Chapter 49 A Pheasant
"Little sister, are you trying to persuade me to continue studying and gain a good reputation? After becoming an official, I will use my own strength to change the current chaos in the court. I will work hard."
Sang Xingjiaxing promised her excitedly, leaving Sang Yu with a puzzled look on her face. Did she say that? Was that what she meant?
Never mind, as long as he can think it through. With his previous appearance, Sang Yu was afraid that she would wake up in the middle of the night and see a figure hanging in the air.
Old Mrs. Shi quickly counted all the money Sang Yu had earned.
A total of one catty and nine ounces of sugar were sold, each for six cents, which should have been one hundred and fourteen cents. The one cent that Sang Yu borrowed to weigh was something he brought with him and was not counted.
The old lady counted it several times to confirm that the number was correct. A happy smile appeared on her face, which was weathered by time, and even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were connected into a line.
Even though she had much more money in her private treasury before, she was still very happy.
This money is not only the start-up capital for building a house and settling down, but also means that their family has a way to make money, which is the foundation for settling down here.
Only after she had stuffed the hundred-plus copper coins under the cattail mat did Mrs. Shi feel at ease. She was determined not to let anyone else discover and steal them.
Time passed slowly, Sang Yu looked at the sky, feeling a little uneasy in his heart.
Logically speaking, the Sang couple should have returned long ago. Could it be that they encountered some accident?
Thinking of this possibility, Sang Yu could no longer sit still. He told his grandmother and prepared to go into the mountains to look for someone.
Before she reached the entrance of the forest, she saw the Sang couple walking out of the mountain.
At this time, their hair was disheveled and their clothes were stained with mud, and they looked very miserable.
Sang Yu was startled and quickly walked forward to ask, "Dad, Mom, are you okay? Did you encounter some ferocious beast?"
Although she had previously observed that there should be no large beasts on the two nearby hills, no one knew whether a beast would suddenly expand its territory or change its taste, and they might just happen to encounter it.
Sang Yongjing's face was covered in mud and grass, but he didn't care and was full of joy: "It's not a ferocious beast, Yu'er, look at what this is."
As he spoke, he took out something from behind his back. The creature, frightened by his action, flapped its wings violently a few times and began to struggle again, but it could not break free because its legs were tied. It was a pheasant.
Pheasants are fat in autumn and winter, looking plump under their feathers, and their big black eyes are vigilantly observing their surroundings.
"Pheasant!" Sang Yu was drooling as she looked at the pheasant in front of her. She could think of dozens of ways to cook chicken, such as roast chicken, grilled chicken, chicken soup, etc.
However, a question soon occurred to her: "How did you catch it?"
Pheasants are not easy to catch. They can fly. Although they cannot fly for long, as long as they flap their wings a few times, they cannot be easily caught by a couple with bare hands.
Even experienced hunters have to set traps in advance if they want to catch pheasants.
Xie Qiujin's face was full of pride. After being exiled, their family relied on Sang Yu for support. It was rare for them, as elders, to be able to add some meat to the family.
She said, "Remember the hole we made when we dug the yams a few days ago?"
Normally, after digging the yam, the pit must be filled back, but at that time the three of them were all exhausted, and thought that since it was in the mountains, it shouldn't be a big deal whether to fill it back or not, so they didn't care anymore.
Today they went to pick golden berries. On the way back, Xie Qiujin heard some noise over there. Thinking that someone might have accidentally fallen into a pit while entering the mountains, she pulled Sang Yongjing to rescue them.
However, when I looked closer, I found that there was indeed something in the pit, but it was not a human, but a fat brown and gray pheasant.
They dug the hole just for the yam, but there were a lot of grass seeds, grass roots and various insects in the dug soil, and the pheasant foraging nearby happened to fall into it.
The two men were very excited at that time. They had not eaten meat for a long time. Today, God was merciful and sent a pheasant to them. They would be sorry to God if they could not catch it.
The pheasant was not panicked when it saw someone coming, but continued to peck at the food calmly.
Sang Yongjing put his backpack on the ground, jumped into the pit, bent down and opened his hands to force the pheasant into the corner.
This pit was the one they dug the first time. It was deep and big, big enough to hold a coffin.
In such a large space, how could a scholar like Sang Yongjing catch the agile pheasant? He tried several times but failed.
Xie Qiujin, who was watching from above, was so anxious that she wanted to go down and help.
After several more attempts, the pheasant seemed to be tired of being disturbed while eating, so it spread its wings and flew out of the pit easily.
"Ah, husband, it flew out, what should we do?" Xie Qiujin, who was anxious just now, suddenly panicked and was completely at a loss.
Sang Yongjing also opened his mouth wide in surprise. It turned out that it could fly.
But he quickly came to his senses and reached out for Xie Qiujin to pull him up: "Quick, Madam, pull me up, we can't let it get away!"
The pheasant seemed to be teasing them on purpose. It did not run away even when being surrounded and blocked by the two men. Occasionally, when it was forced into a dead end, it would fly away and continue to forage for food nearby.
Xie Qiujin described the incident very well, which made Sang Yu very nervous. She asked anxiously, "Then how did they catch him?"
As luck would have it, the pheasant was walking and unknowingly came to the golden cherry bushes surrounded by the two men.
Pheasants also like fruits of plants. When it stopped pecking at the fallen fruits on the ground, Sang Yongjing changed his method. He took off his coat and covered the pheasant's head directly when it was not paying attention, and finally caught it.
Sang Yu looked at Sang Yongjing with some surprise. In her mind, this father didn't seem like someone who could do such a thing.
For a scholar, isn't it disrespectful to catch a pheasant with his outer robe?
Sang Yongjing looked away slightly embarrassedly and changed the subject: "Let's go back first."
The three of them were chatting animatedly here, and two heads had already been sticking out of the shed to look over here. If it weren't for her age, Mrs. Shi would probably have looked over here too.
Back in the shed, Xie Qiujin recounted the process of catching the pheasant. Sang Yu walked out carrying the pheasant. She was going to kill the chicken.
The whole family was in sync and no one suggested selling the pheasant. They had been craving for meat for too long.
Sang Yu was very skilled at killing chickens. She held the pheasant's wings and used her other hand to pluck the feathers from the chicken's neck to expose it.
Place a small bowl with half a spoonful of salt in it on the ground, cut the chicken's neck with a sharp stone knife, lift the chicken's feet high, and the bright red chicken blood will flow out.
When the blood stopped flowing, Sang Yu shook the pheasant twice with an expressionless face, and casually threw it aside to let it flutter around.
This scene made everyone in the studio's scalp tingle. Such a neat set of movements and such a cold face.
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