Chapter 102: The Wife Holds the Knife

Lin Heng took Xiong Ba up the mountain, searching along the way. Knowing they were hunting, Xiong Ba slowed down, focused on searching, and stopped playing around.

The pair first arrived at the wheat field, freshly harvested. Many birds would come to forage at this time, making it a good opportunity to hunt.

Sneaking up to the edge of the wheat field, Lin Heng looked eagerly but saw only a group of sparrows and yellow-bellied finches pecking at the ground.

There were no pheasants, or even doves.

“Is this really happening?” Lin Heng thought to himself, unable to believe it. It was nearly dark, and they were in a wheat field, yet there was nothing to be seen.

With no choice, he moved upwards, where peanuts, soybeans, and mung beans were planted.

These crops hadn’t matured yet, and no trace of any game had been found.

So, they continued onward.

“Xiong Ba, it’s up to you now,” Lin Heng said, pointing to the bushes halfway up the mountain. This area was full of thorny bushes and grass, and his eyes couldn’t make out any game.

“Woof—”

Xiong Ba let out a low growl, running a few steps ahead, then diving into the grass to search for prey.

Lin Heng followed the cow paths up the mountain.

After walking through the shrubs, Lin Heng reached the larger forest at the top of the mountain, but still found no game.

He had mentally prepared for this. In summer, hunting was difficult due to the limited visibility, and even if there were game, it was hard to spot them.

He turned back and glanced at the land below. The ten-acre plot of land was adjacent to Hongfeng Mountain at the foot of the hill, and its slope was quite gentle, maybe only a few degrees.

Hongfeng Mountain itself was also gentle, with the slope on this side only about 20 degrees.

Lin Heng thought that if he had money and if the town had excavators, he could level this small slope and create a large, flat area of about 10 to 20 acres. That would be fantastic.

But there was no way to do that now—the cost was too high. He could only build a pond in terraces, one step at a time.

“Take it slow, one day the whole Hongfeng Mountain will turn into a super estate,” Lin Heng muttered to himself, shaking his head. He then turned and headed into the forest, hoping to water his Dendrobium even if he couldn’t hunt anything.

Meanwhile, Xiong Ba became quiet and tiptoed forward.

After walking about five or six meters, it suddenly lunged forward and began sprinting.

“Clack clack!!”

The loud noise startled a wild pheasant in the grass, which took off into the sky. Just as it was a meter or two off the ground, Xiong Ba leapt, biting the pheasant’s wing and pulling it back down.

“Wow, incredible!!!”

Lin Heng turned around just in time to see this, amazed at how cool it was. For a moment, he was completely stunned.

“Clack clack!!”

The pheasant struggled wildly, calling out, but Xiong Ba wouldn’t let go, running toward Lin Heng, proudly holding the bird.

After several failed attempts at catching wild pheasants, this time Xiong Ba had finally succeeded.

Xiong Ba came up to Lin Heng, looking up at him proudly.

“Incredible!”

Lin Heng grabbed the pheasant’s wings and praised Xiong Ba, amazed by how fierce it was.

“Woof woof!!”

Xiong Ba stood tall, chest puffed out, full of pride. Lin Heng ruffled its head and kissed its face.

“A wild pheasant weighing three or four pounds!!”

Lin Heng held up the pheasant, which felt heavy. He estimated it weighed at least three pounds, and it was still alive—quite remarkable.

So this was the power of a good hunting dog! It was incredible.

“Why bother hunting anything else? Let’s go home after getting a few birds today,” Lin Heng said, holding the pheasant and watering his Dendrobium on the mountain. With the pheasant in his hand, he couldn’t hunt anymore.

As he approached the Dendrobium, he noticed it seemed to have revived. The previously wilted plants now looked green and vibrant.

“Looks like this method works,” Lin Heng nodded. This was a pleasant surprise. If it worked, he could expand his planting efforts in the future.

If he figured out the right environment and techniques, he could even farm these like wild ginseng, making a huge profit with Dendrobium at its current price.

“But I still need to research more. Maybe this is just a false sign,” Lin Heng muttered as he finished watering and headed back down the mountain.

At the bottom of the mountain, his older brother, Lin Yue, hadn’t noticed his return and was still intently fishing.

Clearly, the fisherman was hooked.

“Clack clack!!”

As the pheasant in Lin Heng’s hand struggled again, Lin Yue finally looked up, his eyes widening when he saw the live bird.

“You caught a live pheasant? How did you do that?” Lin Yue asked, shocked.

“Of course, it wasn’t me. It was Xiong Ba. It’s amazing! The pheasant flew up, and Xiong Ba jumped and bit its wing, pulling it back down,” Lin Heng explained, pointing at Xiong Ba.

“That’s incredible!!” Lin Yue was amazed, not forgetting to hold onto his fishing rod.

“Brother, I just caught a yellow eel too. It’s huge,” Lin Yue said, showing off his catch.

“That’s big, at least two pounds,” Lin Heng commented, impressed by the size of the eel, which looked almost like a snake.

“I was fishing, and suddenly it poked its head out from under the rocks. I tried, and almost broke the line,” Lin Yue continued, still excited.

“Impressive,” Lin Heng smiled.

“Are you going to keep fishing?” Lin Heng asked.

“It’s still bright, let’s fish a bit longer. Maybe there are more,” Lin Yue replied, still not ready to pack up.

“Alright, you can watch the pheasant while I look for more game,” Lin Heng said with a smile. He knew his brother would want to keep fishing. After tying up the pheasant and securing it to a tree, he continued his search, but after searching all around, he found no more game.

Lin Heng picked some herbs and decided it was time to leave.

“Brother, time to go,” Lin Heng reminded him.

“One last cast, then we’ll go,” Lin Yue said with a grin.

Moments later, a rock bass was reeled in.

“Forget it, I’ll just finish fishing the worms and head home,” Lin Yue said, not able to resist the joy of fishing.

“It’s okay, you keep playing,” Lin Heng replied, amused.

After another ten minutes of fishing, Lin Heng had already cleaned 20 or 30 fish, but the worms were still on the hook.

“Let’s head back. We’ll come again next time,” Lin Yue said, shaking his head and packing up.

The two brothers walked back together, with Xiong Ba running ahead, happy as ever.

As they approached the village, a voice called out from the woods.

“Lin Heng, where did you get a live pheasant?”

Startled, Lin Heng turned around to see Tian Baishun, who had sneaked up on him. “Damn, you walk so quietly! You scared me.”

“That’s the basic skill of a hunter. What do you know?” Old Tian scolded, then asked, “How did you catch this pheasant?”

“Heh, Xiong Ba caught it. Isn’t it awesome?” Lin Heng grinned.

Tian Baishun looked at the large wolfdog and remarked, “Didn’t realize it was this capable of catching pheasants.”

“Looks like it’s just luck,” Old Tian sighed.

“Even if it’s luck, it’s still better than you just sitting around doing nothing,” Lin Heng teased.

“I picked some mushrooms, no time for that,” Tian Baishun retorted, showing off the mushrooms in his pocket.

After a bit of back-and-forth teasing, Lin Heng asked if Tian Baishun wanted to come over for dinner.

After the incident, Tian Baishun had improved his reputation in the village and was much friendlier.

Old Tian shook his head. “No thanks, I made some dove soup at home. It’ll go bad if I don’t eat it.”

“Alright, I’ll head back then,” Lin Heng said, waving goodbye.

Back home, it was lively. His two nephews were playing hide and seek in the yard. Lin’s father was holding his granddaughter, playing with a kitten that had almost been tamed, thanks to Xiao Xia’s feeding. It had become much friendlier and its fur looked better.

“Hey, you’re back! And you brought a live pheasant?” Lin Heng’s father stood up in surprise.

If the difficulty of catching a wild chicken is one, then catching a live wild chicken is a hundred.

“You can’t catch one like Xiong Ba did!” Lin Heng laughed.

He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he felt like his dad was no longer angry.

“Woof woof!!”

Xiong Ba stood tall, waiting for praise.

“Looks like you were right to catch this dog after all.”

Lin’s father was a bit surprised. This dog had some skill, and he couldn’t figure out how Lin Heng had managed to catch it.

“I’ll kill this wild chicken and we’ll eat it tonight.”

Lin Heng said, preparing to grab a knife to kill the chicken.

Hearing the commotion, Lin’s mother hurriedly came out to stop him: “We have fish and meat, that’s enough. Why kill the chicken? It’s so rare to have a live wild chicken, why not keep it and raise it?”

“It might not survive,” Lin Heng thought the chicken might die from stress.

“Just keep it alive for now, and if it dies, we can eat it later,” Lin’s mother suggested.

Lin’s father nodded in agreement: “Yes, keep it alive for now.”

They felt it would be a shame to kill it, and if they kept it, it might grow a little more.

Lin Heng helplessly nodded, “Alright, I’ll keep it for now.”

His parents were so frugal.

“Dad, look at all the fish I caught today.”

Lin Heng said, and Lin Yue immediately began showing off his haul.

It’s strange, if you catch this many fish, you don’t feel the need to show off, but if you catch them by fishing, you can’t wait to walk around the village to brag.

As Lin Yue shared, Lin’s father became curious about fishing.

The fish were fried, and the meal was served. The dishes had already been stir-fried, just waiting for Lin Heng and Lin Yue to arrive.

At the dinner table, the family was cheerful. After a few drinks, Lin’s father asked, “Son, how did you teach Xiao Xia to recognize flowers and plants?”

“I just took her out to learn about them when I had nothing to do,” Lin Heng was curious why his dad was asking.

“Isn’t there any special trick?” Lin’s father asked again.

Lin Heng smiled and shrugged: “There’s no trick to it. You just teach them over and over, and they’ll learn. I only taught her for about half a month.”

“You’re so patient,” Lin’s father found it hard to believe.

Then, Lin Heng found out that his father had taken his daughter to the village to show off that afternoon.

No wonder he wasn’t angry anymore; it seemed to be thanks to his precious daughter’s effort.

Lin Heng immediately picked up a small fish, removed the spine, and fed it to his daughter.

Actually, it’s not that children are hard to raise; it’s that many adults think children know nothing and can be easily misled. They change rules arbitrarily and break promises, which makes kids hard to deal with.

Lin Heng understood this deeply and led by example. He always followed through on what he said, teaching his daughter the rules, and she naturally became obedient.

He also rarely let his parents help raise his child, because the indulgence from the older generation could easily turn a child into a spoiled brat.

He shared these thoughts with his parents, and the whole family was amazed.

“My son can say such things? The sun must be setting in the west today,” Lin Heng’s mother shook her head.

Lin’s father realized that Lin Heng was not just talking nonsense but had a solid theory. He felt a bit sentimental, wondering if perhaps he really was out of touch with the times.

Although he didn’t fully understand what Lin Heng said, after thinking about it, it seemed to make sense and was quite reasonable.

“Let’s have a drink,” Lin’s father said after a pause, raising his glass again.

“Cheers,” Lin Heng and the others raised their glasses together.

“Hey, why isn’t Lin Wei here?” Halfway through the meal, Lin Heng realized his eldest nephew wasn’t around.

Liu Juan laughed and said, “He’s at home studying. What you said has more effect than his father.”

Lin Heng smiled: “You should encourage the little ones more. Later, you can take some food back to him.”

“Alright,” Liu Juan nodded, keeping Lin Heng’s words in mind.

The dinner was very enjoyable, and the fried dough buns filled with crispy meat made everyone smile.

In this era, this was definitely considered top-notch food.

After the meal, everyone helped clear the dishes and tidy up the floor before heading back home.

“We won’t go catch cicadas tonight,” Lin Heng said.

“I have no objection,” Xiulan brought over some water.

Lin Heng went outside to shower, and Xiulan took a bath inside.

Their daughter had played a lot today and fell asleep on her little bed after dinner.

After Lin Heng finished his shower and used the toilet, he returned to find Xiulan already lying on the bed.

He flashed a mischievous smile and pounced on her, about to engage in some intimate “philosophical research.”

At first, Xiulan didn’t resist and even cooperated by kissing him. But just as he was about to take it further, she grabbed the knife with one hand, rendering him completely motionless.

Xiulan glanced at him and softly seductively said, “Be good and go to sleep. Letting you into bed was already kind enough. You’re not getting anything tonight.”

“No, I want to~”

Lin Heng shamelessly bit his wife’s ear.

“Oh! Stop!”

Lin Heng quickly spoke as the knife almost bent.

“Be good, let’s sleep,” Xiulan kissed him and released her grip.

Lin Heng helplessly said, “Wife, are you still angry? I really didn’t mean to make decisions without consulting you.”

He felt his wife was too cruel, teasing him with desire and then not giving in.

She was clearly punishing him, and her method was too harsh—much worse than making him kneel on a washboard.

“I’m not angry. If I were, you wouldn’t even get into the bedroom. But I need to leave you with a deep impression so you don’t make the same mistake again.”

Xiulan spoke softly, with a bit of a playful, mischievous tone.

Lin Heng was unwilling and reached out again, only to be caught immediately.

“Keep moving and you’ll have to sleep outside,” Xiulan warned.

“Hmph, I don’t believe you’re not feeling it.”

Lin Heng turned over, angry, and tried to sleep, but he just couldn’t.

He didn’t fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.

The next day, he felt a fiery heat all over his body and, when he turned to find his wife, discovered she was already up—clearly prepared.

At that moment, he thought he’d have to take care of it himself.

But then, he gritted his teeth and snorted, “No, I have to leave it for my wife. This is just cruel.”

He secretly vowed to make her experience what he felt last night.

After going outside to relieve himself, he splashed some cold water on his face to calm his nerves.

“Your dad asked you to go over and move the wheat. It’s all weighed,” Xiulan entered the backyard, smiling as she spoke to Lin Heng.

“Enjoy yourself,” Lin Heng shot her a glare.

Xiulan giggled, finding her little man amusing. Life was never boring with him around.

He’d tease her at night and pamper her during the day, then get upset when she didn’t give in. It was really funny.

“Lin Heng, this is the proof. You and your brother need to go to the town to get 300 pounds of wheat milled and handle the household separation.”

Lin Heng came over, and his father handed him two certificates and the household registration book, which he had gotten from the village.

“Alright.” Lin Heng nodded. Separating the household was good—it would make things easier when he opened the company.

After moving 600 pounds of wheat into the house, Lin Heng and his older brother took the cart to the main road and used an ox to pull the 300 pounds of wheat to the town to be milled.

The milling shop in town was owned by the Cheng family. They became wealthy by milling grains for others and selling some noodles, making them well-known in the town as a millionaire family.

They owned two motorcycles and a tractor.

“Money is great. Look at how nice their house is,” Lin Yue said enviously.

“Don’t worry, big brother, we’ll have one too before long,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“Ha!” A laugh came from nearby. Lin Heng turned and saw it was probably the Cheng family’s daughter.

When she saw Lin Heng looking at her, she quickly went back inside.

“Ha ha, they’re laughing at us,” Lin Yue laughed and patted Lin Heng on the shoulder. “But I believe in you, brother. Everyone starts from somewhere.”

“It’s fine, big brother. When we have money, I’ll buy this place for you,” Lin Heng smiled slightly.

He clearly remembered that the Cheng family’s uncle loved to gamble. In his previous life, he had been caught and lost everything. Eventually, even the machines were sold.

“Let’s build our own place. Buying from them is boring. Come on, let’s go mill the wheat.” Lin Heng tied the ox and they both carried the wheat inside.

Since there were only two places in Huangtan Town that milled grain, they had to wait in line.

After more than two hours, it was finally their turn.

“That was fast. We’ve been grinding for days, but the machine finished in half an hour and the flour is so fine and white,” Lin Yue said, moving the flour out.

“It’s fast. That’s why everyone comes here to mill their grain.”

Lin Heng smiled, saying the 1.5 yuan they paid for 300 pounds of milling was still not cheap.

After packing everything, the two went to the police station to handle the household separation. With the village’s proof, the process was straightforward.

The registration was completed in a few minutes, and they just had to come back in a month to pick it up.

“Little brother, do you think the fish in the Huangtan River are easy to catch?” Lin Yue looked at the riverbank.

“Of course, they’re easy to catch. When I have time, I’ll take you fishing. They don’t even know what a hook is,” Lin Heng smiled, knowing his older brother had now fully become a fishing enthusiast.

(The end of this chapter)