Upon seeing Dongdong, Xiaoliu's expression darkened noticeably.
She was determined to succeed. Not just for the wild boar meat, but more importantly, as a way to prove herself.
She refused to fail.
Having already tasted the bitterness of failure once before, she knew how awful it felt. Xiaoliu possessed the stubbornness and competitive spirit common to many young girls. She felt that her own performance last time had been more than good enough, and that their failure was entirely due to being dragged down by others.
Because of this, she harbored the thought that "even though they are boys, they can't measure up to a little girl like me," leading to a sense of reverse discrimination against all boys, including Dongdong.
"Let's bring Dongdong along."
Seeing the look of dejection on Dongdong's face, Ayi couldn't help but speak up.
It was easy to tell that Ayi must be the resident peacemaker of the village—the kind of person who couldn't help but lend a hand whenever he saw someone looking pitiful, Fengluo thought to himself.
"Big Brother Fengluo, Dongdong's dad is a sailor in The Crux Fleet! If we need to use a net, Dongdong is definitely a professional!"
"That's right, that's right! Look, I even brought the big net from home!"
As he spoke, Dongdong hurriedly untied a large net from his back.
It was a large net woven from some unknown cord, which looked remarkably sturdy.
"I wanted to bring it out last time. If we can use this net, those wild boars won't be able to run away!" Dongdong said earnestly.
"Hmm... Let me take a look."
Fengluo stepped forward, picked up the net, and weighed it in his hands.
It truly was a good net. It even carried the faint, fishy scent of the ocean. Doubtless, long ago, it had been used for fishing aboard a ship.
"It'll work, but can the two of you pull a net like this?" Fengluo asked, looking at Dongdong and Ayi.
Energetic as these two kids were, dragging a net this size would still be a bit of a struggle.
"We certainly couldn't do it alone, but if we add Xiaoliu..."
Ayi and Dongdong turned their gaze toward Xiaoliu in unison.
"Don't look at me. I'm not pulling any nets. I'm going to spear the wild boars." Xiaoliu shook her head in refusal.
"Making a girl pull the net—only you boys could come up with something like that..."
"Uh... then what should we do?"
Dongdong and Ayi scratched their heads. Left to just the two of them, moving the net was completely out of the question; even spreading it open would be a problem.
"Ah! I know!"
Ayi suddenly slapped his forehead as he remembered another child.
"Xiaoxing! Xiaoxing should still be playing near the entrance of the village. If we call him to join us, we should be able to pull the net!"
Another kid?
Fengluo felt a slight headache coming on.
"Trust me, Big Brother Fengluo! They say many hands make light work. Even though we're just kids, we can still pull our weight!"
Both Ayi and Dongdong looked at Fengluo with hopeful eyes.
"Fine, fine."
Figuring he might as well just humor them and play along with the children, Fengluo nodded.
"Yay!" Ayi and Dongdong cheered together.
"Then let's go find Xiaoxing right now. We'll meet up on the path leading to the fields outside the village!"
With that, the two boys grabbed the net and scurried off in opposite directions, leaving quickly.
"You're not serious, are you, Big Brother Fengluo?"
Xiaoliu stood beside him with dark lines across her forehead. "Those boys are clumsy and stupid, and they'll only ruin things. Why don't the two of us just go straight to the fields and spear the wild boars to death?"
"Don't be so hot-headed, little miss!"
Fengluo chuckled, gesturing for her to calm down. "If they really can manage to cast that net like they said, we'll be able to catch the wild boar even more smoothly, won't we?"
"Hmph, whatever you say. I'll do things my own way when the time comes."
Seeing Fengluo's attitude, Xiaoliu promptly gave up trying to reason with him. Boys really are idiots no matter how old they get! Completely unreliable! Xiaoliu thought to herself bitterly.
The two of them walked slowly one after the other. Before long, the figures of three children appeared on the path ahead.
"Hey～ Over here!"
It was Ayi and Dongdong, and now they were joined by another child wearing a straw hat. That must be the Xiaoxing they had mentioned.
Sure enough, Xiaoxing was of the same build as the other two, though his skin was slightly darker and his hands and feet a bit thicker from frequent farm work.
"Hello, Big Brother Fengluo," the boy named Xiaoxing greeted politely. "My name is Xiaoxing. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello to you too, Xiaoxing. Do you know what we're going to do today?"
"Yeah! Today we're going to the fields to hunt those really, really bad wild boars and chase them out!" Xiaoxing's eyes were practically shining. "I've had it in for those wild boars for a long time, but I couldn't beat them on my own. Big Brother Fengluo, now that you're here, we're definitely going to win!"
"Hahahaha! Of course. Xiaoxing, when the time comes, you'll team up with Ayi and Dongdong to drive and catch them with that big net. If anything feels wrong, don't force it—just run, understand?"
"Yeah!"
"And you guys—Ayi, Dongdong, and Xiaoliu, let me repeat: safety comes first in this operation. If a wild boar charges in your direction, just run away. Leave the rest to me..."
"We know, we know, let's hurry up and go!" Xiaoliu interrupted impatiently from the side. "If you keep talking like this, it'll be dark before we even start. Do adventurers go on adventures using just their mouths?"
*Hey! You really are something, kid—*
A vein throbbed on Fengluo's forehead, but he kept his smile and reined in his emotions.
*I won't stoop to a child's level, I won't stoop to a child's level!*
"Fine, since Xiaoliu says so, let's head to the fields right now."
Along the way, Fengluo continuously reiterated the importance of safety to the children.
He was confident in his ability to deal with wild boars, but he had to ensure the beasts didn't run amok. Otherwise, if a large amount of crops were damaged during the capture, the losses would outweigh the gains.
That was why he had ultimately accepted Granny Ruoxin's suggestion to let these children help.
Soon, Fengluo led the children to the edge of the fields.
Beneath Qingce Village, amidst the fertile terraced fields, alongside the lushly growing crops, wild boars could be seen moving about in the shadows.
Wild boars were one of the most common creatures in Teyvat, possessing incredible vitality and reproductive capacity. They trampled farmland, caused destruction, and would suddenly charge at people when startled, making them a headache for many adventurers.
In the past, there had even been cases of novice adventurers walking along the road only to be headbutted into the river by wild boars and nearly drowned. Consequently, the Adventurers' Guild encouraged departing adventurers to hunt wild boars when appropriate.
"Look, right over there."
Fengluo led the children to take cover beside the farmland, watching the wild boars roaming through his fields.