It's a bottomless pit that can never be filled; that little money is useless.

That night, Wang Bujiu still had dinner at the Jiang house and shamelessly begged Du Ruo to pack a bowl of black-bone chicken soup, happily going home to show filial piety to his mother.

Wang Bujiu's home was in the neighboring Baishui Village. It was agreed that both families had a share in the horse carriage, but because the Wang family only had an old widowed mother, it wasn't safe to put it there, so it was usually kept at the Jiang house, and Wang Bujiu paid for the horse's feed every month.

Jiang Li wasn't a petty person, so it didn't matter.

After dinner, Du Ruo started boiling her medicine.

She only had two days of medicine left. Fortunately, she still had silver on hand, so she planned to go to the county again in the next day or two.

The medicine was boiled, and Du Ruo poured it into a bowl. Just as she was blowing on it, Jiang Li came in.

Seeing that bowl of thick, bitter medicine, his expression tightened slightly.

"Are you sick?"

"I..."

Du Ruo originally wanted to tell Jiang Li the truth about her physical condition, but on second thought, if Jiang Li really cared about her and knew her body was so bad, he probably wouldn't be at ease while on duty. He was a constable; if he were distracted while handling a case, it would be bad, and there might even be life-threatening danger.

If Jiang Li didn't care about her, then what was the use of saying it? A sickly wife would only be disliked; it would be better to wait until she was cured.

"It's nothing, I haven't been sleeping well these two days, so I'm drinking some calming medicine." She said lightly.

Not sleeping well?

Jiang Li looked at his chubby wife suspiciously, but saw her eyes flickering, not meeting his gaze at all, very different from her open and bright attitude during the day.

"Medicine is three-parts poison; taking too much is bad for the body." He smiled and said, "How about this, I'll sleep with you tonight, maybe you can sleep more peacefully."