eurekapd Chapter 83 Hunting in the Mountains
Chapter 83 Hunting in the Mountains
In ancient times, people didn't plant grains in winter. Village Chief Li didn't want to plant potatoes in winter, but Wen Yuxia didn't force him. She smiled and said, "No problem, just come find me next door whenever you want to plant them."
Village Chief Li thanked him repeatedly with delight, then asked his wife to kill an old hen in the backyard. He warmly invited Wen Yuxia to stay for dinner, saying, "Village Chief Li, potatoes are a new type of grain. Nanping Village has made a contribution in discovering potatoes, so you must keep an eye on things and not let other villages steal the credit."
Fearing that Village Chief Li might not know about going to the county government to claim credit, Wen Yuxia casually mentioned it at the dinner table.
Village Chief Li was a shrewd man. After a moment's thought, he raised his chrysanthemum-like face and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Miss Wen. I know what to do."
Reporting the discovery of a new grain variety to the county government office, even without a reward, would at least grant an audience with the magistrate. It would be good to become a familiar face to him.
Village Chief Li didn't want other villages to steal his credit, so he decided to report to the county government as soon as the potatoes were dug up.
For the next three months, Wen Yuxia did not return to the city. Instead, she moved into the mud-brick houses that the tenant farmers had previously built, along with the construction teams from the North Third and North Fourth bases and Master He.
Master He and his construction team, along with the villagers of Nanping Village, were working feverishly in Wenjiatian. The walls surrounding the horse farm and racetrack were built, as was the partition wall between the two areas.
On a whim, Wen Yuxia jumped onto the wall and ran along its edge, inspecting her family's horse farm and racetrack.
She saw Village Chief Li with his hands behind his back directing the villagers of Nanping Village to lay stone slabs at the racetrack, and she saw Master He and his team building staff dormitories next to the horse farm.
Paving the racetrack with stone slabs is to enhance its prestige; a higher prestige naturally leads to higher rental prices.
Considering that horse riders might stay overnight, Wen Yuxia also designed a row of tall, bright brick houses next to the wall. After the stones are laid, Master He will bring people to build the houses.
On the other side of the wall, which is the horse farm, she also designed a row of brick houses as staff dormitories. Each room is only half the size of the rooms in the adjacent racetrack. Master He and his team are currently digging the foundation.
Watching the villagers and construction teams working hard on the two fields, she suddenly had a whim to go hunting in the mountains to provide these hardworking men with an extra meal.
"North Three, North Four, let's go hunting in the mountains," Wen Yuxia was a woman of action, and she did what she said she would do. She gathered two people, got into a mule cart, and headed towards Nanping Village.
The Wen family's territory is nestled against a cliff, making it inaccessible by road. To hunt, one must ascend the mountain from the far end of Nanping Village. Fortunately, Tudou has fostered a closer relationship between her and the villagers of Nanping, so the villagers don't object to her occasional hunting trips.
Village Chief Li had already reported the potatoes to the county government and informed the magistrate that Wen Yuxia knew how to grow potatoes. The magistrate, who originally wanted to take credit for the achievements of Nanping Village, changed his mind upon hearing that Wen Yuxia was involved.
They had no choice but to honestly report to the Nanzhou Prefecture that the potatoes were discovered by the villagers of Nanping Village. Of course, they also reported that Wen Yuxia knew how to grow potatoes.
Lord Mu of Nanzhou Prefecture dared not take credit for the matter and directly reported it to the capital. After receiving a reply from the capital, Lord Mu personally came to Nanping Village.
Tell Village Chief Li that Nanping Village has made a contribution by discovering the new grain variety. After the potatoes are successfully planted and harvested, the Emperor will reward Nanping Village. As for the credit for planting the potatoes, Lord Mu and the magistrate think the same way: attribute it to Wen Yuxia.
At this moment, Wen Yuxia only knew that Village Chief Li had reported the potatoes, and she had no idea that in the future, she would be credited with a great achievement for planting potatoes.
The matter of Xia Yichen using his military merits to request a title for her was put on hold because the potato planting task fell to her, and she was unaware of this.
"Miss Wen, these are some freshly roasted sunflower seeds. Please try them."
"Miss Wen, come and have some boiled chestnuts. These were picked by our third son in the deep mountains."
……
As soon as she entered the village, a group of middle-aged women at the entrance warmly greeted Wen Yuxia, offering her food and drinks, making her feel like she was the center of attention.
"Thank you, thank you," Wen Yuxia said, squeezing through the crowd. She subconsciously touched her pockets; both were overflowing with sunflower seeds, peanuts, and chestnuts.
The aunties in Nanping Village were so hospitable; whether they knew her or not, they all generously shared their snacks with her. The hardest debt to repay is a favor.
Every household in Nanping Village has someone working at her horse farm. Feeling indebted to them, Wen Yuxia plans to have extra steamed buns made so that each of the working villagers can take two home.
The mule cart stopped at the foot of the mountain. Wen Yuxia distributed the snacks from her pockets to the children who were gathering firewood on the hillside, asking them to help watch over the cart.
The three of them, mistress and servants, used their lightness skills to run up the mountain. The trees covering the mountains could not stop their progress. After running through several mountains, Wen Yuxia finally stopped.
"There's a stream ahead, let's go check it out," Wen Yuxia said, tiptoeing forward.
Just then, a gray rabbit with a large belly suddenly darted out of the bushes. Sharp-eyed Bei San leaped and pounced on the rabbit.
Wen Yuxia suspected that the pregnant gray rabbit was carrying baby rabbits, and fearing that Bei San might press on the rabbit's belly, she quickly reminded her, "Be careful, the rabbit might be pregnant."
Upon hearing this, Bei San, who had pounced on the rabbit, was startled. He quickly lifted the body that was pinning the rabbit up and reached into his clothes with his right hand to grab the rabbit firmly.
“Miss, there really are babies inside the gray rabbit,” Bei San gently touched the gray rabbit’s belly with his left hand, feeling the baby rabbits wriggling inside.
Rabbits with babies shouldn't be killed, and Wen Yuxia didn't plan to raise rabbits anyway, so she quietly instructed Bei San to put the pregnant gray rabbit back into the grass.
Perhaps sensing that Wen Yuxia and the other two meant it no harm, the big-bellied gray rabbit ran a few steps, then turned back and stared intently at the three of them.
Whether Wen Yuxia was imagining things or not, she felt that the gray rabbit was nodding to them in thanks. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the gray rabbit again, but the gray rabbit had already turned and run away into the distance.
Wen Yuxia squatted down by the stream to carefully examine the footprints on the ground, then led Bei San and Bei Si towards the woods to the right, continuing to examine the footprints as they walked.
"There are wild boars,"
Hearing humming sounds coming from the woods, Bei San was the first to rush into the forest, followed closely by Bei Si.
Wen Yuxia had already deduced from the footprints that there were only two wild boars in the forest. Knowing that Bei San and Bei Si could handle them, she walked forward slowly without any nervousness.
When she entered the woods, she saw Bei San swiftly slash the neck of a wild boar with his knife, while another wild boar was sent flying by Bei Si's iron hammer, crashing into a tree.