Chapter 297: Chapter 299: Going Up the Mountain to Hunt
As red as a monkey’s behind.
Words like that could only have come from Hei Dan’er’s own father.
Lin Cuihua shot An Guoqing a glare. "You’ve got some nerve talking about Hei Dan’er. Take a look at your own mouth."
An Guoqing covered his mouth with one hand and turned to Gao Guifen. "Honey, is my mouth red?"
Gao Guifen nodded ruthlessly. "You’re quite red, Papa Monkey."
Amused by her sister-in-law, An Ning quickly grabbed a strawberry to hide her laugh.
An Guoqing grinned sheepishly. "It’s fine. That just means we’re two of a kind."
In the kitchen and out in the courtyard.
Members of the An family sat on small stools and stones, both inside and out, chatting, joking, and eating strawberries.
In April, the sky stayed light late into the evening.
It wasn’t completely dark until nearly seven.
Although Lin Cuihua and An Sancheng didn’t say it out loud, they were truly happy that An Ning and An Guoming had returned today.
In their eyes, they hoped their children would make them proud and live good lives.
And if, on top of all that, their children could be by their side, that would be even better.
A lively, bustling home was what made a family feel complete.
An Ning and An Guoming shared stories from their trip with the family, conveniently leaving out any mention of drinking and fighting.
Meanwhile, An Guoqing updated An Ning on matters concerning their land on the mountain and the greenhouse; even with her away, they hadn’t fallen behind on selling the vegetables.
The family’s conversation was casual and relaxed.
Mrs. Yu Sr. loved this kind of atmosphere. She sat inside the whole time, just listening without interjecting.
Sipping tea, nibbling on melon seeds, and eating fresh fruit—this was the very picture of a warm, lively home.
How long had it been since her family, the Yu Family, had felt this way?
The Zhou father and son were also deeply moved. Zhou Yicheng was growing to like this place more and more; An Ning’s family were all wonderful people.
Zhou Xiaoshan’s initial resistance was also beginning to soften, though he was still struggling with his feelings.
After it grew completely dark, they chatted for a while longer by lamplight before starting to sort out the sleeping arrangements for the night.
In the end, An Guoming, An Guoping, and the Zhou father and son shared one room. Yu the Elder, Yu Zheng, and An Sancheng stayed in another. As for Lin Cuihua, she moved in to share a room with An Ning.
Fortunately, the An family had plenty of bedding, so everyone got their own set.
The cozy, warm kang was a unique comfort of the north.
In the darkness of the night, accompanied by the intermittent chirping of crickets, everyone gradually drifted off to sleep.
Sharing a room with Lin Cuihua, An Ning decided not to open her spiritual power space just yet, figuring she would wait until she was alone.
The next morning, the diligent rooster woke An Ning right on time.
It woke her not by crowing, but by flying up to her windowsill around three in the morning and tapping its sharp beak against the glass three times.
An Ning woke with a start. She pulled back the curtain and made a hushing gesture at the rooster. With a human-like nod, it flew back down.
She quietly dressed, preparing to go up the mountain to hunt.
Just as An Ning was about to close the door, Lin Cuihua spoke.
"Be careful."
"I know, Mom. I asked Jiang Xia to come."
"Okay, then."
Hearing this, Lin Cuihua truly felt relieved.
In the old couple’s minds, Jiang Xia had always been the image of an honest, capable, and warm-hearted young man.
An image, one could say, that was a world away from the real Jiang Xia.
An Ning closed the door, grabbed a back basket and a machete from the courtyard, and prepared to leave.
Before she could open the outer gate, the main door of the house swung open again. An Ning turned and asked, "To the mountain. Together?"
"Alright!"
Zhou Yicheng had come looking for her on purpose, something An Ning had already guessed.
Zhou Yicheng intended to observe her, but An Ning wasn’t afraid. She wouldn’t put on an act; this was her real life, who she really was.
The two of them left through the An family’s main gate, closing it gently behind them.
Outside the gate, an expectant Jiang Xia was waiting. The wide smile on his face vanished the moment he saw Zhou Yicheng, and his voice dropped noticeably.
"Morning."
"Morning."
After exchanging greetings, the three of them started up the mountain together.
In spring, the mountain was bursting with life, but also fraught with hidden dangers.
The animals emerging from hibernation were ravenously hungry.
Furthermore, animals in the spring were often irritable, as many were in their mating season. When hunting, one had to pay close attention to an animal’s belly.
Any animal found to be pregnant had to be spared.
This was for two reasons: personal safety, and the continuation of life on the mountain.
Jiang Xia had taught An Ning all of this, bit by bit.
Of the three, An Ning led the way, with Jiang Xia in the middle and Zhou Yicheng bringing up the rear.
"Why didn’t Da Huang come?"
"He’s sleeping in."
"Oh."
An Ning didn’t notice anything was amiss.
At that very moment, Master Tang, who had gotten up to use the toilet, spotted a pitiful-looking Da Huang in the Jiang family’s courtyard, scratching at the main gate.
’A master who’ll ditch his dog for a girl... Can’t really blame him, I guess.’
Muttering to himself, Master Tang walked past. On his way back from the toilet, he called the dejected Da Huang back inside.
Meanwhile, the hunt on the mountain was going exceptionally well.
With her spiritual power, An Ning was basically cheating; she never missed.
To provide for her guests, she hunted a pheasant, a wild rabbit, and a roe deer.
Her back basket filled up quickly. An Ning looked back at Zhou Yicheng, who was trailing behind her clutching a dagger, looking eager to try his hand. "Do you still want to hunt anything?" she asked.
Zhou Yicheng held up his empty hands—empty except for the dagger. "No, I’m good."
His intention had been to observe An Ning’s skills, but since they’d started up the mountain, forget observing—if he so much as blinked, he’d miss the action entirely.
A rabbit would appear, the machete in An Ning’s hand would fly out, the rabbit would fall. She’d retrieve it, toss it in the basket, and that was that.
It was the same for every animal after that.
As long as it wasn’t pregnant, the moment An Ning threw her blade, the fight was over.
The whole process, from start to finish, took less than five seconds.
On the way down the mountain, Zhou Yicheng couldn’t resist asking, "An Ning, where did you learn to throw a knife like that?"
An Ning frowned in thought for a moment, then tilted her head and asked, "Is that something you need to learn?"
"You just aim and throw, right?"
"That’s what I do."
Zhou Yicheng was left completely speechless by her answer.
’Was she for real?’
’It was like he’d asked how to build a missile, and someone had told him, ’Just draw up a blueprint and assemble the parts.’’
"Heh. You’re really amazing."
In the end, that was all Zhou Yicheng could say.
Seeing this, Jiang Xia, who had been walking with them, chimed in, "Geniuses always learn differently."
Jiang Xia’s words fell, and Zhou Yicheng stopped in his tracks, visibly struck by the thought.
’That’s right. The world of a genius is always different.’
’My son is a genius.’
’So what kind of world does he need?’
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