Chen Lan looked at the peanut field. To the west, Xiao Shan and the others had already made arrangements, and the peanut field had been directly tilled with a rotary tiller. She walked to the part of the peanut field that hadn't been harvested yet, pulled up a few peanut plants, and looked at them. This year, the peanuts had yielded particularly well, with dense clusters of peanuts under each plant, all plump and full. It was clear at a glance that the estimated yield per mu was at least four hundred jin, and fifteen mu would bring in about six thousand jin of peanuts. This year's peanut harvest was also a great success.
Seeing that there was nothing for her to do here, she didn't linger and turned to walk back.
As she walked back, she thought about bringing grain in a few days. Besides corn kernels and cornmeal, and potatoes, could she also give them some other edible items?
That's right! Send some wild goods picked from the mountains, like mushrooms, wood ear fungus, dried vegetables, and pickled vegetables. They were busy with patrol duties, so they surely wouldn't have time to forage in the mountains for these things.
And dried wild chicken and wild rabbit. Thinking of this, Chen Lan suddenly remembered the three plump wild mountain goats in the system's warehouse. Three would not be enough for them. It seemed she would have to make time to go to that valley again in the next two days to see if she could hunt a few more wild mountain goats.
With that in mind, she saw that it was still early. She used her will to check the system time. It was only 8:30 AM. It was still early, so she quickly walked to the drying ground where the potatoes were being sorted. She found her mother-in-law, pulled her aside, and told her her thoughts: "Mother-in-law, people from the border defense camp will be coming in a few days, right? I have some ideas, I don't know if they are right, you can help me think it over. My idea is this: since they have to travel a long way over mountains and rivers to get here, it's really not easy. Besides giving them corn kernels, cornmeal, and potatoes, should we also give them some other things?"
Her mother-in-law's interest was immediately piqued, and she asked eagerly, "Do we have anything else we can give them? If so, let them take it with them."
Chen Lan quickly said, "Mother-in-law, have you forgotten! We still have a lot of mushrooms and wood ear fungus picked from the mountains, as well as dried wild chicken and wild rabbit hunted in the mountains. We also have pickled wheat and dried vegetables that can be given to them. Didn't you just say a few days ago that we have too many things and might not be able to eat them all?"
Her mother-in-law said, "Aren't those saved for everyone to eat during the winter?"
Chen Lan said, "Mother-in-law, how about this! We can keep some for the people returning as souvenirs, and keep a little less for winter stews of chicken and meat. We can give them all the mushrooms and wood ear fungus. Besides, the autumn harvest in the valley will be over after they take the goods. After the autumn harvest, the men will be busy with interior renovations, and we women will have nothing to do. I'll take everyone to the forest to pick more mushrooms and wood ear fungus, and I'll hunt."
Her mother-in-law thought for a moment and nodded, "That's fine too. The only things left in the fields are peanuts and soybeans. Xiang Xi is harvesting peanuts today, and they can harvest soybeans tomorrow. The autumn harvest will be over in three to five days. There's still time to pick mushrooms and wood ear fungus and hunt. It's really not easy for those children to come all this way to guard the border. Let's do as you say. I'll go with Mai Zi now to pack the things we need to send off and put them in bags!"
After her mother-in-law finished, she hurried off to find Lin Mai. Chen Lan quickly stopped her and said, "Mother-in-law, I think it's still early. I want to go into the mountains and go to that valley to hunt some wild mountain goats. One is to give away, and the other is that everyone has been working too hard during the busy farming season! Taking this opportunity, we can also improve everyone's diet."
Her mother-in-law hurriedly refused, "No, I don't feel at ease with you going alone. If you want to go, you must bring someone with you. Besides, what will your mother say if she finds out? If I agree to let you go hunting in the mountains alone, she will blame me. How about this! If you want to go hunting in the valley, bring Xiang Dong and Er Hu. They've both served in the army and killed enemies, so hunting is even easier for them, and they're definitely better than you. Plus, they have the strength to help you carry the prey."
Chen Lan thought about it and decided against it. She didn't want her mother and mother-in-law to worry, so she agreed to go hunting in the mountains with Xiang Dong and Er Hu.
Therefore, while her mother-in-law was finding Xiang Dong and Er Hu, Chen Lan bought hunting tools for them from the system. They were the same crossbows that she was currently using. However, the scope she bought for them this time was different from the one she bought before. Their crossbows used infrared sights, which were more accurate and precise than her previous model.
As soon as the two of them arrived, Chen Lan handed them the crossbows. Xiang Dong and Er Hu looked at the crossbows in their hands with wonder. There was no time for them to marvel at them. Chen Lan immediately gave them a brief explanation of the principles and usage of the crossbows. She only suggested that they use six reusable darts with spools at the beginning. Since they didn't have many weapons, they only had carbon steel arrows and darts, which were both reusable, and only six of each. If they lost them, the crossbows would be useless. She then gave them the instruction manual and told them to study it themselves.
She gave the prepared ropes to Er Hu and Xiang Dong and told them to tie up their pant legs and sleeves. Then, each of them carried a basket and followed her into the mountains. Chen Lan took the path leading to the valley where she had hunted wild mountain goats before. Along the way, Chen Lan used the system's search function to hunt many wild chickens and rabbits, but unfortunately, she didn't have time to search for rabbit nests.
After all, Xiang Dong and Er Hu had both served in the army and fought on the battlefield, killing enemies. After a few adaptations, Xiang Dong and Er Hu became proficient with the crossbows.
Her mother-in-law was right. The two of them were much better hunters than Chen Lan, a novice. In a short while, all three of their baskets were full. Chen Lan had no choice but to put the prey into the system's warehouse and return the empty baskets to them. Xiang Dong and Er Hu were dumbfounded. Chen Lan neither explained nor paid attention to them and continued to walk forward. As she walked, she continued to use the system's search function to look for prey and hunt. Soon, the three baskets were full again. Chen Lan followed the same method and put them into the system's warehouse. After receiving them into the system's warehouse for the third time, Er Hu finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked, "Xiao Lan, where did you put these prey?"
Chen Lan, without a trace of guilt, bluffed, "I don't know where they are. You'll have to ask your father-in-law."
Xiang Dong couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I knew this would be the answer. It's useless to ask, so I didn't. Er Hu, think about it, even Xiang Xi, who grew up with Xiao Lan, hasn't asked Xiao Lan this question. Do you know why?"
Er Hu asked curiously, "Tell me, why?"
Xiang Dong held back his laughter and replied, "Because Xiang Xi knows that curiosity killed the cat." He then burst into laughter. Chen Lan also started laughing when she heard this, and the sound of their laughter startled the birds in the forest into flying everywhere.
Er Hu, looking at the two of them laughing, was still confused.
Chen Lan saw that Er Hu truly didn't understand the meaning of the phrase and explained, "Brother Er Hu, the saying 'curiosity killed the cat' means that one should not be too curious about everything, as it can easily lead to trouble. It is said that cats have nine lives and are not easily killed, but even a cat with nine lives was killed by curiosity. Let alone a person with only one life."
The three of them walked, chatted, and hunted. Before they knew it, they had reached the vicinity of the valley. Standing on the mountain and looking down at the valley from afar, a herd of wild mountain goats was grazing. The surroundings were silent, with only the chirping of birds in the forest and the sound of the wild mountain goats eating grass, and the bleating of the young mountain goats.
Chen Lan looked at the prompt on the system's screen and made a "shush" gesture to the two of them. They slowed down their pace and moved quietly under the cover of the dense branches and weeds in the forest to the maximum shooting range of sixty meters from the wild mountain goats, and stopped.
Chen Lan took out six carbon steel arrows and signaled Xiang Dong and Er Hu to take out their six carbon steel arrows to use. The three of them communicated their hunting targets with hand gestures, their eyes fixed on the sights, and then attacked swiftly. There was only a series of "puff puff puff" sounds, followed by the thudding sound of objects falling to the ground.
The three of them quickly descended into the valley to check their respective achievements. Needless to say, every arrow hit its target. Each of them pulled out their six carbon steel arrows from the prey, wiped them clean, and put them away. Chen Lan's six carbon steel arrows were directly placed in the system's warehouse. Today, the three of them hunted a total of eighteen wild mountain goats, which could be considered a great harvest. Chen Lan, as usual, put all eighteen wild mountain goats into the system's warehouse.
The three of them didn't linger in the valley for long. Carrying their baskets and their crossbows, they left quickly. They retraced their steps, and this time Chen Lan didn't need to lead the way. On the way back, they also hunted along the way. There weren't many prey encountered on the way back, so Chen Lan didn't put them into the system's warehouse. The three of them carried their respective prey back in their baskets.