Making A Fortune Through Hunting To Support My Wife - Chapter 1

The afternoon sun, not too fierce, filtered through the gaps in the leaves and fell upon the woman’s sharp, gaunt face.

Her eyelids twitched slightly before snapping open, revealing a gaze so sharp it was terrifying.

With a sudden “donkey roll,” she leaped nimbly from the ground. Her muscles were taut, like a cheetah poised to strike, as she alertly scanned every inch of her surroundings to capture any potential threat.

As the lush greenery registered in Xu Jing’s eyes, the sharpness in her gaze gradually softened, replaced by confusion.

Xu Jing relaxed her muscles and retracted her aura.

“Uh? Where the hell did that Zombie King blast me to? Some wilderness?”

Before she could continue reminiscing, a sharp pain shot from the back of her head. She reached back to feel it, good grief, her hand was covered in blood.

Her head felt like it had exploded as fragmented, blurry memories surfaced in her mind.

“Wait… I’ve transmigrated?”

Xu Jing glimpsed the truth from those memories. She looked down to carefully inspect her body and clothing.

Her hands were rough and scarred, her skin held the dull, brownish-yellow hue of malnutrition. She wore a hemp short-coat, the typical attire of an ancient male peasant.

Xu Jing suddenly thought of something. She hurriedly felt her chest and lower body, letting out a sigh of relief: “Good heavens, at least I didn’t change genders.”

She relaxed completely, and the hunger and weakness she had previously forced herself to ignore now pulsed through every nerve ending.

Gurgle…

Xu Jing rubbed her flat stomach and swallowed hard against her dry throat: “I didn’t expect that even after transmigrating, I’d still be this hungry.”

Her eyes fell upon the surrounding thickets, and they immediately glowed with a green light. An ancient forest? That meant food!

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bamboo grove and deep grass not far ahead.

Shasha…

Xu Jing’s ears twitched. It was the sound of a rodent chewing on grass.

She smiled slightly and rubbed her hands in excitement. With a flick of her Wood type ability…

The expected scene of vines cascading down and coiling like swift snakes did not appear. Her palms were empty, held upward in an awkward gesture.

After a long while, a tiny, weak flicker of green light emerged in her palm. It poked its fragile head out like a candle flame in the wind, weak and pathetic.

Xu Jing’s corner of her mouth twitched. She muttered to herself: “This isn’t the apocalypse. There aren’t that many dangers, and there’s plenty of food, so I won’t starve. It’s already good enough that the ability came with me. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry… just start from scratch.”

“Still pretty annoying. Forget it, let’s deal with the thing inside first and fill my stomach.”

Xu Jing retracted her Wood ability and shifted her gaze to the surrounding branches: “I’ll just make a simple bow. I hope I can hunt something.”

“Even if I can’t, it’s fine. Mm, I have a backup plan.”

At the tail end of Dayue Village, two or three houses were scattered. As evening approached, curls of cooking smoke rose and the faint scent of food drifted through the air.

The Xu family, nestled at the foot of the mountain, was the same, except their small courtyard was exceptionally quiet, lacking the lively voices of the other two households.

The silence was finally broken by the voice of an old woman.

“Xiaoyu, Jing-ge’er still isn’t back by this hour?”

Song Yu, busy in front of the stove, paused her rice washing. Her brow furrowed slightly as she said softly, “Not yet, Grandma. She’s probably delayed by work in the fields.”

The old woman’s indifferent voice snorted coldly from behind the straw door curtain.

“I think she’s just being rebellious, trying to anger this old bag of bones to death!”

Song Yu didn’t know what conflict existed between the grandmother and grandchild. Ever since she married into this family, the relationship between the two had been very strained.

At the mention of her “newlywed husband,” Xu Jing, Song Yu’s heart felt heavy and complicated.

If it hadn’t been for Song Lian’er’s scheme, how could she have married someone like Xu Jing?

Under the shadow of the eaves, memories of Xu Jing’s sinister gaze, peering through thick, messy hair, seemed to pierce through time.

Song Yu’s originally pale and sickly face grew even more haggard. Her lips moved, but she didn’t say a word.

Suddenly, the curtain lifted, and Grandma Xu appeared at the door carrying a bamboo basket filled with mud-covered radishes and greens.

Her face wasn’t kind to begin with; she looked stern and harsh. At this moment, her face was pulled long and looked somewhat frightening.

“There isn’t much grain left at home. It’s still a long time until the autumn harvest. We must be frugal. Add more brown rice to today’s meal.”

Seeing Song Yu listening obediently, Grandma Xu’s eyelids lifted slightly, showing a flicker of approval. She continued her instructions unhurriedly.

“Also, go to the fields and find Jing-ge’er. Tell her to stop associating with certain people. They look down on her anyway. She can’t climb that high branch; she’d best give up on that idea sooner rather than later.”

Regarding the rumors in the village about her husband, Xu Jing, Song Yu had heard some bits. She pursed her lips and simply gave a low response.

“Tomorrow, have her take some of the good grain from home to the market to trade for some old grain. Without me, I don’t know how this family would even survive.”

Grandma Xu placed great emphasis on her role and contribution to the household. Song Yu had heard these words countless times since entering the door.

As the subject of the conversation, Xu Jing was currently walking along the field path with a light step, carrying two wild rabbits.

The residence where the original owner lived was now clearly visible.

It was dinner time, so there weren’t many villagers on the road. The few she encountered were in a hurry to get home for food.

Seeing the two wild rabbits in Xu Jing’s hand, the villagers didn’t offer kind smiles. Instead, they eyed her strangely, looking as if they were afraid of catching something “filthy” before quickly walking away.

Recalling some of the things the original owner had done, Xu Jing’s face darkened slightly. However, it didn’t matter; she wouldn’t be getting involved with that scholar again anyway.

The neighbor, Mother Zhang, had just finished her meal and was sitting on the large blue stones at the crossroads, fanning herself with a cattail leaf fan to enjoy the cool air.

She saw Xu Jing approaching and her eyes fell on the two wild rabbits. She snapped her fan shut and said sourly:

“Yo, isn’t this Jing-ge’er? What great luck you have, picking up two wild rabbits. My Sanbao and Wubao haven’t eaten meat in ages, the two boys are drooling just thinking about it…”

From her memory, Xu Jing recalled Mother Zhang’s personality and formed a plan. She smiled brightly and said: “Just lucky. I ran into a couple of dumb rabbits hitting a tree in the field. The family is so poor we can’t even open the pot, these are perfect to satisfy a craving and get a little grease in our bellies.”

Mother Zhang looked suspiciously at this person who was smiling so radiantly. For a moment, she couldn’t react, only feeling incredibly surprised.

She had never heard that the Xu kid knew how to smile; usually, she just looked at people with a sinister glare.

Without waiting for Mother Zhang’s reply, Xu Jing carried the two fat rabbits, opened her family’s brushwood gate, and entered the yard.

As soon as she pushed the gate open, she bumped into a woman coming out of the inner room.

The woman wore a simple, plain green dress. Her figure was slender, and though her features were elegant, she carried a weak, pale sickness about her, looking as if she could be blown away by a gust of wind.

She looked up and her eyes met Xu Jing’s.

The clean, tidy courtyard fell into a brief silence.

It was Xu Jing who reacted first. She shifted her gaze slightly and held out the fat rabbits, offering a gentle smile.

“I caught two dumb rabbits. Let’s have an extra dish tonight. We’ll eat one tonight and the other tomorrow.”

The woman, however, seemed frightened. She instinctively took several steps back to put distance between herself and Xu Jing.

Realizing her behavior might be inappropriate, she pursed her lips, tucked her hands behind her back, and spoke softly.

“Grandma was worried something happened to you and told me to find you in the fields. You…”

The Xu Jing before her had tidied the thick, messy hair from her forehead, tying it into an odd-looking bun. It revealed a clean, full forehead and a sharp, heroic face.

The person no longer seemed gloomy or dark, her posture was upright and tall, exuding a spirited vitality that felt extremely foreign.

Xu Jing waved her hand dismissively: “Aren’t I fine? Go tell Grandma about the extra dish tonight. I’ll process the rabbit pelts first, we can make some gloves or something for winter.”

As she spoke, she went to the kitchen to get a knife, placing the other rabbit in the kitchen as she passed.

Song Yu watched her retreating back, slightly dazed, but in the end, she didn’t follow.

Before Xu Jing even reached the kitchen, she smelled the wood fire of cooking and heard the noisy movements inside.

The image of Grandma Xu’s stern old face suddenly surfaced in her mind, and a sense of fear ingrained in the body’s instincts began to spread.

Xu Jing expressionlessly suppressed the surging emotions, carried the rabbit, and walked into the kitchen.

Grandma Xu, whose ears were quite sharp, heard the footsteps at the door. Thinking it was Song Yu returning, she scolded without looking up: “Didn’t I tell you to find Jing-ge’er? Why are you back already?”

“It’s me. I’m here to get a knife to clean a rabbit by the river.”

Xu Jing’s calm voice rang out in the kitchen.

Grandma Xu’s hand chopping vegetables paused, and she finally lifted her eyelids to look at the speaker.

Her sharp gaze shot toward Xu Jing, landing on her face, her exposed forehead, and the neatly tied bun. Her thin eyebrows knitted together fiercely.

Clang! The iron vegetable knife hit the cutting board.

“Are you determined to defy this old woman?! Xu Jing! Do you not want to live in this village anymore?!”

Grandma Xu clearly lowered her voice for the last two sentences, but her tone remained sharp and piercing. Her face looked even more distorted and terrifying.

If it were the original owner, she would probably have knelt and admitted her mistake immediately. But for Xu Jing, this kind of shouting was practically painless.

Xu Jing frowned. Until her strength recovered, she needed the original owner’s identity to survive and didn’t want to be treated like someone possessed by a ghost.

After all, even if she left Dayue Village, it would be quite troublesome to sort out her household registration without connections.

She suppressed her impatience and explained in the original owner’s tone: “Grandma, I’ve already thought it through. He is a Scholar, and I am a mud-legged peasant. He won’t look at me.”

“In the future, I will take good care of you. Look, I got lucky today and caught two rabbits. We haven’t had meat in a long time, let’s eat rabbit today.”

Seeing Xu Jing’s attitude soften, Grandma Xu’s expression relaxed considerably.

Most importantly, she said she had let go of that Scholar Li in the village, which meant there wouldn’t be an issue with her identity being exposed.

Whether Xu Jing was telling the truth or not, she was still her granddaughter.

Grandma Xu glanced toward the door. Seeing that Song Yu wasn’t there, she snorted coldly: “You’d better keep that thought dead.”

She finally turned her gaze to the rabbit Xu Jing was holding. A hint of hesitation flashed across her old face as she pondered: “There isn’t much grain at home. These two rabbits should be taken to the market to trade for money.”

“But I want to eat them. We’re eating them today.”

Xu Jing did not agree, her gaze fixed steadily on Grandma Xu.

Grandma Xu was about to scold her, but she felt pricked by Xu Jing’s gaze. Suddenly, she felt that her granddaughter had somehow become a stranger.

Taking advantage of her daze, Xu Jing took the knife from the cutting board and walked out of the house, carrying one of the rabbits.

Grandma Xu snapped out of it. Looking at the other rabbit struggling on the floor, her expression turned ugly again as she gnashed her teeth and muttered.

“Rebellious and unfilial! Rebellious and unfilial!”

However, her tone wasn’t as sharp as it had been at the start.

Carrying the rabbit and the knife, Xu Jing saw Song Yu feeding the chickens in the yard. She casually raised a hand to say hello and left the yard in a quite good mood.

Song Yu: “…”

Is she really Xu Jing?