Time passed by second by second.
Finally, a faint 'rustling' sound entered his ears.
Xu Fan suddenly opened his eyes; he instinctively held his breath, his muscles tensing.
The sound grew closer and closer.
He saw a plump wild rabbit cautiously emerge from the bushes.
Its red eyes scanned its surroundings warily, but its attention was immediately drawn to the wild vegetables next to the trap.
The wild rabbit approached little by little, its nose twitching, smelling the fragrance of the wild vegetables, and extended its front paws to pull at them.
Snap!
A soft sound.
The snare tightened instantly!
The wild rabbit let out a terrified shriek and struggled desperately.
Xu Fan immediately rushed out from behind the tree, reached the trap in a few steps, and quickly knocked the wild rabbit unconscious with the handle of his wood-chopping knife.
He succeeded!
His heart pounded violently, not from fear, but from excitement!
He took the wild rabbit out of the trap and held it in his hand.
This rabbit weighed at least five or six catties; although it wasn't large, for a family that had been hungry for three days, it was undoubtedly a delicacy!
With the first experience, the subsequent tasks became much smoother.
He carefully hid the wild rabbit, then returned to the trap to reset it.
Half an hour later, another wild pheasant fell into the trap he had set.
This wild pheasant was also plump and had shiny feathers.
Xu Fan's mood became incredibly joyful.
He tied the two prey with rattan vines and carried them in his hand.
The journey down the mountain was several times faster than when he entered the mountain.
When Xu Fan returned to the village, the sun was already high in the sky.
The people in the village also gradually began their day's labor.
"Oh, isn't that Xu Family's Eldest Son? Where did he go so early in the morning?" It was Xu Laosan's usual sarcastic and mean face again.
He was sitting at his doorstep, legs crossed, a look of superiority on his face.
Xu Fan ignored him and simply walked quickly towards his own courtyard.
"Oh, what's he carrying? It can't be a rock, can it? Look how happy he is!" Another idler joined in the jeering.
"Exactly, the Xu Family is so poor they can't even afford to eat, what good could he possibly have?"
Xu Fan's footsteps paused for a moment.
He knew this was the usual attitude of the villagers.
Poor people, in their eyes, were just for entertainment.
He didn't look back, but deliberately held the wild rabbit and wild pheasant in his hand higher.
The two plump bodies swayed in the sunlight, looking especially conspicuous.
Xu Laosan and the idlers' laughter abruptly stopped.
They stiffly stared at the prey in Xu Fan's hand.
"Wha...what is that?"
"A rabbit! And a wild pheasant!"
"When did this Xu Family's Eldest Son learn to hunt?!"
Shock, disbelief, jealousy... various complex emotions intertwined on Xu Laosan's face.
Yesterday he was still mocking Xu Fan for being on the verge of starvation, and today he returned with two plump wild animal animals?
Xu Fan ignored them and pushed open his courtyard gate.
"Father! Mother! I'm back!"
Xu Chang and Yan Aini, who were anxiously waiting in the courtyard, suddenly turned around.
When they saw what Xu Fan was carrying in his hands, both of them were petrified.
"Fan'er...Fan'er, this...this is?" Yan Aini's voice trembled; she thought she was hallucinating from hunger.
"It's a rabbit and a wild pheasant!" Xu Fan held up the prey, shaking it in front of his parents, "We'll have meat for lunch today!"
Several younger siblings rushed out of the house upon hearing the commotion, and when they saw the prey in Xu Fan's hands, their eyes widened, and they kept swallowing their saliva.
"Meat! It's meat!" Six-year-old younger sister Xu Wenwen was the happiest, clapping her little hands and shouting in a childish voice.
Xu Chang walked forward, trembling, and reached out his rough hand to take the wild rabbit, his eyes instantly turning red.
"Good! Good! Good!" He said 'good' three times in a row, unable to say anything else.
"Quick! Quick, boil the water!" Yan Aini finally came back to her senses, excitedly incoherent, "Fan'er, you...you wait, Mother will cook for you right away!"
She took the wild pheasant and turned to run to the kitchen, her steps much lighter.
Xu Fan looked at his family's surprised expressions, and a warm current surged through his heart.
He walked to the kitchen and watched his mother prepare the game, a long-lost smile gracing her face.
"Mother, let me do it," Xu Fan said.
You tried cooking and unlocked a new skill: Cooking (Beginner 0/100).
You tried adding special Materials to your cooking, Cooking proficiency +5.
He took the wild rabbit from his mother's hands.
He first skinned and gutted the wild rabbit, his movements clean and efficient.
Then he cut the prepared rabbit meat into pieces and also cleaned the wild pheasant.
"Mother, get all the oil in the house, and that bit of salt too," Xu Fan said to Yan Aini.
Yan Aini was stunned: "Fan'er, that oil and salt are for New Year's..."
"Mother, now is New Year's!"
Xu Fan knew that only by letting his family eat their fill would they have the strength to survive.
Yan Aini looked at her son's undeniable gaze and finally nodded, taking out a small jar of oil and a pinch of salt from the cupboard.
Xu Fan started a fire and set up the pot.
He put the rabbit and chicken meat into the pot, first dry-frying them to remove moisture, then adding a little oil and salt.
Cooking proficiency +1.
He kept stir-frying, perfectly controlling the heat.
As his proficiency increased, he could anticipate what to do next, when to add water, and when to take the pot off the fire.
Soon, a rich aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen, filling the entire courtyard.
This aroma was different from ordinary meat; it also contained the leaves of the Spiritual Plant Xu Fan had brought from the mountain.
"It smells so good..." Xu Wenwen couldn't help but sniff, her eyes brightly fixed on the kitchen.
Xu Chang sat in the courtyard, smelling this familiar yet long-lost aroma of meat, and his tears could no longer be held back, silently streaming down the furrows of his face.
How many years had it been since the house smelled of meat?
The scent of meat wafted out of the courtyard and into the outside.
"What's that smell?!"
"It's the smell of meat!"
"The Xu Family?! How could the Xu Family have the smell of meat?"
The villagers followed the scent, one by one coming out of their homes.
When they saw the curling smoke rising from the Xu Family's courtyard and smelled the rich aroma of meat, everyone was shocked.
Xu Laosan's face turned even more ashen; he had just mocked Xu Fan yesterday for being on the verge of starvation, and today the Xu Family was eating meat!
He suddenly stood up and quickly walked towards the Xu Family's house.
"Xu Family's Eldest Son! Where did you get this meat?!" Xu Laosan walked to the Xu Family's courtyard gate, pointed at Xu Fan's nose, and demanded sharply.
Xu Fan poked his head out of the kitchen, looked at the displeased Xu Laosan, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Xu Laosan, my family's meat, of course, came from hunting in the mountains."
"Xu Fan!" He raised his voice, sharp and shrill, "You sickling, unable to carry anything, where did you get the ability to hunt?"
"Is this meat legitimately sourced? Don't tell me it was stolen from somewhere, bringing shame to our entire village!"
As soon as these words came out, the few villagers who had gathered around, drawn by the smell of meat, immediately began to whisper.
"Yes, Xu Family's Eldest Son was on the verge of death from illness just yesterday."
"Qingyang Mountain is so dangerous; even the old hunters in the village don't dare to enter easily. How could he have caught wild animal ?"
"Steal? It can't be... If he stole from someone's house, that would be a big deal."
Once the seed of doubt was planted, it began to sprout wildly in people's hearts.
After all, the Xu Family's poverty was an impression etched into the bones of the entire village; a pauper suddenly eating meat was inherently illogical.