kvmb Chapter 37 1 Cut a Dry Tree Branch
Chapter 37 1 Cut a Dry Tree Branch
As Wen Chengbin lost his footing and fell to the ground, he felt a splinter pierce his right arm. His entire arm went numb instantly, and the pain shot straight to the top of his head, making his scalp tingle.
He tensed up, took a deep breath, and jumped up with his arms wrapped around himself.
A piece of dead tree branch, as thick as a wrist, slid off his arm, leaving a splinter in his skin.
"Holy crap, what is this thing? It's so sturdy."
Wen Chengbin cried out in pain and gritted his teeth to pull the splinter from his arm.
Wenwen blinked and sheepishly withdrew her outstretched hand.
It's all her fault; she's the one who caused my second brother to fall. I feel extremely guilty. "Second brother, are you alright?"
Wen Chengbin didn't take it seriously, patting his arm and saying, "It's nothing, just a splinter."
Wenwen leaned closer to take a look and saw that after the splinter was pulled out, a trace of green sap was left on her arm. This green sap quickly mixed with the blood to form a brown, viscous substance that covered the wound, looking at it like a scab at first glance.
Fortunately, the injury wasn't serious.
Wen Chengbin picked up the dead branch and examined it closely.
The withered branch was over a foot long, black all over, covered with scars, some of which had splinters in the center. The splinters were jagged and uneven, and it was probably these splinters that had pricked his arm.
He gripped one end, swung it forcefully, thrust it, and jabbed it, impulsively performing a set of stick techniques.
"Hmph, hmph, ha..."
After playing with it, he grinned from ear to ear, "It's quite handy, not bad as a weapon. I can fix the splinters when I get back. Little sister, can you hold onto this for me for now?"
After saying that, he casually stuffed the withered branch into Wenwen's hands and bent down to pick up the pile of tricolor vines.
"Let's go find our elder brother."
Looking at the withered branch in her hand, Wenwen thought about how cool her second brother's stick technique was, and suddenly felt a strong urge to try it herself.
She blurted out, "Second brother, I'll help you fix the splinter, and you teach me how to do that trick."
As she spoke, she mimicked the cat's movements and swung her stick out, "Ha!"
Her chop made Wen Chengbin laugh out loud, "Okay, it's no big deal, I'll definitely teach you."
From not far away, Wen Chengjian's voice came, "Second brother, sister, where are you?"
As the sound grew closer, Wenwen held up a megaphone and shouted, "Big brother, over here! We're here!"
For a moment, the sound of the brother and sister calling to each other echoed through the woods.
A flock of birds was startled and flew up to a higher place.
Wenwen and Wenchengbin quickly walked out of the vine-covered area. Just as they turned around the large rock, they saw a mountain coming from the opposite direction—a moving mountain covered with wild game.
The mountain was laden with game—pheasants, rabbits, ducks, and the like—tightly bound together in bunches, hanging around necks, arms, and waists, wrapped round and round.
As he walked along the mountainside, he called out, "Second brother, come quickly and help."
Wen Chengbin, used to such sights, ran over to help.
Wenwen was completely stunned by what she saw. Her eyes widened, her mouth gaped open, and she swallowed hard, giving her older brother a big thumbs up in her heart.
She approached her older brother with utmost admiration, "Big brother, have you stirred up their lair? There are way too many of them."
"Isn't it good to have more? We have a large family, so we consume things quickly."
"That's true. Our family of old people can eat four or five in one meal, but these will be gone in a few meals."
"Hurry up and tie us up, let's go back and meet up with Uncle!"
"Let's go back and stew chicken and roast rabbit!"
As Wen Chengbin hung the pheasant on his body, he didn't forget to ramble on.
Wenwen urged, "Hurry, hurry, hurry."
The three siblings, each carrying their belongings, strode back to find their third uncle.
Of course, Wenwen only carried a few tricolor vines, while the rest were on her eldest and second eldest brothers.
Her pheasant, adorned with a flower wreath, was given special treatment by her second brother, who carefully perched it on his shoulder.
The second brother said, "This is the first chicken my sister has ever caught; she needs to show everyone what she's made of."
No matter how much Wenwen objected, it was no use. Her older brother also said that his younger siblings had to see it for themselves.
She suspected her brothers were making fun of her indirectly, but unfortunately she had no proof.
The three of them called out from a distance, "Third Uncle, we're back."
Wen Qikang was sorting through a pile of fruit, putting the intact ones in one pile, those with small wormholes or cracks in another, those with several wormholes or cracks in another, and those that were completely rotten in yet another.
He heard the voices of several people, his hands continued moving, and he calmly turned around, his eyes sweeping over them.
Uh, I burped, and it startled me.
Two men, covered in strings of game and stained with blood, were walking toward him from a distance, looking like wild men.
Wen Qikang was caught off guard, his legs gave way, and he fell backward, landing hard on his bottom in a pile of rotten apricots.
Ouch, my clothes are soaked in bright yellow juice.
Look how much surprise these unlucky kids brought him.
Ignoring the dirt on his clothes, Wen Qikang got up and went to greet the two wild men. He circled around them twice, struggling to find their faces in the pile of wild game.
He was so excited he couldn't stop smiling: "Oh my good nephew, your third uncle is really lucky. Come, come, you two take a break. By the way, did you chase them all the way to their lair? How come you have so many people here?"
Wenwen chuckled, "Third Uncle, I reckon Big Brother went to the chicken coop and plundered everything."
"We didn't finish harvesting them; we still have the chicks left."
"Yes, we must keep it, so that it can be a continuous supply."
"Hehehe, let them rest and recuperate, we'll plunder them again next year."
"Hehehe..."
The group chatted idly, each taking turns to say something.
Wen Qikang looked at the large pile of wild game on the ground, then at the several piles of fruit that had been separated, and his tone changed, his brow furrowed with worry, "There's so much, how are we going to take it all back? Why don't you stay here and rest, and I'll go back and call someone?"
Wen Chengjian and his companion readily agreed, saying, "Third Uncle, we're strong enough to carry it; there's no need to go back and call for help."
Wen Chengbin chimed in from the side, "Third Uncle, don't worry, he can handle it."
Wenwen didn't say anything. She looked at the piles of fruit in front of her, which were clearly separated and neatly stacked. Only a pile of rotten apricots was a pitiful sight. Her third uncle was not idle at all; he really had something to do.
She secretly glanced at her third uncle's clothes and thought, "Hmm, how am I going to explain this color to my third aunt when I get back?"
She silently supported her third uncle in her heart.
Wenwen wasn't worried about how to take it back.
Her only concern was how to unite everyone on the same side.
She cleared her throat, blinked her eyes, and asked a question: "If we take all of these back, won't it be too conspicuous? Won't people be even more concerned, and our family won't be able to sleep peacefully at night?"
Wen Chengjian and Wen Chengbin clenched their fists immediately: "If you dare, beat them to death."
Wenwen disagreed, "The officials and yamen runners are just jealous. They use this as an excuse to rob us, and if they can't get what they want, they beat us. We have the elderly, the young, the sick, and the disabled in our family!"
These words hit the nail on the head, and the two older brothers fell silent for a moment.
Wen Qikang pondered for a moment, his face full of reluctance: "Just watch us give up a few?"
Wen Chengbin was the first to disagree: "No, it wasn't easy for our elder brother to get so deep into the chicken camp."
Wen Chengjian slapped Wen Chengbin on the shoulder: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Wen Chengbin clutched his shoulder, looking aggrieved.
Wenwen thought to herself, "Indeed, my brother's achievements in penetrating the chicken camp are remarkable, and we can't let him down. Besides, we can't waste the fruit that I worked so hard to shake down."
Once she made up her mind, she didn't hesitate any longer.
Wenwen turned her head to look around, slowly approached the three people, and spoke with a serious yet mysterious expression.
"Third Uncle, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, don't worry, I have a plan."