Chapter 16: Deep in the Mountains

Her niece was beautiful, with sweet and regular features, and she was the darling of the household. If she were to spend her days with Dong Zhiqing, their life together would be miserable.

Now that Yingying was still unmarried, her cousin's wife might pamper her a bit, but once this girl got married, her in-laws certainly wouldn't spoil her like that.

And once her cousin's wife got old, whom could this girl rely on for help?

"Silly girl, don't think I'm being too meddlesome; I just don't approve of you and Dong Zhiqing," her cousin's wife declared. "You're pretty and educated, and once your third brother has spent more time at the transport team,

he might find you a job. By then, you could transfer your household registration to the city. Wouldn't it be a waste to marry a guy like Dong Wenzhong?"

As Wang Lanhua spoke, her disdain for Dong Zhiqing in her expression was indescribable.

Xu Ying, looking at her aunt, who seemed even more enthusiastic than her own mother, felt her heart warm. She smiled and said, "Auntie, I'll listen to you and my parents. I won't associate with Dong Zhiqing anymore."

"Really?" Wang Lanhua exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my goodness, the girl has finally seen the light."

"Really," Xu Ying nodded and said, and one might have thought her aunt to be her own mother if they didn't know any better.

Grasping Xu Ying's hand, Wang Lanhua smiled broadly, "Good, if you've figured it out, your mom will definitely be happy.

Alright then, you go up the hill with Shitou; I need to go and chat with them."

With a sole in her hand, Wang Lanhua left, her mouth unable to rest for even a moment—without gossiping she'd get itchy lips.

"Old sisters, let's continue where we left off, shall we?"

Xu Ying, taking Shitou and Hu Zi, continued walking toward the mountain.

Shitou, with a carrier on his back, looked curiously at Xu Ying and asked, "Little aunt, do you really not like Dong Zhiqing anymore?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ying laughed and turned to look at him, "What, you don't believe your little aunt? I really don't like him anymore. Do you even know what liking someone means, kid?"

Shitou shook his head, then nodded a bit, "I know little aunt liked Dong Zhiqing; you used to nag about wanting to marry him. So now that you don't like him, does that mean you won't marry him?"

Xu Ying stroked Shitou's head, "That's right, I won't marry him. Your little aunt doesn't want to get married anymore; I just want to stay with you guys."

Not getting married, how could that be possible?

But it's good that little aunt isn't marrying Dong Zhiqing. Previously, his mom would scold his dad every night, even saying little aunt had crap in her eyes for liking Dong Wenzhong.

Now, finally, little aunt's eyes are clean.

Looks like falling into the river did some good, washing all the crap off little aunt's eyes.

Xu Ying had no idea what this naughty kid was thinking; if she did, she would definitely pick up a shoe sole to give him a good whack.

The three bypassed the work site and took a shortcut up the mountain.

This time Xu Ying carried a bamboo basket too.

"Shitou, Hu Zi, come here, little aunt has some cookies for you," Xu Ying said as she took out a few scallion-flavored cookies with their wrappers removed from her basket.

Hu Zi, with small steps, ran over first and took the cookie from Xu Ying. He swallowed his saliva and said politely, "Thank you, little aunt."

Shitou came over with the carrier and eyed the cookies in Xu Ying's hand, his mouth watering, "Little aunt, have you eaten?"

"I've eaten already. These are for the two of you," Xu Ying gave the rest of the cookies to Shitou.

Taking a bite of the cookie, Shitou savored the fragrant aroma, his face radiating contentment, "Little aunt, these cookies taste even better than the flaky biscuits."

"Big brother, what's a flaky biscuit?" Hu Zi, who had never eaten one, asked curiously, blinking his eyes.

Hearing this, Shitou glanced guiltily at Xu Ying, "Flaky biscuits are sweet and crispy. These are salty; it's my first time having them."

He had had flaky biscuits just once before when he saw little aunt eating them and got so envious that he stole a piece.

But little aunt didn't seem to know about it.

"You guys eat first; I want to see if there's any game around," Xu Ying said as she turned her head to look around.

At that, Shitou immediately thought of the fish soup from lunch yesterday and the wild chicken from dinner. His eyes brightened as he nodded, "Little aunt, I'll keep an eye on Hu Zi; you go ahead."

"But you shouldn't go into the deep mountains, there are man-eating monsters there, just look around nearby," Dong Wenzhong instructed with the seriousness of an adult, which amused Xu Ying. She smiled and said, "Little aunt understands, then I'll be going."

Shitou nodded his head and watched Xu Ying leave. The brothers sat together and happily started eating their cookies.

"Big brother, little aunt is really nice," Hu Zi said, his mouth curving into a smile as he ate the cookies.

The cookies were truly delicious.

Shitou nodded: "Little aunt is so good to us, when we grow up and start making money, we'll spend it all on little aunt," Shitou declared.

Hu Zi immediately agreed, "Okay."

Xu Ying, carrying her basket, walked towards the riverbank she visited last time. Her luck wasn't as good as before; not only did she not encounter any wild chickens, she didn't even find a feather, but she did find five duck eggs.

Worried that the duck eggs would break in her basket, she directly stored them in her space.

Xu Ying thought about the deep mountains with their eerie reputation and suddenly felt a surge of eagerness to try. She had seen man-eating zombies and mutated animals during the apocalypse.

She had fought against these creatures before, so she was not afraid of the fierce beasts in the mountains at all.

Xu Ying walked towards the deep mountains. As she went deeper, the light grew dimmer. The tall, straight trees blocked most of the sunlight, with only dappled, sparse light filtering through the leaves.

Now and then, the rustling of leaves in the wind sounded almost like sobbing, making the deep mountains seem particularly terrifying.

If it had been the Xu Ying from before, she probably would have been screaming in terror, but having gone through the trials of the apocalypse, she had long since developed courage.

She had quite a few weapons in her space, all of them new types developed during the apocalypse, each with considerable power.

For safety, Xu Ying pulled out a short knife and a set of bow and arrows from her space.

This bow and arrows, she procured from a specialized store during the apocalypse. The bow was made of bamboo, which was very flexible, and the bowstring was made of the high-quality Dacron rope, known for its weight-bearing strength.

The arrows were also made of bamboo. Back then, she had taken quite a few arrows, and now there were at least a few thousand in her space, but only ten were usable at the moment.

Armed with the bow and arrows, Xu Ying started wandering around the deep mountains.

Because few people ventured into the deep mountains, it was rich in resources. Just a few steps in, Xu Ying already spotted a wild rabbit. She immediately picked up the bow and arrows, pulled the string, and aimed at the rabbit.

Then with a swift release of her hand, the arrow shot out in an instant.

Watching the rabbit fall, Xu Ying quickly moved towards it.

Her archery skills were not that great, and although it wasn't a lethal hit, she had shot the rabbit in the leg.

She tossed the immobile wild rabbit on the ground into her space.

Xu Ying continued walking deeper into the mountains. It was not long before she heard the sound of a river flowing. Following the sound, she saw a large river, and beside it was a flock of wild chickens.

This time, she didn't use the bow. Instead, she chose to use blades, taking out a handful of ice blades from her space and throwing them towards the flock.

A shower of blades spread like blooming flowers, and the wild chickens hit by the blades fell to the ground, while the rest, startled, flapped their wings and flew away.

Out of the dozen or so wild chickens, Xu Ying managed to kill three, which left her quite satisfied.

The only pity was the ice blades, which were one-time use. Luckily, there was a good supply of ice blades in the bag. As long as she continued to work hard to unlock her space, well, she would have everything she needed.

She swiftly walked over to the wild chickens, gathered some grass to tie them together, and then threw them all into her space.

As Xu Ying walked farther into the deep mountains, she suddenly heard the roar of a wild beast, an eerie sound that sent chills down the spine.

Her ears perked up as she moved cautiously towards the sound, only to see a group of snarling wolves on the slope in the distance, with a large wild pig lying on the ground.

Next to the wild pig stood a man, his clothes torn and ragged from the wolf pack's attacks, revealing his well-developed muscles.

The sight of his blocky chest and abs at a glance exuded a sense of strength, robustness, and a strong sense of security.

Xu Ying took one look and gasped, "What an amazing physique."