A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 20.1

A few days ago, after saying goodbye to Ji Ping’an, Meng Shuishan didn’t go home right away. Instead, she took a detour to find the people she hunted with to tell them about Ji Ping’an.

She first went to Yu Gu’s house. He had been bitten on the leg by the wild boar and had almost lost a chunk of flesh, so he was the most severely injured.

“Guzi, how’s your leg doing?”

When Yu Gu saw Meng Shuishan, he quickly got up from the bed and said with a smile, “I’ve been resting for so many days. It’s almost healed.” As she walked in, he also saw the wild animal she was carrying in her hand. “You went up the mountain again? My family doesn’t lack anything. You don’t have to always bring things here.”

“I just hunted a wild chicken and a wild rabbit on the outskirts. I didn’t go deep into the mountains. If you all eat more meat, your bodies will heal faster.”

Meng Shuishan put down the rabbit in her hand and brought up something more important. “I ran into a new hunter on the mountain today with amazing archery skills.”

Yu Gu was immediately interested. “If you say her archery skills are good, then they must be. Did you ask her if she wants to join us?” They had all talked about adding a new person to their group, but the right person was hard to find. Hunting was a dangerous thing, so they definitely couldn’t find someone who was greedy for life and afraid of death, someone who would throw away their companions and run away in a dangerous situation. Selling prey also involved splitting money, so it was best to find someone with a gentle personality who wasn’t greedy for small gains so that they wouldn’t argue and make everyone unhappy in the future. In addition to these conditions, they also wanted someone with good hunting skills. With all these conditions combined, there were very few people they could find. Even if they did, most of them already had a fixed group of hunting friends.

Meng Shuishan told Yu Gu all the details. “I asked her, and she said she would think about it.”

“It’s normal for her to think about it,” Yu Gu said, nodding. “Which village is she from? I wonder if I know her.”

“Ji Ping’an, from Daliu (Big Willow) Village.”

As soon as she said that, Yu Gu’s voice was full of disbelief. “Who did you say?”

“Ji Ping’an. Do you know her?”

Yu Gu’s hopeful heart instantly sank to the bottom. “Of course I know her. She’s a famous rascal in Daliu Village. She picks fights with people all day and loves to drink. How could she possibly know how to hunt?”

Meng Shuishan was confused. “Is there some misunderstanding? Or is there someone in Daliu Village with the same name as her?”

“When I was talking to Ji Ping’an, I felt that she was a very good person.”

Yu Gu had originally wanted to say that there was only one Ji Ping’an in Daliu Village and that there was no one with the same name. But he knew that Meng Shuishan wasn’t a person who lied, so he hesitated. “…Maybe there is?”

Meng Shuishan sighed in relief. “She hasn’t agreed to join us yet. When she does, you can see if it’s the same person.”

After talking to Yu Gu, she went to the other two people’s houses, gave them the prey, and told them about Ji Ping’an. When she got back to her own doorstep, the smile on Meng Shuishan’s face had faded a little, and she looked a little resistant. She took a deep breath before pushing open the door.

When she heard the sound, Lin Shi turned her head and looked over. “Oh, our big busy person knows how to come home now?” As she spoke, she walked over and tried to flip through Meng Shuishan’s basket. “Did you hunt anything today?”

Meng Shuishan dodged her and only took out one wild chicken. “Let’s eat this for dinner.”

Lin Shi was immediately unhappy. She looked at the small wild chicken in her hand and asked, “You were on the mountain all day and only hunted one? You might as well have stayed home and helped turn over the soil.”

Meng Shuishan slightly frowned. After a moment of silence, she still explained, “Guzi and the others are injured. I had to take the other prey to them. We can’t eat it.” This wild chicken was indeed not plump, but it was enough for the family to eat meat for a few meals.

Lin Shi scoffed. She snatched the wild chicken from her hand and walked toward the kitchen. “Your friends are closer to you than your family. Why don’t you go live with them? You’re taking up a room here.”

Meng Shuishan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she didn’t and walked straight into her room. Lin Shi was her stepmother and had never liked her, but she couldn’t bear to let go of her hunting skills, so she had always treated her with this attitude. Only when she gave her silver after hunting would Lin Shi’s face look a little better. These past few days, because Yu Gu and the others were injured, she naturally didn’t have any silver coming in, so Lin Shi’s attitude was a little worse.

Before she could sigh, another person walked into the room. She was sixteen or seventeen years old, slender and pretty, but her voice was full of guilt.

Meng Zhi looked at Meng Shuishan, lowered her eyes, and said, “Sister… I apologize to you for mother.”

“I’ve talked to mother about it, but she won’t listen to me.” Meng Zhi came with Lin Shi. Her biological father had run away a long time ago. Lin Shi was so angry that she made Meng Zhi take her stepfather’s last name. Lin Shi was fierce, but Meng Zhi’s personality was quiet, and she had a good relationship with Meng Shuishan.

Meng Shuishan rubbed her head and said with a smile, “What does that have to do with you?”

Meng Zhi hadn’t even said much, but her eyes were already red with grievance. “I just feel that what mother said was unfair to you…” After Meng Shuishan started hunting, she not only gave the family money to buy five acres of land, but she also renovated the house and added two more rooms. Before, she and Meng Shuishan shared a room, but they were getting older, and they were a Qianyuan and a Kunze, so it was inconvenient for them to live together.

If Meng Shuishan had felt a little heavy-hearted just now, she put all her thoughts aside when she looked at the person in front of her whose eyes were redder than a rabbit’s. “She just said a few words. I’m not going to lose a piece of meat.” After saying that, she raised her hand and wiped away Meng Zhi’s tears. “It really hurts me to see you cry.”

When Lin Shi first came to their house, Meng Shuishan didn’t like Meng Zhi either and didn’t talk to her much every day. Who knew that Meng Zhi was even more of a tagalong than a tail? Wherever she went, Meng Zhi would follow. Once, they ran into a child who said that one of them didn’t have a father and the other didn’t have a mother, so it made sense that they were in the same family. Meng Shuishan didn’t react much at the time, but Meng Zhi, with her tiny body, rushed forward first. “You’re not allowed to talk about my sister like that!” When Meng Shuishan saw this, she also rushed forward and hit the child. In the end, they were separated by a passerby. They both had injuries on their faces, but their relationship became better and has been that way ever since.

Meng Shuishan had been hunting for a long time, so her palms were a little wider and had calluses. Meng Zhi felt her warm fingertips and couldn’t help but lower her eyelashes, a blush appearing on her cheeks. After a while, she said, “You should also save more money for yourself. Don’t give mother anything she asks for.”

“I am saving it,” Meng Shuishan said. “Another day when I go to the county town, I’ll see if there are any good pastries and bring some back for you.”

Meng Zhi couldn’t help but pat her arm. “You just said you were saving money. Why would you buy pastries? They’re so expensive.” After that, she repeated, “I don’t like them. I won’t eat them if you buy them for me.”

“What’s wrong with buying pastries for my sister?” Meng Shuishan pretended she didn’t hear what she just said and smiled. “Money is earned, not saved.”

Meng Zhi lightly pinched her arm. “Nonsense.”

Meng Shuishan deliberately said, “Hiss—” “It hurts so much. Ah-Zhi is so cruel. She’s even hitting her sister.”

“I didn’t use any force!” Meng Zhi subconsciously denied. She just touched her arm through her clothes. How could it hurt? But seeing the painful, frowned expression on Meng Shuishan’s face, she also hesitated. “Does it really hurt? Should I rub it for you?” Then she saw Meng Shuishan laugh. “I was just joking.”

Meng Zhi pinched her arm in the same spot, but this time, it was a lot harder.

“This time it really hurts!” Meng Shuishan first wailed, then when she saw that she wasn’t letting go, she completely knelt down. “Ah-Zhi, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll never pretend to be in pain again.”

Only then did Meng Zhi smile and let go of her hand. “Do you really know you were wrong?”

“I know, I know. I’ll never lie to Ah-Zhi again!”

After that, Meng Shuishan rubbed the arm that had just been pinched and said casually, “Ah-Zhi is so fierce. Are you still going to find a Qianyuan later?”

She had only meant it as a joke, but as soon as she said that, the smile on Meng Zhi’s face faded a little, and the room became much quieter than before.

“I’m not going to…” She wasn’t going to, but her sister was just joking.

But before Meng Shuishan could finish her sentence, Meng Zhi softly said, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m almost seventeen. Mother said that in a few days, she’s going to let me meet a Qianyuan at the head of the village.” The age for a Kunze to come of age was sixteen or seventeen. This was also when their estrus period would arrive. The suppressant pills from the pharmacy were too expensive, so most Kunze would go on arranged meetings at this age.

Meng Shuishan was stunned for a moment. She suppressed her inexplicable emotions and changed the subject. “Then you should go and meet him.” After a moment of silence, she looked up at Meng Zhi and said, “If you don’t like him, your sister will go to the pharmacy and buy you a suppressant pill first.”

A single suppressant pill cost half a tael of silver. Meng Shuishan, who was a year older, had already bought several.

Meng Zhi curled her fingers and forced a smile. “I’ll see. I can’t keep troubling you.”

At that moment, Lin Shi from outside called out, “Where are you, Ah-Zhi? Come to the kitchen and help me.”

“I’m coming, Mom.” After saying that, Meng Zhi looked at Meng Shuishan. “I’m going now. Remember to come and eat later.”

Meng Shuishan nodded. After watching her leave the room, she softly said what she had wanted to say earlier.

“I’m not a person who is afraid of trouble.”