Only after Lin Wanru tightened her red bellyband and covered her graceful figure with a sheet did she question Zhang Dajian, “Speak, what are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for a bow and arrows; I’m going hunting. We’ll eat meat tonight!” Zhang Dajian’s tone was resolute.
“You’re going hunting?” Lin Wanru’s brows furrowed, her face full of disbelief.
Seeing her doubt, Zhang Dajian pouted, “Wanru, you really don’t trust me.”
Lin Wanru gave a helpless, bitter smile, “You used to be a hoodlum, good at drinking and fighting. But you’ve never even touched a bow and arrow, how can I believe you?”
Zhang Dajian’s eyes darted around, and he began to make things up, “I didn’t want to tell you, but actually, I’m an archery genius. When Da Shan practiced archery before, I learned it just by watching a few times.
If it weren’t for seeing how thin you’ve gotten from hunger, I wouldn’t want to expose this skill. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely bring back meat before dark!”
Seeing Zhang Dajian speak so earnestly, Lin Wanru also became a bit suspicious. Could it be that he was truly an archery master?
“Alright, the bow and arrows are on the wall, I’ll get them for you!”
Lin Wanru moved an old, broken wooden chair and stepped onto it to reach for the bow and arrows.
“Wanru, I’ll hold the chair for you.”
Zhang Dajian quickly ran over to steady it.
I have to say, Lin Wanru is truly stunning. Even after being hungry for so long, her figure is still amazing. It doesn’t make sense no matter how you look at it!
“What…what are you looking at?”
Lin Wanru finally managed to get the bow and arrows down. As she lowered her head, she saw Zhang Dajian staring at her, and her face instantly flushed red.
This Dajian fellow, how did he get so bold? Da Shan just left, and he’s already showing his true colors?
Zhang Dajian was caught red-handed, but he shamelessly grinned, “I saw you struggling to reach for things and was afraid you’d fall.”
Lin Wanru rolled her eyes at him, jumped off the chair, and shoved the bow and arrows into his arms, muttering as she did so:
“Stop with your smooth talk. If you really have the skill, then hurry up and go. Don’t come back empty-handed and let people laugh at you.
Remember, just wander around the foot of the mountain; don’t go up the mountain. Tigers in the mountain, when they have nothing to eat, will come down to hunt for prey.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a prompt sounded in Zhang Dajian’s mind:
【Lin Wanru’s Affection +2, current Affection 62!】
Zhang Dajian was secretly delighted. He took the longbow and quiver and hurried to the courtyard.
Although he had Grandmaster-level Archery, he still needed to test his abilities before hunting.
Otherwise, if his skills were insufficient, he might die in vain.
He held the longbow in his left hand, and skillfully drew a feathered arrow from the quiver with his right, nocking it on the bowstring. He looked out beyond the fence and saw a copper coin-sized fallen leaf dropping from a tree.
Whoosh!
The feathered arrow instantly traveled dozens of meters, steadily piercing the fallen leaf and embedding itself deeply into the tree trunk.
Not bad! Zhang Dajian’s face lit up with joy. As expected of a system product, this Grandmaster-level Archery is terrifyingly strong.
With this skill, why would he ever worry about not having enough to eat?
Forget two wives, even twenty wouldn’t be a problem!
He checked the sky; it was already around three-quarters past the hour of Wei, and it would be dark in a little over an hour. He needed to hurry and go out.
He first went to the outhouse in the backyard, then tightly bound the thin quilt around his body, and finally, with a hatchet at his waist and the longbow and quiver on his back, prepared to leave.
Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he was stopped by Lin Wanru.
“What’s wrong, Wanru? Something wrong?”
Lin Wanru rolled her eyes at him, “Since you’re going out, you naturally need to wear more, otherwise you’ll definitely freeze.”
With that, she took down the old door curtains from the two doorways and carefully tied them tightly around his legs.
Then she took out a pair of old straw sandals from the house and had him put them on.
“These straw sandals are a bit worn, but they’re better than nothing, and these door curtains can also block some wind and snow.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t catch anything, but you must be back before dark. At worst, we’ll just keep drinking wild vegetable soup and gnawing on tree bark.”
Listening to Lin Wanru’s nagging instructions, Zhang Dajian’s heart warmed, and he secretly vowed to treat Wanru well in the future.
Leaving the house, Zhang Dajian quickly walked towards the outskirts of the village.
He hadn’t gone far when he met a villager.
Dressed in thick animal furs and boots, he was heading in the same direction, walking proudly towards the village outskirts.
“Zhang Dajian? What are you doing with that bow and arrows?” The man stopped, looking at him with surprise.
“I’m going to try my luck at the foot of the mountain, see if I can catch any wild rabbits or pheasants.”
Zhang Dajian said with a smile. This man was Zhang Tiezhu, Cunzheng’s son, and also the most famous hunter in Panling Village.
While other villagers were gnawing on tree bark all day, his family, thanks to their excellent hunting skills, could still eat meat every few days.
Zhang Tiezhu looked him up and down, “You can hunt now too? When did you learn?”
Zhang Dajian chuckled, “Just messing around. Big Brother is gone, my sister-in-law and I have to find a way to survive.”
Zhang Tiezhu nodded, “Your brother is finally at peace.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two parted ways. In these times, no family was wealthy, and no one would give away life-saving food out of pity for others.
Leaving the village entrance, Zhang Dajian walked towards the high mountains to the east.
Their Panling Village was not by a river, so naturally, there were no irrigated fields.
All the land in the village was dry land, with extremely low yields.
It’s said that those who live by the mountains live off the mountains, and those who live by the water live off the water. Although Panling Village was not by a river, it was right next to the Da'an Mountains, the largest mountain range in Qingluan Country.
Inside, the forests were dense and wild beasts were numerous. When the harvests were poor, the entire village relied on hunting and gathering herbs for a living.
In recent years, natural disasters and man-made calamities have been continuous, and taxes were frighteningly high. Planting crops for a year wasn’t even enough to pay the taxes, so the villagers naturally lost interest in farming.
However, because every household went hunting at the foot of the mountain, it was already rare for anyone to catch prey near the mountain foot.
And Zhang Da Shan was severely injured by a bear he encountered in the mountains last year, and he finally breathed his last this year.
Zhang Dajian quickly arrived at the foot of the mountain. Looking around, he could occasionally see figures wrapped up like rice dumplings, searching for traces of prey nearby.
The village bully, Liu Mazi, and his subordinate, Ge Wulai, were also loitering suspiciously in the area, and they immediately set their eyes on him.
“Oh? Isn’t this Dajian? Not at home enjoying himself with Lin Wanru, who’s keeping an empty room? What are you doing here?”
Ge Wulai blocked his path, his face full of mockery.
Zhang Dajian stopped, looking coldly at the other party, “Try saying that again?”
Ge Wulai felt a chill down his spine from Zhang Dajian’s gaze. He opened his mouth but didn’t even dare to utter a harsh word.
This Zhang Dajian is not right today!
He used to call him ‘Brother’ and was afraid of being beaten by him. How did he become so tough today?
But when he saw his boss, Liu Mazi, his courage immediately returned.
“Damn it, you little brat, are you getting too big for your britches? How dare you speak to me like that?”
Ge Wulai said, swinging his fist towards Zhang Dajian’s face.
If that punch landed, he would be seriously injured, if not dead.
Zhang Dajian’s expression turned cold. His body, modified by the system, suddenly moved, and his right leg kicked out like lightning.
With a muffled thud, Ge Wulai was sent flying three meters away.
Seeing this, Liu Mazi, who was standing nearby, was instantly stunned.