Chapter 33

When Heng Yi came down from the mountain, he was carrying a dozen pheasants and a wild boar. The people who saw him on the way were extremely envious.

Pheasants, wild boars, these were all very good catches.

When he got back, he saw Han Qiao taking the children out to catch crabs and fish by the stream.

There were at least twenty to thirty children with her.

As though she were the king of children, she told them to surround the gap and chase the fish from the top. There was a backpack placed at the gap to put the fish into.

Every time she made a trip down to the stream, she would always come back with no less than one or two catties of small fish.

The children were even more excited. They made several gaps and filled the buckets almost to the brim.

They didn’t know fishing could be done this way.

“Aunt Qiao is really smart.”

The Han family had many boys and girls. Han Qiao’s cousin had about ten of them.

When the other children in the village saw this, they followed suit.

Although the fish soup was a little fishy, it was still meat. That wasn’t something they could eat often.

When Han Qiao saw Heng Yi, she quickly dried up and put on her cloth shoes.

Heng Yi carried the pheasants and wild boars over. The bountiful harvest was really eye-catching.

Han Qiao was also envious.

“How many pheasants do you want?” Heng Yi asked.

“Five.”

Heng Yi acknowledged, “Can you carry them? If not, I’ll take them to your house.”

“Could you carry them, please?”

Han Qiao was about to go home. She summoned her children to go home with her.

Without an adult, she was afraid that the children would go to the deep pool and fall in by accident.

“Are you selling these fish?” Heng Yi asked.

“?”

Han Qiao looked at the bucket.

With such small fish, besides making fish soup, the only other thing you can do with them is to fry them.

Fried fish was very delicious.

She thought the children wouldn’t want to sell them, but instead, they all hurriedly shouted back, “Sell them, sell them.”

“I’ll buy them all.”

Han Qiao was extremely surprised. “Why do you want to buy so many small fish?”

“I want to send them to a restaurant in the county capital,” Heng Yi said, adding, “I opened a restaurant with someone there.”

Heng Yi didn’t understand why he wanted to talk to Han Qiao about the restaurant.

But later, he would come to realize that, ever since Han Qiao had smiled at him, he had begun to have improper thoughts about her.

Now, he was taking the chance to show Han Qiao how he can benefit her. He didn’t dare to speak rashly. He wanted to test whether Han Qiao would be interested in him.

He had never liked anyone, nor had he spoken much to any woman.

“If that’s the case, then how do you plan to cook these small fish? They add up to several catties.”

“…”

Heng Yi was troubled.

Another reason Han Qiao wanted to sell the fish was to reward the children’s afternoon labor. She suggested, “You can get the chef to clean up the small fish and fry them.”

“Can you come along? I can calculate how much you are owed.” When Heng Yi said this, his heart began to pound.

Only he knew how nervous he was.

“I’ll go back and discuss it with my family.” Han Qiao did not agree or reject immediately.

She brought Heng Yi home and the children followed behind with buckets.

The long string of children was really interesting.

As soon as she learned that Han Qiao wanted to buy five pheasants, Han Yuan objected.

“Mother, it’s cheap.”

“No matter how cheap it is, you’re not allowed to buy it. You can’t use that tiny bit of money recklessly. Your uncle and the others don’t lack any pheasants.”

Father Han did not agree either.

Uncle Yao, who had followed Han Qiao to watch the show, also objected to Han Qiao buying pheasants.

But what he was more interested in was Han Qiao going to the county capital. “Why don’t I go with Qiao?”

If Qiao went to the county town and used her culinary skills to earn a living, then the four of them would not have to worry about their livelihood.

“Yeah, if you could do that, that’d be great,” Father Han said.

“We’re brothers, there’s no need to be so polite.”

Uncle Yao immediately went home to pack up and change into clean clothes.

Heng Yi started weighing the fish.

They would sell for five cash per catty. Since one catty amounted to quite a lot of little fish, they also prepared a big bucket.

Hengyi asked Dacheng to summon Bai Cha, who was standing outside at the fork in the road with the stuff gathered in the wilderness.

Bai Cha’s daily job was to fetch goods from the wilderness and bring some food for Hengyi. He was smart and steady.

Everyone helped to load the wooden bucket onto the carriage. They then poured water in the bucket and put the fish in.

Han Qiao wanted to go to the county capital, so she tidied herself up. She told Sun Xiu, Sun Yi, and Sun Ke to behave while at their grandfather’s house and not to run around.

“Mother, I will be good.” Sun Ke was obedient and cute.

Han Qiao kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll buy you some silk flowers while I’m out.”

“Okay.” Sun Ke was overjoyed.

She smiled until her eyes curved.

She had only heard of silk flowers, but had never seen one before.

Her nieces also looked at Han Qiao.

Han Qiao smiled and said, “I’ll buy some for you too.”

The girls instantly became happy.

They watched helplessly as Han Qiao sat in the carriage, which was soon setting off for the county capital.

Because the carriage was only so big, it was already filled with pheasants, wild boars and a large bucket.

Han Qiao sat beside the driver’s seat, so Heng Yi and Uncle Yao could only walk.

However, they were all farmers, so walking was nothing to them. Moreover, the two of them were very fast.

Uncle Yao asked about Heng Yi along the way.

The people of Xishan Village knew about a certain hunter named Heng Yi, but only the basics. No one really had anything to say about him, though, for two reasons. First, he was quiet, and second, he came and went in a hurry. He never talked to anyone.

If someone greeted him or tried to make friends with him, he would nod and walk away.

However, it was very surprising that he helped Qiao’s niece bring the mantou the previous morning. Today, Qiao and Sun Yiming were even more surprised that he was here.

He wanted to sell pheasants to Qiao at a cheap price. Then he bought the stream fish they caught, and even invited Qiao to head his restaurant’s kitchen.

Uncle Yao, who wasn’t lacking in worldly experience, could not help but suspect that this person had deeper intentions.

First, he talked to Heng Yi about hunting, saying that he too wanted to go into the mountains to take a look. Heng Yi then said that he would set aside some time to accompany him.

Uncle Yao was beginning to envy Heng Yi for opening a restaurant in the county seat. “Is your wife managing it for you?”

“I’m not married yet. The tavern is managed by my adopted brother, He Hong.”

When Heng Yi said this, he stole a glance in the direction of the carriage, but then quickly looked away.

After Uncle Yao saw it, he instantly understood.

No wonder he was so talkative all of a sudden.

“That restaurant earns quite a lot in a year, right?” Uncle Yao asked curiously.

“It’s alright.”

Heng Yi still didn’t know how much the restaurant would earn in a year.

He believed that He Hong was not the kind of person who would be calculative or scheme against him.

“At your age, even without the restaurant gig, you can earn quite a lot just by hunting alone. Why haven’t you gotten married yet?”

“I’ve gotten engaged twice, but the other party always breaks off the engagement. There’s also no one I like, so I’ve dragged it out until now.”

Heng Yi’s voice was a little loud.

Even Han Qiao, who was sitting beside the driver’s seat, turned her head to look at him.

Actually, Heng Yi was tall and strong. He looked like he had a lot of vigor. He hunted all year round, so he was very tan, but his looks were not bad

Moreover, he was quite warm-hearted. There’s no way he hadn’t caught the eye of a few young ladies.

Perhaps all those previous fiances were afraid of that old shrew, Granny Heng. Considering that, it made sense for them to break off the engagement.

Heng Yi remembered the advances he had made to attract the attention of Han Qiao. He would have laughed if it weren’t so inappropriate.

They were neighbors, and now she and Sun Yiming were estranged. She was with Heng Yi now. Wouldn’t it be a little rude to declare victory so soon?

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