“Ding! Host, please go up the mountain and improve your family’s meals. You will receive 50 points.”
Xu Tang’s eyes lit up. “I can actually get 50 points!”
Xu Tang quickly washed up, took a meat bun from her backpack, and ate it. Then she slung a basket over her back and headed toward the mountain. She needed a reason to bring things out into the open.
When Xu Tang reached the outskirts of the forest, she saw several middle-aged women digging for wild vegetables and gathering firewood.
Xu Tang took the initiative to greet them. “Hello, Aunties.”
Li Cuihua and the others were surprised that Xu Tang had actually greeted them. They stood up and looked at her.
“Xiaotang, what are you going to do? Don’t go into the deep mountains.”
“That’s right, Xiaotang. Just stay around the outskirts. There are wild boars and wolves in the deep mountains.”
Li Cuihua and Zhang Sanmei knew that Xu Tang rarely went up the mountain, so they were worried that she might venture into the deep mountains and get into trouble.
Xu Tang smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, Aunties. I’ll just walk around the outskirts. I won’t go inside.”
Although the villagers loved to gossip, they were kindhearted. The original Xu Tang had always been cold and dismissive toward them, but they hadn’t taken it to heart. Now they were still taking the time to warn her not to enter the deep mountains.
The aunties felt reassured after hearing her answer and squatted down to continue digging for wild vegetables.
Xu Tang didn’t disturb them any further. She carried her basket and walked toward another direction.
After Xu Tang had gone some distance away, the women finally started talking.
“Gui Fang’s daughter really fell and somehow fell into a better personality, too.”
“Isn’t that the truth? Yesterday, when I talked to her, she didn’t even talk back to me,” Li Cuihua said.
“She was already pretty to begin with, and now that her temper has improved, I even want to introduce my nephew from my mother’s side to her.”
“Don’t say things like that so carelessly. Be careful Gui Fang hears you and gives you a good scolding.”
“What’s wrong with finding a match for her daughter? Xu Tang is seventeen now, isn’t she? My daughter was already married when she was seventeen.”
Li Cuihua didn’t know what else to say, so she casually replied, “That’s not something we should be worrying about. Come on, keep digging.”
After walking for a while and making sure there was no one around, Xu Tang put down her basket.
She opened the system shop and found that a wild chicken cost five points. Then she spent another two points to buy ten wild chicken eggs.
She selected the purchase option and used her mind to place the eggs inside the basket.
She held the wild chicken in her hand, found a rock, and knocked it unconscious. Then she found a length of vine and tied its legs together.
After tossing the chicken into the basket, she pulled out a large amount of grass and covered it completely. Only then did she carry the basket back down the mountain.
When Xu Tang arrived home, she took out the wild chicken and was just about to slaughter it when her second sister-in-law returned to prepare lunch.
Seeing the wild chicken in Xu Tang’s hands, Zhang Yue exclaimed in surprise, “Little sister, why did you go up the mountain? And you even caught a wild chicken!”
Xu Tang handed the chicken to her sister-in-law. “I just wanted to go up the mountain and have a look around. Who knew I’d be so lucky today? I saw a wild chicken trapped in some thorny bushes, so I caught it and brought it back.”
“Since you’re back, Second Sister-in-law, could you help me slaughter it? I’ll cook it later.”
Zhang Yue readily agreed. “Sure, little sister. I’ll take care of it. You go rest for a while.”
Zhang Yue efficiently slaughtered the chicken with one stroke of her knife, then went to the kitchen to boil water and pluck its feathers.
While Zhang Yue was busy, Xu Tang ran into her room and opened the system shop to see what seasonings were available. There weren’t any extra seasonings in the kitchen, and since she was going to cook, she definitely couldn’t just make do with whatever was available.
Xu Tang bought ginger, cooking oil, oyster sauce, chicken bouillon, and salt, spending five points in total. The portions were quite generous, though, so they would last for a long time.
Xu Tang put everything into her system inventory and walked back out.
Her second sister-in-law had just finished preparing the chicken and had already chopped it into small pieces.
Xu Tang went into the kitchen and said, “Second Sister-in-law, help me get the fire started. I’ll do the cooking. Let me show you all my cooking skills.”
“Little sister, you’ve never cooked before. Why don’t you just tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll make it for you?”
“Second Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I read about it in a book before. Let me give it a try. If it really doesn’t work, you can help me afterward.”
Seeing how determined Xu Tang was, Zhang Yue couldn’t say anything more.
“All right, then. I’ll go start the fire.”
Xu Tang went to the basket and took out the wild chicken eggs.
Zhang Yue became excited again. “Little sister, you even found wild chicken eggs!”
“Just lucky, just lucky.” Xu Tang gave a sheepish grin.
After the fire was lit, Xu Tang told Zhang Yue to go rest and that she would call her if she needed anything.
Seeing how confident Xu Tang looked, Zhang Yue went off to wash clothes.