Era: Seven money-losing girls? They're trying to trick me into having a daughter again!

"You scoundrel, what's it to you? Who do you think you are?!"

The plump wife turned her head and glared at Lai Gouzi with her small eyes.

"Dawei is making money now! He's built a new house, even with white ceramic tiles! He dotes on his daughter and is willing to spend money to support her; that shows he's capable!"

Lai Gouzi was so startled by her loud voice that he took a half step back, dropping the foxtail grass he was holding in his mouth to the ground. He stammered, "Y-you!"

"What do you mean, 'me'?!"

The fat wife spoke without any politeness, completely disregarding Lai Gouzi.

"Some people just laze around all day and can't even find a wife!"

"The weeds in the field are taller than a person! All day long, they squat under other people's walls gossiping, don't they even know to take a piss and look at themselves in the mirror!"

"puff!"

Someone nearby couldn't help but chuckle.

Lai Gouzi's face flushed red. He opened his mouth to curse back, but when he saw his fat wife's "try farting again" expression, he swallowed the words back.

This woman was a notorious shrew in the village; he couldn't afford to mess with her!

Fang Wei opened the courtyard gate and walked out with a cold face.

"My daughter is the apple of my family's eye. I can spend my money however I want, and it's none of my business how outsiders tell me what to do!"

He glared at Lai Gouzi and said threateningly, "If anyone ever speaks ill of my wife and daughter behind their back again..."

"You'd better think about Liu Wang's current predicament first!"

Lai Gouzi's legs started trembling under Fang Wei's gaze, and he lowered his head, not daring to say a word.

The other idlers chuckled awkwardly and quickly said, "Dawei, you're joking! How could we dare to gossip about your family!"

"That's right, we were just passing by... just passing by..."

Seeing that Fang Wei was just staring at them without saying a word, some of them couldn't stand it anymore and ran away, and the others followed suit.

The plump woman tucked the shoe sole under her arm, glanced at Fang Wei, said nothing, and turned to leave.

……

Fang Wei and Fang Qiang carried hoes as they walked from the old forest farm toward the village.

Both of them were shirtless, their shoulders and backs tanned a dark red and shiny, the contours of their muscles clearly visible beneath their skin.

When they reached the village entrance, they suddenly heard a mournful cry coming from inside the village.

Fang Wei and Fang Qiang exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing.

Judging from this noise, could someone have died somewhere?

Neither of them said anything, and they followed the others toward the threshing ground, where they soon saw a large crowd gathered.

Aunt Tian sat on the ground with her hair disheveled, her pants covered in dirt, her face smeared with tears and snot, her hands raised in the air, slapping her thighs and howling.

"Oh my God—I can't live like this—"

"The harvest was almost here—and it's all been destroyed—not a single bite left to eat—God, why don't you open your eyes and see?!"

There were two other people sitting next to her, one was Uncle Li's wife, and the other was Yang Qian's cousin, both of them looking miserable.

Fang Qiang quickly grabbed the person next to him and asked, "What happened?! What's wrong?"

The man was pulled to the side, his face pale, and turned around, saying, "Wild boars! Aunt Tian's land, and those plots of land at the foot of the mountain, have all been destroyed by wild boars!"

He pointed in the direction of Aunt Tian's fields and gestured with his hand to form a circle the size of a washbasin.

"Go take a look! Those puddles the pig's snout dug into, they're all this big!"

Fang Wei frowned. There was no intelligence coming in today. If there were wild boars, he should have received a notification.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, a familiar voice echoed in his head.

[Daily Report: Eight wild boars were spotted roaming the mountains around Laotang Village today; their location is unknown.]

Fang Wei's pupils suddenly contracted.

Eight wild boars?!

If it were a situation like last time, he could bring a machete, take Brother Yang Qian with him, set a trap, ambush them, and take a gamble.

But this time there are eight!!

Eight wild boars together are not prey, but a killer squad that can tear apart anyone in sight!

Even leopards in the mountains would tuck their tails between their legs and dart up into a tree if they encountered a herd of wild boars this size!

What really gave Fang Wei the creeps was that these wild boars were roaming around everywhere!

They have no fixed foraging spots or fixed nests; they're always on the move! Today they'll be rooting up Aunt Tian's land, and tomorrow they might be running off to her older brother's land!

They might even take away the gastrodia elata from his old forest farm!

Fang Wei's face turned grim as he pondered what to do.

Eight wild boars—this combination suggests a group of adult animals from the same litter.

The leader is most likely an old male pig, while the remaining seven are mostly sows and half-grown piglets, all of whom are difficult to deal with.

"Big brother, I'm going home first."

Fang Wei patted Fang Qiang on the shoulder, leaned closer and whispered, "Make sure to lock the gate when you go to sleep tonight."

Fang Qiang turned to look at him and nodded: "Okay, I understand."

When Fang Wei got home, he immediately bolted the door as soon as he entered the courtyard.

Wu Shaoli squatted in front of the stove, adding firewood to the firebox, a wisp of hair damp with sweat clinging to her forehead.

"Shao Li".

Fang Wei walked to the kitchen door and said directly, "Come back early these next few days, don't stay out too late."

Wu Shaoli looked up at him, and although she was a little confused, she still replied, "Okay, I'll remember."

Fang Wei then called his daughters over and repeated the same words to them.

After dinner, he took out the machete from his house, which had a shallow nick on it.

Fang Wei found a rag, poured some wood ash scraped from the stove onto it, and, holding the knife handle in one hand and the blade in the other, wiped it up with the rag.

That patch of gastrodia elata is still quite important to him right now, but dealing with that group of wild boars will be very difficult, and it might even result in some deaths.

After it got completely dark, the dogs in Laotang Village suddenly started barking, their voices sharp and urgent.

After wiping his machete, Fang Wei went to check the bolts on the gate and the wooden supports on the windows.

"Bang bang bang!"

"David! David, are you home?! Open the door!"

Fang Wei recognized the voice and quickly walked over to pull the latch off.

As soon as the courtyard gate was opened a crack, a strong, pungent smell of tobacco and sweat assaulted the senses.

Village Chief Zhou stood at the front, holding a torch, with a row of people standing behind him.

Yang Qian's father was holding a sharpened stick, while Uncle Li was carrying a shovel.

Further on were seven or eight men from the village, some carrying hoes, some holding machetes, and a young man carrying a homemade gun for hunting rabbits, with several layers of black tape wrapped around the barrel.

Looking at the expressions on their faces, Fang Wei could already guess what they wanted to do.