Chapter 28: The Bamboo Rat Is Depressed

Chapter 28: The Bamboo Rat Is Depressed

When they returned home, it was already 7 PM, and the sky was dimming.

Xiulan and the others had finished their farm work and helped carry the wood. A large pile of oak trees, as thick as a forearm, had already been stored.

Big Brother and their father had also brought back a lot of the felled trees. This was because, a few years ago, when Big Brother got married, their parents started preparing to build houses for both sons. As a result, many trees had been chopped down a year or two ago, and now, since they were already dry, they weren't too heavy to carry.

"Xiulan." Lin Heng called out.

Xiulan turned around and saw Lin Heng coming back, smiling faintly.

Before she could speak, her sister-in-law Liu Juan spoke first: "Lin Heng, come over and help move the wood. Let's try to finish today. Everyone's working, and you're just standing around. Are you really lazier than us women?"

Lin Heng had planned to help, but hearing this, he directly pulled out the wild grouse and rabbit he had hunted. "Sister-in-law, is hunting on two mountains considered slacking? If it is, then I'll just roast the rabbit myself tonight."

Seeing the rabbit and grouse, Liu Juan's eyes immediately lit up, and a smile appeared on her face. "So you went hunting! I didn't know that. Go ahead and drink some water; we'll handle the work."

She was puzzled, though, about how Lin Heng had changed so much since turning over a new leaf. He went hunting every time and never returned empty-handed, making her doubt herself.

"Did you catch another rabbit?" Lin Heng's mother's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I only caught one grouse, the rabbit was caught by Xiong Ba," Lin Heng said, pointing at the dog with a smile.

"Ow woo~"

Xiong Ba stood tall, with his ears perked up, looking like he wanted to take credit.

"Is this dog really that capable?" Lin Heng's mother was skeptical.

"Look at the rabbit's neck, you can see the bite marks," Lin Heng shrugged.

"In that case, let's give him extra food tonight to help him grow stronger," Lin Heng's mother's attitude toward Xiong Ba changed.

As long as it wasn't rice alone, she welcomed it.

"Xiulan, come and help me process the grouse and rabbit."

Lin Heng called out again, not wanting his wife to be too tired since she had already walked a long way yesterday and must have been exhausted today.

"Go ahead, there's not much left, we can finish up," Lin Heng's mother said.

"Alright, I'll go help with the cooking," Xiulan put down the wood and followed Lin Heng back to the house.

"Brother, did you catch anything today?"

In the yard, Caiyun was holding Xiaoxia while her sister-in-law Liu Juan was with her two younger sons. They all looked at Lin Heng, smiling as they asked.

She had become much more cheerful compared to before, likely due to the influence of books.

"Of course. No squirrels, but I got a grouse; consider it part of the bet we made this morning," Lin Heng handed the grouse to Caiyun.

"Let's kill it and eat together. I was just joking with Second Brother," Caiyun said.

Lin Heng handed the grouse to his wife, Xiulan, for her to process, and then took out a small knife to skin the rabbit.

Skinning requires skill—starting from the neck, you cut a few centimeters, and then you can pull the skin off with your hands. With a strong pull, the skin and meat separate automatically.

After skinning, he used a bamboo stick to stretch the skin out, then began to gut the rabbit.

"Ow woo~"

Xiong Ba had been waiting nearby for a long time, his eyes fixed on Lin Heng.

"Don't worry, I'll give you some. I'll cook it for you," Lin Heng patted his dog's head, then took the rabbit intestines inside to cook and fed them to Xiong Ba.

Xiulan watched this scene with some reluctance but didn't speak up because she felt that what her husband did was not wrong. How could anyone expect a horse to run without feeding it grass?

However, when processing the grouse, she kept the heart, liver, and gizzard to herself, cooking the rest for Xiong Ba.

Lin Heng noticed this small action and smiled as he took her hand. "Don't worry, in the future, I'll make sure you enjoy all the mountain delicacies, and you won't have to worry about food anymore."

"Your hands are all greasy," Xiulan glanced at him but didn't pull away. "It's fine as it is now, don't think about making big money."

"Don't worry, I won't leave you," Lin Heng understood what his wife was concerned about.

"How about tonight we eat half the rabbit, and the rest and the grouse, we smoke them and use them for the housewarming in a few days?"

Xiulan looked at him and asked.

"That works. You can stir-fry the yellow shitake mushrooms with the rabbit meat and sour pickled onions. I want to eat that."

Lin Heng looked at his wife's face and smiled.

"Alright, you eat more. You barely ate the fish in the morning, and the pieces I gave you ended up in my bowl," Xiulan gave him a slight complaint.

It was clearly so delicious, yet her husband seemed disinterested. Eating more meat would help him grow and give him more energy for work.

"Okay, okay, I'll eat more," Lin Heng felt sweet in his heart. His wife truly cared for him.

"Lin Heng, come out here! You won't believe what I've got!"

At that moment, the excited voice of his brother-in-law, Li Baiquan, came from outside.

Lin Heng and Xiulan involuntarily walked outside.

In the yard, Li Baiquan was holding a large bamboo rat, proudly announcing, "A bamboo rat over a pound! What do you think? Pretty good, right?"

"You have no idea! When I hit it with the slingshot, it didn't die. It ran around crazily, so I had to chase it with a bamboo pole. In the end, I pierced it through."

Li Baiquan spoke with great excitement, his spit flying, and you could imagine just how excited he was. If it had died immediately, he wouldn't have been so worked up, but catching it after a chase was what made it thrilling—like catching a huge fish that broke the rod, only to reel it in with the remaining half of the rod.

"Impressive!" Lin Heng gave a thumbs-up, realizing just how worked up his brother-in-law had been by the bamboo rat.

"Heh heh, we'll eat it tonight. I'll skin it now and stir-fry it later," Li Baiquan grinned.

"We're having rabbit already. You take this back and let my third sister Hong Cui and the others try it," Lin Heng's mother stepped forward to refuse. Her third brother-in-law loved to show off and would waste good food outside, leaving nothing for the family.

"Yeah, the rabbit meat is enough. You should take the bamboo rat back and let my aunt and my brother try it," Lin Heng also advised.

"No way, I caught it here, and I'm eating it here! If you don't kill it, I will," Li Baiquan shook his head and started preparing to skin it himself.

"Alright, give it to me. I'll handle it," Lin Heng's mother reluctantly accepted.

After it was processed, only a third of it was used to stir-fry, while the remaining two-thirds were saved for Li Baiquan to take back when he left.

At dinner, the food was quickly prepared. Lin Heng's father and older brother, Lin Yue, had almost finished gathering the wood.

When they entered the house and smelled the meat, their faces lit up with joy.

"Second Brother, you have this skill, why didn't you show it before?" Lin Yue admired his younger brother. He didn't realize Lin Heng had such skills.

"It's my fault. If I had been stricter and broken his legs earlier, maybe he would have settled down and taken care of the family by now," Lin Heng's father laughed and shook his head, looking regretful.

Lin Heng: ...

The End of This Chapter