Seeing Zhou Xiaoyu and Li Yan run to the campsite, Zhou Xiaoyu held up a large handful of white rootstocks in her hand, her face flushed with excitement. "Brother Li, did you see this? This is my favorite sweet rootstock! I didn't expect to find it here! Hahaha! I'm so happy!" She then secretly glared at Li Yan.
Li Yan, standing beside her, also looked delighted. It seemed Zhou Xiaoyu had a restraining effect on him, what people often call a nemesis. Like tofu curdled with brine, everything has its counter. Otherwise, Li Yan wouldn't have immediately become like Zhou Xiaoyu, smiling slightly after noticing her subtle change in expression. He kept asking himself, "Is a worthless nobody really worth this much happiness? But why do I want to be as happy as her?"
"Yes, that's right, this is the root of saltwort, it's delicious." Li Jia took a white root and put it in her mouth to chew.
"Brother Li, you recognize this too?" Zhou Xiaoyu distributed the root she was holding to everyone, then pulled Li Jia aside and asked.
“Well, saltwort has many names in China, but I don’t know its scientific name. I only know that some people in the north call it peanut grass because its roots are delicious, just like peanuts. Others call it rain grass, and so on. But these are just names given to it by people in different regions. As for its actual name, I don’t know either, haha!” After Li Jia finished speaking, she handed the rootstock in her hand to Li Xiaoqing. “Go wash it. Eating this after a meal will help with digestion.” “Okay!” Li Xiaoqing said, and took a large handful of sweet roots to the river to wash them.
"Alright, it's 10:45 now. Dinner will be served promptly at 11:30, so you have 45 minutes to do as you please. But don't wander off, understand?" As soon as Li Jia finished speaking, Zhou Xiaoyu pulled Li Yan and ran towards the riverbank, while Meng Yao stood beside Li Jia, watching her with a smile without moving.
"What? Interested in going hunting with me?" Li Jia said, brandishing the slingshot in her hand. The sturdy steel frame had an opening of about five centimeters, the rubber band was about 1.5mm thick and 10mm wide, and it came with a red leather pouch. Li Jia had specifically gone to buy this yesterday. She didn't have time to make one herself, so she simply bought a ready-made one.
"Is this a slingshot? How do you use it?" Meng Yao asked, taking the slingshot from Li Jia's hand. She held the slingshot pouch in her left hand and the frame in her right, but the orientation seemed reversed; the inside of the pouch was facing her nose. The posture was graceful, but completely upside down. "Hehe. Lin Lei, if you use it like that, you're probably going to get your nose hit." Li Jia laughed as she took the slingshot and demonstrated it to Meng Yao.
"Oh! I see. You put the stone here, then pull and release. The stone launches. Hmm, a very clever invention." Meng Yao immediately gave her assessment after watching Li Jia's demonstration. This time she was right. Although Li Jia noticed Meng Yao staring intently at the fist-sized pebbles next to the barbecue grill, she still nodded in approval, "Absolutely right. However, the stones aren't what you think. Stones that big won't fit in the slingshot's pouch. Hehe, since you're interested, let's try it together!" With that, she walked towards the riverbank.
By the river, Li Xiaotong had already collected quite a few round pebbles, stuffing them all into the bottom pocket of his jeans, but he was still picking them up. "Here, take this. How many pebbles can your little pocket hold?" Li Jia said, taking a neatly folded cloth bag from her own pocket and handing it to Li Xiaotong.
"Damn! You even prepared this! That's great! Thank you so much, brother!" After saying that, Li Xiaotong unfolded the cloth bag, pulled out the tucked-in straps, and then slung the bag diagonally over his shoulder. The bag was square, with one large pocket and two small pockets. The small pockets were for holding stones, while the largest pocket was for holding spoils. This hunting bag set, which was used with the slingshot, was worth fifty silver dollars.
"Big brother, want to have a contest?" After saying that, Li Xiaotong transferred all the stones in his pocket to the pocket of his cloth bag, then raised his slingshot and made a shooting motion, looking at Li Jia in a demonstrative manner.
"Alright! Let's see who has the most loot before 11:30." After saying that, Li Jia took out another cloth bag and, like Li Xiaotong, slung it over her shoulder.
"Hehe, then I'll go first! Bye-bye!" After saying that, Li Xiaotong took his slingshot and ran towards a grove of trees that he had already spotted. The grove wasn't far from the camp, so safety wasn't a problem. Li Jia smiled and looked at Li Xiaotong, who had already run far away, and turned back to Meng Yao and said, "Do you want me to help you pick up some stones? Here, something about this size will do." After saying that, she held up a square stone about the size of a thumb that she had just picked up.
"How about this one?" Meng Yao had already picked up a small stone beside her, almost the same size as the one in Li Jia's hand. The two smiled at each other and started picking up stones. In no time, the two small pockets on Li Jia's cloth bag were full. "Let's go! I'll show you my slingshot skills." After saying that, Li Feng grabbed Meng Yao's hand and ran off. The place he chose was not far from the grove of trees that Li Xiaotong had chosen, a small mountain hollow. The hollow was full of low bushes, and mountain sparrows were chirping incessantly in the bushes.
Meng Yao felt Li Jia's happy mood and easily let Li Jia take her hand and run to a high slope in a small valley. "This will be our hunting ground today." Li Jia pointed to the small valley below the slope, with a general's air about him on the battlefield.
"Okay! I'll take care of logistics. Here's your backpack, you can transport the ammunition!" Meng Yao said, taking the cloth bag off Li Jia's shoulder and hanging it on her own. She then cheerfully pulled out a handful of small stones and handed three to Li Jia. "Let's get started! Let me see how accurate you are!"
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