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Chapter 220: Hunting (2)
Lian Fang Zhou looked at Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che and felt that these two little guys had had enough fun. She nodded and smiled: “Okay, then you go ahead. We will stay here and find a place to make a fire to roast some food. You guys come back early, alright? At most, we should leave in about two hours.”
“Good!” Ah Jian nodded and left with Lian Ze.
Lian Fang Zhou and the two children searched for some dry leaves and logs for firewood. Fortunately, it was a large forest and there were several layers of dead wood on the ground. Only the top layer was wet from the snow. As the snow had not melted yet, the bottom layer was still dry.
Looking for a place leeward, the three siblings soon started a big fire.
Watching the flames reflect off the snow, the sight was extraordinarily enchanting and bright. Not to mention, warm!
The three of them sat beside the fire and talked and laughed. The warmth made them relax and they felt extremely comfortable.
“Sister, Brother Ah Jian and Second Brother are really amazing! They had hunted so much, Third Aunt won’t be able to complain when we go back!” Lian Fang Qing added a handful of wood to the fire, her eyes bright as she talked.
“Sister, hunting is really fun! I want to learn martial arts too!” Lian Che couldn’t help but envy Lian Ze.
Lian Fang Zhou smiled at him: “You are going to study at school! Don’t even think about marital arts. However, you can practice with your second bother every morning. You sister wants you to study well, but doesn’t want you to become a bookworm!”
Lian Che thought about this for a while and then raised his head, smiling: “Okay, I will get up tomorrow morning and practice with my second brother!”
“I don’t have to go to school, Sister, I want to learn archery too!” Lian Fang Qing said eagerly, as if there was nothing more suitable for her.
“Okay,” Lian Fang Zhou smiled faintly, speaking casually: “Then you can practice with your second brother too and get up every day before dawn. At night, when we are all asleep, he has to finish a set of punches in the backyard. Whether its winter or summer, sometimes even when its raining, he can’t sleep yet…”
Before Lian Fang Zhou could finish, Lian Fang Qing hurriedly shook her head and said: “Never mind, never mind!”
Lian Fang Zhou and Lian Che both laughed.
Lian Che said: “Second Brother works very hard.” After thinking about it, he added: “Sister also works very hard.”
Lian Fang Zhou patted his shoulder lightly and smiled: “It will bever very hard when you go to school next year.”
“I’m not afraid of hardship!” Lian Che immediately raised his head and looked at Lian Fang Zhou. “Sister, I will study very hard, like my cousin. No, I will work harder than my cousin!”
“Okay, sister believes you will be better than Cousin!” Lian Fang Zhou smiled. Fearing that he might give birth to other ideas if he thought too much about it, she hurried to add: “Just try your best! As for the result, don’t worry too much about it!”
Lian Che did not understand but he nodded his head and agreed.
Lian Fang Qing was listening to the side and saw that there was a sudden lack of conservation. She took Lian Fang Zhou’s arm and shook it, acting like a baby, saying: “Sister, Eldest Sister, everyone has something to do! Eldest Sister, you say, should I do something too?”
Lian Fang Zhou and Lian Che were amused. Lian Che couldn’t help but tease her: “What do you have to learn? At best, its embroidering and needlework!”
“No!” Lian Fang Qing curled her lips without thinking about it and said with a look of disdain: “Sister never does this and I don’t want to either! Sister, otherwise, what will you do in the future? I will help you!”
Lian Fang Zhou’s heart moved, and she smiled: “Of course! But you have to be literate and able to write and count. You are still young now, you can help your sister after two years of growing!”
Lian Fang Zhou also didn’t want to do anything at the moment, she still wanted to have a good time. When she heard this, she jumped into Lian Fang Zhou’s arms and giggled, wrapping her arms around her sister’s waist. “My sister loves me the most!”
Lian Che grimaced at the side to make fun of her not being ashamed to rub on her sister when she was this old.
Lian Fang Qing sniffed at him but she didn’t care about it.
Looking at the bird carcasses, Lian Fang Zhou smiled and said: “Are you hungry? Let’s not sit around and be bored, let’s bake a few to fill our stomachs.”
When she said this, Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che quickly agreed and enthusiastically followed Lian Fang Zhou’s instructions.
Lian Che stayed to watch the fire while Lian Fang Zhou and Lian Fang Qing choose two fat pheasants to take the stream. Using a hatchet, they cleaned them and brought them back to the fire where they used two sharp branches to grill them over the flames.
In a short while, the air was filled with smell of cooking animal fat. Drop by drop, the oil would fall into the flames, making a sizzling sound as the small sparks flew into the air.
The three siblings happily ate a whole one between them and set aside the remaining one to slowly roast for Ah Jian and Lian Ze.
“I don’t know if Brother Ah Jian and Second Brother will catch something?” Lian Fang Qing said, looking up at the faint sunlight.
“Xianteng mountain has many pheasants and hares, they will definitely not return empty-handed!” Lian Che said.
Lian Fang Zhou smiled and said: “They should be back soon.” She asked them if they were cold, but the two shook their heads. After all, they had brought a lot of firewood and they had enough to wait for Ah Jian and Lian Ze to come back and warm up.
“Sister! Sister!” The three of them were sitting by the fire and talking when Lian Ze rushed over, calling out excitedly. Lian Fang Zhou waited and then Lian Ze appeared, laughing loudly: “Sister! Sister! We found a flock of wild sheep and killed three! One of them is really big!”
“Really!?” The three siblings stood up and called out in surprise.
Lian Fang Zhou looked before Lian Ze but didn’t see Ah Jian. She quickly asked: “Where is your Brother Ah Jian?”
Lian Ze glanced at her and hurriedly smiled, saying: “Sister, don’t worry! Brother Ah Jian is walking behind. He told me to come and talk to your first so that you don’t worry. There are three big sheep, one might have almost fifty catties of meat! I can’t carry it…”
Lian Fang Zhou breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Ah Jian was okay: “Isn’t Ah Jian carrying them alone? How does that make sense? Qing’er, Che’er, you wait here. Ah Ze, let’s go and help Ah Jian carry them.”
Lian Ze nodded, saying ‘okay’, and they turned and hurried off.
Seeing them at the halfway point, Ah Jian smiled and said: “Why are you here? I was just going to make two trips. It’s fine, you should go back!”
Ah Jian had made a pole out of a thick wooden stick and used two vines to tie one of the wild sheep to the pole by it’s hooves. Lian Fang Zhou smiled: “Why should you work so hard by yourself? We are so lazy! Today is very good luck, its easy to see at first glance this wild sheep will taste very good!”