Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

Fortunately, they didn't encounter many people along the way. Occasionally, they would see some villagers busy finishing up in the fields. They would hide behind the ditches and trees and wait patiently until the villagers were far away before continuing on their way. Only when they saw their familiar courtyard wall did the four of them breathe a sigh of relief.

Pushing open the half-closed courtyard gate, He Xiaoqin, who was hanging clothes to dry in the yard, was the first to see them. She exclaimed softly, "Oh dear," and almost dropped the wooden basin in her hand.

"Brother Xiangyang! Sister Bingbing! Qiqi, Yaoyao! You're back!" Her voice wasn't loud, but it was full of surprise. She quickly put down the basin and came to greet them.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Xiaowen and Zuo Qingqing ran out of the house, and even the usually quiet Luo Lan peeked out from the neighboring yard where she was staying.

"Come in quickly, come in quickly!" Zuo Qingqing was the most impatient. She reached out to take Xue Bingbing's bundle, but her eyes kept glancing at the bulging containers.

"Let's go inside and talk." Xue Bingbing smiled but spoke steadily, stepping aside to let Liu Xiangyang enter first.

The crowd ushered them into the main room. He Xiaoqin cleverly turned around and immediately bolted the courtyard gate. The doors and windows of the main room were also quickly closed, leaving only a small gap for ventilation. The light dimmed, but it made the atmosphere inside the room seem even more secretive and exciting.

Liu Xiangyang put the heavy basket on the ground, and Le Qi and Le Yao also put down their cloth bags. Xue Bingbing untied the knot of her bundle, which contained some things wrapped in leaves.

"My God... how much did they catch?" Zuo Qingqing stared wide-eyed at the outline of the small mountain of loot.

Liu Xiangyang didn't say anything, but bent down and lifted the burlap and branches covering the top of the basket.

A series of suppressed gasps filled the main room.

The most eye-catching item was the half-basket of processed roe deer meat, with large chunks of tenderloin, hind leg, and ribs, the red and white marbling clearly visible, and the fat as white as snow, glistening in the dim light. Next to it were several plump wild rabbits and gray squirrels, already bled and skinned, looking clean and neat.

In the other cloth bag was the still brightly colored male pheasant, a pile of white, tender frog meat, and a small bowl of golden frog oil wrapped separately in oil paper, which was even more eye-catching.

"This... how long will it take to eat?" He Xiaoqin exclaimed in a soft voice.

"This roe deer alone is enough to improve our meals for a long time," Xue Bingbing said, with a hint of pride in her voice. "Xiangyang showed us the mountain paths, and luckily, we ran into it."

"Brother, I want to go next time too." Jiang Xiaowen said, grabbing Liu Xiangyang's arm and shaking him as she saw so much meat.

"Okay, next time we go into the mountains, I'll take you all with me so you can relax too."

"Qiqi, Yaoyao," Liu Xiangyang instructed, "bring out a pheasant and a rabbit."

Leqi and Leyao responded and deftly pulled a pheasant and a rabbit from the depths of their baskets.

"I'll take it to Uncle Zhang and Captain Wang," Liu Xiangyang said, taking the pheasant and rabbit and tying their feet with straw rope. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay, be careful on the road." Xue Bingbing straightened his collar and whispered a word of advice.

Liu Xiangyang carried the pheasant out the door, and following the alley behind the house, he turned into Zhang Tiejun's house with practiced ease.

Pushing open the door, Zhang Tiejun was smoking in the yard. He paused for a moment when he saw the pheasant in Zhang Tiejun's hand.

"Uncle Zhang," Liu Xiangyang said with a natural smile, "I went into the back mountain yesterday and got lucky. I caught some things. This rabbit is for you and your aunt to try."

Zhang Tiejun took the heavy rabbit, a smile spreading across his face: "You silly boy, you're already in the mountains, and you're still thinking about this. Alright, Uncle will take it. Did you go to Old Wang's place?"

"I haven't gone there yet, I came here first," Liu Xiangyang replied flawlessly.

"That's good. Go on your way, come over for a drink later." Zhang Tiejun waved his hand, telling him to hurry back.

After leaving Zhang Tiejun's house, Liu Xiangyang followed the same pattern and went to Wang Lixin's house. Wang Lixin was an even more straightforward man. Holding a pheasant, he grinned from ear to ear and pulled Liu Xiangyang aside, saying, "Xiangyang, you're really something. Since we don't have anything to do tomorrow, let's have a drink at home tonight." He then shouted to his youngest son, "You brat, go to the village chief's house and call him over. Tell him I need to see him."

"Okay, Dad." He hurriedly ran out after saying that. He also saw the pheasant that Liu Xiangyang had brought, and he could have a better meal that night.

"Captain Wang, you might as well skip the meal. I have a big appetite," Liu Xiangyang refused.

"Xiangyang, you're looking down on me by saying that. No matter what, I'm not short of food. I still have the pheasant you brought. Besides, you eat Uncle Zhang's food, but you won't eat mine?"

"Since you put it that way, Captain Wang, I'll go back and get another bottle of wine. I brought it back from Harbin last time. Let's have a good drink tonight."

Upon hearing "for a long time," Wang Lixin swallowed his refusal and nodded, "Oh, you say you have good wine, then I won't stop you. I just love this kind of wine."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

When Liu Xiangyang returned home, he saw them processing the game and said to Xue Bingbing, "Bingbing, cut some more meat for me. Captain Wang is holding me back and won't let me leave. He insists that I eat at his house."

"Then drink less tonight, don't get drunk." After saying that, she picked up a kitchen knife, cut a piece of roe deer meat, and handed it to him.

"I'm not addicted to alcohol, I just had a few drinks with Uncle Zhang and the others." He took the meat, and at that moment Leqi took a bottle of wine from the cabinet.

"May I take this bottle of wine?"

He took the bottle. "Okay, I'll go then. You guys eat more tonight. Don't wait for me. Just let Xiaoqin, Luo Lan, and the other three wait for me. I need to comfort their wounded hearts."

Liu Xiangyang carried the meat to Gu Xiaoyu's place first. As soon as he opened the door, he saw her doing needlework. When she saw Liu Xiangyang come in, she quickly got up and said, "Brother Xiangyang, you're back. Sit down for a while."

"No, I brought you something. This is roe deer meat that I hunted in the mountains yesterday. Keep it to nourish yourself. Captain Wang invited me to his house for dinner, so I won't sit down." He put down the meat, looked at Gu Xiaoyu, walked over, pinched her chin, and kissed her.

"Okay, eat well. I'm going now, I'll come see you later."

When Liu Xiangyang returned to Wang Lixin's house with the wine, Zhang Tiejun had already arrived and was sitting at the kang table talking to Wang Lixin about the agricultural arrangements after spring plowing. When they saw Liu Xiangyang come in, holding a glass bottle of wine with a foreign label, their eyes lit up.

"Wow! This is good stuff!" Wang Lixin took the bottle, looked at it in the window light, and said, "Russian vodka? Xiangyang, you've got some good stuff."

-

Please add bookshelves so you don't get lost, and send me all your "challenge for updates" votes!