Making A Fortune Through Hunting To Support My Wife - Chapter 8

“In these desolate mountains, what else would one be doing besides hunting?”

Xu Jing didn’t seem to care about Wang Hu’s cold face. She said with a beaming smile, “Brother Wang, if you ever have a prey that’s inconvenient to handle alone, you can call me to join you in the future.”

As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. However, Wang Hu was still fuming over his lost prey. Even though he knew Xu Jing wasn’t the thief, he couldn’t muster a friendly expression.

He said frostily, “There are only a few pheasants and rabbits around here. If you want to hunt goats, their appearance on the stone cliffs is unpredictable.”

“After this trip, who knows when the herd will come out again. I advise you to go back and farm as soon as possible, at least you won’t starve to death.”

If an ordinary person heard Wang Hu’s blunt words, they might have lost their temper. But Xu Jing heard quite a bit of useful information about the local game from his mouth. This man is actually cold on the outside but kind on the inside, she thought.

“Thanks, Brother Wang. As for hunting goats, I’ll leave that to fate; I’m not thinking about it for now. But it wouldn’t be bad to catch a few pheasants to improve our meals.”

Wang Hu’s house was even further on the outskirts of the village than the Xu family’s, practically hugging the mountains. Since Wang Hu spent most of his time in the woods, it would likely take a while before news of her family’s debt reached his ears.

Wang Hu remained stony faced, but seeing Xu Jing’s tactfulness, his irritation faded, and his opinion of her shifted slightly. “Suit yourself.”

Wang Hu wasn’t like hunters like Li Gao, who claimed territories and forbid others from hunting there.

Xu Jing didn’t mind his attitude. She offered a greeting and prepared to leave. Halfway through turning around, as if remembering something, she said to Wang Hu. “Brother Wang, the thief who stole your prey must know your trap setting times or habits. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have timed it so perfectly.”

“If you can change things up a bit, you might just catch them.”

She saw Wang Hu furrow his brows, a flash of deep thought in his eyes. This was a piece of well-intentioned advice, though Xu Jing wasn’t sure if it would actually work. In an era without CCTV cameras, tracking someone’s every move was difficult.

However, Xu Jing had her own ways of catching the thief if they struck again. Whether she would actually help Wang Hu, though, was a thought for another time.

Xu Jing looked up through the gaps in the forest at the sun. It was still a bit piercing, meaning she still had time. She needed to scout the nearby slopes. Wang Hu said there were pheasants here, they liked to fly toward the opposite mountains. If her luck held, she could bag a few. Even if she didn’t, she could treat it as a reconnaissance mission for the terrain.

A Surprising Discovery

Xu Jing’s luck was indeed good. Upon reaching the nearby slope, she spotted traces of pheasants. But what surprised her even more was finding a patch of wild He Shou Wu (Fo-ti).

He Shou Wu is a famous Chinese medicinal herb. Although she didn’t know its exact value in this dynasty, digging it up would definitely bring in some money.

Xu Jing packed the three pheasants she managed to hunt into her back basket. Seeing that it was getting late and the descent would take time, she headed to the pine forest to dig for Poria cocos (Fu Ling). Because she hadn’t brought a hoe, only a wood-cutting blade, digging was clumsy.

However, relying on her “Spirit Vision,” she dug down along the pine roots with unerring accuracy. By the time the light began to fade, she had dug up over half a basket of Poria.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to dig more, but she was out of time, and the three pheasants needed space in the basket. She hoisted the heavy basket onto her back. Passing by Wulong Mouth, she cut two handfuls of water celery by the stream and laid them over the top to hide the pheasants.

She could even use the celery for a stir-fry later. I’m really good at this, she thought.

Returning to the Village

By the time Xu Jing returned to Dayue Village, it was nearly pitch black. Any later and she would have been traveling in the dark. Even so, she still encountered some villagers on the road. Life was hard for the common folk, the poor and diligent families would work until the sky was completely dark to squeeze out extra labor before heading home.

Normally, Xu Jing wouldn’t have been particularly conspicuous, but since her basket couldn’t fit her bamboo bow and arrows, she carried them along with her homemade spear in her hands. Dressed like this, and considering the scene at her house that morning, she stood out even more.

A villager carrying a hoe approached her. While greeting her, he peered at her basket. “Yo, Jing’er, been up the mountain hunting? Did you get anything good?”

Xu Jing knew that some people wore smiles while secretly wishing for others’ misfortune. If someone was doing poorly, they’d offer hollow comforts to feel like a “good person.” If someone was doing better than them, they’d curse them behind their backs.

Xu Jing shifted her body slightly, revealing the dry firewood sticking out of the basket, and sighed with a bitter face.

“Hunting isn’t that easy. The family owes money and there’s a deadline. We can’t rely on the crops in the field. I thought I’d try my luck on the mountain, but I didn’t have much luck, just found some wild vegetables and mushrooms. I’ll see if I can trade them for a few coins tomorrow to help pay the debt.”

As the villager was about to offer “comfort,” another nosy villager named Zhang Youzi wandered over, trying to rummage through her basket.

Xu Jing caught him out of the corner of her eye. Her face went cold as she barked, “Zhang Youzi, what are you doing?”

Zhang Youzi was cut from the same cloth as Wang Ergou, village loafers who loved to sneak around and steal, making the villagers grit their teeth in frustration. If you caught them red-handed, you might get your stuff back otherwise, they’d shamelessly deny everything.

Zhang Youzi certainly wasn’t one of those “diligent workers” staying out late. Xu Jing suspected Wang Ergou might have put him up to this, since she had made a fool of Ergou a few hours ago.

However, she misjudged Zhang Youzi this time. He just loved a spectacle. He had just woken up from a nap in a haystack and came over out of curiosity.

Zhang Youzi gave a greasy smirk, rubbing his hands against his tattered, unidentifiable clothes. “Just wanted to see what goodies you found, Jing’er. Turns out it’s just firewood and weeds.”

Xu Jing snapped, “None of your business. You’re digging through my basket; you probably wanted to steal something.”

Zhang Youzi curled his lip. “Who wants your crappy wood and weeds? I’d say with the junk you’ve found, you’ll be handing over your family’s land in seven days.”

“That’s my family’s business,” Xu Jing retorted. She didn’t want to waste words with a gambling addict. She nodded to the first villager and walked away. She had added that layer of firewood specifically to deter people like Zhang Youzi. Until she cleared the debt, she intended to keep a low profile.

The Village Gossip

As Xu Jing walked away, Zhang Youzi complained to the bystanders. “Look at her! We care about her, and she’s so ungrateful.”

Normally, the villagers would have pointed out that Zhang Youzi was just being greedy, but this time they were more focused on whether Xu Jing could actually pay the debt.

“So what if she goes hunting? She doesn’t have the skill. Does she think prey just waits to be caught?”

“There are wolves and poisonous snakes in the deep mountains. She might end up losing her life there.”

“Well, she does have the main Xu family branch. If the elders of the Old Banyan Tree Xu clan help, they might be able to stall for more time.”

“She could beg them, but a debt is a debt. It’s almost certain she’ll lose the land when the time is up.”

“Sigh, Widow Wang and her lot are really pushing them to a dead end. Weren’t the two families on good terms because of Old Mother Xu? Why the sudden fallout?”

“Maybe not a dead end, but the relationship is definitely severed. Jing’er’s family is going to have a hard time from now on.”

An Unexpected Summons

Ignoring the gossip, Xu Jing arrived home. She expected to see Song Yu and hear her grandmother’s scolding. Given her grandmother’s temper, if the original Xu Jing had ever displeased her, she’d be mocked and scolded for days.

But the courtyard was empty and silent. Xu Jing called out, “I’m back!”

No one answered. Feeling strange, she went inside, dropped her basket, and decided to ask the neighbor, Ying’er.

“Your grandmother and sister-in-law went to Great Uncle Fugui’s house at the east end of the village. He said if you came back, you should go there, he has something to discuss with you.”

Xu Jing finally knew where they were. She hadn’t expected them to stay out so late. The sky was dark but not pitch black yet. Following the muddy path, she reached the gate of Xu Fugui, the clan elder. It was open. She knocked politely.

Xu Liu, who was playing in the yard, saw it was Xu Jing. Being a teenager who couldn’t hide his emotions, his face fell immediately.

Xu Jing ignored him and walked straight in before he could say anything snarky. “Second Great Uncle, I’m here. Are you inside?”

A steady, elderly voice came from the main hall. “I am. Come in.”

As she entered, she saw the two people she was looking for. Song Yu and her grandmother. Song Yu, standing in the corner, looked up as she heard the voice. Their eyes met.

Xu Jing curled her lips into a smile at her. Song Yu lowered her gaze, shutting that smile out. Xu Jing then glanced at her grandmother, who let out a cold, stiff snort.