As for Zhao Shiyu, after passing through the area where they usually gathered wild vegetables, she ran into a few people from the village along the way. She had no intention of greeting them, though. To avoid awkwardness, she simply walked around them.
Now that she had the Space as her cheat item—and one that people could even enter—she naturally wasn’t too afraid of danger. At worst, if she encountered something dangerous, she could just hide inside the Space and come back out after the danger passed.
Of course, that was only if the danger didn’t come from other humans.
After all, entering the Space in front of other people would definitely expose its existence. At that point, not only would she herself be in danger, but probably the entire Old Zhao family as well. And if strangers found out, perhaps even everyone in Zhao Family Village would end up dragged into danger.
So unless it was a life-or-death situation, she absolutely would not enter the Space in front of others.
Still, she was just an ordinary little girl. She hadn’t made enemies with anyone, so nobody should attack her for no reason, right?
Besides, their village was still quite far from the main road. Normally, outsiders wouldn’t come here. As for the villagers… this wasn’t the farming off-season, and there weren’t any hunters in the village who relied on hunting for a living. Who would come wandering up the mountain for no reason right now?
As for children around her age, their families had long since repeatedly warned them not to climb the mountain.
So Zhao Shiyu felt relatively at ease.
Based on the experience she had from reading novels in the past, she even picked up a branch to use as a walking stick, tapping the grass as she walked in case snakes or other creatures were hiding in it.
Perhaps it really was the protagonist halo at work. Along the way, she didn’t encounter any danger at all. Before she knew it, she had already walked deeper into the woods.
And she actually ran into a group of wild chickens.
Five of them.
Well… calling that a “group” should still count, right?
Zhao Shiyu immediately lightened her footsteps and slowly approached the wild chickens pecking around in the grass. But the rustling sound of her feet brushing through the grass still startled them.
Seeing the wild chickens flap their wings and prepare to fly away, she hurriedly lunged forward at the nearest one. The moment her fingers touched its feathers, she silently thought:
Collect.
One wild chicken instantly disappeared into her Space.
As for the others, they had already flapped away during that brief moment.
Watching the chickens fly off, Zhao Shiyu felt a little regretful.
That was all meat!
And those wild chickens could fly surprisingly high and far—far beyond what her little body could chase after.
Using her consciousness to glance at the wild chicken inside the Space, she comforted herself that something was better than nothing.
After entering the Space, the wild chicken stood there in a daze for a while. But once it realized there was no danger around, it happily began pecking at the grass on the ground.
Catching that chicken seemed to trigger some sort of lucky streak.
After that, she actually caught two more rabbits—one gray and one yellow.
She also dug up over a dozen plants of gold coin grass, eight white-headed herbs, and more than twenty dandelion plants. She stored all of them inside the Space.
Afraid that the chickens and rabbits would eat the medicinal herbs she had collected, she snapped off a bunch of tree branches and tossed those into the Space as well. Then she entered the Space herself together with her basket.
Using the branches as a fence, she divided the Space into two sections. One side was used to store the medicinal herbs, while the other temporarily held the rabbits and wild chicken.
But she quickly realized she had been too naive.
Wild chickens could fly.
A fence made of branches at that height couldn’t stop them at all.
So she had no choice but to leave the Space again and pull down a vine to tie up the wild chicken.
Today, she would use this chicken as her excuse when she returned home.
After all, with all the tossing around, it was already getting late. She needed to hurry back down the mountain while there was still time, preferably reaching home before dinner preparations began.
That way, they could eat this wild chicken tonight.
There was another reason she needed the chicken as cover.
She hadn’t dug up a single wild vegetable all afternoon. With this wild chicken, Old Madam Zhao would probably go easier on her. And if some troublemaker tried whispering complaints in front of Old Madam Zhao, they might even get scolded instead.
After all, the Old Zhao family only got to eat meat once every month or two.
This one wild chicken, combined with some vegetables and extra water, would be enough for everyone in the family to get a bowl of soup with at least a little meat in it.
No way Old Madam Zhao wouldn’t protect her over that.
The wild vegetables and rabbits stayed hidden inside the Space, each occupying their own corner, while the tied-up wild chicken was tossed into her basket and carried on her back as she retraced her steps downhill.
Because she was afraid of getting lost in the mountains, she had been leaving marks along the way as she walked. Now, following those marks back down, she naturally wasn’t worried about losing her direction.
On the way back, in the same area where she had caught the wild chicken, she also found more than a dozen wild chicken eggs.
“Hahaha…”
This protagonist halo was seriously amazing!
When she reached the edge of the forest, she spotted a somewhat familiar figure at the foot of the mountain in the distance.
The person had their back facing her and was squatting on the ground digging for wild vegetables. Even though Zhao Shiyu couldn’t see the face, the clothing color looked strangely familiar.
It was actually the same color as the outfit worn by Zhao Shiying, that transmigrator girl.
Zhao Shiyu immediately changed direction and walked the other way.
Now that she had reached this familiar mountain foothill area, she wouldn’t get lost even if she changed course. From here, she could already see Zhao Family Village not far away in the distance.
Very quickly, Zhao Shiyu moved out of that person’s line of sight and headed downhill. Before long, she entered the village.
“Seventh Girl, why are you coming back alone today? What wild vegetables did you dig up? Let Auntie take a look.”
Just a few steps into the village, Zhao Shiyu didn’t even notice where the woman had popped out from. As she spoke, one hand already reached toward the basket on Zhao Shiyu’s back.
Zhao Shiyu quickly stepped back twice, avoiding the woman’s hand. Only then did she clearly see who it was.
It was Yang Huahua, the third son’s wife from Old Zhao Shuan’s family in the village.
Speaking of Yang Huahua, she was quite the character.
Lazy, greedy, sly, shameless—she embodied every bad trait possible.
The Zhao Shuan family hadn’t split up yet, and Yang Huahua was the youngest daughter-in-law to marry into the family. Yet after entering the household, she somehow managed to suppress both of her older sisters-in-law. Even her mother-in-law was wary of her.
She had become the single most untouchable person in the Zhao Shuan household.
Now, seeing Zhao Shiyu dodge away, Yang Huahua’s face darkened slightly. Curling her lips, she revealed a sharp, mean expression.
“I say, Seventh Girl, could there be something shady hidden in that basket of yours? Why won’t you even let people take a look? I’m only looking—what’s the big deal? It’s not like you’ll lose a piece of meat.”
Through the gaps in the basket, Yang Huahua had already caught sight of a different color inside. She immediately suspected that the little brat was hiding something good.
Since none of the girl’s family members were around right now, it would be best if she could just snatch it away outright. As long as she managed to grab it and run home, even if the old woman’s family came knocking later, she could simply deny everything.
Her plan sounded great in her head.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t expected this little girl to dodge so quickly.
Zhao Shiyu also looked at her with a dark expression and mimicked her lip-curling gesture.
Unfortunately, because she was too young, Yang Huahua didn’t feel even the slightest bit threatened.
Instead, she only grew more irritated.