Many people laughed at them. Well, even though it wasn’t right to mock them, no one could help it. After all, they were the "most miserable hunting team."

Meanwhile, the strongest team, the luckiest team—Li Xiang’s "Xiaoli Yidao" hunting team—became the envy of all participants.

According to the information on the official website, they were solidly ranked first, having "delivered" a total of 15,210 pounds. Aside from a few dead wild boars, over 95% were actually live and, moreover, uninjured.

When reporters interviewed the provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, a staff member revealed that the wild boars Li Xiang’s team turned in were of excellent quality and were very popular with zoos and research institutions.

The official subsidy Li Xiang’s team received this time was a whopping 256,430 yuan, making them the undisputed champions. They beat the second-place team by a full 4,452 pounds. If the runner-ups knew that Li Xiang’s team had also sold that super-sized Wild Boar King, and that Li Xiang had privately sold another over 13,200 pounds to that Boss Huang, their jaws would probably drop. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Although many teams had privately sold boar meat on the side, even if they hadn’t and had turned everything over to the officials for collection, they still couldn’t have beaten Li Xiang.

Adding the 10,000 yuan prize money and the 100,000 yuan from selling the super-sized Wild Boar King to Boss Huang, Li Xiang’s team’s final earnings came to 366,430 yuan.

However, the official subsidy wouldn’t arrive until the 28th, so they would have to wait a few days.

But for a major project like this, funded by the central government, the officials were always prompt with payments, so no one was worried at all.

The grand prize included not only the 10,000 yuan but also a certificate of honor from the provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau. The county-level Bureau had already notified them to come pick it up in a few days, at which time they would also take a group photo for promotional purposes.

Jiang Jianguo and Li Yucheng had already done the math privately. They would each get over 73,000 yuan. To receive so much at once was a massive windfall. They had only been busy for about twenty days, which averaged out to thirty-four or thirty-five hundred yuan a day!

Neither Jiang Jianguo nor Li Yucheng had ever made money so easily. For the past few days, both families had been overjoyed. Their neighbors were all envious, saying that both families would have a great New Year!

This was especially true for the Jiang Family. They now had the money for Jiang Cai’Er’s university tuition and no longer had to worry. Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang seemed to have aged backward several years.

As for Li Xiang’s family, they were set to have an even better New Year. There was no comparison. Some people joked that Li Xiang’s family was now the richest in Li Family Village, even surpassing Li Jintang’s contractor son.

Li Jintang’s son acted all high and mighty, buying a car and an apartment in the provincial capital. He was always posting photos of various big construction projects on his social media feed and would "take care of" many of the young people from the village by bringing them to work on his sites. But now, many of them were calling home to complain that their wages had been withheld for several months. They didn’t know if they would get paid by the end of the year and might not have any money to bring home.

The villagers sighed over the situation. It was a good thing Xiang Ya had helped them sell some local products and had shared wild boar meat with everyone; otherwise, this New Year would be a difficult one.

The weather cleared up, and it was time for high school to start again.

The school teachers sent out a notice: students were to report to school on the afternoon of the 24th, with classes officially starting on the 25th. The high schoolers had just over a day of break left at home. After that, there would be no more holidays. They would even have to attend make-up classes at school on New Year’s Day and wouldn’t be able to come home until the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Jiang Cai’Er was a little down about it and ran over to complain to Li Xiang that she had to go back to school again.

Li Xiang comforted her, "You’ve had plenty of rest these past few days."

Jiang Cai’Er pouted. "No, we haven’t! We had online classes every day, you know."

"But online classes are relatively easy, aren’t they?"

"Fine. I just wish high school would end sooner."

"Once you get into university, it’ll be fine. The academic pressure is much lighter. You only have a few classes a day, and the rest of the time is free for you to manage yourself."

’Actually, I get it,’ Li Xiang thought. ’Everyone goes through high school. Waking up before six in the morning and not going to sleep until after eleven at night. Mealtimes are a battle, and you have to fight for a chance to shower or do laundry, always rushing against the clock. With only a few days off a month, even someone who loves studying would feel exhausted.’

In light of this, Li Xiang could only secretly give Jiang Cai’Er a little something... well, some Spiritual Medicine.

After taking Li Xiang’s Spiritual Medicine, Jiang Cai’Er’s physical constitution would be incredibly strong and her mind sharp. She wouldn’t fear any competition. When the time came, she was guaranteed to completely crush her classmates.

And Jiang Cai’Er’s talent was truly excellent. Even though she hadn’t spent much time seriously practicing, Li Xiang could already feel the Spiritual Power in her body growing more abundant by the day. She also began to emit a faint, fresh fragrance she never had before.

This was the effect of Spiritual Power tempering her body and expelling toxins. Jiang Cai’Er’s skin was even better than before—more supple and bouncy, translucent and clear, with a rosy, fair complexion. Her figure had become even more graceful.

Although Li Xiang planned to brew Spirit Wine, it obviously wasn’t suitable for a young woman to drink. So, he stuck to his old method. While they were gathered around the stove brewing tea, he stewed a bowl of Spirit Medicine Soup for her. This time, he chose several types of Tier Two Berries with excellent flavor: Profound Ice Blackberry, Silver Bud Golden Hook Pear, Bamboo Swallow’s Nest, and others. The resulting stew was fragrant enough to make one’s mouth water.

For his grandmother and Third Granny, however, he used Tier One Spirit Grass. Because they were older and didn’t practice the Breathing Technique, they couldn’t consume ingredients of too high a Tier. If the Medicinal Power accumulated without being able to undergo Refinement, it would be harmful instead.

As Jiang Cai’Er finished her Spirit Medicine Soup and continued to enjoy the winter stove fire, the warm sun, and various snacks while brewing tea, Li Xiang grabbed his High-Density Blade, a carrying pole, and some rope and headed up the mountain. He cut down a lot of pine branches and brought them back, planning to make smoked meat.

In addition, he also chopped down an entire pine tree over ten feet tall and planted it in the courtyard.

"Brother, why did you suddenly plant a pine tree?" Jiang Cai’Er blinked, seeming to have thought of something but not daring to be sure.

’Who plants a pine tree like this, without any roots? Could it be for...’

Li Xiang laughed. "Haha, you guessed it! Christmas is coming up, so I wanted to create a festive atmosphere for you before you go back to school."

"Wow, that’s amazing!" Jiang Cai’Er cheered, her eyes curving into crescents. ’He really spoils me,’ she thought. ’I’ve never had a proper Christmas before.’

After securing the Christmas tree, Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er decorated it with lots of ornaments and small gifts. But it wasn’t enough. He planned to go to the county town first thing tomorrow morning to buy more supplies, like some nice gift boxes, cards, small bells, ribbons, colored lights, stockings, candy, chocolate, and apples.

’Even though it’s a foreign holiday,’ he thought, ’it would be nice for Jiang Cai’Er and the village kids to have some fun and experience a different culture. In university, Christmas is a very important holiday, a favorite among many couples. And when I used to work in the big city, the Christmas atmosphere there was also quite strong, mainly because businesses used it as a major opportunity for promotions.’