The Village Head was a resident of Qiaoxi Village, but he held a semi-official position. As such, the villagers generally put up with him and accepted his authority.
But Zhou Yuan was different. He wasn't from this world, so naturally, he wouldn't be bound by local customs.
Besides, he had already been conscripted for military service. He wouldn't be living in Qiaoxi Village for much longer, so why would he care what the Village Head thought of him?
"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."
After a few squawks, Zhou Yuan vaulted out of the courtyard, carrying a chicken with a broken neck.
"Big Huang Uncle, looks like we're in for a treat tonight. Help me prepare this chicken. Don't worry, eat your fill. I'll take the blame, you won't lose out."
"Th-this... Shi Tou, you did this all on your own, right? It has nothing to do with me."
Zhao Dahuang fumbled to catch the chicken Zhou Yuan tossed him, wishing he could slap himself.
Why was I so greedy? A moment of carelessness and this little rascal had already dragged me into his mess.
"Look at you, you coward. If you keep this up, I'll eat it all by myself. I won't even leave you a single drop of soup."
"No, no! Since we're already in this deep, how can you leave me out? Let's go, hurry. To the earthen slope on the east side. My teeth aren't so good, let's use a clay pot to stew it until it's tender."
"Alright. You go get some salt and a big piece of ginger. I'll go dig a fire pit."
In the dark of night, two furtive figures ran from the north side of the village to the east. Using simple tools, they began to stew the chicken.
At that moment, Zhao Dahuang suddenly felt that Zhou Yuan wasn't crazy at all. The boy was likely using his 'craziness' to get real benefits.
"Shi Tou, I've figured you out. You're a strange one, but you're not stupid at all. It's just the two of us now. After we eat, find a stick and hit me with it. I'll fall down, and you take the chance to run. This way, I'll have done right by you. You call me 'uncle,' so I can't just treat you like a good-for-nothing."
"That won't work, Big Huang Uncle. I'm actually planning to go check out the military camp."
"What? You want to go, yet you've been causing trouble all day, earned a bad reputation, and now you're really going to serve? What are you after? You're not right in the head, kid. Why the sudden attack of conscience?"
"Listen to you. I've always had a conscience, alright? As the saying goes, 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease.' If I didn't cause a ruckus, would the village be taking such good care of me?"
Zhou Yuan's words were always a mix of truth and lies. He had indeed wanted to run away at first.
He didn't want to hide in this barren village, a place where eating your fill of flatbread was a luxury, let alone meat.
He needed more resources, a wider space.
Therefore, he planned to go through with the military service, see if he could snag a position in the camp, and use the opportunity to learn about this world while using the military's resources to strengthen himself.
"Shi Tou, you're really something else. They all say you're a fool, but I think you're the cleverest of them all. You're just lucky you were born in good times. When I was young, families couldn't even afford to eat. People would fight for a spot in the army. Who would have let you cause so much trouble?"
"Now you're talking. It was only because you all insisted I go that I decided to mess with you. If you were all fighting to go, maybe I would have given the spot to you."
"Do I look like a fool? Who'd believe your nonsense?"
Although Zhao Dahuang was no longer young, his movements were exceptionally nimble. He added firewood and fanned the flames without Zhou Yuan having to lift a finger, truly resembling a loving elder.
"Big Huang Uncle, let's discuss something. You shouldn't go for this military service. Let your boy go instead. With your old bones, if you collapse on the road, you really won't be coming back. I promised to carry Ergou back, which means I can't carry you. 'A man is worthless away from home,' and the same goes for ghosts. It's better not to die in a foreign land."
Zhao Dahuang, who was fanning the fire, fell into a rare silence upon hearing Zhou Yuan's words.
He rubbed his rough, large hands, wanting to say something, but all that came out was: "Shi Tou, the meat's cooked. Your teeth are good, so eat up before it gets tough. Just leave me some soup. I'm old and useless. My stomach can't handle such greasy food."
"Alright, I'll leave you a couple of chicken feet to gnaw on."
"You're really something. Can't even understand polite words. I think you're genuinely dense."
Zhao Dahuang didn't want to talk about his family matters, and Zhou Yuan didn't press him. He picked up a thin branch, broke it into chopsticks, and began to eat the meat cheerfully.
Seeing that the boy wasn't holding back at all, Zhao Dahuang worried that if he waited any longer, he wouldn't get a single decent piece of meat.
So he also broke off a branch and poked it into the pot. He was in luck, immediately snagging a nice piece with the skin on. The glistening, oily chicken skin was so bright it almost hurt to look at.
"Go on and eat, Big Huang Uncle, don't be polite with me. When you learn how to steal chickens tomorrow, you can treat me."
"Then I guess you'll never get that meal. I could never learn your wicked ways." With a flick of his 'chopstick,' the meat fell back into the pot. He fished around again and pulled out the chicken head. The wizened old man held the chicken head and began to gnaw on it with relish.
Zhou Yuan glanced at Zhao Dahuang sucking on the chicken head and thoughtfully fished out a chicken foot for him.
"Big Huang Uncle, have a chicken foot to replenish yourself. If you can't bite through it, just let it go."
"My teeth are perfectly fine! Not a single decent word comes out of your mouth, boy."
After eating the chicken and drinking the soup, Zhou Yuan lay back on the grass and observed his attribute panel. He only broke into a satisfied smile when his health bar began to rise.
Most of the chicken had ended up in Zhou Yuan's stomach, but it hadn't restored much of his health, and the recovery speed was very slow.
Ultimately, the chicken was too scrawny, and his 'Food Supplement' skill level was too low.
"Hmm?"
Zhou Yuan looked towards the eastern river channel and sat up abruptly.
"What's wrong, Shi Tou? Still hungry? Have a few more pieces?"
"Big Huang Uncle, clean up this 'crime scene' properly in a bit. I'm going to the river to take a bath."
"Why are you running off again? Didn't we agree you'd go to the military service? Hurry up and hit me with a stick, or I won't be able to explain this!"
"I'll be back soon. No need to lie to you."
Zhao Dahuang watched Zhou Yuan quickly disappear into the night, sighed heavily, and then unhurriedly went back to gnawing on the bones.
Zhou Yuan hadn't been lying. He had just inadvertently glimpsed two fragmented health bars moving towards the Stone Arch Bridge.
The shape of the health bars indicated they belonged to humans, not the thin, short kind seen on poultry.
In the dead of night, what were two low-health individuals doing by the river? A duel, perhaps, or were they planning to jump in?
Zhou Yuan hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow them. It wasn't that he was a busybody, but he was the only one in all of Qiaoxi Village who always talked about chopping people up and had actually acted on it.
He was worried someone might use his reputation to commit murder in secret, leaving him to take the fall.
As he neared the Stone Arch Bridge, he saw one health bar enter the river and disappear, while the other remained still.
He didn't rush forward to see who the health bar belonged to. Instead, he waited silently, preparing to see whose house this health bar would return to.
But to his surprise, it wasn't long before the person who had jumped into the river resurfaced. After meeting up with the person on the bank, they started walking unhurriedly towards Qiaoxi Village.
Zhou Yuan wasn't tracking the people, only the moving health bars. He kept a considerable distance and wasn't discovered by the pair.
"Huh, it's Ergou's house. Didn't that guy just get married? Shouldn't he be so busy his legs are weak? What's he doing running to the river in the middle of the night? Got tired of being indoors and decided to spice things up with some outdoor action?"
Proofreader: Peter Pan