Harvest, Disposal of Stolen Goods

"Master Zheng had set his sights on my sister-in-law, but the one he sent was his hired hand, Liu Yong. Before I transmigrated, the former owner of this body had already agreed to him. Once the month ends, they probably won't let the matter rest. When that time comes, the first one to come knocking will definitely be Liu Yong."

Li Chengfeng carried his prey home, turning it over in his mind as a chill flashed through his eyes. "With that bastard's shameless temperament, if I don't have a strong body, he won't be easy to send packing."

As Li Chengfeng spoke, he calculated the time and realized that starting from tomorrow, there were only ten days left until the end of the month.

Ten days...

"With goat meat, the meat, flour, and salt left at home, plus the money taken from Liu Hong's house, tomorrow I can sell these rabbits and pheasants at the market and buy some oil. Then I won't need to hunt again, yet I can still eat my fill and get enough nutrition."

Li Chengfeng looked at the alley gradually appearing ahead, his thoughts churning. "Ten days. I'll train martial arts with everything I have. With the miraculous power of my panel, my strength and physique will definitely increase greatly!"

Only with a good body would he be able to deal with Liu Yong and stall him when he came to pester them.

As for Master Zheng...

Since he had only sent a hired hand to handle this matter, he probably did not care all that much about it.

So long as Liu Yong could be dealt with, he should be able to buy himself some time.

If he could drag things out long enough, perhaps he could rely on the martial arts from his previous life and the wonders of the panel to cultivate to the level of a martial artist in this world.

Once he became a martial artist, Li Chengfeng refused to believe Master Zheng would be willing to fall out with him over a woman.

And Liu Yong? By then, his problem would no longer be a problem!

"Train martial arts!"

Thinking of the various martial arts he had collected in his previous life, Li Chengfeng's eyes gleamed. He lifted his feet and strode firmly toward home.

By the time he returned home, the sun still hung a finger's width above the western horizon.

"Yu Niang, open the door. I'm back."

Li Chengfeng walked up outside the courtyard and knocked on the gate, calling softly inside.

Though it was only a fenced yard, it had a small wooden gate installed, making it feel more like a proper home. The fence walls, only as high as a man's chest, could not block much of anyone's view anyway.

Fortunately, the moment Li Chengfeng called out, Liu Yuniang noticed him. She immediately came out, hurrying to the courtyard gate and opening it.

"You're back, Chengfeng. Come in quickly."

The instant Liu Yuniang opened the gate, her gaze swept up and down Li Chengfeng's body. Seeing that he was unharmed, she finally let out a breath of relief, hurriedly spoke, and stepped aside to let him in.

Li Chengfeng smiled as he entered. Liu Yuniang promptly shut the gate and pulled him into the inner room.

"Chengfeng, how was it? Nothing happened, right?"

After entering, Liu Yuniang closed the door and looked into Li Chengfeng's eyes, asking nervously.

"Nothing happened. What could happen?"

Li Chengfeng smiled and shook his head. He set down the sack on his back, patted it, and looked at Liu Yuniang with a grin. "Not only was I fine, I came back with quite a haul."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengfeng gave the sack a shake. A bamboo rat, three rabbits, three pheasants, and a huge goat all rolled out.

When Liu Yuniang saw the bamboo rat, a smile appeared on her face. When the rabbits came out, she smiled happily. When the pheasants appeared, her eyes lit up. Then, unexpectedly, a huge goat rolled out as well.

Her eyes flew wide open. She stared at Li Chengfeng in disbelief, her head spinning. "A goat? A mountain goat!"

"That's right, a mountain goat. I got lucky today and ran into one. I also had a good bow and arrows in hand, so I took it down with one shot."

Li Chengfeng spoke with a smile, then stretched lazily. Looking at Liu Yuniang's beaming face, he said, "I'll have to trouble Yu Niang to deal with the hide and meat first. I'll take the rest to the market and sell them before the evening market ends, then buy an iron pot. Tonight, we'll cook goat meat."

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Liu Yuniang was so excited she was almost dazed. When she came back to herself after hearing Li Chengfeng's words, her face was full of surprise and delight. She nodded again and again, gazing at him with worship in her eyes. "Chengfeng, you're amazing!"

"This is nothing. There's plenty more to be amazed by."

Li Chengfeng chuckled, patted Liu Yuniang's shoulder, and told her to wait at home.

Then he carried the rabbits, pheasants, and bamboo rat, took some of Liu Hong's copper coins and the small silver pieces the Old Hunter had given him, and headed out toward the market.

Still dizzy with excitement and flushed bright red, Liu Yuniang saw him out. Only after Li Chengfeng had left the courtyard did she turn back, take up a knife, and carefully, reverently begin dealing with the goat carcass. Her hands trembled with excitement.

She spat into her hands several times before she calmed down. Tears glimmered in her joyful eyes as she slowly skinned the goat, her heart filled to bursting with excitement and delight.

Chengfeng actually brought back such a huge catch.

At that thought, her face reddened even more. Squatting on the ground, her small, round, pert buttocks wrapped in her trousers, she gripped the knife in her fair arms and cut forcefully through the goat hide.

"..."

Though dusk had fallen, as long as people passed by and saw his goods, he could still sell them.

The blacksmith shops were still open as well.

Li Chengfeng's luck was quite good at the market. Not long after he set up his goods, a middle-aged man in a worn robe passed by and bought everything.

Three wild rabbits, three pheasants, and one bamboo rat sold for 480 copper coins.

Grinning broadly, Li Chengfeng immediately went to a nearby blacksmith shop and bought an iron pot and a spatula.

With the remaining money, the hunter's broken silver, and some copper coins taken from Liu Hong, he bought some scallions, garlic, and a jar of lard before heading home with a smile on his face.

When he reached the courtyard, the sun had only just dipped halfway below the horizon.

Li Chengfeng looked inside and saw that capable Liu Yuniang had already skinned the entire goat.

"Yu Niang, I'm back."

Seeing Liu Yuniang's busy figure, Li Chengfeng called out with a smile.

Liu Yuniang, still flushed with excitement, was busy cutting the goat meat. When she saw Li Chengfeng return carrying a pot and holding scallions, garlic, and a spatula, her face brightened. She hurried over to greet him, opened the gate, and ushered him in.

"That's wonderful! Now that we have a pot, we can cook goat meat!"

Seeing what Li Chengfeng carried, Liu Yuniang was overjoyed. As she spoke, she bolted the gate, then turned around, took the brand-new iron pot from Li Chengfeng, set it atop some stones, rolled up her sleeves, picked up the new kitchen knife, and began cutting goat meat, peeling scallions and garlic, and tossing them into the pot.

"Phew..."

Li Chengfeng let out a long breath. Watching Liu Yuniang bustle about and smelling the goaty scent in the courtyard, he smiled.

Liu Yuniang had not eaten such a substantial meal of meat in a long time, had she?

At that thought, Li Chengfeng shook his head. It was not just Liu Yuniang—had the former owner of this body eaten much meat like this either?

"Yu Niang, just help slice the goat meat off. I'll cook tonight's meal."

With that thought, Li Chengfeng immediately stood and spoke to Liu Yuniang. As he spoke, he took the kitchen knife and spatula from her hands and began preparing the goat meat himself.

"Ah, okay."

Hearing Li Chengfeng, Liu Yuniang was somewhat stunned. Could it be that my brother-in-law learned how to prepare goat meat up in the mountains? She promptly handed the things over and watched him curiously.

Yet she saw Li Chengfeng merely take a basin of clean water, put the goat meat into it, and then turn around to continue handling the meat.

Liu Yuniang could not help wanting to ask whether that was really enough, but remembering that it was a man's decision, she did not say much. She immediately restrained her thoughts, took up the battered kitchen knife, and helped Li Chengfeng cut the remaining meat from the goat.

Opening the belly, removing the organs, slicing off the meat...

After handling the goat meat for about half an hour, Li Chengfeng poured out the water, refilled the basin with clean water to soak the meat again, then returned to continue working with Liu Yuniang.

Afterward, he cleaned the goat meat thoroughly and changed the water once more. By then it was already dark, but Li Chengfeng was in no hurry. He first cooked a pot of rice.

Once the rice was done, Li Chengfeng scooped it into a cleaned earthenware basin and covered it with cloth. Then he filled the pot with water, added the goat meat, ginger slices, and scallion sections to cold water, and brought it to a boil.

He boiled the pot over high heat, skimmed away the foam on the surface with the spatula, then removed the goat meat and rinsed it clean with warm water before draining it. At the same time, he brought fresh water in the pot to a boil, added the goat meat, ginger slices, and scallion sections, brought it to a rolling boil over high heat, then turned it down to simmer slowly.

Night fell. After a full shichen, he finally sprinkled in salt, and fragrant goat meat came out of the pot.

Li Chengfeng extinguished the fire. In the torchlight, he and Liu Yuniang sat beside the stones, surrounded by the rich scent of goat meat.

Smelling the goat meat and holding a bowl of rice, Liu Yuniang looked at Li Chengfeng smiling across from her, and tears began to flow uncontrollably down her face.

"Why are you crying, Yu Niang? It's a little late, but goat meat cooked this way doesn't have that gamey smell. It's delicious. Hurry and try some."

Seeing Liu Yuniang's reaction, Li Chengfeng smiled. He reached out to wipe away her tears, then placed a large chopstickful of goat meat into her bowl.

"Mhm. Okay, let's eat!"

Liu Yuniang nodded, picked up her chopsticks, lifted a piece of goat meat to her mouth, and began chewing. She nodded repeatedly. "Delicious!"

"If it's delicious, eat more. I won't stand on ceremony—I'm digging in first."

Seeing Liu Yuniang's reaction, Li Chengfeng smiled. Then he reached in with his chopsticks, picked up some goat meat, stuffed it into his mouth, ladled some goat soup into his bowl with the spatula, and ate in big mouthfuls.

"Crackle..."

Firewood crackled beside them. Liu Yuniang ate from her bowl as she watched Li Chengfeng wolfing down his meal across from her, and an unprecedented sense of security filled her heart.

"Chengfeng, eat some meat."