The forest was far from quiet—the wind rustled, grass stirred, beasts moved.

Huo Ling gripped his slingshot, ready to fire the stone at a moment’s notice if anything stirred.

Above his head, birds and pine trees, perhaps even snakes slithering between branches, occasionally mingled with distant beast roars.

He noticed fresh wild boar tracks on a path and silently avoided them. Without a dog, even with Dager by his side, one man and one dog wouldn’t stand a chance against a wild boar.

In years past, when wild boars descended the mountains, it often took a dozen strong men hunting together to stand a chance. The boar’s hide was thick and its tusks sharp—a single blow to the stomach could pierce right through. He’d heard his father recount such tales before, warning the children never to provoke a wild boar, telling the story in such terrifying detail.

“Zzz, zzz.”

“Zzz, zzz.”

A few sharp, high-pitched chirps rang out, instantly alerting Huo Ling.

Hazel grouse roamed the ground foraging by day, but at night they either roosted under trees or slept aloft. Their calls, summoning companions, sounded just like this. Hearing them meant they couldn’t be far.

He softened his footsteps, moving toward the sound while scanning the forest floor with intense focus.

For hunters, the best hunting season actually came after winter snowfall. The entire mountain became bare, leaving these wild creatures nowhere to hide. If one was bold enough, they could even use smoke to lure hibernating bears or raid snake dens.

The hazel grouse, with its mottled gray-brown plumage, was easily overlooked amidst lush vegetation but stood out starkly against the snow.

That said, it posed no challenge to Huo Ling.

Listening for hazel grouse calls, he drew his slingshot taut. Crafted from polished antler with sinew-strung cords, it possessed remarkable resilience. After moving some distance, he indeed spotted seven or eight grouse gathered together, pecking at the ground.

The pebble flew true, striking the plumpest bird squarely. It fell instantly, while the others scattered in alarm.

Two more whistles followed—one missed, one hit.

The rest had already fled far away. Huo Ling didn’t pursue them for now. He stepped forward to examine the two hazel grouse he’d hit. This time, he’d deliberately held back his strength, not killing them outright. They still made a “sizzling” sound when he lifted them.

He took out the prepared hemp rope and tied their legs together, stuffing both hazel grouse into the loosely tied cloth bag.

Hunting depended on luck. Having started the day with a good catch, he planned to search nearby for more hazel grouse flocks. If he could bag one or two more to bring home, even if Hou Li didn’t need that many, he could sell the extras to others. The money earned would buy meat for his husband.

With the weather warming lately, wild creatures found more food and were far more active than at spring’s start. Beyond the pass, the seasons weren’t distinctly marked, but aside from the snow-filled depths of winter, the rest of the year still changed day by day.

Using sound to pinpoint their location, Huo Ling stumbled upon another hazel grouse flock. He shot two, bound their legs, and stowed them away.

He used cloth bags to prevent startled game from dying of fright. If a live animal were scared to death instead of killed outright, all his earlier efforts would be wasted.

Four hazel grouse was a decent haul.

On his way back, he could detour to check the animal snares nearby—perhaps they held something too.

Encountering a cluster of ribbon flowers in full bloom, Huo Ling paused and carefully selected two stems to pluck.

These flowers bloomed for three months, their branches almost devoid of leaves. Children often wove them into wreaths to wear on their heads. With blossoms covering the stems and sufficient length, a single stem was usually enough to form a wreath.

Huo Ling carefully guarded the flowers and quickened his pace back.

But after walking only a short distance, a flock of birds suddenly flapped their wings and took flight, scrambling to get away.

Whoosh—

A wild rabbit trotted swiftly past on its hind legs, and several small dark shadows darted beneath the trees. Clearly, something was happening where they came from.

Huo Ling realized this was the direction leading to the stream and immediately grew tense.

 ━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

“Woof woof woof!”

Dager, the large dog previously crouched beside Yan Qi and watching the woods intently, now assumed a protective stance, barking fiercely at a spot. This startled Yan Qi, who was busy weaving a makeshift grass cage, hoping to catch some fish or shrimp.

This reaction couldn’t mean Huo Ling had returned—something else lurked in the woods. Yan Qi hurriedly pulled on his shoes and socks.

Finding nothing suitable in his hands, he scanned his surroundings. Finally, he picked up a long, pointed branch nearby and scooped a stone from the stream, clutching both tightly.

Dager positioned its entire body in front of Yan Qi. Several times, Yan Qi instinctively tried to step forward, only to be pushed back by Dager.

Yan Qi listened intently but couldn’t detect any unusual sounds in the forest. After all, human ears couldn’t match a dog’s keen hearing.

He held his breath, alert to any potential danger. Not long after, a figure suddenly flashed into view ahead.

Yan Qi gripped the branch tightly. Only when he recognized the approaching figure as Huo Ling did his tense shoulders slowly relax.

“Woof!”

Upon seeing Huo Ling, Dager’s bark changed, yet he didn’t leap forward as usual. Instead, he remained guarding Yan Qi.

Seeing Yan Qi and Dager both unharmed, Yan Qi still clutching the branch and stone, a wave of dread washed over Huo Ling. He snatched the items from Yan Qi’s hands and tossed them aside, then took the ger’s hand. “Let’s go now. We’ll talk on the way back.”

The two hurriedly shouldered their baskets. Dager led the way as they hastily left the murmuring mountain stream behind.

“You mean there were bears fighting in the woods earlier?”

Yan Qi watched the path beneath his feet, his attention drawn to Huo Ling’s words. At the mention of bears, he snapped his head up in surprise.

“Judging by the noise, it was most likely.”

As Huo Ling finished speaking, they reached a downward slope. He reached out to steady the ger, but Yan Qi waved him off. Instead, he slowed his own pace and carefully navigated the slightly steep earthen incline.

He tugged the straps of his bamboo basket upward and glanced back once more at the path they’d come.

“Good thing we didn’t run into them. We really should bring a dog next time. From a distance, dogs can spot things before humans do.”

The problem was, their household only had Dager, their one and only dog. They’d originally planned to wait until Dager mated with a female dog and produced a litter, then raise one of the puppies themselves. But now, calculating the timeline—from the female dog’s pregnancy and birth to the puppies becoming independent—it would easily take a year. They simply couldn’t afford to wait that long.

Huo Ling pondered for a moment. “Let’s see if we can find a half-grown pup already available. As long as it’s decent quality, we can take one back for now. If Dager can mate with another dog, we’ll take the pups from that, too.”

Living in the mountains, you can never have too many dogs. More meant more safety. How much could they possibly eat? Even if they ate a lot, it couldn’t compare to the value of a life in an emergency.

If he could gather three dogs, plus Dager, even a bear wouldn’t scare him. Thinking about it now, he should have brought back a couple more dogs to raise long ago.

Once they’d traveled far enough, Dager visibly relaxed. His tail wagged freely, and he even had the leisure to pounce on wild rabbits and mice in nearby bushes—proof that danger had passed.

Huo Ling thought of the flowers he’d dropped while rushing and sighed regretfully, “I picked two bunches of ribbon flowers for you, but I lost them along the way.”

“There are plenty of ribbon flowers. Let’s look again; we’ll surely find some more.”

Yan Qi was touched by the man’s thoughtfulness and comforted him.

Following that, he mentioned wanting to dig up some wildflowers to plant in their yard.

“Or maybe we could collect seeds in autumn and sow them in the spring to see if they’ll grow.”

Their courtyard held vegetable patches and fruit trees, yet ample open ground remained. Flowers planted there would surely be lovely.

Though vast stretches of wildflowers lay just beyond their doorstep, they never quite matched the charm of those cultivated at home.

Huo Ling smiled and agreed, “Alright. If I come across any beautiful blooms while in the mountains, I’ll bring them back for you.”

Remembering he needed to check the snares, he took a slight detour before heading home.

Upon arrival, he found three had caught prey. One snare, modified by Huo Ling himself, featured a willow basket placed over a shallow pit specifically to trap hazel grouse—preventing them from escaping after being caught. To his surprise, it had indeed caught one.

The other two catches were a hare and a fox.

Huo Ling took the hazel grouse and hare. Seeing the red fox still lively—clearly caught less than half a day ago—he released it from the snare.

Yan Qi observed this without surprise. He had heard Huo Ling mention before that people beyond the pass did not hunt foxes. Many here believed in the Fox Spirit; while not everyone visited the Fox Spirit temple, they had all grown up hearing tales of the Fox Spirit and dared not lightly violate the taboo.

Consequently, fox pelts were never sold beyond the frontier. For making garments and hats, the finest fur was sable, followed by rabbit fur, and the least valued was roe deer pelt.

“This trap could still be useful later. Hazel grouse are common and eat anything. Pinching a few tree buds or flower buds would lure them in.”

Yan Qi suggested, “Why not set one near home too? When you’re away, I could venture out and see. Who knows, I might catch something. It’s best to snare them while they’re fresh.”

Huo Ling thought it wasn’t a bad idea, though they had no spare baskets at home.

“We’ll gather some willow or locust branches and weave a few more. Use the old ones for traps, and keep the new ones for home.”

Back home, the live game was secured in straw cages, while the fresh wild greens were spread out on straw mats. This prevented them from being crushed overnight in the baskets, which would have lowered their market value.

Seeing the floor covered with tender thistle buds, along with the rabbit and pheasant huddled into tight balls inside the cage, Yan Qi couldn’t wait to head to the market to hawk them.

After supper, they swept, washed up, and retired to bed early to rest for tomorrow’s descent into the valley.

To save lamp oil, the light had long been extinguished. Yet after lying down for a while, neither felt sleepy. Leaning against each other, they discussed the tasks for their trip to town the day after tomorrow.

Besides selling the wild greens, they must remember to ask Hou Li about the character of that family in Dongjia Village. If they were decent folk, Huo Ling planned to take Dager along for a “look.”

“Don’t forget that deer bone hairpin—it should be finished by now.”

Before leaving town last time, they had found an old man skilled in grinding bone hairpins. They had entrusted him with the deer bone to craft the pin.

Bone hairpins weren’t valuable—silver hairpin shops wouldn’t take them, and they wouldn’t earn much.

But craftsmen who took on such custom work at home could make them. They even praised Huo Ling for preparing the bone beautifully, without any oil seepage.

Huo Ling was tempted to mention that he also planned to buy Yan Qi a silver bracelet. But he knew his elder brother intended to buy one for his wife this year, timed for his sister-in-law’s birthday. So he decided to wait. As the younger brother, it wouldn’t be right to act before his elder sibling.

Saving money was harder for his brother than it was for him.

For this reason, he swallowed his words and didn’t rush to tell his ger.

Returning to the topic of setting up a stall at the market, the two calculated how much they could sell the tender bamboo shoots for.

Yan Qi thought of something and whispered softly in Huo Ling’s embrace: “Back in our village, there was a woman renowned for her tofu-making—the ‘Tofu Beauty’ famous throughout the surrounding countryside. She’d lost her husband long ago and raised her two children by selling tofu. She was generous and clever. Every time I bought tofu from her, I envied her ability to earn a living and support her family.”

Whispering to Huo Ling under the cover of night, his courage grew slightly, and his words flowed freely for once.

“I’m just an ordinary farm boy. My family doesn’t have any special skills to pass down. Even if they did, they’d only be passed to my uncle and aunt’s son—nothing to do with me. I’ve never told anyone these things… I’ve never told anyone, afraid they’d laugh at me.”

That’s why he felt so fulfilled now, running this small business with Huo Ling, saving silver for their little family.

Earning money meant he could stand tall. He wasn’t afraid of hard work; he only feared not having the chance to contribute.

Huo Ling lowered his head, his chin grazing the ger’s hairline as he murmured, “Who says you lack skill? Your cooking is excellent. That girl selling roasted fruits on the street earns five coins for three pieces. Even if she only makes one coin profit per three, that’s not bad. Selling two baskets a day means dozens of five-coin profits.”

His thoughts flowed freely as he suggested to Yan Qi, “If you ever want your own little business, why not try developing a food item? When the time comes, we’ll head to the market together. I’ll help you sell it—it won’t take up much of my time.”