Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

After the meal, he sat down against a tree trunk for a short rest. He didn't sleep, but simply closed his eyes to let his overworked mind recover.

In the afternoon, it was time to head back. There were people waiting at home, including Master Han.

He packed up all his belongings, took one last look at the hillside that had brought him such a bountiful harvest, turned around, and began his return journey in the direction he had come from.

His steps seemed more steady and powerful than when he arrived.

On the way back, Liu Xiangyang walked at a leisurely pace, his hands empty, looking like an ordinary villager returning home late from work.

As I passed by a pine forest, I caught a glimpse of several plump flying dragons pacing in a clearing. They swept the ground around, picked up three pebbles, and with a "whoosh," the three pebbles flew through the air, accurately knocking down the three flying dragons.

He walked over, picked it up, weighed it in his hand, and tossed it into his basket. He then casually picked a handful of plump yellow mushrooms from a nearby piece of rotten wood and wrapped them in large leaves.

As the setting sun bathed the mountains and forests in a warm gold hue, he could already make out the blurry outline of Dongsheng Village.

The daylight quickly faded, and by the time he reached the fork in the road a mile or two from the village, the last glimmer of light was swallowed by the night, leaving everything pitch black except for the first few stars to appear.

He didn't go directly into the village, but turned into a secluded grove of poplar trees by the roadside and took out a hunting knife from his spatial storage.

"Snap! Snap!"

The sound of logging was particularly clear in the quiet night. He moved swiftly and was strong enough to quickly fell several small trees as thick as a wrist, cut off the branches, then cut the trunks to the appropriate length, and cut some flexible branches to make ropes.

In just twenty minutes, a sturdy, towable simple wooden frame was completed.

He then took out the prey from the space one by one: the sika deer, gutted and skinned, was the heaviest and placed in the middle; two fat badgers were piled up beside it; the meat of nine wolves (already roughly divided, with wolf skins and fangs collected); and a pheasant and a grouse, hanging on the edge of the shelf.

A mountain of flesh, bulging under the faint starlight, gleamed darkly, the stench of blood mingling with the scent of the forest.

He rubbed his hands together, gripped the lever at the front of the frame, tested its weight—it was manageable—and then dragged the heavy harvest, creaking and groaning as it rolled across the dirt road toward his own courtyard.

When he reached the gate of his own courtyard, he could see that the lights were still on in the courtyard where Xue Bingbing and the others lived. He knocked on the gate.

Light footsteps came from inside, followed by Xue Bingbing's hushed voice: "Who's there?"

"I."

The door bolt was immediately pulled open, and Xue Bingbing appeared in the doorway holding a flashlight. The warm yellow light illuminated her anxious face. Behind her, Le Qi, Le Yao, Luo Lan, and several others were also crowding inside, peering out.

When the oil lamp illuminated Liu Xiangyang's face outside the door, and the mountain of prey piled up on the shelf behind him, the women all gasped.

"Brother!" Le Yao was the first to rush over, grabbing his arm and looking him up and down. "Are you alright? How come there are so many... these, these are deer? And wolves?!"

"It's okay, everything's fine." Liu Xiangyang grinned, revealing his white teeth, which stood out in the night. He could feel that his nerves, which had been tense for several days, completely relaxed when he saw their worried yet delighted faces.

Xue Bingbing quickly stepped forward and carefully examined him under the light. She confirmed that aside from his slightly dirty clothes and tired face, he was indeed unharmed, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. Her gaze then fell on the pile of flesh, both surprised and suspicious: "So many wolves…did you encounter a pack of wolves?"

"Hmm, a small group, taken care of." Liu Xiangyang said casually, putting down the shelf. "Let's get the stuff inside first."

The women then came to their senses and hurriedly helped. Seeing the size of the wolf carcasses, especially the large sika deer in the middle, Le Yao's eyes lit up: "My God, brother, you're amazing!"

"Yaoyao, go and call Xiaoqin and the others over. Keep your voices down." Liu Xiangyang said as he and the others dragged the rack into the yard and closed the gate. "Let's process the meat quickly, it's hot and it won't keep well."

"The cellar! There's still ice stored from the winter in the cellar!" Roland reacted quickly.

"Yes, let's go down to the cellar first." Xue Bingbing immediately gave instructions. "Leqi ran to open the cellar door, took a flashlight and went down. Leyao ran to call for help."

Soon after, He Xiaoqin, Jiang Xiaowen, and Zuo Qingqing arrived with Le Yao. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw the mountain of flesh above the cellar. He Xiaoqin and Jiang Xiaowen covered their mouths and widened their eyes, while Zuo Qingqing put her hands on her hips and said, "I told you, you were all worrying for nothing. You know, my brother killed a cheetah with a single spear thrust."

"You've been muttering to yourself all day, and now you're putting on airs," Roland said, immediately exposing her.

"Alright, let's put the meat in the cellar first. It's hot now, we don't want it to spoil." Xue Bingbing interrupted their playful banter.

The women immediately sprang into action with great efficiency. He Xiaoqin, Jiang Xiaowen, and Zuo Qingqing were not unsophisticated; their families always had an abundance of meat. However, seeing so many and such "tough" wild game at once still made them both excited and a little scared—how much danger must they have gone through?

Liu Xiangyang didn't let them do heavy work. He carried the large pieces of venison and wolf meat himself, making trip after trip to the cellar. The cellar was cool and shady. Sure enough, there were still some unmelted ice blocks in a large wooden box in the corner. He covered it with straw, placed the meat pieces next to the ice, and then covered it with a cotton quilt so that the food wouldn't spoil.

Liu Xiangyang still had half a venison in his spatial storage, and he planned to take it out after he had eaten most of it.

It took more than half an hour to arrange most of the meat. Only the meat of the alpha wolf was kept in the cellar, while the meat of the other eight alpha wolves was placed outside.

When everyone returned up there, they all smelled slightly fishy, ​​but their faces were rosy and their eyes were shining.

"Xiangyang, are you hungry? We'll cook for you right away!" Xue Bingbing said, heading towards the kitchen.

"Yes, brother, sit down and rest for a while, it'll be over soon!" Zuo Qingqing said loudly.

Leqi had already quickly brought warm water, Leyao handed over a clean towel, and Luo Lan went inside to find his clean clothes.

Liu Xiangyang didn't stand on ceremony. He quickly washed his face and hands in the basin of water in the yard, changed his dirty clothes, and sat on the stone bench in the yard. Looking at the warm light shining through the kitchen window, listening to the soft clatter of pots and pans and the girls' hushed, cheerful voices, and smelling the gradually wafting aroma of food, the loneliness of the mountains and the tension of the battles of the past few days were completely dispelled by this familiar and warm aroma of cooking.

Dinner was served quickly. Although time was short, it was prepared without any skimping: a large plate of stir-fried venison slices with scallions (using the tenderest tenderloin), glistening and fragrant; a pot of stewed mushrooms, badger meat, and potatoes, with a rich broth; a stir-fried wild vegetable and egg dish; and a steaming hot mixed flour flatbread. A small pot of wine was also specially prepared for him.

The group chattered excitedly about the various things that had happened in the village over the past few days.

Liu Xiangyang ate heartily (it tasted much better than barbecue) while listening, nodding occasionally. When they had finished talking, he put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth.

"There's something I want to discuss with you." He pointed towards the cellar. "The wolf meat isn't very tasty. We'll keep one to try, but we can't finish the rest, and it'll just go to waste if we leave it too long."

"I was thinking, in the names of Roland, Xiaoqin, Xiaowen, and Qingqing, we could send some to the village, and each family could get a little meat soup to taste. As for work points, just a token amount, three or five points will do. Bingbing, Leqi, and Leyao already sent wild boar meat last time, so they won't participate this time. What do you think?"

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