Xiaocao remembered that the pheasant was still behind the bushes, so he hurried back a few steps and picked up the pheasant from the ground.
Zhou Yuanyuan was thankful that the pheasant hadn't made a sound while she and Xiaocao were hiding behind the bushes. Xiaocao was holding the pheasant, its neck drooping, and it was clearly dead.
Huh? Xiaocao crushed the pheasant to death? Could Xiaocao be so cruel? Zhou Yuanyuan felt ashamed. As an adult, she wasn't as decisive as Xiaocao, a child. If the pheasant was still alive, even if it made a sound, she and Xiaocao would have been exposed.
Thinking of the gloomy tone in the words of those people, Zhou Yuanyuan shuddered unconsciously.
Zhou Yuanyuan didn't know that Wen Ziqing was standing on a pine tree not far from her, watching her and Xiaocao, sighing silently. If he hadn't been following them and injured the pheasant's wing with a stone, who knows where the two little girls would have chased them.
After all, they were only six years old. While clever, they still lacked experience. The men had been around for so long, and the children had taken cover, forgetting the living pheasant. If Wen Ziqing hadn't acted decisively and shot a stone, killing the pheasant, the two children might have been exposed.
With Wen Ziqing's current skills, he couldn't defeat the four big men. These people even dared to do illegal things, so what else could they not do?
When would his martial arts skills reach the level of his previous life? At that moment, Wen Ziqing desperately wanted his martial arts skills to improve as quickly as possible.
Zhou Yuanyuan stood at the foot of the mountain carrying a basket of pine cones, and only then did she feel her pounding heart finally calm down.
The pine cones were very dry, and Zhou Yuanyuan's basket was not big. A basket of pine cones was so light that it weighed almost nothing, so Zhou Yuanyuan had no difficulty carrying it.
Xiaocao's basket was already large, and with a pheasant placed at the bottom and a layer of pine cones covering it, the entire basket weighed nearly ten pounds.
It was Xiaocao's idea to relax on the pheasant. Xiaocao thought that Wang Biyun had snatched the meat buns he had eaten that morning. If someone saw such a big pheasant, would it be snatched away?
Zhou Yuanyuan smiled as she watched Xiaocao enthusiastically camouflage the pheasant. She thought Xiaocao was clever. These days, a pheasant is still incredibly tempting. If someone as shameless as Wang Biyun stole your pheasant, you'd have nowhere to cry.
Along the way, Xiaocao refused Zhou Yuanyuan's help, gritted his teeth, and half-dragged and half-pulled the basket, and finally got it down the mountain.
Xiaocao felt that she was the same age as Yuanyuan, and it was Yuanyuan who caught the pheasant, so she had already earned it by giving her half. It was only right that she put in some effort to help get the pheasant down the mountain!
Zhou Yuanyuan knew Xiaocao didn't like taking advantage of others, so she let her be. Some people are like that; if they take even a little bit from others, they'll find ways to give back. Unlike those ungrateful people in Zhoujia Village, who only care about taking what they have.
"Grandma, come quickly." Xiaocao's eyes lit up when she saw Aunt Gu coming out of Gutiezhu's house.
Xiaocao finally managed to get the basket down the mountain, but she didn't have the strength to drag it back home. She was just about to go to Gutiezhu's house for help. Gutiezhu was well-known in Zhaojiagou for his honesty and filial piety. Xiaocao trusted Gutiezhu's character, but unexpectedly she met her own grandmother, Aunt Gu.
"Yuanyuan, Xiaocao, did you have fun today?" When Aunt Gu saw Zhou Yuanyuan and Xiaocao, she quickly put away the anger on her face and replaced it with a smile.
Aunt Gu heard some gossip in the village that Wang Biyun was acting crazy with a young man from the city today. Aunt Gu was so angry that she came over and said a few words to Wang Biyun.
Wang Biyun cried and said that she had not done anything, that someone else had framed her. Aunt Gu did not want to be too loud, lest her sister-in-law Tie Zhuniang hear her and get angry, so she had to leave in anger.
"Grandma Gu, we had a lot of fun." Zhou Yuanyuan nodded, pretending not to notice Aunt Gu's previous anger. Zhou Yuanyuan was not a real child and knew what to ask and what not to ask.
"Grandma, Yuanyuan even gave me some delicious meat buns to eat," Xiaocao said, feeling both happy and a little guilty. She was happy that Zhou Yuanyuan treated her like a good friend, yet guilty that she ate all the delicious buns herself, leaving none for Grandma. Zhou Yuanyuan looked on eagerly, and Xiaocao, too embarrassed to hide any, stuffed them in her mouth.
"Okay, that's good." Seeing the two little girls playing so close, Aunt Gu's smile widened. Yunxiang was a good woman, and her child was also a good child.
"Grandma, we caught a pheasant." Xiaocao pulled the corner of Aunt Gu's clothes, motioning her to lower her body, and then leaned close to her grandmother's ear and whispered.
"Ah?" Aunt Gu was surprised. The two children were so lucky to have come across a pheasant. You know, many people from the village have gone into the mountains over the years, but no one has ever caught a pheasant.
Seeing a thin layer of sweat on her granddaughter's forehead, Aunt Gu hurriedly stretched out her sleeve to wipe Xiaocao's sweat, then picked up Xiaocao's basket with one hand and weighed it.
Aunt Gu was very experienced. Although she didn't see the pheasant, she could roughly estimate its weight as soon as she picked up the basket.
Wow, they weigh at least 7 or 8 kilograms! These two little girls are really impressive!
"Xiao Cao! Grandma wants to discuss something with you, is that okay with you?" Aunt Gu thought of her younger brother and sister-in-law with sallow complexion, and felt sad.
Tiezhu's father passed away early, leaving him dead at the tender age of six. Tiezhu's mother suffered injuries during childbirth, and after his father's death, the burden of the family fell entirely on her. She toiled daily, trying her best to care for the young Tiezhu. For so many years, raising a son and even marrying him off—it wasn't easy for a widow!
After Tiezhu got married, his mother finally breathed a sigh of relief. She was exhausted, needing medicine constantly. The doctor said her health was severely weakened and she wouldn't live past sixty. If she had meat every day, she might have lived a few more years. But Tiezhu's mother was already fifty-three.
"Grandma, please tell me! You are the one who decides our family's affairs." Xiaocao saw that her grandma looked hesitant, but her eyes were looking straight towards her cousin Tiezhu's house. She guessed what her grandma meant.
Although he felt a little sad that the chicken in his mouth was about to fly away, Xiaocao still suppressed his desire.
Over the years, Aunt Gu has donated a lot to her family, and Xiaocao's mother has had several arguments with Aunt Gu about this.
Although Xiaocao was young, her mother was a bit of a jerk. She would often drag her children along and complain about Aunt Gu. Xiaocao listened to this so often that she understood the conflict between her mother and her grandmother.
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