Ye Caiping and her group were still hunting on the mountain.

Shen Zhiyan caught two pheasants at the start, which amazed Ye Caiping. This fishing idiot could actually hunt! And he actually managed to catch something!

Ye Xuan and Ye Daquan excitedly ran off to pick up pheasants.

Ye Caiping looked at him and laughed, "How are you so amazing!"

Shen Zhiyan flicked his longbow and curled his lips: "Not bad."

Ye Caiping didn't want to eat his little fish fry anymore, so she quickly said, "Actually, I think you could change your hobby. Stop fishing and go hunting every day."

“That’s a great suggestion. I’ll come here to hunt every day.”

Ye Caiping's smile froze slightly: "Yes, you can come here to hunt every day... but there are not as many prey in the mountains as there are fish in the water, so fishing is actually better."

He turned his head and smiled at her: "Yes, I think so too. Too much hunting is against nature's will."

Ye Caiping's lips twitched slightly. So, the little fish's life wasn't a life?

He then said, "But I haven't caught any fish in the last few days, so I came here to hunt and get a feel for it."

Ye Caiping nearly died laughing. No wonder no fish fry had been delivered for so many days; it turned out there weren't any left. Elder Fish must be feeling sorry for the fish fry and hadn't offered any sacrifices!

Shen Zhiyan: "Give me a different kind of bait."

Ye Caiping nodded quickly: "Okay."

At this moment, Ye Daquan and Ye Xuan returned carrying a pheasant. Ye Daquan said with a smile, "This pheasant is best for making soup."

Looking at the pheasant in his hand, Ye Xuan's admiration for Shen Zhiyan grew even stronger.

The gentleman is truly a jack-of-all-trades; not only is he good at studying, but he's also an excellent hunter.

The group circled the mountain a few more times and eventually caught a pheasant and two rabbits.

In the evening, we made soup with two pheasants, and it smelled amazing.

We stewed the two rabbits and enjoyed a delicious meal.

In the evening, Shen Zhiyan pulled Shen Manman into the carriage.

Old Man Ye and Ye Daquan stood at the door to see them off.

Grandma Ye looked at Shen Zhiyan, wondering if this Mr. Shen was the cat that delivered the fish.

But the next second, she shook her head. Her daughter had said that this Mr. Shen was from the capital and could suppress the prefect, so he was of noble birth.

They look down on ordinary people like them.

Moreover, Mr. Shen is upright and refined, aloof and proud; one look at him and you know he's not the kind of cat who would give you small fish.

"I'm leaving." Shen Zhiyan glanced at Ye Caiping.

"Oh, please go ahead." Ye Caiping wanted to talk about the small fish fry so that he couldn't send them anymore, but she couldn't find an opportunity.

You can only talk to him about it after you've prepared the bait.

The carriage moved slowly along the country road, and Shen Manman was in a good mood.

Humming an off-key tune, he admired the scenery for a while, then turned to Shen Zhiyan and said:

"I heard from Uncle Daquan that you encountered that Li Zhiyuan on the mountain? He also said that Aunt Ye deliberately followed him. What a shameless person!"

"He's just a lowly scholar, how can he be so arrogant? We need to find a chance to teach him a lesson, or maybe we should tie him up and give him a beating?"

Shen Zhiyan scoffed, "What's it to you?"

Shen Manman could only droop her little mouth dejectedly.

Father is so mean. She has worked so hard for so long, why doesn't he care at all?

Aunt Ye was the same; she was always dazed, like a gourd that never got the hint.

What should we do?

...

The following afternoon, Ye Caiping prepared the bait and went to the river to look for Shen Zhiyan, but he was nowhere to be found.

When they went to the Shen family's residence to inquire, the gatekeeper said that the master had taken Duanwu out.

When asked, Shen Manman also didn't know where he had gone.

Ye Caiping sighed. Fine, even if someone loves fishing, they can't fish every day.

Ye Caiping went home.

At this moment, Shen Zhiyan is in the county.

Mofanglai is the largest and most famous study in Yue'an County.

Shen Zhiyan was holding a book, standing in front of the bookshelf, quietly reading.

Because of his good looks and outstanding demeanor, scholars and customers who came in to buy things couldn't help but take a second look at him, especially some young women.

Generally, when dealing with people who only look and don't buy, the waiter and shopkeeper will politely say a few words, but subconsciously they dare not ask Shen Zhiyan to leave.

Duanwu stood outside the door, peering around warily.

Since the master retired, he has rarely gone to the study in the county or the prefectural city.

Because he didn't like being recognized, even though the scholars in this small county town were not worldly and generally wouldn't recognize him.

But there were always one or two who had traveled to the capital for study.

I was recognized in other counties before, and I moved here because I didn't like being bothered.