To Be the Male Lead's Deceased First Wife in a Historical Chinese Exam-focused Novel - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Hunting a Goat

Yan An and Wen Ying were surrounded by villagers. The previous person’s question had piqued the curiosity of many people. One by one, they looked at Yan An with eager eyes, and occasionally at Wen Ying next to her.

Some were curious and gossipy. Some even felt a sense of schadenfreude, wanting to see what Yan An would say, and thinking that Wen Ying would also be humiliated.

“Where did you hear that rumor? I didn’t have anyone I liked before I married Wen Ying,” Yan An said with a slightly cold voice.

“How could it be a rumor? Back then, your parents were worried about your love life for a while. We all know it. Besides, you don’t remember, do you? How do you know you didn’t have anyone before you got married?” someone said, not giving up.

This time, Yan An couldn’t even maintain her polite smile. Her face fell. She reached out and took Wen Ying’s hand. “I don’t remember anything now, but I know Wen Ying is my wife. And what do you want to do by telling me these things now? Provoke a conflict between me and Wen Ying? What good would that do you?”

“Excuse us, we have things to do. We won’t stand here and chat with you.”

After saying that, she pulled Wen Ying’s hand and walked past those people, her face stiff and unusually cold.

Those people were directly rebuked by Yan An. Seeing her cold and obviously displeased face, everyone seemed to see the unapproachable Yan An from before. For a moment, they looked at each other, then awkwardly dispersed and went about their business.

Yan An was still a little angry after walking a long way with Wen Ying. “Those people seem very friendly and easy to get along with when they talk to you, but why do they always say something that digs a hole for others? It’s not like they’re really that idle, so why do they have time to cause trouble?”

Ever since someone asked if Yan An liked the young lady, Wen Ying had not said a word. She stood silently by Yan An’s side, and when Yan An pulled her to leave, she obediently followed.

She looked down at Yan An’s hand holding her wrist. Because she had been doing farm work and going up and down the mountain with her for a while, her skin was a shade darker than before, but compared to Wen Ying’s skin color, it was still very fair.

The hand was gripping her wrist with an unconscious force, as if she could feel Yan An’s emotions and knew that she was a little angry.

Wen Ying suddenly pulled Yan An’s hand, stopping her from walking forward. She said calmly, “Wrong, we’re going right.”

Yan An was pulled back to her senses. Only then did she realize that she was still holding Wen Ying’s hand tightly. She let go and said, “Oh, okay. You lead the way.”

She turned and walked to the right with Wen Ying, still complaining. “Those people are really meddlesome. Why do they care so much about other people’s business? What were they thinking when they asked that?”

The hand on her wrist suddenly let go. Wen Ying felt her wrist go cold. All the remaining body heat was taken away by the cold wind. She curled her hand, trying her best to tuck it into her sleeve, and didn’t respond to Yan An’s words.

Yan An didn’t need her response. She continued to talk to herself. After she vented all the anger in her chest, she felt much better. By the time they reached the village head’s house, her emotions were already adjusted, and a gentle smile returned to her face.

Wen Ying knocked on the door. The village head’s wife opened it. Wen Ying bowed to her. “Auntie Wu, we’re here to see the village head. We’d like to pay back the money.”

After hearing their intention, Auntie Wu’s eyes lit up. She quickly welcomed them in and called out to her old man. The village head came out of the main hall and was surprised to see them.

Wen Ying and Yan An bowed to the village head together. After they sat down, Wen Ying didn’t waste any time. She took out a total of two liang of silver fragments, placed them on the table, and pushed them toward the village head. “Village head, our family is not doing too well right now, so we can’t pay you back all at once. Please forgive us.”

The village head looked at the two liang of silver fragments on the table. He stroked his beard and looked at Yan An. “I heard that a young lady from a wealthy family rewarded you yesterday. I guess this money came from that?”

They, as commoners, mostly used copper coins. Only those wealthy families used silver.

“Yes,” Yan An nodded. Now, she really didn’t want to hear about that young lady anymore. She felt stifled, especially after being asked that malicious question earlier.

The village head smiled and took the money. “You’re lucky. Who else could have such a thing happen to them?”

Yan An just pursed her lips and didn’t say anything.

Next, the village head asked about her situation. Seeing that she still had no signs of recovering her memory, he couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh. He looked at Yan An, then at Wen Ying. Although he didn’t say anything, it was clear that he didn’t think highly of them as a couple.

“If Yan An had her memory before, it would have been one thing. But now that Yan An has lost her memory and can’t continue her studies, it will be difficult for them to turn their lives around.”

Yan An also understood what he was thinking. After paying back the money, she didn’t want to stay any longer. She finished the tea on the table, pulled Wen Ying up, and said goodbye to the village head.

The village head didn’t try to make them stay. After seeing them off, he looked at Auntie Wu, shook his head, and sighed. “With their situation, when will they be able to get ahead?”

Although they were now actively coming to pay back the money, how could someone give Yan An money every day? It was likely that the remaining eighteen liang would never be paid back.

Auntie Wu rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t they live better now than they did when Yan An had her memory? I think Wen Ying is diligent and smart. And Yan An now knows how to cooperate with Wen Ying. I think they’ll have a chance to get ahead.”

“What do you know? No matter how hard they work now, they’re just living off the mountains. In the end, only studying can get you ahead.” The village head didn’t want to talk to her anymore. He put his hands behind his back and walked into the house.

Auntie Wu rolled her eyes even harder. She mumbled softly, “What do I know? If you know so much, why didn’t you get ahead in your studies?”

…

After leaving the village head’s house, the two of them went to the Yan clan leader’s house and paid back three liang of silver. The clan leader also asked Yan An many questions, asking what her plans were, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to pay back the money she owed the clan.

Yan An brushed them off, only saying that she needed some more time to adapt and didn’t have any plans yet.

After leaving the Yan clan leader’s house, she and Wen Ying looked at each other. Yan An gave a wry smile. “Let’s go back. Life has to continue.”

Wen Ying looked down at Yan An’s hand hanging by her side. She really wanted to take it, just as Yan An had done earlier. After hesitating for a moment, she didn’t dare to reach out. She just nodded.

“I’ll pay back Doctor Zhou’s money when I go to town.”

Yan An nodded.

When they returned home, Wen Ying chased the chicks to the back of the courtyard and let them peck for food around the area. Yan An, on the other hand, took a hoe and started clearing the land, planning to turn over this piece of land and plant some vegetables.

“You stay home and watch them. I’m going up the mountain to chop some firewood,” Wen Ying said to Yan An, carrying a basket on her back and a machete.

“Mmm, be careful on the mountain,” Yan An said to her.

Wen Ying nodded, took one last look at Yan An, and walked quickly toward the mountain.

Yan An watched her back, walking step by step into the depths of the mountain. As her back completely disappeared, a strange sense of unease suddenly arose in Yan An’s heart.

She tightly gripped the handle of the hoe, her brows furrowed. After thinking about it, she felt that she was being crazy. Wen Ying had been in the mountain many times. The area they usually went to was often visited by other villagers, so there was basically no danger.

Yan An suppressed the unease in her heart, but there was still something bothering her. After turning over some of the land, she frowned again.

She opened her hands and looked at her red palms, feeling a little frustrated. Her hands were too soft. Just a few swings of the hoe and her hands hurt a lot. If she continued, she would surely get blisters.

Yan An, feeling a little sad, found some cloth strips and wrapped them around her palms. As a lesbian, how could she not know the importance of hands? Who wouldn’t want their hands to be beautiful? But who told her that she didn’t transmigrate into the body of a young lady who didn’t have to worry about food and clothing!

Auntie Li also came out to take care of her own vegetable patch. Seeing Yan An but not Wen Ying, she asked, “Where’s Girl Wen?”

“She went into the mountain to chop firewood,” Yan An explained.

“That child, why did she go into the mountain again?” Auntie Li mumbled. Although most villagers lived off the mountain and water, there were wild animals in the mountain after all. Except for hunters, other villagers would only go into the mountain to chop some firewood when they needed it, and they would try to avoid going in if they could.

Yan An didn’t have the mood to chat now. She was focused on turning over the land. Because it had been abandoned for a while, the ground was very hard, and it was a little strenuous for her.

And the little chicks would peck for food in the turned-over land. The fuzzy little balls would huddle together, chirping. The first six chickens they bought had also grown a lot. Seeing this, Yan An swallowed her saliva.

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t eaten meat in over half a month. I feel like my eyes are turning red when I see meat now.”

Time passed by. It was almost lunchtime, and Wen Ying still hadn’t returned. Yan An still couldn’t make a fire and her stomach was grumbling from hunger. She also thought that even though Wen Ying went up the mountain much later today, she knew that Yan An couldn’t make a fire, so she wouldn’t stay on the mountain for too long, right?

Thinking of this, and the uneasy feeling she had earlier, bad thoughts started to pop up in Yan An’s mind.

She quickly found a machete, chased all the chicks back into the coop, and then went into the mountain with the machete to look for Wen Ying.

“Nothing had better have happened to her!”

Yan An pursed her lips and her face was stiff. She followed the path to where Wen Ying usually went. Her feet, which were already hurting, hurt even more on the uneven mountain road. But she was so worried that she ignored the pain in her feet. It was unheard of for Wen Ying to still not be back at this time.

She searched all the way and came to the place where Wen Ying usually chopped firewood. She saw a pile of dead branches scattered on the ground. The basket was also there, but there was no sign of Wen Ying.

Yan An’s back instantly broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly called out Wen Ying’s name, but she didn’t hear any response.

She searched around and noticed some messy animal footprints not far from where Wen Ying had been chopping firewood. Yan An’s expression became even more serious.

She took a deep breath, took the machete, and followed the direction of the footprints. After walking for a long time, she vaguely heard some sounds from ahead, and the smell of fresh bl00d wafted over with the wind.

Yan An’s face turned pale. Her steps quickened. When she crossed a half-person-high bush, Yan An’s eyes widened when she saw what was in front of her.

Wen Ying, who was kneeling on the ground, was pulling the machete out of a goat’s neck. She looked up at the sound and was stunned to see Yan An appear here.

The two of them looked at each other. Yan An looked at the bl00d splattered on Wen Ying’s face, which almost stained half of her face red. At first glance, she looked like a bloody killer, but soon her eyes softened, and Yan An no longer felt a sense of oppression from her.

“You…”

Yan An pointed at the goat lying on the ground, speechless for a moment.

Wen Ying reacted and quickly got up, wanting to wipe the bl00d off her face to avoid scaring Yan An. She wiped it haphazardly and didn’t know if she had wiped it clean. Hearing Yan An’s words, she just pursed her lips and said softly, “It ran over when I was chopping firewood, so I chased it over here.”

Yan An looked at Wen Ying’s face, which she had made even messier. She saw her skinny appearance, which was a sharp contrast to the dead goat on the ground, which looked like it weighed over a hundred jin.

Yan An didn’t know what to say for a moment, so she just said, “Let’s go back first.”

Wen Ying looked at Yan An warily. She didn’t see any fear of her on her face. Instead, she thought Yan An looked a little dazed.

“Mmm, okay.” Wen Ying started to drag the goat back down the mountain.

When she saw this goat, she was under a tree, planning to trim the firewood she had chopped and then go home. But at the moment she saw the goat, her mind was filled with one thought: “Drag this home so I can improve Yan An’s diet.”

Seeing her do that, Yan An also quickly went up to help. The two of them dragged it back to where Wen Ying had been chopping firewood. Looking at the pile of firewood, Wen Ying said, “Let’s take the goat home first. I’ll come back and get the firewood this afternoon.”

Yan An nodded silently. She gritted her teeth and helped Wen Ying carry the goat down the mountain.

When they passed by other people’s houses, they were inevitably seen. When people saw Yan An and Wen Ying carrying such a big goat, they couldn’t help but widen their eyes and come over. They couldn’t believe that they had hunted such a big goat.

Yan An still remembered the morning’s provocation, so she just answered them coldly. Then she and Wen Ying quickly carried the goat home and closed the door, blocking the sight of the people outside.

It was very difficult for a villager who was not a professional hunter to hunt such a large animal. Even for a professional hunter, it was not an everyday thing. Soon, the news of Wen Ying hunting a big goat spread everywhere.

Auntie Li heard the news and quickly came over. But when Yan An let her in, she didn’t see Wen Ying. She immediately asked Yan An nervously, “How is Girl Wen? Is she hurt?”

Then she looked at the big goat lying in the courtyard. She let out a cry and looked even more worried.

Yan An quickly comforted her. “She’s not hurt. She’s taking a bath now. You’ll see her when she comes out.”

Auntie Li only calmed down after hearing that Wen Ying was not hurt. But she was still a little scared and slapped Yan An’s arm. “You two, how can you be so brave? What if something really happened?”

Yan An nodded repeatedly, agreeing with her. She also quickly said, “Auntie Li, you sit here and wait for Wen Ying to finish her bath. I’ll go make lunch. Wen Ying and I haven’t eaten yet.”

Hearing her say that she was going to make lunch, Auntie Li suddenly looked at her with a strange expression. “You can cook?”

“I can! Have you eaten? If not, you can try my cooking!” Yan An immediately stood tall and proud. They could question anything about her, but not her cooking! Her cooking skills were passed down from her mother, a personal transmission!

“I’ve eaten. You go and get busy,” Auntie Li waved her hand and told her to go make lunch. She sat in the courtyard and looked at the goat on the ground, mumbling to herself, “Can this girl cook? Did she learn it from Girl Wen after she woke up?”

Although they were neighbors and she knew what was happening in their house, she really hadn’t paid attention to who cooked now. Seeing Yan An’s organized movements in the kitchen, it really looked like she knew what she was doing.

To save time, Yan An made noodles. When the two bowls of fragrant noodles were ready, Wen Ying finally came out clean. She was being pulled by Auntie Li, who was checking her to make sure she wasn’t really hurt. After she was completely relieved, she finally let go.

Since she confirmed that Wen Ying was fine, Auntie Li didn’t stay any longer. After she left, Yan An and Wen Ying could finally sit down and eat. While eating, Yan An looked at the goat and asked Wen Ying, “What should we do with it now?”

“We’ll skin it and then smoke some of the meat to preserve it,” Wen Ying immediately said. This way, they would have meat for the whole winter.

“Huh? You’re not going to sell it?” Yan An couldn’t help but ask. She thought Wen Ying would sell the goat for some money.

Hearing her words, Wen Ying looked at her and shook her head firmly. “No. After we process it, we’ll give some to Auntie Li’s family, and keep the rest for ourselves.”

Hearing her words, Yan An’s mouth was slightly agape in disbelief. Goat meat was much more expensive than pork. It was also a favorite of the nobles. One jin could sell for at least over two hundred wen! This one goat was worth over twenty guan!

Seeing Yan An’s expression, Wen Ying didn’t explain her desire for Yan An to eat better goat meat instead of pork.

“But since Wen Ying hunted the goat, what she says goes.” Yan An didn’t object. She helped her process the big goat.

It was fine for Yan An to cook with pre-cut meat, but to process such a large goat on her own, she didn’t even know where to start cutting. In the end, she could only help by boiling water and collecting bl00d, and bringing basins to hold the pieces that Wen Ying cut.

As Wen Ying worked, the entire goat was divided into different parts. Yan An looked at the pile of meat and couldn’t help but ask, “How long will it take for the two of us to eat all this meat?”

It was just too much. Thankfully, the weather was cold now, so even fresh meat wouldn’t spoil for a few days. They could eat fresh meat for a few days.

“After it’s smoked, it will last for a long time. We can eat it whenever we want,” Wen Ying said stubbornly, pursing her lips.

Yan An didn’t understand why she was so persistent about keeping all the meat, but she thought, “If she wants to keep it, then so be it.” Since she was with Wen Ying, she would also have meat to eat.

After they finished, Yan An, who hadn’t done much work, was exhausted and sat down. Wen Ying, however, immediately took some of the meat from each part and went to give it to Auntie Li.

At first, Auntie Li didn’t want to accept it, but after Wen Ying insisted a few times, she had no choice but to take it. In the end, she wiped the corners of her eyes, feeling a little sad, and thinking that Wen Ying had risked so much to get this, but she was so generous in giving it away.

Zhou Xiaolu walked over to Auntie Li and comforted her softly. “Mom, Wen Ying cares about you. You should be happy.”

Auntie Li nodded repeatedly. “I should be happy. That child has a kind heart. She thinks of me for everything.”

The same went for the pancakes last time and the goat this time.

…

Wen Ying returned and saw Yan An walking around the meat. There was a look of contemplation on her face. She asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Yan An looked up at her. “I’m thinking about what we should make with all this meat.”

Winter was coming. They could have lamb hot pot, grilled lamb skewers, and dry-pot lamb. Yan An felt like her mouth was watering.

Wen Ying chuckled softly. “Then you think. I’ll take some meat to Teacher Yi, and then go back up the mountain to carry the firewood I chopped.”

Yi Shuhua didn’t charge her any tuition to teach her how to read. Now that she had this goat meat, which scholars liked to eat, Wen Ying also wanted to give some to him. It could serve as tuition, which would make her feel better.

“Mmm, mmm, go and come back soon. Don’t linger,” Yan An nodded and warned her with some worry.

“Mmm.” Wen Ying smiled with her eyebrows curved. She took the meat and went out.

Only Yan An was left in the courtyard. Combining the things in the house, Yan An had a good idea of what they would eat tonight.

The internal organs of the goat couldn’t be stored for a long time. They could be used to make a lamb offal soup to ward off the cold.

Yan An thought about it and felt that to eat these things, she would have to buy a lot of seasonings from the city. “But thankfully, this is a novel world. After the author created a fictional setting, the various crops in this world are quite abundant. It just depends on whether people know how to use them.”

“Hmm… This provides a lot of convenience for me to open a restaurant in the future.”

“But it’s also good that Wen Ying didn’t sell this. It’s perfect for her to nourish her body. I always feel that even though she has muscles, her foundation is a little weak. Her foundation wasn’t laid well when she was a child. Now that she’s still young, she can still recover.”

“Mmm… let’s nourish her so she doesn’t appear strong but is actually weak inside.”