Siheyuan (courtyard house): My father, Li Yunlong!

He lowered his voice and pointed to a patch of withered yellow grass to his left.

Lin Taotao and Dafeng looked in the direction he pointed and saw the grass swaying slightly. Then, a male pheasant with colorful feathers cautiously poked its head out. Behind it was a slightly smaller female pheasant and several fluffy chicks, pecking at grass seeds and insects in the grass.

"They're all from the same nest!"

Lin Taotao's eyes lit up immediately, and she excitedly raised her double-barreled shotgun to aim.

"No! Put it down!"

Li Zhenhua quickly pressed down on her gun barrel, his voice extremely low.

"My dear Captain Lin, your shotgun is loaded with large shotgun shells! One shot and this pheasant nest is completely shredded, not even a feather will be left! Do you still want to eat them?!"

Lin Taotao was taken aback. She looked at the powerful hunting rifle in her hand, then at the pheasant that was oblivious and still leisurely foraging for food, and awkwardly put down the gun.

Da Feng also realized what was happening and stuck out her tongue.

"What should we do? We can't just watch them get away, can we?"

Lin Taotao was somewhat unwilling.

"Watch me."

Li Zhenhua smiled mysteriously, took off the large backpack on his back, pretended to rummage through it, but in reality, he instantly purchased three well-made, sturdy and durable powerful slingshots from Pinduoduo Mall, along with a heavy box of steel balls.

He took out a slingshot and steel balls and handed one set to each of the two women.

"Here, use this. Shoot them in the head, shoot them in the neck, aim carefully, that'll be enough for our extra dish tonight, and we can even keep a few of the smaller ones to grow up."

Li Zhenhua explained.

Lin Taotao and Dafeng took the slingshots, their eyes lighting up.

They had played with slingshots when they were young, but this was the first time they had ever seen such a professional-grade device with a metal frame and highly elastic rubber bands.

"Wow, Li Zhenhua, your backpack is like Doraemon's pocket, it has everything!"

Lin Taotao skillfully extended the slingshot, tested the strength of the rubber band, and marveled at it.

"Stop talking nonsense, the target is still here. Let's spread out and surround it a bit, but don't make too much noise."

Li Zhenhua said in a low voice.

The three of them quietly dispersed, forming a semi-encirclement, and slowly approached the pheasant nest.

The pheasants seemed to sense the danger and stopped pecking at their food. The male pheasant raised its head and looked around warily.

"Let's do it!"

Li Zhenhua gave a low shout and was the first to fully draw back his slingshot.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The three steel balls shot out almost simultaneously!

Li Zhenhua had a clear objective: the steel ball aimed straight at the male pheasant's head!

Lin Taotao's skills were also quite good; she aimed for the female pheasant's neck!

The big phoenix was the strongest, but its accuracy was slightly worse. The steel ball grazed the wing of a half-grown pheasant, startling it and causing it to squawk wildly.

puff!puff!

Two muffled thuds.

The male pheasant fell to the ground immediately, flapped its wings twice, and then remained still.

The female pheasant was also hit and fell to the ground.

Only the one that Dafeng had targeted was startled, and it quickly led the other chicks into the deeper grass and disappeared.

"Haha! You hit it!"

Lin Taotao excitedly ran over, picked up the female pheasant she had hunted, weighed it in her hand, and was quite satisfied.

Da Feng also ran over, picked up the fatter male pheasant that Li Zhenhua had shot, looked in the direction of the one she had scared away, and stomped her foot in frustration.

"What a pity, I scared away a whole bunch of them!"

Li Zhenhua walked over with a smile and picked up the steel ball that had been missed.

"Not bad, a successful first battle, taking down two big ones in one go, that's enough. Da Feng, with your strength, if you use a little more skill, your accuracy could match Tao Tao's."

"That's right, I'm sure I can do it with practice!"

Da Feng's face regained its radiance, and she said defiantly.

The three men tied the feet of the two plump pheasants with straw rope, and the strongest of them, Da Feng, carried them.

The initial battle was a success. Although the harvest wasn't huge, the novel experience of hunting with a "primitive" tool like a slingshot and the joy of successful cooperation made the atmosphere even more lively.

The three searched along the ridge for a long time, but their luck seemed to have run out during their previous slingshot hunt.

Apart from startling a few birds, they didn't encounter any decent prey.

As the sun gradually set in the west, the mountain winds of late autumn carried an even greater chill.

"Gurgle..."

An unpleasant sound came from Da Feng's belly. She rubbed her belly, and a look of frustration appeared on her baby face.

"Oh dear, I was so busy looking for the big truck that it's already afternoon, and I've long since finished the little bit I ate for breakfast. I'm exhausted and hungry, I guess that's all I can do for the day."

Lin Taotao also felt very hungry. She looked at the sky and made a suggestion.

"Yes, if we go any deeper, it might be difficult to get down the mountain before dark. Why don't we turn back?"

Just then, they came to a sheltered mountain hollow, with a clear mountain stream flowing by and a relatively flat meadow beside it.

Li Zhenhua stopped and pointed to the stream.

"Why are you leaving? This is such a great spot, and it's not even dark yet. Let's just grab a bite to eat here. You two heroines have worked so hard today, how about I let you try my cooking and have a barbecue?"

"barbecue?"

Lin Taotao and Da Feng stared wide-eyed at the same time. What could they possibly roast in this desolate wilderness?

The dry rations have all gone cold and hard.

"Yeah, barbecue!"

Li Zhenhua revealed a mysterious and confident smile as he removed the enormous backpack that they had been teasing him about.

"Just you wait and see!"

Under the curious gazes of the two women, Li Zhenhua began his "magic show".

He first pulled out a neatly folded metal barbecue grill from his backpack like a magician, and then quickly set it up with a few clicks.

Next came a heavy bag of smokeless charcoal, a packet of ignition wax, and a small pair of fire tongs...

Lin Taotao's eyes widened.

But this is only the beginning.

Li Zhenhua continued to rummage through the seemingly bottomless backpack, and then, one by one, he took out items that left the two women dumbfounded.

Beef and mutton slices wrapped in oil paper, bright red in color and with alternating layers of fat and lean meat!

Skewers of lamb and pork, already skewered, marinated, and glistening with oil!

A small packet of tender green cilantro, a few cleaned onions, and garlic!

There were even a few sesame seed cakes wrapped in oil paper!

Finally, he even took out several small glass bottles, which clearly contained cumin powder, chili powder, refined salt, and something that looked like a secret sauce!

Lin Taotao looked at the dazzling array of ingredients and seasonings on the ground, then at the backpack that didn't seem particularly large. Her mouth gaped open in an "O" shape, and it took her a while to find her voice.

"Li...Li Zhenhua! Is that backpack Doraemon's magic pocket? When did you prepare all this stuff? How could it possibly fit? And this beef and mutton...how did you preserve them in this weather? Won't they spoil?"

Da Feng even came over directly, picked up a skewer of mutton, smelled it, and exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey! It smells delicious! And it's marinated perfectly! Comrade Li, you're amazing! Hunting was just a side trip; the real purpose of your trip was probably the picnic, wasn't it?"