A New Home Completed

With his target in sight, Zhang Sheng carefully crept toward the goats. They were less than thirty meters away.

Before long, he spotted them: three goats were leisurely eating leaves up ahead.

Even so, Zhang Sheng could sense how alert they were. At the slightest disturbance, they would immediately run.

He had no deadly ranged weapon on him, so he could only rely on his strength and use small stones as weapons.

He casually picked a few stones off the ground. In a flash, he hurled them straight at the three goats.

"Whoosh!"

"Bang!"

"Baa!"

The stones struck two of the goats, killing one on the spot.

The other was hit in the chest and fell to the ground, unable to get up. All it could do was bleat, "Baa, baa, baa."

Although one had escaped, two goats still made for a decent haul.

Zhang Sheng put his prey into his back basket, filling it to the brim in one go.

He had caught his prey, but he still hadn't accomplished his goal for the day.

So he could only press on and explore, hoping to see whether he could find anything else.

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Sheng found that he seemed to have reached the end. A great canyon lay ahead.

The canyon divided this side from the other, as though the land had been split apart. There was simply no way across.

Zhang Sheng gazed at the mountain range stretching endlessly across the canyon, seemingly without end, and questions arose in his mind:

Could the place I'm in still be the forest's outer reaches, with the inner reaches across the canyon? And what's it like over there?

Of course, for now, Zhang Sheng could only look. The two sides were simply too far apart. He would cross over and investigate when he had the chance.

Zhang Sheng walked a little farther along the cliff. Just as he was preparing to return to the forest, a flash of red suddenly caught his eye.

"Hm? Why does that look like lingzhi? It's red, too. I wonder if it's worth anything."

The medical book Zhang Sheng had bought last time hadn't introduced any herbs, so he still knew nothing about medicinal ingredients.

Now that he had seen it, Zhang Sheng couldn't worry about all that. He would take it back first. He didn't know anything about it himself, but surely someone would.

The lingzhi was growing below the cliff, so Zhang Sheng needed to find some vines and make a rope before he could climb down to pick it.

The forest might have been short of many things, but vines weren't among them. Zhang Sheng quickly found the vines he wanted and gave them a little preparation, making them usable as a rope.

Picking it went smoothly. Looking at the bright red lingzhi before him, Zhang Sheng could even sense a medicinal fragrance coming from it.

"What a treasure! I wonder how much it's worth."

After picking the lingzhi, Zhang Sheng didn't linger. Now that he had found something, he could head back.

The journey back went quite smoothly, and he even unexpectedly ran into a wild boar.

How could Zhang Sheng let it go? He smashed it to death with stones.

So when Zhang Sheng emerged from the forest, he had a wild boar slung over his shoulder.

"Isn't that the young master? He went up the mountain? He's so brave! Lots of people don't dare go into the mountains, but he's so young and he went."

"Look! Isn't the young master carrying a wild boar?"

"Really? Good heavens! He is! I've heard wild boars are so fierce that even tigers don't dare provoke them. I never thought the young master could hunt one. That's incredible."

When Zhang Sheng passed the construction site carrying the boar, the workers began talking among themselves, a trace of awe entering their gazes.

After all, they had been frightened by Zhang Sheng's ability to kill a wild boar. None of them had ever heard of

a half-grown boy casually running into the mountains and even hunting a wild boar.

Things like that only happened in storybooks. Today had truly opened their eyes.

"What's all the noise? Get back to work! Don't any of you want your wages?"

At the mention of money, everyone stopped talking and hurried back to work, afraid their pay would be docked.

The one who had scolded them was their leader, Foreman Wang. Hadn't he seen what Zhang Sheng had done?

Of course he had, but he knew what they could discuss and what they couldn't.

Besides, they were counting on Zhang Sheng to put food on their tables.

How could they offend their employer over something like this?

As Zhang Sheng walked past the construction site, he naturally saw the surprise on their faces.

But he didn't say anything. After all, he had beaten a tiger to death with his bare hands just a while ago!

After that little interlude, mealtime soon arrived again. As the workers came over to eat one after another,

Uncle Dashan brought out all the food he had prepared, and soon the courtyard was filled with its aroma.

Sure enough, as soon as the workers entered the courtyard, they began exclaiming in surprise:

"That's the smell of meat! We actually get meat today! The master is so generous!"

"I haven't eaten meat in ages!"

"Me neither!"

"Don't just stand there. Come and eat! The master prepared the meat especially for you today. Go on, eat!"

"Thank you, master!"

Seeing how grateful they looked, Zhang Sheng felt that what he had done was worthwhile.

Perhaps it was because of the meat, but they ate with particular relish that day, smiles never leaving their faces.

To show their gratitude to Zhang Sheng for the meat, after they had finished eating and drinking their tea,

they immediately went back to work. They seemed eager to finish sooner so that Zhang Sheng could move into his new house earlier.

"Eldest Zhang boy! You're the one who can accomplish great things. How generous!"

"Uncle Dashan, don't praise me so much. I just thought that if people don't eat meat, how can they have the strength to work? I didn't have all those other thoughts.

"By the way, Uncle Dashan, didn't I get a lingzhi today? See when you can make another trip to the county town

"and sell it. We might still be a little short of money for building the house."

"All right! We'll make another trip in the next few days."

Everything was developing in a good direction. Thanks to Zhang Sheng, the workers got to eat meat every few days,

so they worked very hard. In any case, Zhang Sheng's house rose at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, more than two months passed, and the weather turned cold. Fortunately, thanks to the workers' tireless efforts,

Zhang Sheng's new house was finally complete, and today was the day Foreman Wang would hand it over to him.

"Master, let me show you around. See if there's anything wrong, so we can fix it in time."

"All right! Sorry for the trouble, Foreman Wang!"

Led by Foreman Wang, Zhang Sheng entered the home he had been longing for, with Uncle Dashan and his family following behind.

"Mm! Not bad! Fine craftsmanship!"

Zhang Sheng was very satisfied as soon as he entered. The carvings and structure were perfectly harmonious, and the space was wide and bright.

"Wow! Is this Brother Zhang Sheng's new home? It's so beautiful! I want to live in a new house too!"

"This is your Brother Zhang Sheng's home, not yours. How can you live here?"

"Auntie, don't scold little Brother Huzi. There are plenty of rooms here anyway. Forget just little Brother Huzi-even you and Uncle Dashan could move in without a problem."

Zhang Sheng didn't mind such things. Besides, given his relationship with Uncle Dashan and his family, there was no problem at all with them moving in.