Guniu Town.
Withered vines, old trees, dusk crows; little bridges, flowing water, humble homes.
"Brother Stone, what did you bring back from the hunt today?"
Chen Sanshi, dressed in Coarse Cloth Clothes, returned with a bamboo pole over his shoulder.
A dark-skinned youth came out to greet him.
"Just a wild boar. The real prizes are deep in the mountains, but that is Wu Family territory."
As Chen Sanshi spoke, he set down the fat wild boar behind him.
"Such a huge pig—it will feed our family for quite a while!
"Second Brother, hurry out and help carry it!"
The youth shouted toward a dilapidated house behind them.
"Coming, coming!"
A roguish-looking man emerged with Foxtail Grass between his teeth. His eyes immediately lit up when he saw the wild boar. "Stone, you are something else!"
Together, the few of them carried the boar into the courtyard.
This was where Chen Sanshi was undergoing his Mortal Tribulation.
About two months earlier, he had disguised himself as a refugee and come to Niujia Village, where this household had taken him in. Later, relying on his hunting skills, he had simply settled down with them.
The family was surnamed Zhang, with seven people in total.
The head of the household, the middle-aged Zhang Wei, was a battalion commander in the imperial guard station. His eldest son was a scholar, his second son was an idle wastrel who spent his days swindling and cheating people, while his youngest son intended to follow in his father's footsteps and join the army.
Zhang Wei was one of the rare incorruptible officials left in the Great Qi court.
He was at least a battalion commander, yet in this year of great famine, his household was no different from any ordinary family. They too ate one meal