Cheng Shanshan was overjoyed to touch the smooth and warm texture: "Brother Huo, how much does this usually cost?" If she bought it to make a bed for Bai Shi, it would definitely be much warmer and more comfortable than those cotton mattresses.
Huo Mingchen said while washing his hands, "I'm not planning to sell this; I'm giving it away as a gift."
"I see."
Cheng Shanshan was a little disappointed.
However, since the other party had already made arrangements, she couldn't very well take away what they loved.
After washing off the smell of blood from his body, Huo Mingchen walked up to Cheng Shanshan and said, "Alright, I'll take you home."
Cheng Shanshan immediately stood up: "No need to trouble yourself, I can go back by myself."
Huo Mingchen frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure on his face: "It's late at night, how can a girl like you be so bold?"
"..."
This title made Cheng Shanshan look at herself.
He was now wearing a coarse cloth outfit covered with patches, and his hair was casually tied into a small bun because he found the traditional updo too cumbersome and time-consuming.
Perhaps because she had experienced so much on her own, she had forgotten for a time that she was still a woman.
As the cold wind outside made her shiver, she looked up at the sky and did some quick calculations. It seemed that there were only ten days of peace left.
Thinking about the various unexpected situations that might arise in the future, she couldn't help but look at Huo Mingchen, who was walking beside her. After thinking it over, she said, "I've heard that the prices of fur and meat will rise in a while. You can stock up on some of your prey so you can sell it for a better price later."
Huo Mingchen hesitated for a moment before saying, "The fur can be kept, but the game will rot if it's not sent to the restaurant quickly after it's been skinned."
“You can salt it and then smoke it to make dried bacon. This will extend its shelf life, and you can make several times more money selling it.” Cheng Shanshan paused before adding, “I know the method. If Brother Huo is willing, I can help you with it.”
"Then I'll have to trouble you. I'll take the things to the cave later."
Huo Mingchen cupped his hands in thanks to her, then escorted her back to the dilapidated house and left.
...
The next day.
Cheng Shanshan arrived at the mountain as agreed.
Upon arrival, she smelled a strong stench of blood in the air.
Then came piles of meat and fur, including wild boars, rabbits, pheasants, and many other animals of various sizes—roughly a hundred or so.
At that moment, Huo Mingchen was fanning the air with several large leaves to dispel the odor. He looked somewhat uneasy when he saw her: "Although I washed these things, the smell is still a bit strong, otherwise..."
He wanted to say, "Let's forget about it."
After all, these things have a strong smell and have always been disliked.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Shanshan interrupted him, leaning over to stare at one of the small wild rabbits: "Brother Huo, you are really amazing."
"sharp?"
This was the first time Huo Mingchen had been praised.
His eyes and brows grew increasingly deep and unfathomable, like a cold pool: "Shouldn't we normally say that I'm cruel?" Even though he processed his prey at night, without even turning on the lights, the villagers felt that his hands were covered in blood. Although they didn't go so far as to call for his death, they kept their distance from him.
He initially thought Cheng Shanshan's words made sense, but now he's starting to regret it.
No matter what, no woman would like this kind of scene, right?
Cheng Shanshan looked at Huo Mingchen and was immediately amused: "Cruel? Should I ask you now, 'The rabbit is so cute, why did you kill it?'?" As she said this, she casually picked up the wild rabbit: "If you ask me, something so cute should be spicy. How about this is my payment for processing your prey?"
Then, ignoring Huo Mingchen's response, she began to take action.
She first carefully washed the wild game with water, then used a basket of salt she had brought with her to marinate and dry it. While waiting for it to dry, she took Huo Mingchen to find some cypress branches and leaves to burn and smoke.
When she was doing these things, Huo Mingchen would help as much as he could, and when he wasn't, he would be busy with his own things.
The two of them spent a day preparing all the smoked meat and hanging it in a row. During this time, Cheng Shanshan also made several wild rabbits into fresh, fragrant, spicy hand-shredded rabbit. She brought some of these back for Bai Shi to eat, and Bai Shi praised the taste highly.
Just as the two were enjoying their meal, Lin Sheng unexpectedly showed up uninvited.
As soon as he entered the house, he was greeted by a delicious aroma. The sight of bright red shredded meat made him momentarily forget the purpose of his visit: "Um... what is this?"
Cheng Shanshan's attitude towards him was extremely cold: "What does it have to do with you?"
"Shanshan, what happened to you?" Lin Sheng looked at Cheng Shanshan with disappointment in his eyes and frowned. "If it weren't for our past relationship, I wouldn't have come to you to deliver the news at this time."
These words made Cheng Shanshan look at Lin Sheng with a wary gaze: "What message have you come to deliver?"
"See for yourself." Lin Sheng said, taking out a piece of paper and handing it to Cheng Shanshan before continuing, "Because the magistrate knows about your relationship with me, he wrote me a letter as soon as he received that old man Chu's complaint. I'm afraid the government might send people to arrest you tomorrow."
At this moment, Bai Shi, who was standing nearby, was completely terrified: "What? They've come to arrest my Shanshan? Why are they arresting my Shanshan?!"
"Why don't you know?" Lin Sheng glared at Bai Shi as he spoke, his words filled with sarcasm: "If it weren't for you, my mother, signing that indenture..."
"Shut up!"
Cheng Shanshan coldly rebuked Lin Sheng.
But before she could finish speaking, Bai realized that she was the one who had caused the trouble, and her face turned deathly pale!
Cheng Shanshan quickly reassured her, "Mom, it's alright, don't worry."
"How could nothing be wrong?"
Lin Sheng chimed in from the side: "The magistrate wrote in the letter that anyone who breaks off the engagement will be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane according to the law, and then, regardless of life or death, will return to their husband's family. Didn't you see that?"
"A hundred strokes of the cane? How could she possibly survive that!" Tears welled up in Madam Bai's eyes immediately. She looked at Cheng Shanshan, her hands trembling like leaves: "Shanshan, it's all my fault... it's all my fault, I've ruined you! What... what am I going to do?"
Seeing this, Cheng Shanshan quickly went to wipe away her tears: "Mom, it's really okay, otherwise why would Lin Sheng come at this time? He clearly came to help me, right?" As she spoke, she turned to look at Lin Sheng and forced a smile.
Mrs. Bai immediately stopped crying: "Really?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
