Reborn in the 60s, I hunt to support my family and even seduce the village beauty.

"Mom, then I'll kill the grass turtle. Just tie up this pheasant and throw it in the yard. It's so smelly when it poops inside."

Chang Kun carried the grass turtle into the yard and placed it on a large stone slab.

Extend your fingers and press firmly into the turtle's hind legs, then use two fingers to press down on its front legs and squeeze inwards; the turtle's head will then be squeezed out.

Stretch the turtle's head out and chop it off hard with a knife.

Liu Meifen felt a little sorry to see that Chang Kun had spilled turtle blood into the yard; it was a waste of blood to spill into the yard.

"Go away! I'll do the killing!"

She pushed Chang Kun aside.

"Mother, tell me, is it alright if we don't agree to the marriage with the Qin family?"

Chang Kun wants to break off his marriage ties with the Qin family and find an opportunity to slowly take revenge later.

"You were crying and shouting that you wanted to marry Qin Meiru, saying you'd give her whatever dowry you wanted. How come you've changed your mind all of a sudden?"

Liu Meifen glared at her son and made a sarcastic remark.

"Ahem, back then we didn't know their family would demand such an exorbitant bride price, did we?"

"The dowry I'm asking for is enough for me to marry ten or eight concubines!" Chang Kun blushed a little.

In his previous life, he was indeed blinded by lust and only saw beauty, completely unaware of the saying "marry a virtuous wife."

Of course, if she hadn't been given a second chance at life, no one would have known that a venomous snake lurked beneath that beauty.

Back then, as an eighteen-year-old lad, his fighting prowess was comparable to that of a teddy bear, so it's normal for him to be swayed by beauty.

"It's not easy to handle. Our Chang family is a respectable family, and we've already given the bride price to the other party."

"Trying to back out now? Where will you put your face? If you rescind the engagement, it'll be difficult for you to find another wife."

Judging from my mother's tone, remarrying is possible, but it won't be very respectable, and it will be harder for her to find a wife in the future.

This is no big deal for Chang Kun. He's been reborn, why would he worry about getting married?

That would make us a laughingstock among our peers.

"Mother, you take care of this grass turtle. I'll go ask Father."

Chang Dashan walked over, puffing on his copper pipe.

"I heard everything! Things can't be done this way! If you want to break off the marriage, how can the Chang family face anyone? How will you ever get married? You're always thinking of things on a whim!"

"Besides, if we were to remarry, Qin Family Village would definitely be in trouble. I remember there was trouble one year."

Chang Dashan tilted his head as he recalled.

"Seven or eight years ago, a young man from Liutiao Village broke off the engagement of a girl from Qinjia Village. Later, the young man had both his legs broken by the people from Qinjia Village."

Like many rural women, Liu Meifen was very familiar with these gossips.

"Although we're not afraid of that Qin fellow, what if something bad happens?"

Chang Dashan pointed at Chang Kun, "You better shut up."

Chang Kun glared at his father, unsure how to explain it to him.

I can't exactly say, "I was reborn, and this Qin family member, Qin Meiru, stole our food, causing you, your mother, and your little sister to starve to death."

"What if they ask for such a large dowry? What should we do?" Chang Kun threw the problem to his father.

"Pah! They're dreaming! Let them drag it out! They'll start to panic when that girl gets older!"

Chang Dashan chuckled; he had his own little scheme in mind.

These words irritated Chang Kun. He turned and went into the west room, where he lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to think of a solution.

If all else fails, cripple the entire Qin family! That will crush your parents' hopes!

But then he thought about slowly tormenting the Qin family, and for a moment, Chang Kun couldn't make up his mind.

"Look at your son, he's like this every day." Chang Dashan strolled around the yard with his hands behind his back.

"Is he my son now? Or not your son?" Liu Meifen retorted to Chang Dashan.

"If you're so capable, then don't eat the grass turtle your son caught later!"

"Ha! The son is showing filial piety to his father, why shouldn't the father eat it?"

The family chatted and argued as they cut the turtle into pieces and put it in the pot. Soon, a fragrant aroma wafted out of the pot.

"Mom, don't forget to add the Sichuan peppercorns." Chang Qing stood by the stove, supervising.

My older brother just told me to put some Sichuan peppercorns in the turtle soup, saying it would remove the fishy smell.

"Okay, okay, you'll get your share of the food."

"After the fire is done, I'm going to roast a few more seasonal birds to eat." Chang Qing's mouth never stops, he keeps talking.

Chang Kun had been busy all morning, and his stomach was growling with hunger.

He closed his eyes and rested on the kang (heated brick bed) for a while, and finally waited for the turtle soup to be ready.

The turtle weighed just over two pounds. After removing the shell, the remaining meat was probably less than a pound. Almost all of the meat ended up in the mouths of the three little girls.

Before Chang Kun returned home, Liu Meifen had already cooked wild vegetable porridge, which was the family's breakfast.

The porridge contained a lot of wild vegetables and little cornmeal. The cornmeal was white, so it was clear that a lot of corn had been added.

Now that we have turtle soup, we can't waste the porridge either.

Chang Kun drank soup with his parents, gnawed on turtle shells and heads, ate wild vegetable porridge, and picked up a few cicadas to stuff into his mouth. His stomach was bloated from eating so much—his mother had put too much water in the soup.

"Son, here's what I'm thinking: take that pheasant to your older sister."

"Our family has always been struggling, and we've received a lot of help from your eldest sister. Now that she's only had your nephew for a few months, we don't have anything good to give her, so we're sending you, this pheasant, to her."

"Do you think this is okay?"

She was only so generous today because her son caught quite a lot of things; normally she wouldn't have been so generous.

"Sure, why not! Come to think of it, I haven't even met my nephew yet!"

Chang Kun agreed without hesitation.

……

Meanwhile, Qin Meiru had already returned to the neighboring Qin Family Village.

She returned home and leaned against the doorframe, looking somewhat absent-minded.

"How are you, daughter?" Shi Zhenxiang tugged at her daughter's arm.

Yesterday, she went to discuss the bride price but didn't get a good result, and now she's eager to know how her daughter handled the negotiation.

"What happened?"

Qin Meiru was in a daze and didn't know how she got home. She looked at her mother with a confused expression.

"The bride price! I told you to go and discuss the bride price! What did that kid say?"

Shi Zhenxiang was a little anxious, feeling that her daughter was acting strangely.

Oh dear, I hope that little bastard didn't take advantage of me.

She nervously took Qin Meiru's hand and asked:

"What did you all do? What did you say?"

Qin Meiru finally came to her senses and realized that she had been sent back without saying a word after she went there.

I didn't get to eat any turtle meat!

We didn't even get to eat chicken!

In the past, Chang Kun would have given him a pheasant without hesitation.

What did his mother say yesterday to provoke Chang Kun like this?

Seeing Shi Zhenxiang's probing gaze, Qin Meiru rolled her eyes in annoyance:

"Mom, what did you say to the Chang family yesterday? You made Chang Kun so angry."

When I went there today, I saw him carrying a pheasant and a large turtle!

"He wouldn't even give me a pheasant, let alone a turtle! And he even chased me away!"

Shi Zhenxiang pouted, her voice fierce:

"I didn't say anything, I just mentioned the bride price, and then I was kicked out."

Qin Meiru was still panting, "It's all your fault! I wanted to eat meat too!"

"If it were before, Chang Kun would have already served me the big piece of meat!"