Chapter Ten: The Hunt

  "Ah......, good sleep." Where is this? Yang Heng sat up and looked around, "Oh, I remember now. This is after crossing over, and it's a new home, a new home made of thatched hut."

  "Heng'er, you're awake, come and have some food." His mother called out from outside. "Mother, what time is it?" Yang Heng asked, yawning as he came out. "It's almost noon, your father and I got up early, but you were sleeping so soundly that we didn't wake you," his mother said with a smile.

  "Where's Father?" "Your dad, he went up the mountain to see if there are any wild animals, preparing to catch one back and cook it for dinner. Our grain is running low now, I don't know if what you said is right or not, eating is still a problem from now on." The old mother was used to living in the city after all, and having just arrived in the countryside, she really wasn't accustomed to it.

  "Girl, don't worry, it's still early for the Chinese New Year, and there are many wild animals in this place, can people starve to death? Yang Heng thought that with such a large forest, a river on the edge, wild beasts on the mountain and in the forest, fish in the water, how could people starve to death? The fish were discovered by Yang Heng yesterday when he and his father were grinding knives, and now there is a pheasant in the distance."

  "Girl, keep your voice down, there's a wild chicken over there, watch me hit it." Yang Heng said as he casually picked up a small stone and threw it. "Thud," the stone unexpectedly knocked the chicken's head off. How much strength did he actually have? This was something Yang Heng hadn't expected; he had only been trying it out with a casual throw of a stone, not thinking he would actually hit it from nearly ten meters away. Maybe it was because of this body, after forging iron for so long, his hand-eye coordination must be very practiced.

  "Heng Er, this wild chicken is so easy to hit," the old mother exclaimed in surprise. "I don't know either, I just casually threw it out." Yang Heng also said with a puzzled expression, "Then, Mother, you try too, look, there's another one over there." Yang Heng urged his mother. "I'll give it a try," "Ah, how would we know if we don't try?" "Okay, then let's give it a try." The old mother also picked up a stone and casually threw it out, but only managed to knock down a few feathers, and the wild chicken was scared and ran away loudly. "Hit it again," Yang Heng continued to urge his mother.

  "Then hit it again." As she said this, the old woman threw out another stone. It was still that wild chicken, although it was startled, but didn't run far and continued to forage on the ground. This time it wasn't so lucky and was directly hit by the old woman's stone and killed.

  "What are you two laughing at? Look what I've brought back." Old Dad walked over from a distance, still holding two wild rabbits in his hands. "You can't guess how I caught these two wild rabbits," Old Dad said mysteriously. "It wasn't that you were standing there and the two wild rabbits bumped into your legs and died, was it?" Yang Heng's mood started to improve now.

  "It's not that exaggerated, I just used two characters to catch two wild rabbits." Old Dad said with a self-satisfied tone, "I'm awesome, right?" The tone of voice seemed to be saying, "Come and praise me, come and praise me."

  "Go, what's the big deal? You see me and my son, we each killed a wild chicken!" The old lady said, pointing to the two wild chickens stewing in the pot. Her expression was also very exaggerated, no longer regretful as before. "If I had known that these chickens were so easy to catch, last time when I caught one for you to eat, I could have just used a stone to kill it, but instead I chased after it for a long time and only managed to catch it after getting all sweaty." How can I put this? It's like their thinking is rigid. For ordinary people, using stones to kill wild chickens is impossible, but for this family of three, their eyes are sharp and their hands are accurate. Otherwise, when hammering iron, they wouldn't be so quick. People who have hammered before should know that at first, you need to be careful not to hit your other hand, even after getting familiar with it, you still often hit your hand. Even some old skilled workers' fingernails are often bruised and discolored. But for Yang Heng's family, they are masters among masters. Especially when Yang Heng discovered that none of them had ever been hit by a hammer before. In his memory, there were very few times when he wasn't working or practicing, only occasionally did he have some free time to go out and play, but even then, it was just for a short while before getting into trouble again.

  "Little one, do you think we can reclaim this land and plant crops?" After dinner, Old Father had a serious conversation with Yang Heng. "Look at this area, the villagers have come here several times to open up and cultivate it, but they couldn't hold on for a few years, do you know why?" "Why?" Yang Heng asked back.

  "Why is it that there are too many weeds, and the roots of the trees are too strong? Every time we open up the land, the grass that grows here is even better than the crops. Sometimes, we can't even harvest the seeds. And to make matters worse, wild boars often come down to cause trouble." Perhaps it was because he was returning home that Old Father thought of some past events.

  "Don't worry, Grandpa, the tools we've made can handle it, and we're opening up over a hundred mu of land at once. I even plan to use broken stones to build around the perimeter of this field, so that the roots of the surrounding trees won't grow in and weeds will be kept out. With just a few years of hard work, it'll be done, right? And as for wild boars, we can just let them come and cause trouble - they'll make a nice addition to our meals." Yang Heng said casually, if all three of them were weak and frail, he wouldn't have had this idea. But their bodies were all strong and robust, each person could easily open up one mu of wasteland per day, so before next spring's planting season, they would definitely be able to cultivate all the fields.

  "Alright, since you're so confident, let's work hard then!" Although Father's expression was very serious, but in his heart he was smiling, why? Because on the deed it was written that the head of the household is Yang Da, and Mother hadn't opposed, seemingly getting rid of the idea of being a son-in-law.

  "I know what you're thinking, I can tell by your expression," the old lady said with some discomfort as she looked at the old man's face. "I know you're secretly laughing, but let me tell you, this family heirloom can be given to you, but Constant, it must be passed down through my branch of the family, I won't let him be recorded in your family tree. However, how to make excuses is none of my concern." The old lady said firmly. Upon hearing this, Yang Heng also noticed the old man's expression, which was a mixture of smile and seriousness, but not quite serious enough, it seemed that after being together for so long, the old lady could read his expressions clearly.

  "Daughter, don't worry, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be buried somewhere by now. I won't compete with you for our son's affection, who knows, heaven might see your kindness and grant us another son." Old Dad said with a smile, in this era, although inheritance is the top priority, morality comes first.