They had been walking for a long while before they finally felt like they had gone deep enough.
Gu Yan suddenly stopped and said,
“Let’s sit here and have breakfast while we can, drink some water, rest a bit. If we go further in after this, we should find some prey.”
“Oh, okay. I’m hungry anyway.”
After saying that, Lu Zhaozhao opened the small bag she carried, took out two sesame flatbreads wrapped in greaseproof paper, handed one to Gu Yan, and picked up the other herself. She sat on a rock and began eating.
These were the flatbreads she had baked the previous night. Although they were now cold and not as delicious as when freshly baked, they were still enough to stave off hunger, making them perfect for breakfast.
Gu Yan ate his flatbread silently, focused entirely on it.
In a few bites, he finished one large flatbread and drank some water. Glancing at Lu Zhaozhao, he noticed she had eaten less than half of hers.
He said,
“You sit here and eat slowly. I’ll go in first to scout the path and come back to get you.”
As he spoke and began to get up, Lu Zhaozhao quickly said,
“No, I’ll go with you. I’ve eaten enough.”
She immediately put away the half-eaten flatbread and stood up, ready to walk with Gu Yan.
She didn’t want to stay alone here. This was the mountains—what if some animal came and attacked her?
Besides, she was indeed full. She hadn’t been very hungry that morning; half was enough, and she could eat the rest later if she got hungry.
Seeing her insistence, Gu Yan gave up on the idea of going ahead alone and walked with her, one after the other, deeper into the dense forest.
Thanks to Lu Zhaozhao’s presence, Gu Yan didn’t encounter a single snake on this trip—perhaps the constant “thump thump thump” noises she made while walking scared them away.
Recalling what Lu Zhaozhao had said yesterday, Gu Yan curiously asked,
“What are you planning to do with the wild chicken? What kind of livelihood are you thinking of?”
“I want to take it to Sister-in-law Zheng’s house next door and trade it for some vegetable seedlings. I saw that the patch of land behind our house is quite big. I want to plant vegetables there and later sell them at a stall in town!”
As she constantly tapped the ground with her stick, Lu Zhaozhao explained her idea and plan.
She hadn’t intended to hide it from him—he would find out sooner or later anyway.
Gu Yan was shocked.
“Sell vegetables?”
He really hadn’t expected that. Selling vegetables, in his opinion, was not a good idea.
In Xinghua Village, almost every household grew vegetables. Aside from personal consumption, the excess was often taken to town by the older villagers to sell, but business was usually average, and prices were low. If they weren’t worried about waste, they wouldn’t sell at such cheap rates.
There was hardly any profit to be made. Even without knowing much about business, Gu Yan understood that Lu Zhaozhao’s plan to sell vegetables was not a promising route.
And she actually wanted to trade a wild chicken for vegetable seedlings—wasn’t that a bit foolish?
How much did vegetables cost per jin? How much did meat cost per jin?
Previously, he thought she was clever when selling game in town. Why did she seem a little silly now?
Of course, Lu Zhaozhao understood all of this. The reason she dared to start a vegetable-selling venture was because she had her spiritual spring space to rely on. Vegetables grown in her spiritual field could never be compared to ordinary vegetables.
Even if people didn’t recognize their value at first, she had ways to make them buy once.
Once someone tasted vegetables from her spiritual field, she believed no one could resist their appeal.
She was certain she could make this vegetable business succeed; otherwise, it would be a waste of her super-powerful, ultra-rare “golden finger.”
But Gu Yan didn’t know any of this, so it was normal for him to look at her like she was an idiot.
She quickly explained,
“I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry. The vegetables I grow are different from those the older villagers grow. I have a secret method, and I guarantee my vegetables will be unique in Xinghua Village—definitely easy to sell. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see. Anyway, you’ve already promised me. Today, you must catch a wild chicken. That shouldn’t be too hard for you, right? Remember last time, you caught a wild chicken too?”
Seeing her confidence, Gu Yan stopped questioning. He would find out eventually, once he hit the proverbial wall. Persuasion was useless.
It didn’t matter; he never expected her to earn money for the family anyway. If she could take care of the two children, that was already enough.
“Hmm, should be fine. Let’s go further in—it’ll be easier to find prey.”
Thus, they went deeper and deeper, but didn’t encounter any small animals. Until suddenly, Gu Yan raised a hand to Lu Zhaozhao, signaling her to be quiet.
Lu Zhaozhao seemed to understand. He must have heard something.
She immediately stopped moving, even breathing as lightly as possible, afraid of scaring away the prey they had been tracking for so long.
Lu Zhaozhao crouched still in place.
Gu Yan carefully crept toward the target he had spotted. After taking a few steps forward, he threw a dagger with lightning speed.
Immediately, Lu Zhaozhao heard the sharp, distressed clucking of the chicken.
Seeing Gu Yan rushing to grab the wild chicken, Lu Zhaozhao excitedly ran after him, shouting as she jogged,
“Did you catch it? Did you catch it?”
It was her first time seeing Gu Yan hunt. So that’s how he used a dagger!
That throw was incredibly cool—like throwing a dart, fast and precise.
She had only seen such so-called martial arts on TV before. She never imagined she’d see it live!
If it weren’t for the scar on his face, she might not even have had the chance to marry into his family.
Even though the family was poor and had two children, if he were handsome, he’d have been in high demand.
Poor wasn’t a dealbreaker. Across generations, many girls still valued looks.
It was such a shame—a good young man spoiled by a scar!
“I caught it.”
Gu Yan finally smiled faintly as he held the chicken by its wings.
After walking for so long, they finally encountered a living creature. He had thought they would return empty-handed today.
Now, Lu Zhaozhao’s vegetable seedlings were secured.
Gu Yan examined the wild chicken; it looked decent, probably weighing around two jins. The dagger had pierced its wing, but it wasn’t dead yet, thrashing violently.
He grabbed a coil of hemp rope from the basket on his back and skillfully tied its wings and feet. Now, no matter how strong it was, it couldn’t escape.
Lu Zhaozhao watched all of this with fascination. This was the first time she had seen live prey!
The last time, Gu Yan had brought home game, it was already dead.