Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space-Chapter 514 - 398: Exterminating the Wolf Pack

In the early morning, a group of three to five-year-old children, wearing tattered clothes patched with scraps and straw sandals, caught Ping’an’s attention in the village canteen.

He curiously widened his eyes, watching the children scramble for food, cry, and fight. He listened to the adults scolding the children, heard the sound of adults smacking them hard.

All of this was so novel to Ping’an. He held onto the table corner tightly, refusing to leave. Wherever cries came from, he would stare intently. Wherever the children stopped crying, his face showed obvious disappointment.

As breakfast ended and people gradually left, women began wrapping bean buns on a large wooden platter on the canteen tables, drawing his full attention again, as there were big jars lined up in the front yard.

Zhou Jiao saw him quietly observing everything from Mother Zhang’s embrace and told him she was heading home first. Seeing him wave her off casually, she happily grasped Zhang Guoqing’s shirt corner and followed him out the door.

Last night, Zhang Guoqing succumbed to the beauty trap, helplessly agreeing to three conditions with her.

The couple sneaked to the mountain’s foot. Zhang Guoqing carried her, cautious not to go to dangerous places, secretly relieved that Zhou Jiao was unfamiliar with the mountains, intentionally taking a detour that took an hour.

When the agreed time arrived, he escorted her back to the village. Zhang Guoqing, fully armed, began running solo up the mountain. Unaware of the mountain’s actual conditions, he cautiously searched for animal tracks underground.

Stopping and starting along the way, as he discovered more tracks, he lost the urge to hunt. When the wolf tracks disappeared on the deep mountain’s outskirts, he halted his steps.

Looking at the dangerously dense woods ahead, he ultimately thought it over for a long time and resolutely decided to give up pursuing. Now that he had a wife and child, there was no need to venture alone.

On the way back, encountering fleeing pheasants and those small animals, he paid them no extra attention. He now worried about the wolf pack in the deep mountains; usually, no one would venture inside unless absolutely necessary. He wondered if Mr. Wang and those old hands would want to go in.

At home, seeing Zhou Jiao breathe a sigh of relief, he didn’t dare tell his wife the truth. Everything would have to depend on circumstances tomorrow.

Zhang Guoqing accompanied his wife wrapping bean buns, steaming bread, and playing with his son, as if nothing had happened. He had already decided in his heart to bring more wound medicine up the mountain tomorrow.

The next morning, Zhang Guoqing deliberately brought along the treasured dagger given by his father-in-law. After getting ready, he bid farewell to Zhou Jiao and their child, heading to Kaoshan Village with the village elders to gather with everyone.

The Kaoshan Village’s communal canteen had prepared dry rations. Not much, yet nobody said anything.

Gradually, two large trucks rolled out in the threshing ground, from which people jumped off, each carrying a weapon. Zhang Guoqing took a rifle from a colleague, and everyone quickly formed a line without much chit-chat.

After Zhao Dashan and Zuo Lin negotiated with Mr. Wang and his team, they still followed the old hunters’ advice, staying behind to protect.

Soon, everyone marched grandly up the mountain. Not far along the path, officers from the police station stopped villagers trying to sneak in for fun and profit.

Zhang Guoqing followed beside Zhao Dashan, watching Mr. Wang and his team cautiously scouting ahead. Although he understood those cunning wolf packs had gone deep into the mountains, he did not voice this. The elders ahead were all highly skilled and should quickly discover clues.

His focus was now on Mr. Zhang. As an old hunter, his father and two uncles were conspicuously leading the way.

That was the deep mountain, a place his father may have ventured only a handful of times in his life. But seeing his uncles so confident made Zhang Guoqing secretly sigh. What it means not to accept aging, that’s what it is!

Mr. Wang truly deserved his reputation as an outstanding hunter, the most excellent one within a ten-mile radius. Before long, he led everyone into the deep mountain’s outskirts.

By this point, everyone understood that how to proceed still needed proper negotiation to find a good solution. Anyone who foolishly went inside might not return home.

Finding a spot, they had a bite of dry rations, sat down to rest, waiting for results.

Soon, Mr. Wang worried about the impending weather, possibly bringing a whiteout blizzard, urging everyone to move another few dozen meters to assess the situation.

Several hundred people, along with the wolves, moved together, causing a commotion not far into the deep mountains. Three or four gray-white wolves appeared first, snarling menacingly toward the crowd.

Just as they were killed here, more emerged elsewhere.

Close to three hours later, ten meters ahead, dozens of wolf carcasses lay on the ground, under a barrage of rifle and arrow shots. Most wolf heads had several holes blasted open, some wolves’ intestines were not spared. The ground was dyed a piercing red, the air thick with the stench of blood.

Mr. Wang watched and shook his head repeatedly. He dared not speak out, worried about offending others. Many people were already vomiting heavily. This was good too; let’s see who still wanted to eat meat.

The old hunters started cleaning the scene, using herbs to slightly mask the bloody smell, urging everyone to leave quickly. The danger up in the mountains was not solely the wolf pack.

For three days and nights, the villagers living by the mountain often vaguely heard a series of wolf howls, along with sporadic gunshots.

Zhang Family Village, nestling against the Daqing Mountain, heard the wolf howls with crystal clarity, as if right beside them. During the day, parents dared not let children out, and before night fell, everyone closed their courtyards early, reluctant to let family members step outside. Even just outside the house, they’d pile up firewood as a precaution.

Zhou Jiao was on edge and tormented day and night in this anxious atmosphere. As time ticked by, she grew increasingly alarmed and wished to personally go up the mountain to see if Zhang Guoqing was safe.

What pained and worried her most was Mother Zhang’s repeated hypothetical scenarios, with their son constantly fretting for his father.

Utterly fraught, Zhou Jiao was on the brink of collapse when she finally saw Zhang Guoqing, hanging with torn cloth strips stained brown with blood, looking bedraggled. She couldn’t help but wail aloud.

Zhang Guoqing paid no mind to his nearby parents, quickly picking up his son, tightly embracing Zhou Jiao and heading home. He realized he’d frightened Zhou Jiao this time; he had been careless. On the mountain, he realized he shouldn’t have left his wife and child in the village.

The pervasive wolf howls across the mountains, especially at night, were chillingly eerie. Leaving behind a defenseless wife and precious son in the village was truly foolish!

"Don’t worry, I’m not hurt. I’m perfectly fine, really. You see, I have the things you gave me; if anything were to happen, it couldn’t happen to me. Jiao Jiao, I’m hungry."

Walking along, Zhou Jiao finally felt relieved. Hearing him say he’s hungry, she made no pretense, directly producing a bowl of noodles, a bowl of dumplings, a box of fast food...

Seeing her nearly cover the entire kang, Zhang Guoqing quickly hugged her and patted her, "Don’t be afraid. Look, nothing’s wrong, really. You can check and see; if there’s even a single scar, you can deal with me as you wish. Okay?"

"Daddy, I... Daddy, and me..." Ping’an said while squeezing between them.

Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily, "Yes, and our Ping’an. Our whole family hug together."

"Daddy, mommy isn’t crying anymore." Ping’an clapped his hands, joyfully cheering.

"Yes, from now on Daddy won’t make Mommy cry, and Ping’an will listen to Mommy, make sure she doesn’t cry, okay?"

Zhou Jiao saw her son nodding like pounding garlic and stroked his head, "Brother, eat quickly. Ping’an, do you want to eat? Join your Daddy to eat if you want."

Seeing the skies finally clear, Zhang Guoqing quickly stood up, took off his outer clothes and pants. Eating was secondary; if he didn’t clean up, his wife and son might feel repulsed.

After a quick wash, Zhang Guoqing left a bowl of dumplings for his son and kept a bowl of noodles for himself, blocking the child and discreetly signaling Zhou Jiao to put away the things on the kang.