In a bamboo forest, a group of wild boars, about half a meter in size, were nibbling on bamboo shoots in the muddy wetland.
There were 8 of them, ranging from large to small.
The largest one was over a meter long, weighing over a hundred kilograms, while the smallest one was only about forty to fifty centimeters long, with beautiful coffee-colored stripes.
They seemed to be a family, venturing out to forage when the rain subsided.
"What's ahead?" Lin Qianqian couldn't see clearly, so she leaned over and whispered in Lu Zhe's ear.
"Shh... It's Peppa!"
"Oh, it's a piglet!" Lin Qianqian understood.
When communicating with girls, you have to have a method!
If you say "wild boar," they might get startled, but if you say "Peppa," they'll be more relaxed!
Then, Lu Zhe pulled Lin Qianqian behind a tree and started tossing a bunch of bananas one by one.
Sure enough, it attracted the attention of several boars, and they started gobbling them up.
Next, Lu Zhe tied a bunch of banana fruits with a hemp rope and threw the whole bunch towards the group of pigs along the water flow.
He didn't dare to throw it too close to the boars but rather aimed for the edge.
Before long, one of the medium-sized pigs noticed it. It probably didn't expect to find bananas here and happily trotted over.
As Lu Zhe slowly backed away while tugging on the rope, Lin Qianqian became afraid and tightly held onto Lu Zhe's clothes.
The bananas drifted slowly towards the distant part of the pig group, and the pig followed, gradually moving away from the herd.
When Lu Zhe felt the timing was right, he pounced on the pig, pressing its head underwater.
The medium-sized pig struggled desperately, but Lu Zhe's strength was several times stronger than an average person. He pressed his knee against it, rendering it immobile.
The pig wanted to make a sound, but with its head submerged, it could only emit a series of "gulping" sounds. Even if it managed to let out a few pig squeals, they were too weak, and it soon couldn't make any more noise.
Lu Zhe sat on top of the pig, pressing it for five minutes, while the pig's head remained submerged in the water. Eventually, it stopped moving altogether. Lu Zhe gestured an "OK" sign to Lin Qianqian.
Wide-eyed, Lin Qianqian realized for the first time that there was such a way of killing pigs in this world.
Seeing that Lin Qianqian was scared, Lu Zhe explained, "Using a knife to kill is too cruel. It would make noise and bleed, easily attracting the pig's parents. I chose a gentler method that doesn't hurt it and cause less suffering."
"Are you sure it's not suffering?" Lin Qianqian asked.
Lu Zhe checked and said, "Look, it's so happy."
Lin Qianqian took a look and indeed, the pig had its mouth open, with an upward curve, resembling a big laughter.
Lu Zhe used the hemp rope to tie the pig's four legs together. This medium-sized pig was quite plump, weighing over 60 kilograms, but Lu Zhe easily lifted it with one hand.
This trip was quite fruitful.
"Looks like we won't be able to cut bamboo. Let's go back," Lu Zhe said.
Shaking her head, Lin Qianqian replied, "We managed to cut a bit. If it's inconvenient for you, I can do the cutting."
With that, she picked up Lu Zhe's 30-tooth knife and started chopping. It took her a lot of effort to cut just one thick bamboo, as she was not very strong. So, she ended up cutting more than ten thin bamboo stalks.
We'll take them back and make do with it. If all else fails, we can use them as firewood.
"Let's go!"
When the two returned to the entrance of the cave and threw the supplies up, they saw Ning Shu and Jiang Yao standing there.
"Did you wait for us?"
"Hey, Squad Leader, look at what we caught!" Jiang Yao said.
"Wow, so many things! Hey, what is this hero thing?"
"It's a little pig..."
"We'll talk later, let's bring it inside!"
"Wait a moment, both of you!" Ning Shu had a serious expression on her face. "Lu Zhe, Qian Qian, I have something to tell you."
Seeing Ning Shu's strange expression, both of them were puzzled. "What's the matter, Squad Leader?"
"It's a secret, I only want to tell a few of you."
"What is it, so mysterious?"
"Ice Sister's child..." Ning Shu closed her eyes in pain. "It's probably gone..."
Lu Zhe was shocked. "Did Ice Sister say that?"
"How could she say that? She said it was just her menstrual period, she only said that to keep us from worrying..."
"How do you know?"
"Deduction!"
"Oh my, I need to go in and see her."
Ning Shu stopped him. "Wait, I haven't finished talking yet!"
"Just say it."
"Listen, Lu Zhe, Ice Sister must be feeling very sad. Her husband passed away, and now she lost the child. Now, only you can help her!"
"What? Her husband passed away?"
"I deduced it! But that's not important because Ice Sister said that you look very similar to her husband, so after her husband passed away, she couldn't accept it and started treating you as her husband."
"Did Ice Sister say that?"
"No, that's also deduction. But it doesn't matter. I want you to..."
"Hey, hey, why did you go in?" Lu Zhe impatiently ignored her and went in directly.
Ning Shu slapped her forehead. "It's over. Lu Zhe, this big blockhead, never lets people finish talking."
Lu Zhe entered the cave and saw Shen Bing clutching her stomach. When their eyes met, they had a special feeling.
Ning Shu quickly waved to Tang Xiaoguo and called her out.
Then she peeked inside through the crack in the door!
"The child... is gone?" Lu Zhe sat opposite Shen Bing and asked with concern.
Ning Shu suddenly froze. She realized that Lu Zhe seemed to completely understand her intention.
"Lu Zhe, this is alright..."
Shen Bing sniffled and smiled. "It's nothing, it was a mistake, just my menstrual period."
Lu Zhe knew that excessive fatigue could also cause menstrual irregularities. Seeing some blood on the ground, he used his fingers to pick some up and indeed confirmed it was menstrual blood.
He felt relieved. "You've been through a lot these past few days."
Shen Bing pursed her lips. "You... you're the one who's been through a lot."
Ning Shu whispered to the three girls, "They're really into it, did you see?"
Shen Bing remembered all the things Lu Zhe had done for her these past few days and smiled with guilt. "I'm sorry, I thought this child..."
Lu Zhe said, "Yellow Skirt Bamboo Mushroom and Naked Cap Mushroom can cause hormonal imbalances. Your physical condition must have declined significantly compared to before, creating the false impression of pregnancy. Take good care of yourself for a while, and everything will be fine."
"Okay."
"Don't worry, no matter what happens in the future, we will face it together."
Shen Bing nodded. "I believe you..."
Ning Shu gave a thumbs up and said, "Lu Zhe, you're incredible."
"How do you feel now?"
"Suddenly, I don't feel any stomach pain!"
"And your mood?"
"I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I feel pretty good."
Shen Bing called out towards the door, "Hey, all of you, come in. You're hiding like cats in front of me, and not very well, I might add. I really need to teach you all about stealth."
Four girls pushed the door open and walked in, sticking out their tongues.
"Ice Sister..."
Lu Zhe said, "Stop speculating, Class Monitor is just imagining things that don't exist. It's really Aunt Flo!"
"But how did you know?"
Lu Zhe smiled and said, "Do I need to bring up the two times I accidentally caught fire, as imagined by you?"
Ning Shu awkwardly smiled and said, "Let's not bring up those dark moments..."
Tang Xiaoguo sighed, "I shouldn't have believed the Class Monitor..."
Jiang Yao said, "Who said otherwise..."
Shen Bing nodded, "Let's put this matter to rest. From now on, the six of us will work together to lead a better life. Agreed?"
"Hmm..." The four girls nodded together.
"Alright, let's see what we've all obtained from this outing."
Lu Zhe brought in the dead pig, the python, a bag of lemons, six bunches of bananas, and a bundle of thin bamboo sticks.
Shen Bing exclaimed, "There's so much! How did you manage to get all of this?"
But what surprised Lu Zhe even more was when he grabbed the bundle of thin bamboo sticks, he suddenly noticed that the thick one was purple.
"Hey, Qianqian, this isn't bamboo!"
"Huh?" Qianqian admitted her mistake in a low voice, "I wasted my efforts, didn't I?"
"This is sugarcane!"