Ye Xiaoxian did not expect Xiao Baoshan to return home so early, as he was just two hours later than her.
What’s more, in his bucket was not only the Chinese mesona but four dead wild hares.
Did he do it for her because of what she said?
She said she was good at cooking hare so is this why he’d hunted some for her?
Maybe Xiao Baoshan worried that the hares’ wounds were too bloody so he had washed them in the river before taking them back.
Ye Xiaoxian was overcome with unexpected joy and her little heart began to thump again.
Xiao Baoshan gave one of the hares to Ye Xiaoxian and said, “Our family can eat one and as for the other three, I’m thinking of selling them in the town. What do you think?”
“Certainly!” said Ye Xiaoxian. “The weather is hot so those hares tend to go off. We are, at most, able to eat half a hare for one meal and we might as well sell the rest.”
Xiao Baoshan said, “Then I shall go to town now.”
“In such a hurry?”
“Sell them while they are still fresh or they may not sell for a good price,” said Xiao Baoshan as he took away the other three and left.
When Li Hongmei went out she only saw the back of her son, so she asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Little Ye, didn’t Baoshan just come back? Why did he go out again?”
Ye Xiaoxian whispered hurriedly to Li Hongmei, “Ma, Baoshan hunted four wild hares. We took one of them and he took the rest to sell in town. Ma, we’d better keep it quiet in case the other two households hear something and make a scene again.”
“Wild hares?” Li Hongmei was overjoyed. “Is Baoshan that capable that he was able to hunt hares?”
“Yea, Baoshan…is really pretty good at this. Well, Ma, I have to leave you for now and go and deal with this hare. If the two aunts see this, we’ll tell them that we picked them up in the mountain, so don’t say anything about Baoshan going hunting.”
“Right, right. I see!” Li Hongmei replied with excitement.
Life is getting better and better. My son has not only come back but he is able to hunt for wild hares.
When Ye Xiaoxian had sorted out the hare, she was spotted by Wong Mudan at last.
They shared the same courtyard after all and their kitchen was small, so she could only go somewhere near the water jug to deal with its guts and fur.
“Oops, is this…a hare?” Wong Mudan saw Ye Xiaoxian burning the fur from the hare, so she came to her and asked this out of curiosity.
“I picked it up on the mountain,” said Ye Xiaoxian plainly.
“Picked up? What kind of luck is this?”
“The storm had just gone so maybe it died in the rain or was smashed by some falling trees,” replied Ye Xiaoxian.
“You dare to eat a hare that died in the rain? Aren’t you afraid that it might have some disease?” said Wong Mudan jealously.
Ye Xiaoxian smiled faintly, “As long as we picked one up, we were lucky already. We might as well eat it first, regardless of its disease.”
She then added, “Elder aunt, I was thinking of giving some of it to you for your dinner, but as you’re afraid of disease, I’d better not.”
“You…”
Wong Mudan wanted to say that she did not care about disease at all, but what was said was said so she could not take it back.
She then asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Is it true that after a rain you can always pick up some wild hares or pheasants up in the mountain?”
Ye Xiaoxian gave it some thought and replied, “Perhaps it’s true. Think about it. The typhoon yesterday was so fierce and pheasants in the mountain had no nests or anything. Even if they had nests, they must have been blown away, so that’s why they would be dead in the showering rain, right?”
What Ye Xiaoxian said sparked an idea in Wong Mudan, so she went to Chen Ju right away.
“What? Picking up game meat in the mountain?”
Chen Ju looked at the sky and said, “But it is already dinner time, isn’t it? If dinner is served late, Pa will scold us again.”