Chen Lan, holding the new bow and arrow, descended the mountain to where the six wild boars lay in the valley. She looked at the six boars, each one stout and strong, their dark brown bristles standing erect, their legs short and thick. She reached out with all her might, intending to pull the arrows from the wild boars' skulls, but they were lodged too deep and too tightly to be removed at once.
She placed the new bow and arrow into the system's warehouse and, using both hands with great strength, pulled out twelve carbon steel arrows one by one from the heads and throats of each wild boar, sweating profusely from the effort.
After wiping the stains off the arrows with a flawed cloth, she put them back into the system's warehouse.
She then looked at the six large wild boars lying on the ground and the pools of their blood.
The corners of her mouth twitched. She thought to herself, "What a waste! Pig's blood is an essential ingredient for pig's blood cake."
Then she considered that being able to kill wild boars was good enough. Without these advanced weapons, she would have been lucky to survive, let alone think about pig's blood. Having wild boar meat to eat was already a blessing. She stopped dwelling on the matter of the pig's blood.
Habitually, she checked the system time. It was already past three in the afternoon. Time really flew by! It was truly getting late. If she set off immediately and walked quickly, she would arrive home around half-past five.
She wasted no more time and quickly put the six large wild boars on the ground into the system's warehouse. She then quickly left the valley, walking briskly back along the mountain path she had come.
Holding the new bow and arrow, she prepared to hunt as she walked, not specifically looking for prey, but taking shots if she encountered any. Her main goal was to hunt a few wild pheasants for the children to stew for soup, to nourish them.
Wild pheasants in autumn were very plump and delicious. Stewing them for soup was very nourishing for the body.
She took a basket from the system's warehouse, slung it over her shoulder, and hunted as she walked back. Along the way, Chen Lan managed to bag several wild pheasants, mainly because the new weapon was exceptionally effective and easy to use. The infrared scope automatically searched for targets, and as long as they were within range, it was a hundred percent accurate, never missing a shot.
After walking for more than an hour and hunting along the way, this trip into the mountains was very fruitful. She hunted six wild boars, thirteen wild pheasants, and seven wild rabbits. The wild pheasants and wild rabbits were carried in the basket, while the wild boars were stored in the system's warehouse.
After more than an hour of crossing mountains and ridges, she finally reached the mountain peak of the valley where she lived. Judging by the time, it should be around half-past five in the afternoon. She checked the system time, and indeed, it was twenty-five minutes past five in the afternoon.
Everyone had not yet finished their work and was still busy at the drying ground.
Three large piles of firewood had appeared on the drying ground in front of the house. The tops of two of the firewood piles were already covered with rainproof tarpaulins, and they were securely tied with ropes all around.
Several people were throwing cut logs onto the third firewood pile. Upon closer inspection, Xiang Xi and Xiao Shan were receiving them at the top of the pile, while Xiao Shuan and Lin Mao were tossing them up from the ground.
She did not see Uncle De and Uncle Fu, nor did she see Xiang Dong and Er Hu. She couldn't help but feel a little strange but didn't pay much attention. She figured they must have gone to attend to other matters.
This firewood pile was almost full, nearing completion. Su Dan Xiao Shuo Wang
She walked to the door of the house and greeted Xiao Shuan and the others. She looked at the men who were busy working. She didn't see her mother-in-law and the others, so she assumed the women were helping in the large kitchen at this time.
Xiao Shan and Xiang Xi, standing high up, saw Chen Lan returning with prey from afar. They both shouted, "Xiao Lan, you're back! Did you go hunting?"
Chen Lan saw that everyone was busy. She realized that if they were to butcher the pigs now, there might not be enough time.
So she took three wild pheasants from her basket and handed the rest of the prey and the basket to Xiao Shuan, who was closest to her, saying, "Here, Xiao Shuan, hurry and take this to the large kitchen. You can also help sort things out. You can have a good meal tonight!"
Xiao Shuan happily took the basket and said repeatedly, "Okay! Okay! I'll go right away." With that, he took the basket and ran off quickly.
She herself carried three plump wild pheasants into her own yard. There was no one in the yard, so they were likely all inside.
Indeed, everyone was at home. Her mother and Xiao Shan's mother were each holding a child, feeding them rice paste.
Mom Liu and Hu Yuzhen were busy in the kitchen. After greeting her mother and Xiao Shan's mother, she walked into the kitchen with the three wild pheasants.
When Mom Liu saw Chen Lan coming in with the wild pheasants, she casually asked, "Did you go hunting in the mountains again? You didn't eat lunch, did you? You child, you don't take care of yourself. Always eating sporadically like this is very bad for your health! You don't feel it now when you're young, but when you get older, problems will arise." As she spoke, she took the three wild pheasants from Chen Lan's hands to prepare them.
Chen Lan quickly went to help. Mom Liu said while preparing the pheasants, "You don't need to help. Go and rest. You've been working hard all day. The branches by the entrance of the yard were brought back by you, weren't they? You child, you don't know how to pace yourself when you work. You always exert yourself to the utmost, and your body can't handle it."
Chen Lan accepted Mom Liu's loving nagging. Fearing that Mom Liu would continue, she quickly interjected, "Mom Liu, I see that Sister Yuzhen has almost finished preparing dinner. It might be too late to stew wild pheasant soup tonight, right?"
Mom Liu, interrupted, forgot her previous topic. She replied, "It is a bit late. Wild pheasant soup needs to be simmered slowly over low heat to be delicious."
"Then we'll start simmering it after dinner tonight, and everyone can drink wild pheasant soup when they wake up tomorrow morning," Chen Lan quickly said.
"This time, we won't add anything else. We'll just stew pure wild pheasant soup. The children can drink some, and we can also use the wild pheasant soup to make noodles for them," Chen Lan added.
After dinner, Mom Liu asked Hu Yuzhen to go to the large kitchen to borrow the large clay pot that was used to stew the ginseng and wild pheasant soup, so they could simmer the wild pheasant soup.
The next day, without anyone calling them, everyone woke up early, enticed by the aroma of the wild pheasant soup.
Chen Lan was also awakened by the aroma, and even more so was Jia Hui, the little foodie. She usually slept until eight or nine o'clock, waking up naturally. Today, she woke up early in the morning. Her little mouth kept saying, "Eat, eat." Jia Yao also woke up early, shouting, "Go, go."
In the early morning, the twins were a handful. Fortunately, her mother, their savior, appeared in a timely manner. The mother and daughters quickly washed the twin siblings and carried them to the living room to wait for breakfast.
There was no doubt that the wild pheasant soup in the morning was a great success. Everyone ate a full bowl. Chen Lan only had a large bowl of soup and chicken, and she didn't eat any steamed buns.
Instead, she used the wild pheasant soup to soften the steamed buns and fed them to the twin siblings. The two little ones ate with great satisfaction, their faces gleaming with oil, and they were extremely happy!