“No shortcuts. These past two days, the rabbits in the back mountain have suddenly increased. I just entered the mountain earlier and encountered several…”
“Really?” Xiaoyu excitedly interrupted Jin Feng, “I’ll tell my dad tonight, and have him go up the mountain tomorrow. Jin Feng, thank you. You’re such a good person!”
The other women were also thrilled. A few almost couldn’t resist going home right then to call their husbands.
“Good person, my foot!”
Inexplicably receiving a good person card, it reminded Jin Feng of the bitterness from his previous life.
Feeling annoyed, he swatted Xiaoyu on the head, “What I mean is, the back mountain might be dangerous recently. You’d better not come here to dig wild vegetables for the next few days.”
“What danger?” Xiaoyu blinked her big eyes and asked.
“You know, the back mountain doesn’t have many rabbits. Now they’ve suddenly increased. I suspect a fierce beast has come from the old forest, driving the rabbits to the back mountain.”
Jin Feng said, “If my guess is correct, digging wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain would be dangerous for you.”
“Really?”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“I don’t believe it. You’re definitely saying this because you’re afraid we’ll go up the mountain and catch rabbits, leaving none for you.”
Xiaoyu looked unconvinced.
The other women wore similar expressions.
Good advice is hard to persuade those who court death. He’d already warned them. If they didn’t believe it, there was nothing he could do.
If he kept insisting, they’d think he was exaggerating, not wanting others to enter the mountain and get rich.
“Figure it out yourselves.”
Jin Feng glanced at the excited women, shouldered his prey, and left.
Seeing Jin Feng’s big harvest, Guan Xiaorou was as excited as a child, fondling the pheasant’s vibrant tail feathers, unable to let go.
This was how an eighteen year old girl should be.
Jin Feng was very pleased with Guan Xiaorou’s change and smiled, asking, “Does it look good?”
“It looks great!”
Guan Xiaorou nodded repeatedly.
“Alright then, we’ll have an extra dish tonight and stew it!”
Jin Feng said with a smile, “You can keep the feathers.”
“Stew it?” Guan Xiaorou was stunned, “Aren’t we selling it?”
“A pheasant is all feathers and bones. Not many people want to buy it, and it won’t fetch a good price. Let’s stew it.”
Jin Feng said, “We’re both too thin. We need to nourish ourselves properly, or I won’t have the strength to hunt.”
In later generations, people valued taste in food. In this era, people valued substance. When buying meat, everyone picked fatty pieces. No one wanted lean meat, let alone ribs.
A pheasant wouldn’t sell for much. Better to keep it and eat it ourselves.
The host had been eating irregularly for over a year, with a poor physical foundation. He really needed some nourishment.
“Alright.”
Guan Xiaorou wouldn’t eat good food herself but couldn’t bear to let Jin Feng go hungry. She obediently carried the pheasant out.
That evening, Guan Xiaorou had the most sumptuous dinner of her life in the small courtyard.
Fragrant chicken soup and sweet, soft rice to eat as much as she wanted. This kind of life was something she hadn’t dared to dream of before.
She knew all this was brought by Jin Feng.
Her gaze towards Jin Feng became even more fervent and dependent.
“Why do you keep staring at me? Eat!”
Jin Feng placed another piece of meat in Guan Xiaorou’s bowl, “Eat more. Once you’re full, you can look as much as you want.”
With that, he winked at Guan Xiaorou suggestively.
“Hubby, you’re talking nonsense again…”
Guan Xiaorou gave Jin Feng a shy glare, then put the meat he had just given her back into his bowl, “You’re the pillar of the family. You need to eat more meat. Rice is fine for me.”
“It’s just a piece of chicken. Is it worth passing back and forth?”
Jin Feng directly lifted the pot and poured several pieces into Guan Xiaorou’s bowl, “Aren’t there still rabbits outside? If you’re not satisfied, tomorrow we’ll stew them too.”
“The rabbits are for selling. Even the county magistrate doesn’t eat meat every day, right?”
“After three years as county magistrate, one hundred thousand snowflake silver. Not to mention the county lord, many in the county office eat meat daily.”
Jin Feng said, “I’ll work hard and strive to let you live a life of eating meat every day soon.”
“Being full is already a blessing. Eating meat every day is something I don’t dare to think about.”
“What’s there not to dare? If not for the fierce beast in the mountains, we’d never lack meat from now on. Then, you’d get sick of seeing fatty meat.”
“A fierce beast? What fierce beast?”
“I don’t know.”
Jin Feng shook his head and explained his speculation to her.
“Hubby, can you not go into the mountains for the next few days?”
Guan Xiaorou grabbed Jin Feng’s hand tightly.
She had finally found someone to rely on and feared something happening to Jin Feng.
“Alright, I won’t go into the mountains for the next few days. I’ll stay home with you.”
Jin Feng agreed with a smile.
Guan Xiaorou’s pretty face blushed, and she suddenly remembered something, “Hubby, Cousin also digs wild vegetables in the back mountain. Does she know about this?”
“Cousin?”
Jin Feng was taken aback.
Other women dug wild vegetables in groups of three or five, leisurely. But Zhang Manchuang’s family had two disabled people. Half their annual rations were wild vegetables, so Lin Yunfang and her sisters in law dug very quickly. Other women didn’t like to join them.
He really hadn’t seen Lin Yunfang’s family that afternoon.
“I’ll go to Manchuang’s house later and tell Cousin.”
After dinner, Jin Feng went to Zhang Manchuang’s house, but only Manchuang’s new wife was home cooking. Lin Yunfang, her mother in law, and sister in law were still in the back mountain, not back yet.
He didn’t care about others, but Lin Yunfang had shown him kindness. Jin Feng couldn’t remain indifferent.
He went back to get his crossbow, brought a firewood knife, and headed to the back mountain.
The big mouthed Third Aunt came out of her house with a bowl and happened to see Jin Feng leaving.
Before long, almost everyone in the village knew Jin Feng had gone to the back mountain again with that strange bow and arrow.
The women were already eager. Now, unsure before, the pot boiled over.
“I knew Jin Feng was scaring us. Saying there’s a fierce beast. If there was, would he dare go into the mountain now?”
“Scholars are dishonest, full of tricks.”
“I think he’s not just tricky, he’s black hearted. Scaring us is one thing, but telling us not to dig wild vegetables for a few days. Without digging, what do we eat this year?”
“Let’s go. Everyone call your men to the back mountain. We can’t let him catch all the rabbits!”
“Yes, and while we’re at it, ask Jin Feng why he’s deceiving us!”
…
The women were indignant. One by one, they skipped dinner, went home to call their husbands, and prepared to go to the back mountain to hunt rabbits, and incidentally demand an explanation from Jin Feng.
By the time Jin Feng reached the back mountain, it was getting dark. Several figures were moving not far from the old forest.
Jin Feng ran over and saw it was indeed Lin Yunfang, her mother in law, and sister in law.
“Cousin, it’s almost dark. Why haven’t you gone back yet?”
“The plantain is just tender. We’re digging more while we can still see.”
Lin Yunfang glanced to the left, “Manchuang is over there chopping wood. He hasn’t loaded a full cart yet. We’re waiting for him.”
Over a hundred metres away, outside the forest, were several bundles of dry firewood. Zhang Manchuang was loading the cart.
