OBS Chapter 418 What, not exciting enough?
Chapter 418 What, not exciting enough?
After leaving the old Party Secretary's house, Li Xiangyang and Li Xiaoyun walked home along the moonlit path.
A cold wind swept by, and Li Xiaoyun instinctively wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter around herself.
"Are you really planning to take them hunting tomorrow?" Li Xiaoyun couldn't help but ask, her voice tinged with worry.
Li Xiangyang gently held his wife's hand: "Don't worry, we'll just take a walk around the village. Nothing will happen."
Li Xiaoyun said in a low voice, "I'm worried you'll offend Director Zhao. After all, you're still only nominally employed by the Forestry Bureau, what if..."
"You're overthinking it," Li Xiangyang said with a smile, shaking his head. "Director Zhao won't take this kind of trivial matter to heart. Besides, I won't deliberately make things difficult for that kid."
"But Qingxuan clearly wants you to..."
“I know what I'm doing,” Li Xiangyang interrupted his wife. “I reckon taking them for a walk around the neighborhood will be fine. If Zhao Minghui can't even outrun Chu Qingxuan, he'll naturally feel ashamed and slink away.”
Li Xiaoyun sighed, "That girl is really something. If she doesn't like someone, she should just reject them directly. Why beat around the bush like that?"
“We don’t understand city life,” Li Xiangyang smiled, gently stroking his wife’s belly. “Don’t worry about it; it’s not good for the baby.”
Li Xiaoyun rolled her eyes at him, but a slight smile played on her lips: "Then you'd better be careful tomorrow, don't cause any trouble."
"Okay, okay, stop being so fussy." Li Xiangyang pretended to be disgusted, which made Li Xiaoyun punch him on the arm.
The couple chatted and laughed as they quickly arrived home. Li's mother and Li Xiaohua were already asleep, and the yard was quiet.
The next morning, just as the rooster crowed, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.
Li Xiangyang, dressed neatly, opened the door and saw Zhao Minghui wearing a brand-new hunting outfit, carrying a bulging backpack, his face full of excitement.
"Brother Li, I'm here!" Zhao Minghui warmly extended his hand. "Are you ready?"
"Okay." Li Xiangyang responded briefly, turned around, and took out his equipment from the house. "Let's go."
"Wait a minute!" Chu Qingxuan's voice came from behind. She walked quickly towards them, dressed in simple but neat clothes. "I want to go too!"
Zhao Minghui's eyes lit up: "Qingxuan, you're here too? That's great!"
Chu Qingxuan glanced at him noncommittally, then turned to Li Xiangyang and said, "Brother Xiangyang, my grandfather said he wants to eat a wild rabbit, so I came to help."
Li Xiangyang chuckled inwardly, knowing this was just Chu Qingxuan's excuse, but he still nodded: "Alright, let's go together. But listen to me, the mountains are not like the city; one wrong move and you could be in danger."
"Don't worry, Xiangyang, I won't cause you any trouble," Chu Qingxuan replied with a smile.
Seeing the interaction between the two, Zhao Minghui's expression darkened slightly, but he quickly regained his enthusiasm: "Great! Let's go together, it'll be fun!"
The three set off. Li Xiangyang led them along the path beside the village towards the foot of the mountain.
"Where are we going hunting?" Zhao Minghui asked curiously, while proudly pulling a folding knife from his backpack. "Look, I prepared this especially for you!"
Chu Qingxuan glanced at it and laughed mockingly, "What, you still want to fight wild beasts hand-to-hand?"
Zhao Minghui's face flushed red instantly: "This...this is for self-defense."
"Let's just wander around the foot of the mountain today and see if we can catch a few wild rabbits," Li Xiangyang said calmly, hoping to fool the two of them and finish quickly.
"Just catching wild rabbits?" Zhao Minghui was somewhat disappointed. "I thought we could hunt a wild boar or something."
Chu Qingxuan sneered, "What ambition! But can you really do it? Don't get scared stiff at the sight of a wild boar..."
"How could I!" Zhao Minghui hurriedly tried to explain, "I'm just..."
"Alright," Li Xiangyang interrupted the two, "Let's learn how to set traps to catch rabbits first."
Next, Li Xiangyang led the two to look for rabbit tracks near the foot of the mountain, teaching them how to distinguish the tracks of different animals and how to set traps.
Chu Qingxuan learned quickly and was able to set up simple traps independently in no time.
Although Zhao Minghui was clumsy, he was indeed working hard to learn, much more diligently than Li Xiangyang had expected.
Several hours passed, and they had set up seven or eight traps.
“Let’s come back and check on the results tomorrow,” Li Xiangyang said, patting the dirt off his hands.
"That's it?" Zhao Minghui was somewhat surprised. "Aren't we going any deeper?"
Chu Qingxuan glanced at him sideways: "What, not exciting enough?"
Zhao Minghui straightened his back: "I just want to experience real hunting. Otherwise, who will believe I went into the mountains with a renowned hunter?"
His words surprised Li Xiangyang. It seemed that this kid genuinely regarded this hunting trip as an honor, and not just as a means to pursue Chu Qingxuan.
"How about..." Chu Qingxuan suddenly looked at Li Xiangyang with a smile, "Brother Xiangyang, shall we go further in? Maybe we'll see wild boars!"
“This…” Li Xiangyang saw through Chu Qingxuan’s intention and wanted to refuse, but seeing the expectation in Zhao Minghui’s eyes, he hesitated.
"Brother Xiangyang, come on!" Chu Qingxuan pleaded. "I want to see how the great hero Zhao will react to a wild boar."
Spurred on by this, Zhao Minghui immediately puffed out his chest: "I'll go! I promise I won't hold you back!"
Li Xiangyang had no choice but to nod: "Alright, let's go a little further in, but listen to me, don't do anything reckless."
The three continued walking into the mountains.
Li Xiangyang deliberately chose a relatively safe path, while occasionally pointing out the potential dangers.
After walking for about half an hour, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes ahead.
"Shh, don't make a sound." Li Xiangyang lowered his voice and gestured for the two to stop.
Chu Qingxuan immediately fell silent, while Zhao Minghui nervously swallowed hard, his hand unconsciously reaching for the folding knife at his waist.
The bushes were making more and more noise; the branches were shaking and the leaves were flying everywhere.
"What...what is it?" Zhao Minghui's voice trembled, and his face began to turn pale.
Just then, the bushes parted abruptly, and a wild boar, shaking its head, charged out. Fresh grass and dark red bloodstains clung to its dark brown tusks, trembling slightly with its heavy breathing.
"what!"
Upon seeing this, Zhao Minghui cried out in surprise, his legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground.
Chu Qingxuan was also startled, but quickly calmed down and hid behind Li Xiangyang.
"Don't move!" Li Xiangyang said in a deep voice, while slowly raising the hunting rifle in his hand.
The wild boar sensed danger, stopped its charge, and stared warily at the three of them, making low grunting noises.
Being so close to the wild boar, seeing its gleaming tusks, Zhao Minghui's limbs trembled uncontrollably. Images of tusks piercing his body flashed uncontrollably through his mind, and his stomach clenched, almost making him vomit.
"Brother Xiangyang..." Chu Qingxuan called out nervously in a low voice.
"Don't panic, retreat slowly," Li Xiangyang whispered. "It shouldn't attack us first."