Before leaving home in the morning, her eldest brother, Shen Xingzhou, specifically called her aside and solemnly instructed her: "Jinhe, you must keep a close eye on your sister-in-law. She's not familiar with the village yet, so don't let her wander around, and above all, don't let anything happen to her. If anything happens to her, I won't be able to explain it to your parents when I get back."
She was so focused on cutting grass that when she looked up, she found the place empty beside her; her sister-in-law was gone!
In that instant, countless terrifying images flashed through her mind—what if she was bitten by a snake?
Will I fall down the hillside?
Or was she kidnapped by bad guys?
She had even thought about how to explain things to her older brother when she got home. She felt both regretful and scared, and was so anxious that she almost cried.
"Where can I go to relieve myself?"
Su Qingzhi raised her head, her expression calm, her tone light and casual, as if she were talking about something extremely ordinary.
She casually stuck the sickle into the haystack, patted the bits of grass off her trousers, and showed no sign of guilt.
"That scared me to death..."
Shen Jinhe was still shaken, pressing her hand to her chest and trying to calm her breathing.
She looked around and realized that the grassy slope was indeed covered with tall grass and dense forest, which greatly obstructed her view.
If someone goes far away, it's really hard to find them immediately.
"There's plenty of grass here, let's cut it right here!"
She suggested, her voice still carrying a lingering sense of fear.
"OK."
Su Qingzhi nodded, squatted down again, picked up the sickle, and continued cutting grass.
only--
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the patch of grass where the spiritual spring water had just been sprinkled, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in her heart.
That pile of hay seemed to... move slightly?
"ah--!"
Suddenly, Shen Jinhe let out a sharp scream and jumped back, almost falling to the ground.
A fluffy bird had somehow appeared in her arms, fluttering its wings and chirping.
She looked down and was so startled she almost let go of the bird, which nearly broke free and flew away.
"Sister-in-law! It's a pheasant! Why did this bird fly right into my arms? How silly!"
She cried out in shock, but her eyes shone even brighter, as if she had discovered some incredible treasure.
She held the pheasant tightly, afraid it would run away again.
The pheasant was brownish-brown all over, with glossy feathers, long tail feathers, thick legs, and strong claws. It was clearly a plump and healthy wild pheasant raised in the mountains.
Shen Jinhe was increasingly delighted with the chicken and had already begun to plan: take this chicken back, chop it into several large pieces, stew it in a big iron pot, add some ginger slices and wine, and the aroma will be so strong that it can be smelled for miles around!
The whole family gathered around, each receiving a large bowl. The soup was rich and the meat tender, and they ate with gusto, their mouths greasy with oil.
Just thinking about it made her mouth water.
Su Qingzhi was also stunned.
She certainly didn't expect that this method would actually work.
Did the sprinkling of the spring water really attract the pheasants?
The effect was faster and more direct than she had expected!
What surprised her even more was that after being caught, the pheasant did not panic or run away. Instead, it slowly squatted in place, pecking its head back and forth, and actually lowered its head to peck at the pig feed that Chen Jinhe had not yet thrown away!
It looked like a starving domestic fowl, not at all like a highly wary wild animal from the mountains.
"Sister-in-law, do pheasants eat grass too?"
Shen Jinhe looked bewildered, staring wide-eyed at the pheasant that was still pecking at its food, her tone full of confusion.
"There's probably a bug in your bunch of grass, and it's got its eye on you."
Su Qingzhi quickly realized what was happening and explained calmly, secretly relieved.
Fortunately, she had an excuse, otherwise she couldn't very well say that she used the spiritual spring water to bring it here, could she?
She urged hurriedly, "Quickly tie its feet, or it will fly away."
Shen Jinhe slapped his forehead, only then remembering the important matter.
She quickly pulled a very resilient vine from the ground; the vine was thin and strong, like a brown rope.
She deftly bound the pheasant's two thick legs tightly, round and round, finally tying a knot that made sure it could no longer flap its wings and escape.
After doing all this, she picked up the pheasant, grinning from ear to ear: "I'm so lucky today! My mother will definitely praise me when I get home!"
Just as I put the chicken into the basket, a rustling sound suddenly came from the grass, growing louder as if something was slowly approaching.
She froze, holding her breath, and immediately turned around to stand in front of Su Qingzhi without hesitation. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drumbeat—what if a wild boar suddenly appeared in this desolate wilderness?
That's a ferocious beast that can break tree stumps and knock people over!
But the next second—
Several brightly colored pheasants slowly emerged from the haystack, their feathers ruffled slightly, their heads bobbing from side to side as if they were exploring the way.
They lowered their heads, pecking at the insects and grass seeds on the ground, and walked towards the two of them unhurriedly, completely ignoring them.
Shen Jinhe's eyes widened, almost bulging out, and her mouth was agape. She even forgot to breathe, looking as if an egg could be stuffed into it.
Su Qingzhi showed no panic. Her eyes narrowed, and her movements were so fast they almost left afterimages. Her hand reached out like lightning and accurately grabbed the necks of two pheasants. With her other foot, she hooked the third one inward, not giving it a chance to escape.
Once she realized what was happening, Shen Jinhe got excited and immediately shouted, then rushed forward, grabbing at things wildly as she chased after him.
She staggered, but with all her might, repeatedly shouting, "Don't run! Don't run away!"
The pheasant flapped its wings and darted around, but she wasn't afraid of getting dirty. She fell to the ground and got up again, her trouser legs covered in grass.
Within minutes, the pig feed that had been filling the basket was dumped out and scattered all over the ground.
Instead, there were more than a dozen pheasants that had been caught, crammed together in the basket, flapping their wings and making a cacophony of clucking noises.
While Shen Jinhe was focused on chasing the last few pheasants, Su Qingzhi quietly took three chickens out of the basket and deftly slipped them into a hidden pocket inside her sleeve.
She sewed the hidden pocket herself; it was deep and concealed, and no outsider could detect it.
Even with such careful concealment, they still managed to catch a total of fifteen.
"My God..."
Shen Jinhe plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "We...we didn't happen to destroy the pheasant's nest, did we? A few days ago, someone bragged that he could catch fifteen pheasants at once, and I immediately told him he was crazy! Domestic chickens chase people all over the yard, and it takes half a lifetime to catch just one. These wild ones...how come they're so obedient and easy to catch? Did they just come to us on their own?"
Su Qingzhi pursed her lips, her face expressionless, but she raised her chin towards a low-lying patch of grass not far away: "There's a nest of eggs there, just laid, still warm, take them too."
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