Chapter 47 The Sin of Gender 47
Needless to say, Qin Shuangshuang knew why the village chief had a worried look on his face. Last year’s drought left the fields with a yield only about thirty to forty percent of the usual harvest, though not an entire crop failure.
Fortunately, the court issued an edict to reduce and exempt taxes, allowing villagers to keep their grain for themselves. Although there was no income, they wouldn’t starve to death.
Everyone hoped for a better harvest this year, but the snowless winter had already given rise to a foreboding feeling. Indeed, from the start of spring until now, there has been no rain, leaving the fields so dry they’re cracking, making planting impossible!
Not to mention farming, even Qin Shuangshuang had to go deep into the mountains to find medicinal herbs. The usual game had become scarce, and she hadn’t seen large game for over a month!
Given the excellent hunting skills she’d learned from Fang Zhongyi, surpassing even her teacher, this was very unusual! Today’s encounter with the wild boar happened when Qin Shuangshuang ventured near a drying pool in a deep mountain.
Despite this wild boar weighing over 500 pounds, it was actually very thin. This type of wild boar, unique to their area, is known for its extreme attack power, at least twice the size of ordinary wild boars. Even tigers and black bears dare not challenge it, and hunters fear to easily provoke it, making it virtually invincible.
However, these wild boars are rare. Normally, an adult boar weighs over a thousand pounds, twice that of an ordinary boar! Yet this adult boar weighed only a little over 500 pounds, indicating that life for the creatures in the mountains was tough, very tough, indeed!
Qin Shuangshuang looked at the village chief, who had aged and grown much thinner, feeling deeply unsettled. This elder who had always cared for her had rapidly become haggard and aged in just a few short months!
The village chief saw Qin Shuangshuang and pulled a smile on his dry, thin face, "It’s Shuangshuang!" He glanced at the large boar head weighing more than twenty pounds in her hand and sighed.