Chapter 24: Bows and Guns

Seeing Lin Heng's stern rejection, a sigh came from behind him.

"Really? You guys don't trust me that much?" Lin Heng was speechless upon hearing this.

"No, we trust you," Lin's father came out of the yard, and the sound of a stick hitting the ground could clearly be heard from behind him.

Lin Heng: "…"

You were clearly holding a stick just now. Do you think I'm blind?

Luckily, I didn't go outside; otherwise, my leg might have been broken by now.

"Let's go, dinner is ready," Lin's mother said, and everyone went back inside.

Although Xiulan didn't look at Lin Heng, a happy and relieved smile appeared on her face.

For lunch, they had steamed buns with a potato stew and dried green beans. Lin Heng found it hard to eat.

The grass carp was turned into fish pieces, coated in flour, and fried in oil.

"This grass carp is delicious," Third Uncle praised.

"Yes, the meat is so tender, it tastes great," Sister-in-law Liu Juan also smiled.

The family was content, but Lin Heng thought it was just average. After eating one piece, he started picking out the bones and feeding his daughter in his arms.

"Baba..."

After finishing one, his daughter wasn't satisfied and opened her mouth for a second, dancing with excitement.

"Eat, eat, eat, all for you."

After feeding his daughter until she refused more, Lin Heng finally got a bowl of potato soup and ate it with the steamed buns.

"Why haven't you finished eating yet?" a voice came from outside while they were eating.

It was a man in his forties, with a square face and a weathered look, smiling as he walked in holding an axe.

"Uncle Li, come, sit down and have a drink," Lin Heng quickly cleared a spot and pulled his uncle-in-law Li Baiquan to a bench.

This man was Lin Heng's uncle-in-law, Li Baiquan. Lin Heng's mother had six siblings: three older brothers and three younger sisters.

Lin Heng's mother, Lu Hongmei, was the eldest. The second sister, Lu Hongcui, married into another village, while the third sister, Lu Hongyun, married Li Baiquan.

Li Baiquan looked older than Lin's father, Lin Xiu'an, probably in his late forties, but by seniority, he had to call Lin Xiu'an "Big Brother."

"I won't sit, you guys eat. I just had a meal. You sent word about cutting trees for building a house, so I came to help. I just finished planting the seedlings..." Uncle Li smiled as he sat on the bench.

"Have a drink, we'll go cut trees after the meal," Lin's father laughed and poured some wine for him.

"Yes, no rush, Uncle Li, eat the fish. We caught it from the city last night, we were lucky," Lin Heng pointed to the grass carp.

His uncle was also quite a nice person, always eager to join in on any village event and lend a hand.

Sometimes, even if he didn't have his own work to do, he'd come to join the fun. You could say he was warm-hearted, or maybe just restless, enjoying roaming around.

After two cups of wine, the room filled with cheerful laughter as the three men in their forties shared old stories and boasted about their past experiences to Lin Heng and Lin Yue.

"Second brother, look, there's a dove eating the dried fish in the yard," at this moment, Caiyun suddenly spoke, pointing at the dove pecking at the fish.

The room fell silent, and everyone quietly looked outside.

Lin Heng took a glance at the dove, walked over, took out the bow, and prepared to test his accuracy. The distance was over ten meters, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Lin Heng, you know how to use a bow?" Uncle Li asked in surprise. He lived on the mountaintop and often went hunting himself with a homemade hunting gun.

Seeing Lin Heng take out the bow, he was immediately amazed.

Lin Heng didn't say anything, just smiled slightly, grabbed an arrow, and aimed.

With a whoosh, the arrow flew out, followed by a soft thud as it pierced the dove and embedded itself into the earth wall several centimeters deep.

The effective range of this hunting bow was about fifty steps, or roughly forty to fifty meters. Now, with less than ten meters between him and the dove, the arrow easily pierced through.

"Awesome! Impressive!!" Uncle Li Baiquan clapped first.

"That's incredible, Second Father!" Nephew Lin Wei ran over and pulled the arrow out, his eyes full of admiration.

He had started to see Lin Heng as a hero, and even his mother, Liu Juan, looked at Lin Heng differently now. When had this idle guy developed such skills?

"This bow wasn't bought in vain," Lin's father also gave a thumbs up after seeing Lin Heng's archery, and everyone was convinced.

"Brother, where did you learn this skill?" Caiyun asked in confusion. She had never heard of Lin Heng practicing archery before, and now it seemed so impressive.

"I learned it in the city. I found out I have a talent for it and picked it up quickly," Lin Heng smiled. The city was the place he was most familiar with, and no one in his family had gone there, so the excuse wouldn't be questioned.

"Well, at least it's useful," Lin's mother reluctantly praised.

"Lin Heng, this is amazing. It feels even more convenient than a hunting gun. Teach me, let's go hunting together," Uncle Li Baiquan leaned in and smiled.

The homemade rural hunting guns had a range of only about fifty meters, which was similar to a bow. The advantage was the larger area of impact, which worked well for large game.

However, the disadvantage was obvious: loading ammunition was troublesome, and if you weren't careful, the gun could explode. The gunpowder could also burn you, and when shooting small game, one shot could destroy it completely.

The bow was much simpler. As long as it wasn't aimed at large game, it was very effective. Even for large game, hitting the vital points could kill it, and small game was no problem.

Lin Heng was glad he had learned related skills during his past life when he had nothing better to do.

"Of course, Uncle, if you want to hunt wild chickens or rabbits, you can use a slingshot. It works well, I've caught squirrels and wild chickens with it."

Lin Heng smiled.

"Sounds good, let's try it," Uncle Li Baiquan said with interest.

Sister-in-law Liu Juan also subtly nudged her husband Lin Yue with her foot, signaling him to speak up and learn. She was envious of Lin Heng's skills.

But Lin Yue just smiled and continued eating.

"Second Father, I want to learn too," instead, Lin Heng's nephew, Lin Wei, circled around him, asking to learn.

"I'll bring back an inner tube from a motorcycle and make you a slingshot," Lin Heng didn't refuse and said.

After the meal, Lin Heng's father, Lin Xiu'an, elder brother Lin Yue, third uncle Lin Xiu'ao, and uncle-in-law Li Baiquan all took axes and headed up the mountain to cut trees for the house.

Building a mud house required many trees. The beams, floorboards, and rafters all needed big trees, at least with a diameter of fifteen centimeters.

They also needed smaller oak trees with a diameter of about five to six centimeters, which would be used in the mud walls to act as reinforcements, like rebar.

As for the women, they were temporarily responsible for the unfinished farm work and taking care of the children.

Lin Heng, feeling sore all over and too weak to cut trees, decided to go hunting instead. He was hoping for a bit of luck.

Why didn't he have the strength to cut trees but still felt like hunting? It was like how a fisherman who had worked all day and only slept three hours could still get up early to fish—pain or not, fishing (or hunting) was what mattered.

Although summer wasn't the best time for hunting, he was determined to try his luck and hoped to catch a squirrel or a wild chicken.

"Wow~"

Xiong Ba, his dog, was happily devouring potato dumplings mixed with steamed buns. Lin Heng rubbed its head, and it let out a soft growl.

"Good boy, eat up and grow strong," Lin Heng smiled as he patted Xiong Ba's head.

If he hadn't shot that dove earlier, his dog wouldn't even have gotten any steamed buns.

(End of chapter)