Chapter 144: Outstanding Hunters
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Not everyone is like you, never leaving the mountains empty-handed.”
“To tell you the truth, you’re quite the hunter.”
Wen Yu’s words were not exaggerated at all.
It was rare to see someone as talented as Heng Yi.
This man could tell where there was prey by smelling its scent, and he could tell what ferocious beasts were nearby by listening to the wind.
How many hunters could do that?
Most hunters would set up traps and wait for their prey to fail into them.
At the fork in the road, the two of them bid farewell and went home.
Heng Yi was still at the door. Dong Lai went up to him, “Master, you have returned.”
“Yes.”
Heng Yi went straight to the main courtyard, but he didn’t see Han Qiao. There was no one in the main courtyard either, so he changed his clothes and went to look for her.
Han Qiao was in the kitchen at this moment, watching Sun Xiu, Sun Yi, and Sun Ke bring a few cooks to make hawthorn candy.
She only watched the whole time and did not say a word.
The children who she had just bought smelled the sweet smell coming out of the pot and drooled.
When Heng Yi saw those twenty-five kids, he was stunned for a moment.
Then, he calmly walked up to Han Qiao.
“You’re back.”
“Yes.”
Heng Yi answered and saw that Han Qiao was holding a hot towel in her arms and a brazier by her feet.
He felt slightly relieved.
The three children immediately came forward and greeted, “Father.”
“Yes.” Heng Yi nodded.
Seeing the three children sweating profusely, he said, “You three continue to work.”
He planned to sit next to Han Qiao.
Han Chi jumped up and shouted, “Father!”
Even Heng Yi was shocked.
Han Qiao smiled and whispered into his ear, “He just came today. I named him
Han Chi.”
“He’s quite bold. He asked me if he should call me Madam or Mother, and I asked him what he wanted to call me. Since he chose to call me Mother, he naturally had to call you Father.”
Realization dawned on Heng Yi.
He looked at Han Chi and acknowledged him as his son.
Han Chi smiled, and Cao Yu reached out his hand. “Father, where’s the gift?”
Heng Yi searched his body and found nothing but a few taels of silver in his purse. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
“Then, Father, remember not to forget about it.”
“Yes.”
Heng Yi was still a little surprised to have an elder son. However, this child looked very quick-witted and bold.
He thought that boys would always like knives and swords.
He also wanted to buy a dagger for him.
Heng Yi ate a bowl of hot sweet potato soup today.
It was really sweet and a little cloying.
However, the children liked it very much. After drinking a few mouthfuls, they felt that it was a delicious meal.
During dinner, the children ate in the servants’ room next to the kitchen, and Han Chi was left behind.
He craved meat, but he held back and didn’t dare to eat too much. His chopsticks wouldn’t just pick up one dish.
When Han Qiao saw his hesitance, she gave him two pieces of sweet and sour pork ribs.
He looked up at Han Qiao in a daze, then shouted happily, “Thank you, Mother.”
When He Cheng saw it, he also shouted, “Mother, meat, meat!”
Han Qiao added a piece of stewed meat for him, not giving him anything too sweet.
Most of his meals were light.
He Cheng was very satisfied with the meat, but he was even more satisfied with some meat soup.
However, his food was specially cooked from the bottom of the pot. It was just a small clay pot with rice stewed until it was mush and some chopped vegetables.
After dinner, Han Chi returned to his quarters.
Han Chi’s house was cleaned up. He lived in the same courtyard as He Cheng. Everything was ready in the house. Since he kowtowed and called his parents, he was now their son.
“Father, Mother, see you tomorrow.”
Han Qiao patted his shoulder, “Don’t think too much. Sleep well.”
“Yes.”
Heng Yi helped Han Qiao back to the main courtyard.
He went to his grandparents’ courtyard and the three children’s place as well. They sat down for a while and talked a little.
When he returned to the main courtyard, Han Qiao said to Heng Yi, It’s true that the house is big and spacious, but if you don’t move around often, the relationship between people will become distant. If they wanted to hide, you might not see them for days.”
“I bought these children mainly to plan for the future. The people in that restaurant are not united now. Although they haven’t come to me yet, they basically want to leave. As long as Zhao Huan gave them a third higher salary, they wouldn’t stay. This meant that they had no feelings for each other and no loyalty towards us either.”
Even though He Hong seemed to have withdrawn, he had left behind a mess.
Originally, none of this had anything to do with them, but He Hong had chosen Heng Yi as the one who had saved his life. He would repay Heng Yi’s kindness by giving him the restaurant. But it was hard to say whether he was repaying in kindness or taking revenge.
Now, they also have He Cheng.
It was only right to teach him well, but if they didn’t…
It was even more impossible to send him back to Zhao Huan.
They were in a complicated situation, where one move can topple anything.
The only thing they could do for now was to raise He Cheng and teach him with all her heart. Even if he couldn’t become a great person in the future, at least he wouldn’t do anything evil and become the scum of society. That was what she and Heng Yi wanted.
No merit, no fault.
In the future, when the business becomes big, we have to let trustworthy people take care of it.”
“Yes.”
Han Qiao continued, “Someone from the Feng family has come. They’ve already taken the three badgers away. Tomorrow… Tomorrow you will go to the mountain to hunt, then the day after tomorrow you will give everyone a share of the silver. The few servants who follow you into the mountain will also be rewarded with 200 coppers each.”
Heng Yi nodded again.
He told Han Qiao about Da Qiang’s theft.
The two of them treated it as an ordinary theft case. They casually said a few words and sighed before they decided to return to their rooms.
When they returned to the main courtyard, Xia He prepared them hot water and the couple washed their faces and soaked their feet.
Han Qiao handed the note to her husband.
“If I come back early tomorrow, 1 plan to go to the iron shop and buy two good daggers.”
“Then go home first. 1’11 give you the money. Since you wanted to buy it, you should buy it. Sharp and practical.”
“Yes.”
“It’s late now, let’s sleep.” Han Qiao said gently.
She yawned and leaned against Heng Yi’s chest, falling into a deep sleep.
Heng Yi smiled.
He thought about the theft case again, thinking about how Wen Yu spoke and acted.
What would happen if he interfered?
A new day arrived. Heng Yi ate breakfast and went to the city gate with three servants to wait for Constable Wang and the others.
But they had arrived long ago and when they noticed Heng Yi they greeted him merrily…
“Let’s go.”
This time, Heng Yi and Constable Wang weren’t the only ones entering the mountain. Uncle Yao and the others wanted to follow them too, so Heng Yi decided to bring them along.
They talked and laughed along the way, but Heng Yi told them to keep quiet once they entered deeper into the mountains.
Hearing Heng Yi’s words made them nervous.
This time, he was not so lucky to hunt a yellow muntjac.
Of course, if someone knew what this yellow muntjac was, they could sell it for money. After all, its function was similar to that of a deer.
Originally, there was still an animal Heng Yi that could not be hunted.
“That’s a female. She’s already pregnant.”
Constable Wang and the others felt sorry for the poor animal, but they couldn’t take the female yellow muntjac away.
However, they did not expect that the female yellow muntjac had been following them.
Heng Yi turned around several times to see that the female yellow muntjac was following them.
Heng Yi asked everyone to leave first.
He stopped the female yellow muntjac.
Only when everyone had gone far away did he loudly roar. The female yellow muntjac was so scared that it ran away and quickly disappeared.
Heng Yi turned around and went down the mountain.
Constable Wang and the others knew that if there were too many people walking, the noise would alert wild animals, which would decrease their chance of catching anything good.
Uncle Yai and the others were also silent. They felt a little disappointed that they had come for nothing.
In the end, they chopped a few bundles of firewood halfway up the mountain. No matter what, this trip could not be in vain.
Constable Wang and the others looked at him and felt that this was fine. They needed firewood to cook at home anyway.
When Heng Yi caught up with them, he was surprised to see them chopping wood with all their might..
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