Picking up the pheasant, Chen Ping shouted at Chen Sanqiu as if showing off, "Brother Sanqiu, that's 500 wen secured. We'll go to the county town together tomorrow."
Chen Sanqiu pretended to be very happy and quickly stepped forward. After a few steps, he felt something sticky under his feet. Striking a fire starter, he realized he had stepped on crushed wild eggs.
Chen Sanqiu's mind raced, but he swallowed the words on his lips and deliberately cursed loudly, "Damn it, stepped in chicken droppings." Su Dan Novel Network
Chen Ping was still immersed in excitement and paid no attention. "Let's go, we're going back."
Chen Ping walked ahead, while Chen Sanqiu quietly left marks along the way.
As he walked, Chen Sanqiu secretly calculated that he would come back to the mountain after returning from the county town tomorrow to get some eggs. He had eaten wild eggs once when he was a child, and they were very delicious. Now, being able to eat eggs again, he had to thank this young master Chen Ping.
The next morning, the two set off excitedly.
As they walked, Chen Ping described a bright future to Chen Sanqiu.
"Brother, what we did last night was an experiment, only catching one. Today, we'll make another trap when we get back, and we can catch ten or eight in one night. Sell them in the county town, hehe, in a few days, we'll be one of the richest families in Hetou Village."
Chen Sanqiu pretended to be very surprised and echoed him.
Upon entering the county town, Chen Ping seemed familiar with the place and headed straight west to the Cao Mansion. Arriving at the entrance, he cupped his fists towards the gatekeeper, "Sir, excuse me. I heard that the Cao Mansion pays a high price for wild pheasants, and I've brought one."
Saying that, he took out the pheasant from the shoulder pole.
The gatekeeper looked at the pheasant and then at him, "Wait here, I'll report it."
Seeing the gatekeeper turn away, Chen Ping was overjoyed. "Brother, did you see? As soon as we mentioned a wild pheasant, they had to quickly invite us in, maybe even treat us to a meal."
Seeing this scene, Chen Sanqiu felt a little surprised. The Qingniu Mountain behind him was practically a gold mine. With so many pheasants, he was going to get rich.
While he was dreaming, the gatekeeper who had gone to report hurried back and stood on the steps, cupping his fists towards them. "My apologies, sirs, we don't want the pheasant anymore."
This statement left Chen Ping and Chen Sanqiu stunned.
After exchanging a glance, Chen Ping held up the pheasant and stammered, "No, the news has already spread. The Cao Mansion buys a wild pheasant for 500 wen. Why don't you want it anymore?"
The gatekeeper chuckled again, "Sirs, that's what our Steward Cao said. By the way, there are several restaurants over there. You might want to ask them."
As they were speaking, they heard footsteps from inside.
Cao Yuanxiang walked out with a brisk stride.
Seeing Chen Ping standing there with the pheasant, he couldn't help but turn to the gatekeeper, "Didn't you tell them we don't want the pheasant anymore?"
"Steward Cao, I've already told them, but these two won't leave."
Cao Yuanxiang stepped forward and cupped his fists towards Chen Ping, "Sirs, there might be some misunderstanding. It's true that I paid 500 wen for two wild pheasants, but I never said I would continue buying them."
"So, please look elsewhere."
Chen Ping wanted to say more, but Chen Sanqiu tugged his sleeve. "Chen Ping, let's go."
Since they didn't want it, there was no point in lingering and pestering them.
Watching them leave, Cao Yuanxiang turned to the gatekeeper, "From now on, if anyone brings pheasants, you don't need to ask me."
He then sighed, "If it weren't for the National Preceptor's fondness for these things, who the hell would pay 500 wen for them."
Helpless, Zhang Ping had to carry the pheasant and try to sell it to one restaurant after another. Finally, he met a kind person who bought it for ten copper coins.
Having entered the city on an empty stomach early in the morning, they at least got some money. Chen Ping was generous. They each ate a bowl of saozi noodles, costing two copper coins.
There were eight left. Chen Ping gritted his teeth and gave four to Chen Sanqiu.
"This time, it's just bad luck. I'll inquire again later. Maybe someone gave me the wrong information, and it wasn't the Cao family that was buying."
Chen Sanqiu seemed very calm. "Alright. Even if it's only sold for ten copper coins, it's still worth two days of work."
While comforting Chen Ping, it was also comforting himself. This trip to the county town today was not in vain.
Meanwhile, Chen Xiaobei was busy by the fish pond.
He first spread some chopped weeds at the bottom of the pit, then a layer of chicken manure, followed by another layer of chopped grass. He piled them up layer by layer until they were level with the ground.
Then, he covered the top with a thick layer of unchopped grass.
After Cui Hongyu helped him finish, his face still showed disbelief. "Will this really feed the fish?"
Chen Xiaobei nodded. "This is not enough. It still needs to ferment. It will take about ten more days. We need to catch more fish during this time."
Ferment? Cui Hongyu was confused. What word was that?
Chen Xiaobei immediately realized that the word was beyond his understanding and quickly changed the subject. "Right, we also need to make another net later, so we can catch more fish."
The fishing net had been bought two days ago, but Chen Xiaobei was reluctant to buy an umbrella frame again, so he decided to make one himself.
Chen Xiaobei strapped on his machete and headed for Qingniu Mountain.
Cutting a few branches to make a simple umbrella frame was achievable for him.
Of course, going into the mountain just to cut a few branches wouldn't be enough. The simplest thing would be to grab some fish mint along the way.
As he walked into Qingniu Mountain, not far in, Chen Xiaobei felt something was wrong.
The green grass in some rock crevices showed clear signs of being repeatedly trodden.
He squatted down to examine them closely. These were footprints leading up the mountain.
And judging by the number of footprints, there were at least dozens of people going up the mountain.
Such a large-scale ascent would have been noticed by the village patrol members during the day, so it must have happened at night.
So, who could these people be?
Bandits from Wugongling?
No, that was unlikely. Da Laowei had made it clear that he would come after his house was repaired.
Then could it be Liu Rumei? Based on her asking him to help guard Qingniu Mountain, if she were to enter the mountain, she would likely ask him to find someone to lead the way.
After analyzing, the only possibility left was Sun Jian.
This meant Sun Jian was planning to go solo, abandoning him. At this, Chen Xiaobei actually felt relieved. Great, no need to risk facing the wolves.
With this thought, his mood instantly improved. He turned onto a side path to pick fish mint at the bottom of the valley.
As he was picking fish mint, he suddenly heard the sound of startled birds in the distance. Chen Xiaobei flinched and quickly stopped his actions, turning to hide behind a large tree nearby.