“Woof! Woof! Woof!” The dogs continued barking excitedly, signaling that they had found something else.
Full of anticipation, Gu Shiyi followed them forward.
Sure enough, not far ahead, she saw a sheep lying motionless on the ground, with two wild chickens beside it.
“Hahaha…” She couldn’t help but laugh. This afternoon was full of unexpected gains!
She might not know how to hunt, but with two such capable dogs, it was like having wings.
“Heaven is really treating me well! I’ll have lamb soup in winter,” she thought happily, imagining white lamb soup, golden roasted lamb legs, and sizzling lamb skewers.
“Come on, I’ll stew chicken for you tonight!” Gu Shiyi gently patted the dogs’ heads and led them back.
Although it was still early, she had already gained a lot from this trip and felt very satisfied.
Luckily, she hadn’t stayed in the sinkhole clearing land that afternoon, or she would have missed these five sheep and two chickens.
It seemed the sheep had come to the river to drink water and were discovered by the dogs.
As she walked, Gu Shiyi remembered seeing a patch of reeds by the river earlier.
Wild ducks liked to hide in reeds. Maybe she could find some duck eggs—or even ducks.
Now that she already had sheep and chickens, if she also had ducks…
Excited, she led the dogs toward the reed patch.
As she approached, she realized it wasn’t connected to the river—it was an isolated patch.
Moreover, it was full of mud. Every step sank deeply, and it took great effort to pull her foot out.
“This doesn’t look like reeds… this is wild rice stem!”
She stared in surprise at what she had pulled out. She had accidentally snapped one, revealing the white, tender flesh inside.
Her heart leaped with joy. She peeled it open—it really was wild rice stem!
What a pleasant surprise. She had come looking for duck eggs but found such a large patch of wild rice instead.
If she harvested and sold these at a restaurant, they would definitely fetch a good price.
She immediately forgot about the ducks and began harvesting the wild rice, placing it directly into her space.
“Quack, quack…” Not far away came the sound of ducks flapping their wings in panic.
Looking up, she saw several wild ducks scattering in all directions.
It seemed Ah Hui and Ah Hua had already started catching them.
“Ah Hui, Ah Hua—catch them alive!” she shouted.
If she could bring some live ducks home, she would have duck eggs in the future.
Although duck eggs weren’t as tasty as chicken eggs, they could be salted or made into preserved eggs—both of which she loved.
While harvesting wild rice, she also picked up more than twenty wild duck eggs.
Although the patch was large, the deeper she went, the muddier it became. She worried about getting stuck, so she decided not to go further.
Satisfied with what she had gathered, she left the wild rice marsh.
There was already a large pile of wild rice in her space—more than enough.
As soon as she stepped onto the shore, she noticed several gray wild ducks lying on the riverbank.
The dogs had already brought some ducks out.
She went over to check them.
“Sigh… they’re completely dead,” she said regretfully. She had wanted to raise some ducks, but now it wasn’t possible.
Just as she felt a bit disappointed, she heard a faint sound.
Looking back toward the marsh, she saw Ah Hua and Ah Hui running toward her, each holding a duck in their mouths.
This time, the ducks were still flapping their wings—they were alive!
Her eyes lit up as she rushed over and took the ducks from them.
“Wow, you two are amazing! These are alive this time!”
She happily praised the dogs, her face full of joy.
She placed the injured ducks into her space so they could recover.
“Woof, woof!” Ah Hua seemed to have something else to show her, tugging at her clothes and heading back toward the marsh.
“Ah Hua, are there duck eggs in there?”
Gu Shiyi immediately guessed its intention.
If the dogs couldn’t bring something back, it was probably eggs.
She followed the dogs through the marsh.
There, she found nest after nest of wild duck eggs scattered among the grass.
Delighted, she bent down and picked them up one by one, placing them into her space.
While collecting the eggs, she also saw more wild rice and casually harvested it as well.
The dogs’ hunting ability was incredible—they had caught more than a dozen ducks. Six had been killed, while nine were still alive.
Seeing how capable the dogs were, Gu Shiyi didn’t stay idle either. She quickly caught two mother ducks that were incubating eggs.
She placed them, along with their nests and unhatched eggs, into her space so they could continue incubating.
“Alright, dogs, let’s go home. We’ll come back tomorrow!” she called out.
Feeling tired, she decided to return early.
Back at the riverbank, she washed her face and feet. Her face had gotten muddy while catching ducks.
The smart dogs also jumped into the river to wash themselves clean.
Afterward, they shook their bodies vigorously, spraying water everywhere.
Gu Shiyi couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable they were.
She slowly walked home with the dogs, keeping an eye out for mushrooms along the way.
There hadn’t been much rain this year, so mushrooms were scarce.
It felt like it hadn’t properly rained for half a year—only light drizzles that didn’t even soak the ground.
Still, she was lucky enough to find a few mushrooms.
Just as she happily reached out to pick them, she suddenly cried out, “Ah!”—something had pricked her hand.
Looking closely, she saw the culprit—it was a spiky chestnut burr.
The burr had split open, revealing three brown chestnuts inside.
Curious, she looked around, but didn’t see any chestnut trees nearby.
Where had these chestnuts come from?