No matter how curious or eager she was, the financially strained Yu Hongdou couldn’t spare 2 Sign-in Points.
Yesterday at the village chief’s house she had merely felt regretful, but now Yu Hongdou was genuinely heartbroken. Fortunately, the Sign-in Locations wouldn’t disappear – she could just wait until she saved up 2 points and have her family bring her back again!
Holding onto this comforting thought, Yu Hongdou followed her brother up the moderately steep Dongshan Slope, and then…
【Sign-in Location: Dongshan Pine Forest. Consume 1 point to sign in?】
【Sign-in Location: Dongshan Hazel Forest. Consume 1 point to sign in?】
【Sign-in Location: Dongshan Flower Patch. Consume 1 point to sign in?】
【Sign-in Location: Dongshan Locust Grove. Consume 1 point to sign in?】
Her heart was truly aching to the point of death!
Mentally adding this line in a dramatic Taiwanese drama tone, the bittersweetly amused Yu Hongdou made herself laugh.
Yu Song had been keeping an eye on his sister, worried her short legs might tire. When he saw her inexplicable silly grin, he smiled too.
“Hey! Brother, is that shepherd’s purse?” Yu Hongdou pointed at a patch of serrated-leaf weeds on the ground, asking with some uncertainty.
In both her lifetimes, she’d had few opportunities to forage for wild vegetables. She only recognized a limited number of varieties, and even those were from colleagues’ explanations during company team-building trips to rural resorts.
Yu Song confirmed his sister’s question, adding: “Second Aunt and Mom said they’d make shepherd’s purse buns for dinner this morning.”
The implication being she didn’t need to bother.
Yu Hongdou instantly understood. Looking at her small hands, she acknowledged this task was indeed beyond her capability. Shaking her head, she reluctantly continued forward.
After just two steps, her brother covered her mouth. Blinking, she looked at Yu Song as he raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. He pulled a slingshot from his waistband and retrieved a sharp little stone from his belt, aiming at the wormwood thicket to their right.
Yu Hongdou covered her mouth with both hands, wide-eyed as a pheasant head peeked out from the wormwood like a thief.
“Whoosh!”
The stone flew swiftly and accurately, striking the small head. The poor pheasant collapsed without a sound.
“Brother, you’re amazing!” Yu Hongdou trotted over and gave her brother a thumbs-up, looking at the pheasant that was even plumper than their domestic chickens.
Yu Song smiled without speaking, casually plucking a strand of sticky weed to truss the pheasant. Pointing to a nearby hollow, he said: “Let’s rest up ahead. I’ll roast the pheasant for you.”
“Hooray!” Yu Hongdou cheered and clapped. Truthfully, she’d never eaten wild pheasant before. In her previous life, various viruses had made people fearful of game meat. Moreover, nearly all visible mountain animals were on conservation lists, with offenses carrying minimum three-year sentences – who would dare poach?
Encouraged by the promise of food, her fatigue seemed to vanish. Yu Hongdou’s short legs moved swiftly, quickly reaching Yu Song’s designated spot.
“This used to be a hunter’s home – our Fourth Uncle’s master’s place. Fourth Uncle learned hunting and martial arts from him, eventually following him to join the army.” Yu Song shared what he knew with his sister, feeling deep admiration for their Fourth Uncle. Not for his glorious return after achieving fame, but for his fortune in finding such a good master.
Yu Hongdou didn’t catch the envy in her brother’s words. If not for the glaring green icon and shimmering light, she wouldn’t have recognized the dilapidated pile of rotten wood before her as having once been a house.
【Sign-in Location: Hunter Wu Chenggong’s Abandoned Hut. Consume 3 sign-in points?】
This was the first location Yu Hongdou encountered that required 3 sign-in points. The devilish green light seemed to beckon her.
Whenever Yu Hongdou had run short of living expenses before, she would reflect: Why had she been so extravagant when she had money? Could some purchases have been avoided? If only she had resisted buying that thing… This was exactly how she felt now.
Regret comes too late when points run out on the mountain trails. Yu Hongdou swore to herself that from now on, no matter what, she would always keep several points in reserve. Never again would she be left empty-handed, staring wistfully at precious locations with nothing to spend.
Yu Song spread a felt mat on a rock for his sister to sit on, then began preparing the pheasant.
Only then did Yu Hongdou understand why her brother had brought her here to rest. Behind the hunter’s hut, concealed completely by Sticky Weed vines against the mountain wall, was a basin-sized pond.
Yu Hongdou watched her capable brother skillfully slaughter the chicken, remove its feathers, build a fire, and roast the meat. His backpack seemed like a treasure trove – he kept pulling out small containers containing salt and honey.
It would be hard for such roasted chicken not to be delicious~
Staring intently at the gradually amber-colored roasted chicken, Yu Hongdou felt like she was drooling buckets.
“Eat~” Yu Song tore off a chicken leg with a mix of pride and amusement, wrapped it in dried leaves, and handed it to his sister. The young girl’s eyes were practically glued to the roasted chicken.
Then he felt a pang of heartache, thinking to himself that he must get his mother and sister to move to the city. At the very least, they could eat more freely there and properly nourish their bodies.
The siblings shared one pheasant, with Yu Hongdou’s small stomach only managing a single chicken leg, while Yu Song devoured the rest. The saying about teenage boys eating their fathers out of house and home certainly held truth.
After their meal, it was already noon. The siblings washed their hands in the small pond, then followed the narrow mountain path behind the hunter’s ruins up to the cliff top.
Yu Song planned to show his sister the scenery from this high vantage point before heading back.
The cliff wasn’t particularly high, but it perfectly framed the entire Taoyuan Village within view. Nestled among three mountains and embraced by two rivers, Taoyuan Village resembled a pearl embedded in green mountains and clear waters, evoking a sense of peaceful happiness in anyone who saw it.
Yu Hongdou gazed for a long time, regretting that she didn’t have a camera to capture the beautiful scene. Remembering the painting tools in her system backpack, she forgot her previous disdain and secretly vowed to master painting, determined to manually preserve all the beautiful scenery and memories she would see now and in the future.
After making this solemn mental pledge, Yu Hongdou withdrew her gaze and unexpectedly spotted a cluster of “chive leaves.”
“Brother! Is that an orchid plant?” Though phrased as a question, Yu Hongdou was already quite certain it was a rare cluster of wild orchids.
In her previous life, her pretentious father had missed the “pricely orchid” craze and subsequently developed an inexplicable obsession with anything related to orchids. Not only did he spend a fortune purchasing numerous rare orchid varieties, but he also covered their home with orchid cultivation materials and care instructions. Thus, while Yu Hongdou couldn’t distinguish daffodils from garlic, she possessed profound knowledge about orchids.
Since ancient times, orchids have been revered as the gentlemen among flowers. Wild orchids, due to environmental and climatic factors, often exhibit unique characteristics and are difficult to harvest, making them exceptionally rare. This held true in ancient times as well, and with their association to scholarly virtue, orchids’ value was further elevated.
Yu Song had attended school for several years and had read some classical texts and poetry. Knowing that mountain orchids had always been precious, he immediately decided to return home and enlist his father’s help.
Yu Hongdou wholeheartedly agreed, but just as she turned to leave, she saw Yu Silang being ambushed and knocked to the ground across the cliff…