『Current balance: nineteen Shop Coins.』
Chu Xun entered the kitchen and began processing the wild chicken, boiling water and plucking the feathers.
Outside, Qin Yue’er had also washed her face and came in to help him process the wild chicken.
Chu Xun smiled and rubbed her cheek, saying with concern, “Why do you have to work so hard?”
Qin Yue’er pulled on Chu Xun’s arm, too shy to look at him. “As long as Brother likes it, that’s enough.”
Hoo, she really was a bewitching little temptress.
Chu Xun hurriedly collected his thoughts and focused on processing the chicken. “Later, just toss the chicken into the pot and let it simmer a while longer.”
Once he got to the city, he would use Shop Coins to buy a bag of salt and use it to help Yue’er cook and make soup.
Qin Yue’er gave a quiet reply, then asked, “Brother Xun, are you really not staying for dinner?”
Chu Xun turned around and looked at the beauty before him, her face full of anticipation.
He smiled and said, “I’m not staying. If I linger any longer, you’ll gain half a tael again.”
After all, this body was still pretty impressive.
Qin Yue’er’s cheeks instantly reddened. “Brother Xun, you’re just teasing me.”
Chu Xun teased her a little longer, then packed up his things and left.
Second Uncle and the others should be back soon. He needed to hurry home and let them see today’s haul.
…
“Dad, didn’t big brother come back with you?”
Chu Qing took the carrying pole from Second Uncle Chu and kept looking behind him, unable to hold back the question.
“Xunzi?”
Second Uncle Chu looked surprised. “He didn’t go fetch water and collect firewood with me today. Didn’t you see him at home?”
Hearing that even Dad didn’t know where big brother had gone, Chu Qing immediately grew anxious.
“My mother and I came back after picking wild vegetables, and we didn’t see big brother at home either.
I thought he had gone out with Dad. It’s already so late now… could something have happened to big brother?”
Second Aunt Chu, who had been busy in the kitchen, also came out.
She said worriedly, “Could the eldest have been taken away by those people from this morning?”
Second Uncle Chu’s heart suddenly sank.
When Old Eight Liu and his men came this morning to collect the debt, although the village head chased them away, it was obvious they would not let it go.
Could they really have taken Xunzi while he was home alone?
No, I have to go out and look for him!
With that, Second Uncle Chu picked up the carrying pole and was about to run outside.
But after only two steps, he stopped in stunned disbelief.
A familiar figure suddenly appeared ahead. If it wasn’t Chu Xun, who else could it be?
Chu Xun held a bow in one hand and a lively wild chicken in the other.
Around his waist were also tied a plump gray hare and a rooster with brightly colored feathers.
As he walked, he shouted, “Second Uncle, where are you going so late?”
“Xunzi!”
Second Uncle Chu rushed over in a single stride, not even bothering to look at the precious game.
Instead, he anxiously looked Chu Xun up and down.
Only after seeing that he was fine did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Second Aunt Chu, who came up behind him, widened her eyes and trembled as she pointed at the wild chicken in Chu Xun’s hand.
She stammered, “Xun… Xunzi, where did this chicken come from? And that rabbit, and the bow in your hand… what is going on?”
Her question finally snapped Second Uncle Chu back to his senses.
He looked down and was immediately struck as if by a huge blow.
His eyes went wide, and he blurted out, “My goodness! Xunzi! Where did you pick all this up from?! How did you get so much game?!”
Chu Xun’s ears were a little numb from Second Uncle’s roar.
He raised the bow in his hand and said with a smile, “Didn’t I say I was going hunting? The village head lent me a bow and a few arrows.
In the afternoon, I went into the old forest to hunt. These are all the prey I killed.”
He even deliberately lifted the hen that was still struggling and said, “I’ll keep this one so it can lay eggs for us later.”
Second Uncle Chu was already so shocked he could not speak. Wild chicken, hare, and a hen that could lay eggs.
All of this was just too unbelievable!
Xunzi had said this morning that he wanted to go hunting.
And then he borrowed a bow in the morning and went into the dangerous old forest in the afternoon.
By evening, he came back with a hare, a wild chicken, and an egg-laying hen tied to his waist.
Am I dreaming? Damn it!
Second Aunt Chu was even more incredulous.
She rubbed her eyes hard, doubting whether her old eyes were failing her.
She even wanted to pinch herself to verify whether this was real.
That nephew of hers, tall and handsome, who could do nothing but study, had actually gone alone into the deep mountains and old forests to hunt and brought back so much prey!
My heavens!!
And Chu Qing, with her delicate and pretty face, after seeing the game, was indeed extremely shocked, but her gaze did not linger on the prey at all.
Instead, she walked straight up to Chu Xun.
She circled him once, carefully checking him all over with her hands.
Only then did she burst into tears and sob, “Big brother, going into the old forest alone is far too dangerous. Even if it’s to repay the money, you shouldn’t be risking your life like this.”
Seeing his little sister cry with concern, Chu Xun only felt warmth in his heart.
He reached out and put an arm around Chu Qing’s shoulder, patting her back.
He comforted her gently, “I’m fine, aren’t I? I learned a lot about hunting from books. It’s not dangerous at all. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Chu Qing leaned against Chu Xun’s chest and cried, “Big brother, you worried us to death.”
Her oval face was streaked with tears, looking wet and pitiful.
『Ding ding ding!!!』
The system is sounding the alarm frantically!
Ding, my ass!
Chu Xun cursed inwardly!
He smiled at Second Uncle Chu and said, “Second Uncle, let’s go inside first. I’ve been walking all the way back, and I’m a little hungry too.”
Second Uncle Chu, as if waking from a dream, quickly took the wild chicken and hare.
Pulling Chu Xun by the arm, he said, “Come, come, go inside. Child’s mother, hurry and boil some water, prepare to pluck the feathers and stew the soup.”
Second Aunt Chu also came forward and looked at Chu Xun with concern.
This foolish child. Even if the family couldn’t repay the debt, at worst they could just give up the land.
If something happened to him, then wouldn’t these more than ten years of raising him have been for nothing?
After wiping away her tears, Second Aunt hurried into the house. “What are you rushing about? Hurry and chop some firewood. The little bit of firewood in the kitchen isn’t nearly enough to stew soup.”
…
『PS: The system plays the BGM for “Fate,” but Chu Xun brutally cuts it off: “I am not You! Qing is even less Qiong!”』