Seeing that he had put enough distance between himself and the others so no one could see him, Du Jianguo finally stopped and opened the sack containing the rabbits.

He reached in and counted. There were six baby rabbits inside.

This number far exceeded his expectations, and Du Jianguo felt incredibly surprised and delighted. This was quite a harvest.

Although these few baby rabbits didn’t have much meat on them yet, the sheer quantity made up for it.

Wild rabbits grow fast. If he just grabbed two handfuls of grass from the wildfields every day to feed them, it wouldn’t take a month before they were plump and white.

Most mountain families liked raising them; they were low maintenance and could add some meat to the table.

“Du Jianguo!”

Just then, a shout suddenly came from behind.

Du Jianguo jumped in surprise, quickly tied the sack shut, and turned around. A chubby man was walking toward him. He tapped into the memories in his mind and instantly recalled the man’s name.

Liu Chun’an, the village chief’s son. In his past life, he was also one of Du Jianguo’s drinking buddies. The group used to gather every day to play cards and gamble.

However, compared to the other buddies, Liu Chun’an wasn’t inherently bad. He would occasionally help Du Jianguo out. Unfortunately, his gambling addiction was too strong, and in the end, he was destroyed by it too.

“I just went to your house to find you,” Liu Chun’an said as he approached, patting Du Jianguo’s arm. “But that wife of yours kicked me out!”

“What’s up? Come over to my place tonight to play cards. Let’s do a few big rounds, and then we can have a drink!” Liu Chun’an rubbed his hands and licked his lips.

“My old man went to town today and won’t be back. By the way, I heard Second Brother has some ‘hairy pictures’ there. Want to take a look together?”

Those “hairy pictures” were actually hand-drawn nude paintings of women.

Du Jianguo had been obsessed with these in his youth in his previous life. Now, looking back, he only felt it was absurd. He had a beautiful wife at home, yet he still coveted these useless things. He was truly stupid.

“You keep the pictures for yourself. I’m not coming to the card game tonight.”

Du Jianguo shook his head and was about to turn and walk home when he suddenly remembered something and stopped. “Liu Chun’an, do you want rabbits?”

Liu Chun’an, as the village chief’s son, never lacked food or clothing and always liked to tinker with wild game.

Since these baby rabbits were still small, Du Jianguo couldn’t bear to eat them himself. He might as well trade them for some flour and rice to solve his family’s immediate crisis.

Liu Chun’an paused, touched his nose, and asked, “What? You have rabbits?”

Du Jianguo then untied the sack and held it up for him to see.

“You really do have some!” Liu Chun’an saw the few little kits in the sack, licked his lips, and swallowed hard. “This makes for the best spicy rabbit heads with rice! Where did you get them?”

“I caught them myself.”

“You caught them?” Liu Chun’an’s eyes widened. He sized Du Jianguo up and then grinned. “Don’t try to pull my leg! With your skills, you catching rabbits?”

“Believe it or not, do you want them or not?” Du Jianguo asked patiently.

“I want them! Of course I want them!” Liu Chun’an nodded quickly. “A rabbit is meat, even if it’s small. How much do you want?”

Du Jianguo thought for a moment and said, “I’ll sell you four and keep two for myself. Just give me two jin of white flour in exchange.”

“You’re really robbing me blind!” Liu Chun’an was shocked and shook his head repeatedly. “These are such tiny little bunnies, and you want white flour? If my dad finds out, he’ll beat me to death! I can’t give you white flour. I can give you a jin of cornmeal at most. Will you take that?”

“Cornmeal works too,” Du Jianguo nodded, then added, “But you have to give me a few pieces of your family’s pork lard scraps.”

Du Jianguo was calculating in his mind. His wife was thin and lacked nutrition. He needed to get some pork fat for her to build her strength up, and the pork lard scraps would be perfect for that.

Hearing that Du Jianguo also wanted the pork lard scraps, Liu Chun’an’s face stiffened for a moment. He gritted his teeth and finally nodded. “Fine! I’ll give you enough for one meal. I don’t have more; I’m waiting to eat it myself!”

“Let’s go. Come with me.” Liu Chun’an said, leading Du Jianguo toward his house.

Once they arrived, he went inside and took out a jin of cornmeal and a small packet of pork lard scraps, handing them to Du Jianguo. Still not giving up, he asked, “You really aren’t coming to play cards tonight?”

“No,” Du Jianguo shook his head, his tone serious. “In the future, just find someone else to play with. I need to make some real money to support my wife and child.”

“Look at you acting so tough!” Liu Chun’an scoffed, clearly disbelieving. “Everyone knows your style, Du Jianguo. You want to support your wife? In the past, wasn’t it your wife who supported you?”

“Come on, let’s go play! Without you, the three of us can only play ‘Old Landlord,’ which is boring!”

Saying this, Liu Chun’an reached out to pull Du Jianguo into the house. Even though he had just traded cornmeal and lard scraps for the rabbits, he was scheming in his heart. Based on Du Jianguo’s terrible card skills from before, he was sure to win everything back tonight.

Unexpectedly, Du Jianguo shook off his hand, his tone hardening. “I said I won’t go, and I won’t go!”

Liu Chun’an paused, then said helplessly, “Forget it. I guess you know you’re going to lose, so you’re deliberately not coming?”

Du Jianguo didn’t bother to explain.

After the trade, he didn’t linger. Carrying the bag with the cornmeal and pork lard scraps, he hurried straight home.

At home, Liu Xiuyun was clutching the packet of rat poison, her mind complex and full of hesitation.

“Wife, look quickly at what good stuff I brought back!”

Du Jianguo pushed the door open, a proud smile on his face, holding up the cornmeal and the packet of pork lard scraps high.

But seeing these items, Liu Xiuyun didn’t feel the slightest bit happy. Instead, her body trembled with anger, her voice full of disappointment and rage.

“You actually had money left after gambling yesterday? And you only bought this stuff?”

In that instant, Liu Xiuyun’s hesitation was completely crushed by despair, and a fierce thought suddenly rose up in her.

Rather than continue to suffer like this, she might as well drag this wretched Du Jianguo down to the underworld with her!

“Married to a chicken, follow the chicken; married to a dog, follow the dog.” Since marrying Du Jianguo, Liu Xiuyun had held onto this belief.

Years ago, shortly after graduating from middle school, she had been blocked in an alley by a group of hooligans who were about to ruin her reputation.

Du Jianguo had rushed over with a stick and chased them away.

After that incident, Liu Xiuyun developed a few feelings of gratitude toward him.

Through back and forth interactions, the innocent her was coaxed by Du Jianguo and, somewhat confusedly, married into his family.

Although she knew Du Jianguo had no savings, Liu Xiuyun never complained.

Over the years, she had worked hard from dawn until dusk, hoping to hold this family together.

But all of this was destroyed by Du Jianguo. He had left her and their child no way to survive!

Even though she had firmly decided to drag Du Jianguo to the grave with her, Liu Xiuyun still couldn’t help but look at the man in front of her with an angry expression.

“Just think about yourself! Look how bad things have become in this house, yet you still buy pork lard scraps? Are you going to treat those buddies of yours to a drink tonight again?”

Du Jianguo was stunned. He finally realized his wife had misunderstood him. He smiled bitterly and explained, “Wife, you misunderstood. I didn’t spend any money. I traded for these items with Liu Chun’an.”