Mercenary Princess - Chapter 149
Seeing his mother's posture, Gouwa knew her mission for the day was over. His two almond-shaped eyes flashed with a dazzling light!
"Doggy, what do you want to eat?"
"Round ball!" Fatty pointed at the apple in Rongyue's hand, and drool spilled all over the table.
Rongyue's face fell: "This isn't called Round Ball! Have you already forgotten what I just said? Apple, remember that, if you say it wrong again, I'll eat this apple clean, not even leaving you the crumbs!"
"Mommy's naughty, Mommy's naughty!" When Gouwa heard that her mother wanted to eat her round ball, she got anxious and kicked her legs to pounce on the apple.
This little brat! She actually called her mother bad over a mere apple!
Is she not even as good as an apple?
With her face dark, Rongyue took a big bite out of the red apple.
The action of grabbing the apple froze instantly.
Disappointed, Gouwa glanced at the incomplete apple, pouted, and muttered, "The round ball isn't round anymore. Who wants an incomplete ball..."
Retracting her short arms, Xing Tong once again spotted the plump grapes. Her chubby body busily moved closer to the other side of the round table, and with all her might, she picked up a full plate of grapes, stuffing it into her bosom as if guarding against Rong Yue.
Pshaw, who cares!
While munching on a juicy and sweet apple, Rongyue glanced sideways, then casually turned her face away disdainfully, admiring the sycamore trees outside the window.
"Knock knock knock!"
"who?"
"It's me, Zhang Daniu."
He picked up a walnut from the table and flicked it against the door latch. The door creaked open, and Zhang Daniu, dressed in a gray coarse cloth short coat, appeared in the doorway.
"Brother Zhang, please come in!" Rongyue put down the apple in her hand, gave a polite smile, and said to Zhang Daniu, who was standing awkwardly outside the door.
He blushed when Rongyue called him "Big Brother".
He rubbed his hands together and slowly shuffled in, but stopped after a couple of steps. He pulled a neatly folded ledger from his pocket, scratched his head sheepishly, and said, "I learned how to do this ledger from someone else, I don't even know if it's good..."
"Brother Zhang, you're too kind. I trust you and Aunt Liu completely. Whether the accounts are kept or not doesn't matter much; I trust you both." Having nothing better to do, Rongyue made several jars of flower petal wine and gave one to Aunt Liu and Zhang Daniu respectively. Later, she didn't know how the two of them discussed it, but feeling they had received too much kindness from her and wanting to do something for her, they volunteered to take the wine she made to the city to sell. Rongyue knew their intentions and let them have their way. Being naturally lazy, Rongyue simply told them how to make the wine, and they would make it, splitting the profits fifty-fifty. Rongyue initially didn't want to, but seeing their insistence, she couldn't refuse.
Hearing Rongyue say this, Zhang Daniu was deeply moved. He stood there wanting to say a few words of gratitude, but he was so dull that he couldn't think of anything to say. His face turned red with embarrassment, and he wished he could slap his own dull head a few times.
Seeing the bright sunshine outside, Rongyue glanced at the dog beside her, who was happily munching on its food, and thought to herself, "This is such a rare good day. Wouldn't it be a waste not to take the dog out for a walk and play?"
They could just pack up and go.
Holding the puppy, with Zhang Daniu following behind with a bow and arrow, the three of them walked along the mountain path, listening to the gurgling stream, breathing in the fresh mountain air, and admiring the beautiful scenery. It was a delightful and pleasant experience.
"Mom, Feifei!" Xing's eyes widened as she watched the grasshopper whizz past her. Gouwa waved his hands, seemingly wanting to imitate the grasshopper and whizz past Rongyue as well.
He jumped into the grass, and a swarm of grasshoppers instantly took flight!
With a swift movement, she caught the struggling little creature firmly in her hand.
"Look, this is called a grasshopper." Rongyue patiently explained as she picked up the bright green grasshopper in her palm.
"Grasshopper, grasshopper..." She reached out eagerly to catch it, but the grasshopper was very slippery. It slipped away from Gouwa's soft little hand and pounced straight at her cute face.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Gouwa let out a loud wail in fright.
Suppressing a laugh, Rongyue pinched the grasshopper off her cheek, intending to tease her, but the roar of a tiger coming from the mountain stream made Rongyue's expression change instantly.
"Big Bug!" Zhang Daniu's face turned pale. He quickly reached for the quiver on his back, drew out an arrow, nocked it, and prepared for battle.
"Hold him!" She snatched the bow and arrow from his hand, handed Gouwa to him, and told him to follow carefully behind her. She herself slowly stepped forward following the sound of the tiger's roar.
There are tigers in these mountains! If they aren't eliminated, they'll become a threat sooner or later. She can't allow any safety risks to exist in her neighborhood!
Zhang Daniu felt his manly pride was hurt by having a woman scout ahead, so he quickened his pace to catch up with Rongyue: "Madam Liu, perhaps I should..."
"Shut up!"
An unquestionable rebuke. Quietly listening to the surrounding sounds, following the noise, parting layer after layer of tall grass, cautiously probing forward…
"Aww—"
With a swift movement, he drew his bow and shot an arrow. The arrow, like a thunderbolt, hurtled towards the roaring tiger in the distance with overwhelming force in the blink of an eye!
The bullet pierced straight through the tiger's throat. The tiger's roar was cut short by a groan that was barely audible. The tiger swayed and fell to the ground with a thud. It never understood why it, which had been so majestic just moments before, had died.
Ignoring the dumbfounded Zhang Daniu, Rongyue drew another arrow from his quiver, aimed at the tiger, and fired a solid shot. Seeing that it remained motionless and dead, she finally felt relieved and handed the bow and arrow to Zhang Daniu. She then took Gouwa from her and calmly instructed Daniu, "You're the one who shot this tiger, remember that. Oh, and by the way, skin this tiger. It's very cold in winter; use its skin to make a cloak, it'll keep you very warm."
Nodding mechanically, Zhang Daniu proceeded to peel the tiger's skin as Rongyue instructed. He was completely stunned, thinking about Rongyue's swift and precise movements just now, and he simply couldn't reconcile such skill with this seemingly frail woman...
Gouwa's eyes gleamed, and her gaze towards her mother was filled with admiration. "Mom is so amazing! She can defeat such a huge and terrifying monster with just a thin stick! She's truly incredible!"
"Madam Liu! There's another person here!"
Someone's there? Rongyue looked over suspiciously, and then she spotted the white figure under the tiger's claws.
It turned out that the view had been partially blocked by the tall grass, which was why they hadn't seen the person who had been caught by the tiger.
Stepping over the tall grass, Rongyue walked over and glanced at the back that had been mangled and bloodied by the tiger. She frowned and asked, "Is it still breathing?"
"There's still hope, but we need to find a doctor quickly to apply medicine to him. Judging from his condition, he probably won't last much longer..."
"Oh," Rongyue responded indifferently, showing little reaction. The lives and deaths of others were not her concern.