That night, Xue Ci still seemed in good spirits. He Yi asked if his stomach felt uncomfortable, and Xue Ci said no.
Only then did He Yi relax.
But at midnight, the warm body that should have been in his arms was gone. He Yi woke with a start and looked around. Xue Ci was nowhere in the room.
He put on his shoes and searched the entire house, but still could not find him.
“Surely he hasn’t gone outside? Where could he be?” He Yi stopped taking his time. He searched not only the house but also the chicken coop, pigsty, and vegetable garden, to no avail.
How strange. Growing anxious, He Yi considered where else Xue Ci might be and decided he would have to look outside.
On his way to fetch an oil lamp, however, he passed the bedroom doorway just as someone suddenly darted out of the room and collided with his chest.
He Yi instinctively steadied the newcomer by the back. A familiar cool fragrance drifted into his nose.
“Xue Ci.” He Yi half-lowered his eyes, pronouncing each syllable distinctly.
He expected someone caught in the act to look guilty. Instead, Xue Ci cupped He Yi’s face, inspected him from side to side, and demanded first, “Why weren’t you in bed? Where did you go?!”
He Yi: “?”
“That’s what I was about to ask you. Where did you go? I searched everywhere inside and couldn’t find you. Did you go out?”
“…Out? I did go out.” Xue Ci dropped his gaze and stammered.
He Yi followed his eyes downward and noticed Xue Ci’s dazzlingly pale, bare feet.
“Why aren’t you wearing shoes again?” He Yi sighed, carried him back to sit on the edge of the bed, and said, “Stay there. I’ll fetch some water.”
Xue Ci stopped swinging his feet and watched He Yi leave.
A moment later, the water arrived. Xue Ci obediently rubbed and washed the soles of his feet in the basin.
He Yi watched him, eyes lowered, and asked again, “What did you go to do?”
“Wild boars got into the fields. I went to chase them away,” Xue Ci replied.
He Yi was startled, but then remembered that autumn was approaching. Wild boars really might come down from the mountains in search of food.
Questioning him further, He Yi learned that the damaged fields did not belong to their household. Fortunately, little harm had been done because Xue Ci had arrived quickly and driven the boars back into the mountains.
He Yi frowned. “Next time, tell me. I’ll go with you.”
“But that would wake you up. I can handle it.”
“But I’d worry.” He did not say how frightened he had been when he could not find Xue Ci. Instead, he gathered him into his arms and slowly lay back on the bed.
Xue Ci struggled a little, unwilling to be drawn up onto the mattress. “My feet are still wet. I want to let them dry…”
“…All right.” He Yi could only watch as Xue Ci stretched his feet off the bed and sprawled across He Yi’s waist. Before his feet were dry, sleep overtook him and he fell asleep with his head on He Yi’s lower abdomen.
A little later, a sigh so faint it could scarcely be heard melted into the darkness.
*
The next day, He Yi went to weed the fields and learned that someone’s crops really had been damaged. The boars had eaten plenty of sweet potatoes and peanuts, even the vines.
Of course, sweet-potato vines were edible, so that was hardly surprising.
“Look at these tracks and the damage. Boars from the mountain must have come down.”
“They usually show up around this time of year. We’ll have to watch out at night.”
“Watch out how? They’re wild boars! Do you want to die?”
“Better to drive them off with rakes than let them eat the entire crop. How is that any different from killing me?”
The villagers began arguing. Some suggested organizing young and able-bodied men to patrol the fields at night. Others wanted to hire hunters to drive the beasts away. Still others felt that their own crops had not been damaged, so they were unwilling to contribute either money or labor. The argument grew heated, drawing both farming and nonfarming villagers into a crowd in the fields.
He Yi did not join in. He kept studying the ravaged plot and the people clearing up the damage.
Those two looked unfamiliar. The field belonged to He Yongxing. The original He Yi had cultivated it for quite a long time, so He Yi recognized it immediately. But the two strangers now working there were clearly not the previous tenant farmers.
He Yi asked around. Someone told him, “Why, your… your eldest uncle! He’s sold those few mu of fertile ancestral land, and that other property of yours…”
The old man apparently felt uncomfortable finishing the thought, but someone else told He Yi, “As for your He family’s ancestral house, I saw your aunt bringing several people inside the day before yesterday. Everyone’s wondering whether they’re trying to sell that too.”
“Have things really gotten that bad for them?” Someone else overheard and joined the gossip.
This was news to He Yi. He had not expected He Yongxing and his wife to be willing to part with the ancestral property. It meant that He Jie’s situation must have become desperate indeed. Otherwise, they would never have gone so far.
Even if they raised a large sum by selling the property, He Yi doubted it would help. An incorruptible patrol inspector was overseeing the case, while the Xing family kept watch over matters at the county seat. He Jie’s fate was unlikely to change.
He Yi did not discuss any of this with them. With no more details forthcoming, the villagers soon turned back to the boars.
“Yi, what do you think? Should we patrol at night, or hire hunters?” Unable to settle their argument, the villagers remembered that He Yi was a capable young man with plenty of ideas and asked for his opinion.
“I think a night patrol is more workable. Even if we hired hunters from the next village, there wouldn’t be many of them, and we’d still have to pay. That would be difficult to arrange.” Xu Peng did not have good relations with the villagers. Even if he offered to persuade the hunters, they might refuse. Besides, wild boars liked to forage in groups. Without first weakening them through traps, confronting them directly was scarcely easier than dealing with a tiger.
Quite a few villagers nodded in agreement. Others continued pondering what they should do.
Putting the plan into practice would not be easy, so He Yi joined further discussions with more villagers to work toward an arrangement everyone could accept.
Most households could not afford to pay. Many were reluctant to risk their own labor either. They all understood how dangerous the work was. Asking the breadwinner of a household to risk his life was an enormous price. Yet they were poor farming families, and the importance of their crops needed no explaining. Out of a desire to protect their loved ones, they ultimately formed a night patrol before darkness fell.
Only two households refused to contribute anyone. Everyone took note, but before they could voice their contempt, the Zheng family volunteered an extra person, and He Yi’s household provided two. Together they filled the missing places.
“Infuriating! As though his family’s the only one with a single able-bodied man!” someone said with open disdain.
“Enough, enough. Hasn’t Geng Tao always been like that? Timid, lazy, and fond of easy living. Talking about him is a waste of breath!”
“How can a man be so irresponsible? Poor Mu-niang and the children.”
“Just wait until the boars tear up his crops. Then we’ll refuse to chase them away!”
He Yi was not nearly so indignant. Only two households had refused, which was fewer than he had expected.
He looked at Xue Ci, who happened to be looking back at him. Anticipation flashed in Xue Ci’s eyes, though his expression remained remarkably calm.
“Feeling confident?” He Yi asked softly.
Xue Ci weighed the sickle in his hand, seemingly about to answer, then abruptly looked in a certain direction. His bright eyes remained fixed there for some time.
The night patrol had not yet set out. They were still beneath the banyan tree. Many were sleepy, unused to being awake at this hour. Others were terrified, imagining a boar might leap out of nowhere and gore them before they had even seen one.
He Yi wondered what Xue Ci was staring at and was about to look himself when a scream erupted from that direction.
The patrolmen had been talking loudly, but even so, several heard the cry from the northeast. They all stood.
By then Xue Ci and He Yi had already broken into a run. The Zheng brothers shouted after them, but could not stop them. With a groan, they snatched up their rakes and hurried after them.
Tall grasses swept past He Yi as he ran. Keeping his breathing steady, he chased Xue Ci’s figure and shouted, “Are there wild boars?!”
Xue Ci did not answer. Before he could speak, he had reached a family’s field and was slowly coming to a stop.
Ahead of them, a trembling voice cried, “W-wild boars! Help! Help me!”
He Yi finally caught up as the cry faded. The vegetable field ahead was a wreck, with smashed melons, fruit, vines, and stems scattered everywhere, far worse than yesterday. Two large, black-maned boars were pawing at the dirt, apparently about to attack a scrawny man who had fallen to the ground before them. He must have been the one screaming.
Xue Ci swung his sickle in a fierce slash as he rushed in, but deliberately missed. He feared frightening the boars into charging forward and trampling the man to death.
Once he had drawn the attention of both black-maned boars, Xue Ci shifted his grip on the sickle. With a turn of its blade, he drove it hard behind one boar’s ear. Blood sprayed.
The boar convulsed violently and let out an agonized scream so loud that everyone present felt their hearts quail. The other boar changed direction, dug in its hooves, and prepared to charge Xue Ci head-on.
Finding that he could not immediately pull out the sickle, Xue Ci gripped the handle, caught the wounded boar by its ear, and dragged it sideways to the ground. Under his tremendous strength, the beast weighing roughly three hundred jin toppled in an instant.
Xue Ci then prepared to face the charging boar barehanded.
But before he could strike, a long blade glinting silver in the moonlight plunged at an angle into the thick flesh a few cun behind the boar’s shoulder. More force drove it ever deeper. After only a few dozen breaths, the animal shuddered and collapsed. It kicked its legs a few times and died.
Releasing the sword’s hilt, He Yi could still feel a tingling in the web of his hand. Wild boars truly had thick hides and flesh, with few vulnerable spots. From behind, he could not aim for the forehead, so he had targeted the area of the heart and lungs, avoiding the hardest part of the shoulder and driving the blade inward.
The instant Xue Ci saw He Yi appear wielding the long blade, he involuntarily held his breath. He had never expected He Yi to be so reckless. Terrified and unsure what to say, he could only blink rapidly, not even daring to touch him.
“Phew… It’s over. It’s dead.” He Yi had been splattered with blood, so he did not embrace Xue Ci. But he quickly saw that something was wrong and asked, “What’s the matter? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Xue Ci slowly shook his head. After a moment he regained his composure and nodded. “I’m fine. And you’re fine too.”
“Mm. By the way, are there any other boars nearby?” He Yi worried that more might be hiding and wanted to be certain.
Xue Ci sniffed the air. “No more.”
The boar Xue Ci had felled earlier was also gradually dying, blood spreading across the ground.
By the time the night patrol caught up, every one of them was dumbstruck.
“H-how are they both dead? Did they get caught in traps?”
“Could they have been poisoned? Are they really dead?”
The Zheng brothers spotted the sickle still embedded in the larger boar and immediately understood. They approached He Yi and Xue Ci. “Did Xue Ci kill the boars?”
He Yi nodded.
Xue Ci proudly pointed at one of them. “He Yi took care of that one.”
“…” The Zheng brothers were bewildered. They were pushed aside by the other patrolmen, and only gradually did it sink in that they had somehow become close friends with two astonishingly capable people.
The others were immensely relieved. Two fewer threats were roaming the village. It felt as though they had been given their lives back, and they could scarcely have been happier.
Someone noticed that the man who had been calling for help was no longer where they had seen him. But they recognized the ravaged field. It belonged to Geng Tao, whose household had refused to contribute anyone.
“Never mind Geng Tao for now. We shouldn’t leave the boars here. The smell of blood might attract other wild animals. We need to move them somewhere else.”
The villagers gazed covetously at the two enormous boars. They knew the animals had not been killed by their own efforts, but perhaps they could still be considered a success of the patrol. How wonderful if everyone could receive a share. Their expressions were mixed.
He Yi felt a headache coming on and consulted the Zheng brothers about the fairest way to handle matters.
After discussing it, they finally settled on a plan.
He Yi addressed everyone solemnly. “Please help find a butcher to deal with the two boars. After we sell them, divide the money equally among everyone on the night patrol. My household will keep an additional twenty jin of meat.” Xue Ci wanted to eat some.
After He Yi spoke, Xue Ci tugged on the corner of his clothes and silently mouthed the word “trotters.”
“Oh, and two trotters,” He Yi added with a glance at him. Clearly He Yi had mentioned how delicious stewed trotters could be, and Xue Ci had not forgotten.
The patrol members would also need to work together to spread wood ash over the bloodstained ground, wash it clean, and continue the night watches.
He Yi’s reasoning was straightforward. If the villagers did not unite, the next crisis would simply be dumped on him and Xue Ci. Before long people might expect them to handle everything, reasonable or otherwise. Once such dependence became a habit, it would be difficult to break.
The people of a village ought to regard village affairs as their own responsibility, and appropriate incentives were essential. Xue Ci agreed with the arrangement, as long as He Yi cooked something with the boar meat for him. He was craving it badly.
Nobody objected. Knowing that they would have opportunities to contribute effort later also made the villagers more comfortable accepting the money. And He Yi and Xue Ci were the heroes who had captured the boars. Even if the pair had taken a generous share for themselves, no one could reasonably have complained.
If the villagers had been in their position, many doubted they could have been so generous. They came to respect He Yi and Xue Ci even more, and later began regarding the two as dependable pillars of the community.
Yet despite trying to be fair to everyone, some people would inevitably remain dissatisfied. Geng Tao was one of them.