flstandardbreds Chapter 376 The Hunter's Little Darling 35
Chapter 376 The Hunter's Little Darling 35
"Brother Tu, are you going down the mountain?" Ma Erya asked in confusion.
She came up from the foot of the mountain and had to ask someone to take her a short distance up. She spent the night at the foot of the mountain and didn't reach the top until the next night. She knew how difficult it was to go up and down the mountain.
If she could, she would never want to climb mountains again in her life.
But Tu Shen was about to descend the mountain again.
"Ah."
"Winter is coming, we need to go down the mountain to buy food, otherwise we'll starve to death in the winter," my cousin explained.
Winters come early in the mountains, and the weather is quite different from that at the foot of the mountain; it's colder and snows more easily.
We need to start stockpiling food and supplies now, enough to last the entire winter. We can't afford not to go down the mountain to buy them.
However, generally speaking, people on the mountain usually descend together, in case they encounter any danger or misfortune along the way.
"Are you going down the mountain by yourself this time?" my cousin asked.
"Ah."
"Then be careful. I'll take good care of your sister-in-law. Or you could ask my brother to come down the mountain with you. He's caught some game these past few days and is thinking of pickling it and letting it sit for a while."
Marinated game doesn't fetch a good price, but there's nothing they can do about it.
The cost of going down the mountain is too high; it can wear out two pairs of shoes just by doing so.
And it's easy for accidents to happen when going down the mountain.
After all, they were carrying supplies on the mountain path. They went down with a full load of prey and came back up with food. In the treacherous places, a slip could be fatal.
Besides, hunting isn't easy. Even if you could catch prey every day, it would take a long time to accumulate enough for a trip down the mountain.
However, with winter approaching, this trip down the mountain is definitely necessary.
If her brother could join his cousin in selling some game now, the extra money they made could buy more food.
“I’ll go ask about it later,” Tu Shen said.
"I'll go ask him right now. If he can come down the mountain, ask him to bring me some things up!" My cousin was delighted when she heard that.
If her two older brothers came down the mountain together, she could confidently and boldly ask what she wanted to buy.
It's not the same as her father coming down the mountain.
My cousin had already run into the yard as she spoke, clearly impatient.
"Brother Tu... if you go down the mountain, will you come to visit our village?"
"Your village?" Tu Shen frowned.
He didn't want to go in and see his grandmother standing outside the yard talking to his cousin. Now that his cousin had gone in, he and Ma Erya were left outside alone, and he felt a little uncomfortable no matter what.
Hearing Ma Erya ask this question now, he was even more confused.
"It's at the foot of the mountain..."
"Whisper Village, right?"
As soon as the foot of the mountain was mentioned, Tu Shen immediately realized what was going on.
The closest village at the foot of the mountain is this one, and it's the village they pass through on their way down the mountain. Sometimes, in special circumstances, they might go into the village to ask for a drink of water, or they might even go into the village to exchange for food.
This is also why Xie Lao Er knew Tu Shen.
However, Tu Shen didn't know that Ma Erya was also from this village.
Ma Erya felt somewhat embarrassed, but she was there when Tu Shen came to propose marriage, and even said that Tu Shen should marry her instead, but Tu Shen didn't seem to remember her at all.
She harbored some resentment, but didn't show it on her face.
"I won't go," Tu Shen replied succinctly after understanding the situation.
Ma Erya was about to speak when Tu Shen no longer wanted to talk to her alone. Seeing that his cousin hadn't come out, he stepped into the courtyard. He would rather see Granny Tu than stand alone with her at the gate, looking like there was something going on.
My cousin is in the cellar in the backyard right now.
Hunters in the mountains usually have cellars in their homes to store processed game for extended periods.
My cousin went downstairs to put something away and is coming back up.
Butcher's wife was also watching from the side. She knew exactly what was in the cellar without even going down to check. Whenever someone opened the cellar, she would be there.
"Brother, are you going down the mountain tomorrow?" My cousin asked as soon as he came up the mountain, still out of breath.
"Hmm, are you going?" Tu Shen asked, and his cousin hesitated.
He looked at his grandmother, then at his father.
Seeing that his father did not object, he immediately nodded, "I'll go down the mountain with you. Yesterday, my father and I hunted several wild rabbits and a fox, which we haven't processed yet. Bringing them down the mountain should allow us to sell them for more money."
“We have to go down the mountain with so much stuff. Maybe you shouldn’t go. There’s not much stuff anyway…” Granny Butcher said from the side.
Her cousin looked flustered as soon as she spoke.
Sure enough, her next words were directed at Tu Shen: "Anyway, he doesn't have much stuff, and you're going down the mountain anyway, so just let him take it down and sell it. Why make him go through all that trouble?"
The old woman's matter-of-fact attitude made it seem like this was just a small favor, and if Tu Shen didn't help, then he would be considered unreasonable.
“Grandma, I can go down the mountain. We have a lot of stuff, and it’s all alive, so it’s hard to carry. My brother will definitely be bringing his prey down the mountain too, and one person can’t carry it all.” My cousin quickly waved his hand.
“If you’re going down the mountain, we’ll set off early tomorrow morning, stay overnight at the foot of the mountain, and then come back,” Tu Shen said to his cousin.
"Let him go down the mountain. Sooner or later, he'll have to take on the responsibility. My back is getting sore, and I'm counting on him this year." At this moment, Uncle Tu also chimed in.
“Yes, I can go down the mountain now and buy some grain first, so that Dad and the others won’t have to carry as much when they go down the mountain later,” my cousin quickly added.
"That's too dangerous. Just buy a little less. We still have food at home," the butcher woman disagreed.
The grain she mentioned was brought by Ma Erya. Although it was little, it was all fine grain. It was because of this fine grain that Granny Tu was so tolerant of Ma Erya, thinking that she was related to her and that she was thinking of her. She even wanted Ma Erya to marry Tu Shen.
That way, if Tu Shen gets anything good, Ma Erya will think of giving it to her as a token of respect.
If we're hoping for Xie Qingyu's help, that's definitely not going to work.
"I understand," the younger cousin replied immediately, as if afraid that if he hesitated even a minute longer, the woman would prevent him from going.
"Then I'll wait for you tomorrow morning." Tu Shen said and was about to leave, completely ignoring the expression on Old Lady Tu's face behind him, and even pretending not to see the look that Uncle Tu was giving him, telling him to greet Old Lady Tu.
As Tu Shen left, he could still hear his grandmother cursing behind him, saying that Tu Shen didn't care about her as his grandmother.
Ma Erya witnessed this scene firsthand, and her heart sank.
Now that I see how bad the relationship is between Tu Shen and Tu Pozi, I should never have let Tu Pozi come to our house in the first place.
I thought that as an elder and Tu Shen's only relative, his words would have some effect.
Who knew that the relationship would be so cold?
Ma Erya had almost given up on discussing things with Butcher.
It seems she still needs to find a way to stay herself.