Making A Fortune Through Hunting To Support My Wife - Chapter 17

Early the next morning, the sky had still not cleared. Instead, a heavy downpour lasted for over an hour before turning into a dense, fine drizzle.

As early autumn approached, this rain seemed to have thoroughly washed away the sweltering heat, replacing it with a touch of chilly cold.

Since it was still raining, it wasn’t suitable for repairing the roof. Xu Jing simply put on a bamboo hat and a coir raincoat before heading out.

First, she went to inspect the remaining bamboo joints. After some adjustments, the mountain spring water finally flowed through the bamboo pipes and into the Xu family’s small courtyard.

Xu Jing specifically found a large vat to store the water. This vat had originally been used by Grandma Xu for pickling vegetables, it reeked of sour brine, requiring Song Yu to give it a thorough scrubbing.

With the daily water issue resolved, one major worry was finally off her mind.

“I need to head over to Wang the hunter’s place at the west end of the village in a bit. After that, I have to check the fields. These two heavy rains were quite something, and with this constant drizzle, I’m afraid the fields are waterlogged.”

“The rice is currently heading and flowering. If it stays submerged, the harvest will be affected. I have to go drain the water.”

Xu Jing washed the mud off her hands, walked under the eaves, took down a cloth hanging from a hemp rope, and spoke to Song Yu inside while drying her hands.

Song Yu’s hand, which was organizing a needlework basket, paused slightly before she gave a soft “mm.”

Xu Jing adjusted her bamboo hat and stepped out into the fine rain.

Song Yu watched her retreating back, pursed her lips slightly, lowered her eyes, and continued cutting fabric.

Xu Jing walked along the village path, which was treacherous and muddy.

It was just after breakfast, and many old farmers and sturdy youths, worried about their rice, were out like Xu Jing, wearing hats and raincoats, carrying hoes to check their crops.

There were also some mischievous older boys braving the rain, carrying large bamboo sifters. They rolled up their trousers and waited at the field drainage outlets like “waiting for a rabbit to hit a tree,” hoping to catch the eels and loaches washed down by the current.

Some villagers who were friendly toward Xu Jing would greet her in passing. However, many others still looked at her with looks tinged with strangeness. After she passed, faint whispers would follow in her wake.

Having sorted through the original owner’s memories, Xu Jing had a vague inkling of the hidden reasons behind this.

The original owner’s memories were incomplete; they only surfaced when Xu Jing needed them. When not in use, they were difficult to recall.

Xu Jing decided not to dwell on the original owner’s past for now. As she walked, a sudden glance caught a figure that felt both familiar and eyesore inducing.

It wasn’t familiar to her, but to the residual emotions of the original owner.

On the main road at the village entrance, a donkey cart was visible. A young man carrying an oil paper umbrella stepped down from the cart.

The young man was dressed as a scholar in green robes. The umbrella obscured the upper half of his body, hiding his face, but Xu Jing knew instinctively who he was.

She frowned, enduring a sudden sharp pain in her brain as fragmented images flashed by, accompanied by a cold male voice:

“Xu Jing! You must stop this!…”

The following words were blurred and indistinct, but they certainly didn’t sound kind or polite.

Xu Jing didn’t care to pay him any mind. She withdrew her gaze from the scholar and continued toward Wang Hu’s house on the west hill.

As if sensing Xu Jing’s gaze, the young man lifted his umbrella slightly and glanced toward her, revealing a clean, handsome, and refined face.

Behind him, the voice of the cart driver rang out: “Brother Mingyuan, I need to get home, so I’ll leave you here.”

Li Xiuyun withdrew his gaze and turned to bow to the driver.

“Thank you, Brother He, for giving me another lift. Next time you aren’t in a hurry, you must come to my humble home for a chat.”

The driver waved his hand. “Brother Mingyuan, don’t mention it. It was just a favor along the way. Alright, no more pleasantries, I’m off.”

The man drove the donkey cart away into the rain, leaving the green robed scholar standing behind under his umbrella.

The driver felt a bit sorry for the scholar. A perfectly good Xiucai (licensed scholar) went to the provincial capital for the exams, failed to pass, and then his boat capsized on the way back, losing all his luggage.

A few days ago, if the driver hadn’t found the scholar looking so destitute yet familiar, he wouldn’t have played the Good Samaritan. To see him stranded by the rain again today while heading to the market… it truly was a stroke of fate that he could lend a hand once more.

Xu Jing, already at Wang Hu’s house, knew nothing of what was happening behind her.

“I was planning to look for you, little brother Jing, but you’re quick on your feet to come here first!”

Seeing Xu Jing arrive, Wang Hu greeted her warmly and invited her inside.

Wang Hu’s wife also hurried to pour a cup of hot tea for her. “We don’t have much to host you with; this is just wild tea picked from the mountains. Please, have some.”

After some small talk:

“Brother Wang, with this rain, hunting in the mountains might be difficult. Should we postpone our trip for a couple of days?”

“Yeah, I was going to tell you the same thing. Looking at this rain, I reckon it’ll last another day or two. Plus, we need to wait for the woods to dry out. We probably can’t head in for another three or four days.”

Wang Hu nodded, sighing as he discussed the plan.

Xu Jing smiled. “What a coincidence. I have some things to handle in three or four days anyway. If it clears up completely on the fifth day, shall we head in then?”

Wang Hu agreed immediately.

After staying a while longer, Xu Jing took her leave.

Wang Hu’s wife watched Xu Jing walk away and nudged her husband with her elbow.

“Hey, husband, why are you getting involved with her? I heard…”

Wang Hu interrupted her: “Little brother Jing is a capable person. Don’t listen to the village gossip; I can see she’s not that kind of person.”

“Alright, I’m counting on her to find big game. Weren’t you going to take Chunni and Datou back to your mother’s house?”

The Xu family’s fields were somewhat remote, about one or two li (approx. 0.5–1km) outside the village. Fortunately, they weren’t scattered too far apart.

Xu Jing stood by the edge of the paddy field with her hoe, frowning to herself.

The rice was growing well, almost all of it heading and flowering. However, the plants were packed tightly together, leaves overlapping leaves. The green stalks and pale yellow flowers were hidden in a sea of green; it looked like a lot, but it wasn’t actually “dense” in terms of yield quality.

“They were so afraid of wasting seedlings that they just crammed them all into the field.”

On her way here, Xu Jing noticed that almost everyone’s rice was planted this way. It seemed the people of Dayue Village didn’t have the scientific planting methods she remembered from her previous life on Earth. Since the seedling stage was long gone, she could only wait until next year to adjust the planting density.

The fields were indeed flooded with nearly half a foot of water from the heavy rain.

Having lived with her grandmother in the countryside as a child in her past life, Xu Jing knew a thing or two about farm work. She knew that rice is sensitive to water during the heading and flowering stage and only needs a shallow layer of water. If the water is too deep, the roots suffocate, which can even kill the plants.

She proceeded to dig drainage channels for each of her family’s three small paddy fields. It was a pity there was no chemical fertilizer here, or she would have definitely added a top dressing.

After draining the water and confirming there were no pests on the leaves, Xu Jing stopped by the dry land fields.

On these plots, Grandma Xu and the original owner had planted sorghum, soybeans, and peanuts. They had previously grown broad beans, but those had already been harvested, leaving only shallow pits where the stalks had been pulled.

Looking at the rows of sturdy green sorghum and soybean stalks, Xu Jing realized she would be very busy over the next two months. These were crops to be harvested in September and October. Thinking of the golden grain, she felt a sense of peace.

Having survived the apocalypse, she was truly terrified of hunger. Nothing was more reassuring than hoarding food.

The rain behaved exactly as Wang Hu predicted, falling intermittently for over two days.

When the weather finally cleared, Xu Jing couldn’t wait to crawl out of the house. She began drying the thatch in the woodshed, intending to fix the roof.

Xu Jing herself didn’t know how to repair a roof, but the original owner did, so she naturally possessed the skill.

“Are you going out?”

Xu Jing saw Song Yu carrying a back basket, wearing a straw hat and holding a sickle, looking ready to head out.

“Yes. Yingzi said that after the rain, the mushrooms in the mountains are easier to find. We can eat them, and if we find enough, we can sell them in town for money.”

The “Yingzi” Song Yu mentioned was their neighbor, Lu Ying, a girl of fifteen or sixteen. As the only daughter in her family, she was quite pampered. Although she was at the age for marriage prospects, her parents were reluctant to let her go and planned to keep her for another year or two.

However, Lu Ying didn’t get along with the original owner. Whenever they met, she would look at her with utter disdain. The two simply had clashing personalities.

Xu Jing wasn’t the original owner and wasn’t about to hold a grudge against a young girl. Her expression shifted as she dropped the thatch, stood up, and brushed the dust off her clothes.

“The thatch is still damp; it needs another half-day of sun. Picking mushrooms? Sounds good. I’ll go with you.”

Xu Jing remembered the Poria and He Shou Wu (tuber fleeceflower) she hadn’t finished digging up yet and planned to take advantage of the mountain trip to finish the job.

Song Yu’s feelings were inexplicably complicated, but she didn’t say much, simply nodding in agreement.

Since she needed to dig for herbs, Xu Jing specifically brought a large back basket, a hoe, and her hunting bow. The basket was meant for dry firewood and was large enough to fit two Song Yus inside.

Song Yu looked at her with a strange expression. Was this person really just going to pick mushrooms?

Xu Jing gave a bashful smile. “If I run into any prey, I’ll hunt along the way.”

Song Yu: “…” She chose to believe her, mostly.