On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Zheng Xianghong's daughters must have returned to their mother's ho by now, and that Gao Yongfang from yesterday must have co back, too. Gao Yongfang's dislike for her was all too evident, so Xia Xiao would certainly not stay at the Gao family's ho—how awkward that would be.
Once she left the Gao family's ho, Xia Xiao wandered around the production team for a bit before departing.
After entering the space, Xia Xiao arrived at the Black Bear Cave on Nanhua Mountain. As soon as she erged, she saw a mother black bear with two cubs, but the male black bear was nowhere to be seen.
The mother black bear let out two cries upon seeing Xia Xiao but did not attack her.
A smile appeared on Xia Xiao's face as well. She had only co to take a quick look and was about to leave when she heard the male black bear's howling.
It was the male black bear returning.
Xia Xiao paused. She was more afraid of the male black bear than the mother, so she kept her distance from the mother bear and her two cubs.
The male black bear returned carrying a deer and pushed it toward Xia Xiao.
"It wants to give you this deer," Shitou said.
Xia Xiao shook her head, "I can't take a whole deer, just a small piece of at would be fine." That was the male black bear's hard-earned prey, but she did want a small piece of deer at.
Xia Xiao gestured, and the male bear moved to bite off a piece of the deer's thigh. Alas, Xia Xiao hurriedly spoke up to stop it. She couldn't dare eat it if the bear bit it off with its mouth.
Imdiately, Xia Xiao darted back into the space. She needed to find a knife to cut off a piece of deer at to try.
Soon after, Xia Xiao and Shitou went into town, but upon inquiring about the price of knives, Xia Xiao realized her money was not nearly enough.
Xia Xiao had no choice but to return to the Gao family's ho. By that ti, Zheng Xianghong was not around, possibly out fetching water or busy with sothing else, and her daughters hadn't returned yet.
Inside the house, Gao Jiaxing was still reading. He said nothing upon seeing Xia Xiao co in.
"Brother Gao, do you have a knife or anything like a dagger?" Xia Xiao asked.
"What do you need it for?" Gao Jiaxing inquired.
"Just lend it to for a bit," Xia Xiao said, without specifying what for—she couldn't possibly say.
Gao Jiaxing frowned slightly and pointed under the bed, "You can grab it yourself."
Xia Xiao was speechless. Who kept a dagger hidden under their bed? She quickly found a military-style dagger there.
Her eyes lit up. What a good knife.
Pride flashed in Gao Jiaxing's eyes, "Don't lose it, and rember to bring it back."
"Don't worry, I'll return it to you after I'm done," Xia Xiao said, pocketing the dagger and preparing to leave.
"Don't commit any cris with my knife," Gao Jiaxing added.
Xia Xiao couldn't help but roll her eyes at Gao Jiaxing, "Rest assured, I absolutely won't."
After leaving the Gao family's ho, Xia Xiao went back to Nanhua Mountain. When she returned, to her surprise, she saw several pheasants inside the bear cave.
Xia Xiao was thrilled. Were these prepared for her?
Could it be that the black bear thought she didn't want the deer at, so it prepared pheasants for her instead? That was really thoughtful.
Indeed, Xia Xiao then saw the male black bear push the pheasants toward her. They were still alive, held captive by two black bears.
Xia Xiao was still sowhat afraid to approach the bear, and she said to Shitou, "Gege, do you think they'll catch if I go over there?"
"No, although I can't communicate with them, I still understand their aning. Go ahead without worry. Besides, if they really wanted to attack you, they would've done so already."
Upon hearing this, Xia Xiao slowly relaxed and mustered the courage to go forward and take the pheasant.
There were four pheasants in total. Xia Xiao had co prepared with a dagger to cut deer at, but after placing the four pheasants into her spatial storage, she felt too embarrassed to ask for the deer at.
The male black bear gestured towards the deer leg, and Shitou translated, "It's asking if you want a deer leg. They want to thank you."
"Thank you," Xia Xiao didn't put on airs. She wanted to try the deer at, so she took a leg and left so spring water in the clay jar before departing.
"Brother, looking at it this way, it seems like I've profited," Xia Xiao chatted with Shitou in her space.
"Yes, they consider you a friend. Though you lost so spring water, after all, you saved them, and they have a good impression of you."
Shitou's words made Xia Xiao very happy.
"However, they are beasts after all, so don't get too close to them."
Xia Xiao agreed with Shitou's words. Wild animals still have their wild nature, and it is never wrong to be cautious.
Xia Xiao raised the four pheasants, and for the deer leg, she tried several cooking thods: boiling the bones for soup, drying so of the at for jerky, stir-frying another portion with chili peppers, and making stewed at.
"It seems I should learn to hunt sooner, that way I can have at to eat openly and legitimately. Otherwise, I can only sneak bites every so often, and since I don't often eat in the production team, I end up full and gaining weight, which is hard to justify."
"You could look for Gao Jiaxing, he's the most suitable," suggested Shitou.
Xia Xiao nodded, "Mm, finding Gao Jiaxing is a good idea." She glanced at her dagger, realizing she still needed to earn money to buy better knives and daggers.
Upon returning to the production team, Xia Xiao had yet to reach Youth Point when she ran into Zheng Xianghong.
"Xia Xiao, there you are. I've been looking for you."
"Auntie, what's up?" asked Xia Xiao, sowhat puzzled.
"Co on, let's go to your aunt's place for a al," Zheng Xianghong pulled Xia Xiao's hand.
"No need, Auntie, I've already eaten," Xia Xiao replied.
"What's with the formality, dear? Educated Youth Wang, Educated Youth Yang, and Educated Youth Sun are all here," Zheng Xianghong insisted.
Upon hearing this, Xia Xiao hesitated; Wang Aihua, Yang Xuehua, and Sun Yuhua were also present, so she no longer refused.
"Auntie, your hand is healed," Xia Xiao said, holding Zheng Xianghong's hand.
"Yes, it healed pretty quickly. I didn't expect it to," replied Zheng Xianghong.
Xia Xiao thought about how she had dripped spring water into several lunchboxes yesterday, and it seed like the spring water really did help with injuries, which delighted her.
When they arrived at the Gao family's ho, wow, there were so many people.
"Auntie, why are there so many people?" Xia Xiao was confused.
"It's Mr. Liu and the folks from the Red Star Production Team. They've co to pay a New Year's visit today and also to apologize for Jiaxing's injury," explained Zheng Xianghong. "Ah, they're too polite."
This morning, Zheng Xianghong had gotten up early to busily prepare, and by almost noon, she saw her eldest and second daughters and their families one after another coming over, which filled her with joy. Then, when her youngest daughter's family also arrived, Zheng Xianghong pursed her lips. She was happy to see her youngest daughter, yet she could not quite forget the conversation they had the day before, which still left her not entirely pleased.
What Zheng Xianghong hadn't expected was that Mr. Liu, captain of the Red Star Production Team, and his family ca over to pay a New Year's visit, bringing with them wild boar at.
Xia Xiao rembered the wild boar that Mr. Liu's group had hunted yesterday, and judging by Mr. Liu's words, he seed like a conscientious man, especially upset with his son for fleeing in the face of battle. It's no wonder they had co over.
"Mr. Liu's ancestors all made a living by hunting; they're skilled hunters. Yesterday, they hunted a wild boar and went into the mountains again this morning but didn't find the two injured black bears."
Reviews
All reviews (0)