Chapter 8: No Sending Off

"It was really Lin Heng who shot it. I saw it with my own eyes, and the wild chicken's blood hasn't even dried yet."

Chen Xiulan quickly defended her husband.

"Watch carefully, I will only demonstrate once!"

Lin Heng said, then picked up the slingshot and aimed at a dried gourd the size of a fist hanging on the wall five meters away.

With a loud "bang," the gourd shattered into pieces.

Everyone was shocked. Father Lin Xiu'an looked on with disbelief, "The sun really came out from the west?"

"Are you sure it's not some evil spirit?" Mother Lu Hongmei was also astonished.

"Hmph, I used to not bother with earning small change. I practiced slingshot skills a lot when I was young," Lin Heng scoffed and then went off to hunt squirrels and wild chickens.

Chen Xiulan's eyes shone brightly. She thought her husband looked incredibly handsome today, so full of charisma.

"Second uncle, wait for me! I'll help you!" Lin Wei, the eldest nephew, hurriedly ran over. In his eyes, his second uncle was a master, and he definitely needed to learn slingshot skills.

Lin Caiyun, the younger sister, went over to help her sister-in-law Xiulan with the baby.

"Second uncle, how do you practice shooting so accurately? Please teach me!" Lin Wei begged, holding onto Lin Heng's arm, eager to learn.

He couldn't believe that if he mastered this slingshot skill, he would be so impressive in the village. The other boys would have to kneel down to worship him. Even the village chief's daughter might actively try to kiss him!

Lin Heng glanced at him and said, "I need to boil water, no time."

"I'll do it, second uncle, I'll do it!" Lin Wei quickly took the kettle and went to start the fire to boil the water.

Lin Wei, always a mischievous troublemaker, didn't realize he had walked into the trap of doing chores, but he was happily daydreaming.

Lin Heng hung the squirrel up and carefully skinned it. The pelt was worth three or four yuan. He didn't dare to be careless.

"Second uncle, the water's boiling!" Lin Wei, motivated by the task, had boiled the water in just ten minutes.

"Give it to me, I'll do the chicken broth," Lin Xiu'an, the father, took the kettle and poured it into a wooden bucket, adding some cold water before preparing the chicken for plucking.

Lin Wei didn't dare to disturb Lin Heng. He stood by, watching him work, waiting for Lin Heng to teach him.

"Father, do you believe me now?" Lin Heng asked, smiling at his father.

Father Lin Xiu'an gave him a sideways glance. "If you can keep this up for a month, I'll buy you a hunting rifle."

Clearly, while Father's attitude had softened, he still didn't believe Lin Heng's words of reform.

Though Lin Heng wasn't skilled at hunting, Father knew how tough it was—hunting was a lot of running around, and even with good skills, it was common to return empty-handed. He doubted that even with a slingshot, Lin Heng could endure the hardship.

"I don't need a rifle, just buy me a bow, but don't go back on your word," Lin Heng said with a grin. He thought rifles were too dangerous, and a bow was safer. Plus, he could use it better than a gun.

"If you go back on your word, I'll be your son," Father Lin shot him an angry look.

After the conversation shifted, Father continued, "You mentioned the ginseng can sell for six or seven hundred, is that reliable?"

"Of course. If not, we'll go to the city. We'll definitely get seven hundred for it," Lin Heng assured him.

"That's good," Father nodded, while cleaning the chicken, "Today, I talked with your brother about where to build the new house.

We think we should dig up the vegetable garden outside and build the house there, both of you together. It's closer, and it'll be easier to take care of each other."

"Sure, I have no problem with that," Lin Heng didn't mind. They didn't have money now, so it was fine to just build something simple for now. When they had more money, they could make better plans.

"Bricks are too expensive, we should just build an earth house. When the house is done, we can plaster the inside with gypsum, it'll be fine," Father continued.

Transporting bricks from the town cost at least three cents each. Even if they only used ten thousand bricks for a house, it would still cost six hundred just for the bricks.

But in reality, a house would need at least fifteen to twenty thousand bricks, not counting other materials. Clearly, the money wouldn't be enough.

But earth walls were cheaper. They only needed labor, and there was plenty of yellow soil here. The house could be built for less money, and there would still be enough left for furniture and decorations.

"Sure, if you're paying, you can make the decision," Lin Heng smiled.

At this point, the squirrel pelt had been removed. Lin Heng used bamboo to make a circle to stretch the pelt. Without this, it would shrink into a clump while drying.

"What do you mean, you pay, you decide? This is where you're going to live for your whole life," Father Lin glared at him.

"I meant your decision is good. We'll see what happens when we start building," Lin Heng said with a smile, not mentioning his own plan to build the house later, because he knew his father would just mock him and wouldn't believe it.

Hearing this, Father felt a bit more at ease, nodding, "Well then, we'll sell the ginseng the day after tomorrow, and I'll let the village know."

In those days, building a house only required notifying the village. There was no approval process.

Lin Heng nodded and began cleaning the squirrel's insides. These days, neither the wild chicken nor squirrel innards were thrown away—they were cleaned and eaten.

For these poor mountain villagers, every bit of meat was precious.

"Is the meat cooked yet?" Mother Lin asked, seeing that there was more than two pounds of meat after cleaning, which seemed a bit unbelievable to her.

"Of course. In this weather, if we leave it till tomorrow morning, it will spoil," Lin Heng said.

When he said that, Mother Lin went to cook. She stir-fried the wild chicken meat with sour spicy peppers and red onions. The sour and spicy scent mixed with the fragrance of the oil soon filled the room, making everyone's mouths water.

They hadn't had meat for at least a month, and they were craving it badly.

The meal was ready quickly. The squirrel meat was stir-fried with sour pickled radishes, and the wild chicken meat was stir-fried with sour spicy peppers and red onions. Another dish mixed the innards of both animals, also with sour pickled radishes.

In rural kitchens, sour pickled jars were essential.

"Lin Heng, should I send some to your mother-in-law?" Father Lin, still very filial, asked. He always wanted to send some of the meat to the old lady, even though she heavily favored his eldest brother.

But since this meat was Lin Heng's, he needed to ask.

"Don't send it, we don't have enough for ourselves," Lin Heng directly refused. Not all elders deserved respect, and his mother-in-law was one of those who didn't.

Even though she had three sons, she always favored the eldest. Whenever there was something good, she would take it back for him. If it wasn't given to her, she would sneak over and take it.

She had never given anything to Lin Heng or his third brother's family.

"Second uncle is right. That old lady is no good," Lin Wei, the eldest nephew, agreed.

"Shut up!" Elder brother Lin Yue scolded his son.

"Then don't send it," Father Lin thought for a moment and nodded. That old lady had certainly let him down.

"Everyone, dig in!" Lin Heng said as he picked up a large piece of meat for his wife Xiulan and smiled.

As soon as he moved his chopsticks, everyone couldn't hold back and quickly joined in.

In less than ten minutes, the three bowls of meat were gone. They were all so hungry, they couldn't stop eating.

Lin Heng served his wife a big bowl of meat, and even the usually calculating elder sister-in-law, Liu Juan, didn't dare to say anything, because it was Lin Heng who had caught the meat.

"That's too much, you eat some too," Chen Xiulan said, placing some on Lin Heng's plate. She felt that today was the happiest day since their marriage.

"You eat. You still have to nurse the baby and do work. You need to replenish your strength," Lin Heng said firmly, placing the meat back.

Chen Xiulan even tried to serve some to her mother, but was refused: "You eat, look at how thin you've gotten."

Mother Lin didn't scold Lin Heng tonight. She felt that Lin Heng finally acted like a husband, showing care for his wife.

"It's so delicious. If only we could eat this every day," Lin Caiyun said, licking her lips and savoring the taste.

"Yeah, it's so good!" Lin Wei added.

Afterward, he turned to Lin Heng: "Second uncle, please teach me how to use the slingshot. I want to hunt for the family too."

"Wait until I have time," Lin Heng stretched and then took the baby from his wife.

Everyone smiled, their mood lifted, feeling like it was a celebration day.

(End of Chapter)