Chapter 150: Satisfaction

Chapter 150: Satisfaction

People truly are different.

In her past life, Lin Shu also possessed immense strength and had hunted mutated wild rabbits and pheasants for food. But she relied solely on her brute force, smashing them directly with stones. Later, she discovered that the meat of mutated beasts was unpalatable, so she only hunted when truly starving. Most of the time, she gathered wild vegetables, picked wild fruits, and sought out edible mountain delicacies.

Someone like A Ye, who could snap a wild duck's neck with just a small stone—Lin Shu could never achieve that.

After the initial shock, all her thoughts condensed into two words: "Awesome!"

"A Ye, you're absolutely incredible!" Lin Shu’s eyes sparkled like stars, dazzlingly bright.

Zhou Ye’s eyes twinkled with amusement. "I deliberately chose a stone with a sharp point. When I threw it, the sharp end was outward. Combined with my strength, taking down a wild duck isn't that difficult."

"If it's not that difficult, then shoot two more for me!" Lin Shu teased, her eyes curving into happy crescents.

Zhou Ye didn’t impulsively agree. Instead, he explained, "A Shu, there are no guarantees. It's like how a bamboo slingshot loses power at a distance—I can't throw stones too far either. Even with my strength, it wouldn't work unless I'm quite close. Hunting wild ducks relies more on luck and is harder than hunting wild rabbits or pheasants in the mountains."

Lin Shu also felt it wasn’t that easy; getting one was already a stroke of luck. Her earlier words were just meant to tease A Ye. She hiked up her skirt and stepped out from behind the grass, eagerly heading toward the motionless wild duck floating in the river.

"A Ye, let's find a long stick to pull the wild duck over. We don't want it drifting away with the current."

"No need for a stick." Zhou Ye rolled up his pants and waded directly into the river. His legs were long, and as long as he rolled his pants high enough, the river water wouldn’t wet his clothes.

Soon enough, Zhou Ye retrieved the wild duck and brought it ashore.

On the other side, Lin Xiaopu couldn’t stay put any longer. Hearing the commotion, she rushed over, her eyes wide with astonishment. "No way! Seriously? Brother A Ye, you really killed a wild duck with just a stone thrown by hand?"

Lin Xiaopu found it hard to believe, but the dead wild duck was right there, held unmistakably in Brother A Ye’s hand!

This was incredible. How could anyone take down a wild duck with just a barehanded stone throw?

Lin Xiaopu tightened her grip on her bamboo slingshot. No, she had a bamboo slingshot—how could she lose to Brother A Ye, who had nothing but his hands!

"Sis, Brother A Ye, just wait. I’ll definitely shoot a wild duck too!" Lin Xiaopu declared with serious determination before running back to the spot she had chosen earlier.

Her hiding place wasn’t bad either. There were water plants in the river nearby, and as long as a wild duck came close, she was sure she could hit it this time.

Watching her competitive fire, Lin Shu couldn’t help but laugh. "A Ye, you’ve wounded Xiao Pu’s pride. I bet if she doesn’t hunt a wild duck today, she won’t go back."

"It’s fine, let her be. It’s still early. As long as we return before dinner, it’s okay," Zhou Ye said.

Hearing this, Lin Shu wondered if Zhou Ye was being too indulgent with Xiao Pu, or if he had some ulterior motive, like wanting to spend more time alone with her.

But then again, A Ye seemed better with kids than she had expected?

The wild duck’s neck was still bleeding. Zhou Ye grabbed some wild grass, wrapped it around the duck’s neck several times to stop the bleeding. For one, duck blood was valuable and shouldn’t be wasted. For another, if the scent of blood spread, it would not only attract insects but also scare away other game animals.

A Shu liked wild ducks. If the opportunity arose, he would hunt another one for her.

The two continued to wait. About a quarter of an hour later, another wild duck flew toward the river surface.

Just as the wild duck seemed about to swim toward them, Zhou Ye got ready to take his shot.

Unexpectedly, the wild duck changed course mid-swim and headed toward Xiao Pu’s side.

The two exchanged a glance. Lin Shu smiled and mouthed silently: *Xiao Pu finally got her chance.*

She couldn’t help but look toward Lin Xiaopu’s direction, but the grass was too thick to see Xiao Pu’s reaction clearly. She also couldn’t tell if Xiao Pu had noticed the wild duck in time, especially since it had swum over from their side—from Xiao Pu’s position, she might not have spotted it immediately.

Lin Xiaopu had indeed seen it. The moment the wild duck landed on the river, she had her eyes locked on it. Unfortunately, the duck had landed too far from her, and she couldn’t make a move, or she would scare it away. If that happened, neither she nor Brother A Ye would catch it. She could only hope the duck would swim toward her.

Perhaps the universe heard her, because the wild duck actually swam her way!

Drawing from her earlier experience, Lin Xiaopu didn’t rush to shoot. Instead, she aimed carefully, first tracking the duck’s movement, especially the head, and then waited for the right moment.

One, two, three… now!

Holding her breath, Lin Xiaopu steadily let go of the bamboo strip, shooting the small stone from her bamboo slingshot.

The result: a bullseye!

The wild duck’s head instantly snapped backward into the water, its wings flapping wildly. But with its head severely injured, it couldn’t get airborne no matter how hard it struggled.

Barely containing her excitement, Lin Xiaopu immediately stood up, ran a few steps to the side, and took advantage of her proximity to let loose three more shots. The duck flapped vigorously, but its head movements were limited, making it easy for Lin Xiaopu to hit it.

After three consecutive shots, the wild duck’s struggles gradually weakened.

Certain she had truly hunted the duck, Lin Xiaopu leaped three feet in the air, screaming her head off. "Ahhh! Sis! Brother A Ye! I got a wild duck! I really got one!!"

She had been so sure she would catch one today that she had even prepared a long stick beforehand. Unfortunately, the stick was still too short to reach the duck, so she had to ask Zhou Ye for help. "Brother A Ye, help me get the duck! This one is fatter than the one you caught earlier. Let’s compare later!"

Once Zhou Ye waded into the river and retrieved the duck, Lin Xiaopu eagerly took it, gazing at it as if it were a treasure.

"This wild duck is so pretty!"

Both of them had hunted green-headed ducks. The ducks had iridescent emerald green heads, white neck rings, dark brown chests, gray and black body and tail feathers, and bright yellow feet and claws—truly beautiful.

If the duck were still alive, Lin Xiaopu would have wanted to keep it as a pet. Unfortunately, it was already dead, so it could only fill her stomach. Heh heh.

Lin Shu hurried over to take a look, comparing the two ducks. "Oh, it really is fatter than the one A Ye caught earlier. A Ye, you can’t let Xiao Pu outdo you like this."

Zhou Ye gave her a helpless look.

Lin Xiaopu, pumped by the comment, immediately said, "Brother A Ye, let’s keep hunting! Let’s see who catches more. If we hunt all day, maybe I can get seven or eight!"

Lin Shu almost laughed at that. Even A Ye had said hunting wild ducks depended on luck. Catching one each was already rare. Did they think wild ducks were like grasshoppers in the field, available whenever they wanted?

But Lin Shu didn’t want to rain on Lin Xiaopu's parade. "Keep it up, sis! I've got faith in you!"

Lin Xiaopu swelled with even more pride upon hearing this.

Lin Shu thought her pride was justified. She deserved to brag, after all, in all of Sweetwater Village or even Jingxi Town, what nine-year-old could hunt a wild duck on their own? Once word got back to the village,

the elders would undoubtedly praise Lin Xiaopu endlessly, and even Wang Yingen and the other kids would be totally blown away.

As Lin Shu had predicted, despite the promising start, the two didn’t bag any more wild ducks after waiting for nearly two hours.

Sometimes the ducks only skimmed the water like dragonflies dipping, and other times they swam too far out of range.

Lin Xiaopu and Zhou Ye could handle the waiting, but Lin Shu couldn’t. It wasn’t the heat—she was just sleepy.

The grass was thick, and they were sitting in the shade. Coupled with the breeze from the river, it wasn’t muggy but rather nice and cool. The comfortable wind made Lin Shu drowsy as she watched the wild ducks in the sky. Soon, her eyes got heavy.

"A Shu, if you’re tired, lean on me and catch some Z's," Zhou Ye said.

Lin Shu shushed him. "Don’t make a sound. You might scare the ducks away." But after saying that, she just leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.

Zhou Ye froze in place, no longer watching the sky for ducks. He made his shoulder as comfortable as possible to let Lin Shu rest.

Having A Shu leaning on him like this, he felt a sense of fulfillment he'd never known.

He loved the way A Shu was so enthusiastic about making food every day, as if just being alive felt like pure joy, and nothing mattered more than eating and drinking. He also loved the way A Shu teased him—sometimes she was the one who started it, and he merely played along, yet in the end, it was A Shu who blushed first.

He loved everything about A Shu.

And there was more—

A Shu’s soft lips when kissed, her delicate, supple body when held…

Unlike big, sturdy guys like him, A Shu was entirely soft and fragrant.

To think that such a person would one day be his wife.

Just the thought of it filled him with uncontrollable joy, making him feel warm all over and giving him endless energy from the moment he opened his eyes each day.

A few years ago, if someone had told him he would be this crazy about a girl, he probably wouldn’t have believed it. But now, he adored A Shu so much that she had become the most precious part of him. He wanted to offer her the very best of everything within his reach.

Zhou Ye was lost in thought, his eyes narrowing contentedly.

He had no idea how much time had passed when, not far away, Lin Xiaopu suddenly exclaimed, "Brother A Ye, a wild duck is heading toward you!"

Lin Shu, who had been taking a light nap, jolted awake and lifted her head from Zhou Ye’s shoulder. "Wild duck? Where’s the braised wild duck? Oh right, we’re hunting wild ducks."

Noticing she had been startled awake, Zhou Ye shifted his shoulder slightly and glanced toward the river.

A wild duck was struggling to take off from the water but, with one wing injured, it lost its balance and couldn’t get airborne, flapping wildly just above the water.

It turned out Lin Xiaopu had just shot another wild duck.

The angle of the duck relative to her was poor, making it difficult for Lin Xiaopu to aim accurately at its head. As the duck began to drift farther away, Lin Xiaopu, unwilling to let the opportunity slip after waiting so long, aimed at its body instead and threw a stone.

Unsurprisingly, the stone only struck the duck’s wing.

The injured duck thrashed wildly in the water, making it impossible for Lin Xiaopu to land another shot. Though it couldn’t fly, the duck quickly flapped its way downstream. If things continued like this, they wouldn’t be able to catch up, and the wounded duck would become someone else's catch.

Zhou Ye picked up a stone, chased the duck downstream for about ten steps, and at just the right moment, threw the stone right at the duck’s neck.

After a brief struggle, the duck went still.

Lin Shu’s eyes lit up instantly, and she exclaimed, "A Ye, you got another one! Oh my, three wild ducks—we’ve caught three wild ducks today!"

When Zhou Ye retrieved the duck from the river, Lin Shu, whether from sleepiness or excitement, rushed toward him, leaped high into his arms, and gave two quick pecks on his cheeks. "You’re amazing!"

Zhou Ye, holding Lin Shu with one hand under her bottom and the duck in the other, glanced behind her, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "Ahem, A Shu, get down first."

Lin Shu slowly turned her head and met Lin Xiaopu’s wide-eyed stare.

Lin Shu: ...