pjbooks Chapter 66 Deer
Chapter 66 Deer
For the next two days, Shan Yaowen and Shi Zhang, along with Gou Dan, were locked in a stalemate with the group of roe deer.
The three of them kept wandering around the area where the roe deer had been, hoping to see the group of roe deer appear again, but unfortunately they didn't see them for two days in a row. Meanwhile, the matter at Aunt Lan's house next door was getting bigger and bigger.
At first, he thought it was just a minor argument between the young couple, and that it would be fine overnight.
The situation escalated, and in a fit of anger, Aunt Lan's daughter-in-law even took her child and went back to her parents' home.
Aunt Lan's son didn't care at first, but it was only after relatives and friends intervened that he finally went to bring his wife back.
Originally, everyone thought the matter would end there, but it escalated further, and after much arguing, they discovered that Aunt Lan's son had hidden a lot of money outside.
However, it wasn't because he was keeping a vixen; it was purely because his wife was always using family money to subsidize her younger brother's family, which he couldn't stand, and they argued about it a lot.
But the wife hasn't changed. Before, she would openly take money from her parents' home, but now she takes it secretly.
Then Aunt Lan's son simply stopped taking the money home.
As they argued, those things came to light, and it even escalated to the point of considering divorce.
"Are you really getting a divorce? We just brought her back." Lin Nian couldn't help but look at her mother-in-law.
The whole family was talking together when the mother suddenly dropped a bombshell: the couple next door were getting a divorce.
The mother waved her hand, "I don't know, but that's definitely what she said."
As Shan Yaowen packed his things, he shook his head upon hearing this. "I don't think so. It's probably just something said in the heat of the moment during an argument."
He remembered Aunt Lan's son from next door in his past life. Anyway, they always quarreled, and they never got divorced even though they quarreled their whole lives.
Moreover, divorce is rare these days, unless people really can't make it work. Besides, the couple has a son, and it's not a major issue like continuing the family line. People usually try to advise each other on other aspects of life.
If they really get divorced, it will be difficult for them to start a new family.
"Who knows? Your Aunt Lan is really unhappy with this daughter-in-law now. If her son hadn't blurted it all out this time, no one would know how much money her daughter-in-law has taken from her parents' home."
It seemed that Aunt Shan was on the same side as Aunt Lan, and she was pointing fingers at her daughter-in-law.
Shi Fang and Lin Nian felt a little awkward, after all, they were both daughters-in-law.
It's not good to speak up for someone else's daughter-in-law, otherwise the mother-in-law might misunderstand and think that she is also loyal to her own family.
Shan Yaowen didn't care. He just liked to watch the drama unfold, but he didn't like to interfere in other people's affairs.
He tightened the straps around his body, then stomped his feet. Once he felt comfortable, he got up, grabbed his things, and said, "I'm leaving."
"Be careful." Lin Nian naturally knew what he was going to do, and knew she couldn't dissuade him, so she could only pray for them in her heart.
Seeing her brother-in-law get up, Shi Fang muttered, "It's been three days already, do you think we can catch it? We might as well stay home and warm ourselves by the fire, and at night we can eat less and save some food."
Upon hearing this, the mother glared at her eldest daughter-in-law, "If we don't go hunting, does the meat in the house just magically appear out of thin air?"
Since her son turned over a new leaf, the mother has become more and more satisfied with her second son, and she speaks of him more protectively, no longer as disappointed as before.
"Mom, it's not like I'm stopping Wen from going," Shi Fang defended herself. "It's just that he hasn't made any progress for several days, and I'm worried about him."
"If you ask me, Ah Nian didn't say anything."
Shi Fang stopped talking towards the end. Although her brother-in-law used to be idle, to be honest, the family had enough to eat and drink this winter.
Even during blizzards, the family could still eat meat every now and then, which was definitely thanks to my brother-in-law.
He brought them all back by hunting.
Shan Yaowen didn't say anything. His mother and sister-in-law usually had a good relationship. Perhaps his mother had heard about what happened to Aunt Lan next door and was starting to sympathize with her.
My sister-in-law isn't the type to sacrifice her own life to support her family.
As soon as Shan Yaowen stepped out, he headed straight for the village entrance.
After the three of them met up and said goodbye, they headed up the mountain.
After going up the mountain, we continued our search as usual, circling around the places where the roe deer might appear, conducting reconnaissance by both land and air.
"This is the last time. If we can't find it again, we'll have to give up." Shi Zhang adjusted his gloves and looked at the two of them apologetically.
After all, I brought them here myself, and they haven't gained anything in three days.
"It's nothing. Hunting doesn't guarantee a good catch every time." Lin Hao waved his hand dismissively. "If it doesn't work this time, we can try again next time."
Shan Yaowen nodded. "Let's go. The weather is nice today. Although the sun isn't very warm, at least it's not snowing, so the visibility is good."
"Don't jinx it." Dog Egg returned the favor after hearing this.
"That's you, not me."
"Who knows? The weather lately is like a child's face, changing in an instant."
Hearing their conversation, Shi Zhang glanced at the weather and said, "Well, the weather's nice today, shall we go a little further in?"
Hearing this, the three who hadn't gotten anything yet exchanged glances and nodded. "Then let's go deeper."
Although the snow in the forest area was not deep, it got deeper and deeper as the three of them went further in.
It's already gone from the outermost part of the ankle to the calf.
The three of them paid no attention and continued walking inside.
The three of them didn't stop to rest until they reached a leeward slope where there was relatively less snow.
"Gah~"
The three of them had just stopped when Gou Dan was about to tease the dog when he heard the chirping of a silly bird in the sky.
Ok?
The three of them immediately perked up. These past few days, the silly bird had been following them every time, but it had never made a sound.
Speaking up now means that you've found your target.
"Walk."
The three of them didn't rest and continued to move forward, following the position of the silly bird in the sky.
Ten minutes later, the silly bird was still flying ahead, but they had already spotted the footprints.
Shi Zhang leaned closer to examine the footprints and immediately became excited. "Found them!"
Shan Yaowen glanced at it too, but found it odd. "These aren't roe deer footprints, are they?"
Shi Zhang paused for a moment, then lay down on the ground to examine it closely. He then slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Brother Wen is so observant! I almost misjudged it. These are the hoof prints of a deer!"
Dog Egg knew nothing about hunting; he had been observing the surroundings the whole time. Hearing their conversation, he paused, "A spotted deer? Not a roe deer?"
"No, I was too excited just now and I saw it wrong." Shi Zhang lay down in the snow and looked around carefully before confirming, "It's either a roe deer or a spotted deer."
The sika deer is a large deer, much larger than the roe deer, and its hoof prints are also significantly larger.
Furthermore, sika deer hoof prints are often described as two separate "leaves," while roe deer hoof prints are likened to "butterflies" with outstretched wings. Judging whose footprints are based on the shapes of leaves and butterflies is the most basic observation method for most hunters.
In addition, there is another piece of evidence: sika deer walk steadily with a relatively even stride, while roe deer are more curious and their footprints may be more messy.
However, the footprints were small and messy, and since they were there to chase roe deer, Shi Zhang probably didn't see them clearly at first glance.
After Shan Yaowen finished his analysis, Shi Zhang looked at him admiringly and said, "Brother Wen is amazing. I've been hunting with my dad for so long, but I'm not as experienced as you."
"Luck." Shan Yaowen waved his hand. "But judging from the distribution of these footprints, the herd of sika deer is not large, and there should be fawns among them."
Gou Dan looked at Shan Yaowen in surprise, "You can even see that? You're so good at divination, you're almost as good as the White Taoist."
Shi Zhang nodded. "It's very simple. The footprints are of different sizes, which corresponds to large and small deer. And the messy footprints around here that look like roe deer were probably made by playful little deer."
These things might be completely unfamiliar to Lin Hao, but the hunter could recognize them at a glance.
But he didn't understand or care. Instead, he looked with great interest in the direction the footprints extended. "It's okay, a fawn is fine. Fawns are more tender and tastier."
Shi Zhang was also quite happy. "We were lucky. Although we didn't find any roe deer, we encountered a spotted deer. Spotted deer are valuable from head to toe, much more valuable than roe deer."
"Walk."
After analyzing the situation, the three of them enthusiastically followed the footprints.
The footprints in the snow, the hunting dogs, and the falcon—if they lose track of them all, the three of them will never be able to hunt again.
After chasing for half an hour and crossing three mountains, the three finally saw the silly bird begin to circle.
This means we're getting closer to our goal.