#4Chapter 4 Chen Yuan
"Hahaha, I got it!"
The pheasant's wings kept flapping, and it shook a few times and fell on the snow.
Shen Qing was overjoyed.
He ran over, grabbed the pheasant that was still flapping, and looked at it carefully.
People in the county like to use this kind of feathers to make feather crafts, feather fans, and feather headdresses.
The feathers of this pheasant are gorgeous like brocade, and the tail is plump and colorful, which can be sold for a lot of money.
Not only that, whether the pheasant meat is fried, boiled, stewed, or roasted, it tastes delicious. It is a rare game, enough for his sister and brother to fill their stomachs for a day.
Finally, there is a harvest.
Shen Qing pinched the pheasant's neck, and with a force of his wrist, he broke its neck and hung it on his waist.
Then he looked up at the sky. There was a bit of light under the dark clouds. It was still noon.
It was still early, and he could go deeper.
Now that he has made a breakthrough in archery, the bow and arrow in his hand have become as easy as using his fingers and arms, and there is no feeling of unfamiliarity before.
Just now, he was able to hit the target with one strike from a hundred steps away, which was something he could never have imagined before.
Now there was a snow wolf in front of him, and he was afraid that he could hunt it down.
With this thought, Shen Qing showed a rare smile on his face. He took the bow, stepped on the snow, and walked deeper into the mountain.
There are many villages like Hongshanzhai near Shicheng Mountain that make a living by hunting. Their ancestors have already explored this mountain.
This mountain, which stretches for nearly a hundred miles, seems to have a large area, but in fact there are only a few dozen places suitable for hunting.
Other places are either too dangerous, with monsters and beasts appearing; or too barren, with very few prey.
If an inexperienced hunter from outside enters their Shicheng Mountain, let alone one day, he will get nothing in ten days.
Today, he was able to hunt a pheasant in half a day. In addition to the breakthrough in archery, it must be said that there was also some luck.
Sure enough, in the next half day, he did not see a single prey.
The prey in this mountain disappeared as if they had made an appointment.
Shen Qing stood in the snow, thinking: "Maybe I have hunted too often here in the past month, and I need to find a place to find an opportunity."
When he thought of this, the image of the deer yesterday appeared in his mind.
"Let's try there tomorrow."
Shen Qing made up his mind and turned to leave.
Because he left early, it was still bright when he returned to the village.
He happened to meet several villagers who lived in Hongshan Village.
They saw Shen Qing with a pheasant hanging on his waist, and their faces were surprised.
"Qingzi, you're lucky today. You didn't come back empty-handed."
"This pheasant is of good quality. Do you want to sell it to me? I'll exchange it for five catties of brown rice."
"Old farmer, do you think I don't know what's good? You want to exchange your five catties of brown rice for my pheasant. Is your brown rice made of gold or silver?"
Shen Qing smiled and said, "Now a catty of brown rice is about twelve coins on the market, and five catties of brown rice is sixty coins. My pheasant can be sold for at least one hundred and fifty coins in the county. Don't try to take advantage of me."
After saying that, he squeezed out from the crowd.
Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people.
After living here for more than a month, Shen Qing has long known that these people will climb up if they are given a pole.
If you give in, they will get more and more.
The people behind him didn't care about being rejected by Shen Qing, and they dispersed.
After passing through several households, Shen Qing soon walked to the door of his house and found that his door was open.
There was a sturdy man sitting inside, wearing a gray cotton suit and with a face full of flesh.
When she saw Shen Qing coming back, a trace of joy flashed across Shen Fang's face.
The sturdy man sitting on the chair turned his head and stared at Shen Qing, saying in surprise: "Hey, Qingzi is back."
The sturdy man stood up, a head taller than Shen Qing.
He was strong and muscular, and it was obvious that he was a person who was not easy to mess with.
This person was none other than Chen Yuan, the eldest son of the mountain leader in Hongshan Village.
It was said that the leader Chen Youguang had some connections in the county town, and got a martial arts book called Jiugongjin for his three sons to practice.
Among the three brothers, the eldest brother was the most talented and had learned some tricks. He was far from being able to beat him, a bran-eating man.
However, Shen Qing was not a timid person. He quickly calmed down, his face was normal, and he said with a smile: "Why did Brother Yuan come to my broken land today?"
"It's cold, I came to visit." Chen Yuan glanced at Shen Qing and walked towards the door. When he came to Shen Qing's side, he lowered his eyes and said: "You are lucky today. The pheasant you shot is very beautiful."
Shen Qing reacted and knew what Chen Yuan meant. He said cleverly: "It's all God's gift. Since Brother Yuan likes it, why don't you give it to Brother Yuan?"
"Haha, Boss Shen is very dull, I didn't expect that his son is so smart." Chen Yuan patted Shen Qing on the shoulder and said: "I don't want the pheasant. I will come to your sister after the heavy snow stops. You should discuss it at home. This matter is also a good thing for you two siblings."
After that, Chen Yuan turned and left.
Shen Qing stared at Chen Yuan as he left, his face a little ugly.
He didn't even want the best pheasant. I'm afraid he wants more from them.
The two siblings had nothing and their family was extremely poor.
The only thing they had was a good-looking appearance.
Eldest sister Shen Fang, who looks a bit rustic, is a real beauty as long as she dresses up a little.
And he himself needs no more words.
No one in the village can compare to her.
However, beauty is a gift from heaven for middle-class families, but a disaster for lower-class families like them.
Since the heavy snow began, Chen Yuan has been staring at eldest sister Shen Fang more and more diligently.
He must have found some ways outside to take advantage of Shen Fang.
Shen Qing estimated that when they were desperate, Chen Yuan would probably eat them up.
"Qingzi... Fortunately you are back... He has been persuading me, I really don't know what to do..."
Shen Fang, who was hiding aside, looked evasive.
Shen Qing saw Shen Fang like this and knew that she was a person without opinions. She was afraid that she was moved by what Chen Yuan said.
"Don't pay too much attention to him. Don't forget that their family was wiped out when parents left."
"I know."
Shen Fang whispered, "But what can we do?"
The voice was so weak that it was inaudible.
Shen Qing looked outside the house.
The heavy snow fell lightly.
The silver-white world was shrouded in a chill.
The cold wind blew, and Shen Qing felt the biting cold in the air surrounding the two siblings.
"When I'm not at home later, sister, you go to aunt's house. There are uncles and aunts there, and it may be safer."
Shen Qing went back to the house, untied the pheasant from his waist, threw it on the ground and said, "Slaughter it!"