“We’re having stewed chicken~”
A wild mountain chicken weighing over 2 kilograms was dropped into the pot, and Xiao Yue jumped around happily in excitement. The aroma of stewed chicken was far richer than rabbit, and chicken was more nutritious with a better taste.
“This girl… I really can’t handle her anymore. Just look at how spoiled she’s becoming day by day.”
After finishing her chores, Yun Niang also felt helpless in her heart. Days like this, where they could eat meat every day, truly felt like a dream.
When the stewed chicken was almost done, Yun Niang scooped out a bowl of chicken, took out a jar of rice wine, and headed toward the village chief’s house. But just as she stepped out of the door, a group of villagers surrounded her.
They had all been drawn over by the smell of stewed chicken—it could be smelled even from far away.
“I say, Yun Niang, did your family suddenly get rich or something? How come you’re eating meat every day?”
“Yeah, has Old Xu’s legs recovered? Did he hunt that in the mountains?”
“Just look at this life of luxury, wine in one hand and stewed meat in the other…”
Everyone in Qingshan Village knew each other well, and everyone knew exactly what the Xu family’s situation was like. Yun Niang appearing like this really confused them and made them extremely envious.
“It’s all thanks to our Xu Changnian. He’s been learning how to hunt with the old man and actually picked up some real skill. He just hunted this wild chicken today…”
Yun Niang was not someone who would show weakness. If others wanted to be sour, then let them stay sour. She kept praising Xu Changnian nonstop, calling him capable, saying he could hunt rabbits and wild chickens—absolutely incredible.
No matter what arguments existed in the house, outside, the Xu family stood as one.
Inside the house, Xu Changnian listened until his ears were burning red, feeling it was already a bit too much.
“Big sister, Sister-in-law is really amazing with her words.”
Shen Wei leaned against Shen Yourong, covering her mouth as she giggled. Yun Niang truly was impressive. Even though she argued with Xu Changnian daily at home, once she stepped outside, she would always stand firmly on his side.
She kept calling him Brother Nian again and again, making the villagers so jealous that their eyes twisted and noses warped with envy. Jealous? Then go up the mountain and hunt yourselves if you have the ability!
“Your sister-in-law is impressive, so does that mean your husband isn’t impressive? Why didn’t you praise me?”
“Don’t mess around, big sister, just look at him!”
Xu Changnian quietly came closer, hugged Shen Wei tightly from behind, and gave her a few playful squeezes. The three of them naturally chased and teased each other around, laughing nonstop.
After playing around enough, Xu Changnian finally took out his bow and started practicing archery.
The arrow that hit the wild chicken earlier was honestly pure luck, a stroke of fortune. He had to train hard and improve his accuracy.
He regretted that he was not some reborn war emperor who could kill wolves bare-handed, fight tigers up close, and hunt in the mountains as easily as eating and drinking. Fortunately, he had the Information System in his mind!
[Ding! Host has hunted two wild mountain chickens, experience +15 points.]
[Current System Level: Level 1, Experience: 25/100.]
Xu Changnian checked inside his mind. The experience from catching the wild chickens had been credited, and the accumulation speed was actually quite decent.
Qingshan Village wasn’t large, and in less than half an hour, Yun Niang returned carrying about 1.5 kilograms of millet.
Xu Tielin nodded in satisfaction.
This kind of matter was best handled by Yun Niang. Not only had she resolved the matter regarding the Shen sisters, she even managed to bring back millet.
Very soon, a large basin of stewed chicken was placed on the table, and the whole family sat down to eat.
“Yun Niang, are you home?”
Just as everyone was eating, a shout came from the doorway.
Yun Niang quickly walked out, and Xu Changnian followed behind to see what was happening.
Standing at the door was a man about 1.8 meters tall, holding half a bowl of millet in his hands. It was Ma Han, a farmer from the village whose house was right next to the Xu family, and their relationship had always been pretty good, mainly because Ma Han was an honest person.
“Brother Ma, why are you standing at the door? Come in and sit, have you eaten yet?”
Yun Niang invited Uncle Ma inside, but Ma Han shook his head. He simply held the bowl out toward Yun Niang, speaking embarrassedly, “My girl at home smelled your stewed chicken and just couldn’t handle it anymore. We don’t have much grain at home. This is half a bowl of millet, can we exchange it for two pieces of meat… even just some soup would be fine.”
In the current Qingshan Village, even during holidays, poor families rarely got to eat meat. Walking straight to someone’s house to ask for meat made Ma Han, this honest farmer, feel extremely embarrassed, so he could only bring half a bowl of millet to exchange.
With Yun Niang’s soft-hearted nature, when she saw Ma Han’s honest and embarrassed expression, she naturally softened.
But since the meat was hunted by Xu Changnian, before agreeing, she still turned to look at him.
Xu Changnian shrugged, indicating he didn’t mind.
It was just two pieces of meat, and Ma Han didn’t come empty-handed. They would all continue living in the same village, and they would definitely need help from others in the future.
Back when Xu Changqing was still around, their family had plenty of friends and support, and everything was manageable.
Once the current difficult period passed, he would need to rebuild those connections again.
Xu Changnian thought to himself that human connections were a necessary kind of soft strength.
“With the relationship between our two families… the child was just too tempted, so she came to eat a bit. Brother Ma, you really didn’t need to bring anything.”
Seeing Xu Changnian nod, Yun Niang finally invited Ma Han inside, scooped a ladle of chicken soup, and gave him two pieces of chicken.
After this small interruption, everyone continued eating stewed chicken. The two chicken drumsticks went to Xiao Yue and Xu Tielin, the chicken wings went to the two new daughters-in-law, and after that, only a few pieces remained.
Xiao Yue and Xu Changnian started competing childishly over the last bits, happily snatching back and forth.
Eating meat was always the most delicious when fought over!
When night came, Xu Changnian returned to the room with Shen Yourong, and naturally, a deep and intimate exchange was unavoidable. For Yun Niang, it was yet another sleepless night.
…
The next morning, using the leftover chicken soup from last night, Yun Niang cooked a pot of porridge with bits of meat floating on top.
The smell was incredibly fragrant.
After everyone finished eating and drinking, Xu Changnian returned to his room, and the Information System’s cooldown also ended.
[Mature Wild Ginseng: On the mountainside of Xiaoyue Mountain, there is a mature Wild Ginseng waiting to be harvested.]
[Old Hunter on the Mountain: On Xiaoyue Mountain, there is an old hunter currently hunting. If you go and encounter him, you might gain unexpected rewards.]
[Wolf Attack: Several black wolves have run down from Black Wind Mountain and clashed with a herd of wild boars. Both sides suffered injuries but are still extremely dangerous.]
After the new intel refreshed, Xu Changnian was quite surprised. Not bad! All three pieces of intel sounded tempting.
A battle between wild boars and wolves?
That alone sounded dramatic.
But Xu Changnian decisively gave up on that! Whether it was wild boars or wolves, they preferred to move in groups.
How could he afford to mess with that?
The Information System had already clearly warned him—still dangerous!
As for the intel regarding the old hunter, although there was no danger mentioned, nothing guaranteed any definite reward either. That would purely be gambling on luck.
In that case, the safest and smartest choice was to harvest the Wild Ginseng. Tomorrow would be the big market day in Anping County, and people from all nearby areas would come. It could fetch an excellent price.
“Choose Wild Ginseng.”
After gearing up, Xu Changnian set off.
Today’s job would not be easy. It was currently deep winter. The mountain soil was frozen hard like stone, and the slopes were steep and slippery, making digging extremely difficult.
Strictly speaking, his previous hunting trips were only around the foot of the mountain, so this would be his first time truly climbing the mountain properly!
…
“Don’t you think it’s strange? Xu Changnian just started hunting recently, yet he keeps coming back successful every time.”
“Exactly.”
“If you’re talking about Old Xu, that old hunter, that’s understandable. But what ability does Xu Changnian have? I really don’t accept this.”
“With our hunting skills, could we really be worse than that rascal Xu Changnian?”
“Come on, pack up, let’s go check Xiaoyue Mountain. Who knows, maybe there’s more prey this winter than usual!”
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
Seeing Xu Changnian heading up the mountain again, many people in Qingshan Village couldn’t sit still anymore, especially a few other hunters.
In these times, they could climb Xiaoyue Mountain four or five times and still not find a single rabbit.
So why could Xu Changnian always come back with wild rabbits and wild chickens?
Watching him live such a good life was making them itch with envy.