Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 219: Hunting (1)

Third Aunt couldn’t help but try to persuade them: “Are you really going? It’s so cold today! The Xianteng Mountain is very rough, it will be much colder than our village.
Don’t come back and get sick, one by one!”

“No, no! I didn’t feel cold at all when I went out today! Third Aunt, don’t say that! Tomorrow, we will hunt good things for you and bring them back!” Lian Fang Qing was afraid that her sister would be convinced after listening to Third Aunt’s words.

Third Aunt was both amused and angry.
She glared at her with a ‘hmph’ and said in a weird tone: “Alright, I will wait for Qing’er to bring me something back!”

Several people laughed and Lian Fang Qing was a little embarrassed, covering her face with her hands.

The three children were so excited all night, they woke up just after dawn and even took the initiative to help start the fire and prepare breakfast.

Yesterday, Ah Jian had told them that the road would be difficult so they would have to leave very early.

Thinking about the cold wind, Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t help but want to cancel the trip but the three children stopped her before she could say a word.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and gave up.

After a rushed breakfast, everyone was ready to go.
The took the donkey to help carry things and not long after they left, Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che climbed up to ride on its back.

The snow had started to melt the day before and today the sun was shining, so the snow was still slowly melting.

There were various water channels along the side of the road, full of trickling snowmelt rushing along.
When they entered the mountainous area, the snow on the leaves and branches were also dripping down to join the snowmelt.

Fortunately, these mountain roads were rarely traveled on.
They were not muddy and there were no obstacles to walking.

In the valley, the scenery on both sides looked very good and the temperature was a bit colder.
The snow on the rocks and trees had no signs of melting, everything was still covered in white blankets and icicles.

“It’s cold!” Lian Fang Qing couldn’t help but put her hands near her mouth, hesitating.

Lian Fang Zhou was about to make a joke about whether to go back or now when the little girl said with bright eyes: “This kind of cold will definitely bring out many pheasants and hares, right, Brother Ah Jian?”

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything.

Ah Jian laughed: “We have only just arrived at the mountain! It’s a bit early to say this just now.”

Soon after arriving at Xianteng Mountain, Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che got off the donkey and Ah Jian took it to a dense grove of trees to tie it up.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and said to him: “Let’s not go too deep into the woods and just look around! Today, I’m feeling a bit nervous.”

The layer of snow in the mountain was much thicker than Lian Fang Zhou had expected.

Thinking about it, it was an mountainous area after all.
The temperature was much lower and it was harder for the snow to melt.
Moreover, it likely snowed much longer than it had in the village.

“Don’t worry, I understand!” Ah Jian smiled and said: “I will lead the way and Ah Ze will follow me.
Just look after Qing’er and Che’er.”

Lian Fang Zhou agreed.

“Brother Ah Jian, where are we going? The snow is so big and deep! The mountain and trees are so beautiful!” Lian Che said.

Ah Jian turned to look at Lian Ze and smiled at him: “Ah Ze, you decide where we should go.”

Lian Ze’s eyes were bright and he touched his head with a smile as he thought about it.
“Let’s go to the valley in the northeast that we went to last time.
I remember Brother Ah Jian said that the valley had excellent terrain for hunting! We should be more likely to encounter big prey there, right?”

Ah Jian nodded, smiling with approval: “Let’s go there then but there is no hurry.
Hm, let’s go to the jujube forest first.
There may be some pheasants and small birds looking for food.”

“Not bad, not bad! There are a lot of jujubes on the ground there!” Lian Fang Zhou’s eyes lit up and she clapped her hands, laughing.

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che heard this and happily agreed.

Ah Jian led the way, followed by Lian Ze, Lian Che, and Lian Fang Qing while Lian Fang Zhou walked at the end.
The group headed towards the jujube forest.

When they had almost arrived, Ah Jian raised his hand and stopped, turning back to whisper: “Keep your steps light and move slowly! Remember to step on my footprints when you walk behind me, alright?”

The siblings nodded quietly in agreement.

Getting closer to the jujube forest, Lian Fang Qing stopped and turned around, whispering to Lian Fang Zhou: “Sister, third brother, let’s stop here and wait, okay?”

Lian Fang Zhou knew she was thinking about Third Aunt.
If they left empty-handed today, Third Aunt would likely laugh at her!

“Okay, let’s wait!” Lian Fang Zhou smiled.

Ah Jian and Lian Ze continued to walk forward for a while, gently pushing aside branches and leaves covered with icicles as they scanned the forest.
Lian Ze’s eyes suddenly lit up and he pointed at a snowy field in the distance, covered in colorful birds looking for food.
Sounding surprised, he said: “Look, Brother Ah Jian, there really are golden pheasants!”

Ah Jian nodded, smiling: “The distance is a bit far, will you go?”

It was a rare occurrence to encounter prey and Lian Ze’s heart was full of excitement.
He nodded quickly: “Go, I’ll go!”

Ah Jian gestured and Lian Ze quietly leaned in, excited.

Ah Jian walked forward in the other direction for a while and saw two gray hares chasing each other over the snow.
He smiled slightly and drew his bow, releasing two arrows swiftly with a sound like the wind.
The two arrows hit one after another and the hares dropped to the ground, twitching slightly before they stopped moving.

“Brother Ah Jian is amazing!” Lian Fang Qing said joyfully.
The siblings had caught up to him and were looking at him with quiet amazement.

“Brother Ah Jian, should we pick them up?” Lian Che asked quickly.

“Go!” Ah Jian nodded at him with a smile.

Lian Che and Lian Fang Qing were very happy.
They cheered and ran over.

The group wandered around the jujube forest and the nearby areas for almost two hours.
As they walked, Lian Fang Zhou scattered a few handfuls of golden rice in some of the clearings.

It was originally just a casual act but due to the weather, it attracted many birds, such as pheasants, golden pheasants, grouse, partridges, turtle doves, and small songbirds.

However, Ah Jian was not very interested in these little things and always shot his arrows casually.
Lian Ze used them to practice and shot a lot of arrows.

When they counted them at the end, they had 30 small and large carcasses: six of them were pheasants and three of them were hares.

“Today’s harvest is so much! This is enough for us to eat for the New Year!” Lian Fang Qing was very happy.

Lian Fang Zhou was also delighted to see such rich results.
She couldn’t help but think to herself that in ancient times an inaccessible mountain was a good place, otherwise why would there be so many wild animals?

Ah Jian found a place to store the birds and looked towards the valley in the distance.
He turned to Lian Fang Zhou and said: “Why don’t Ah Ze and I go over and take a look.
You can wait here! The forest road in the mountains is different than the road we walked on along the way.”