Du Jianguo found several straight wooden sticks in the forest and sharpened one end to make them into arrows. He prepared over ten of them before gathering his gear and heading home.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he rushed over to Liu Xiuyun, clutching the bow and arrows with excitement. “Wife, look! I’ve prepared my hunting gear! And there’s a dog outside that I borrowed from Village Chief Liu!”

Liu Xiuyun only glanced at the items and her eyes filled with disappointment. A bitter, mocking smile touched her lips. “Du Jianguo, you really think you’re cut out for hunting?”

Without looking at him again, she turned toward the kitchen to start preparing dinner. She clearly did not believe him.

Du Jianguo stood frozen for a moment, sighing inwardly. It was no wonder his wife didn’t believe him; he had never truly made her feel secure before. It seemed he would need to actually bring home a hunted animal to prove his change to her.

That night, the house fell back into the silent, cold atmosphere of their estrangement. The next morning, just as dawn broke, Du Jianguo headed to the village office.

Before five o’clock, as the sun was just peeking over the horizon, Sun Liuan, the man in charge of the village livestock, was already squatting by the chicken coop, feeding the birds with a basket of grass.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo,” he called out while scattering feed. “Come eat! The more you eat, the more eggs you’ll lay!”

“Uncle Sun!” Du Jianguo approached with a smile and handed over a small bag of white sugar. “From now on, I’ll learn to care for the animals from you. Please guide me.”

“Oh, oh, what are you doing!” Sun Liuan waved his hands frantically, his face flushing. “I haven’t even finished the mung bean cakes you gave me last time!”

He had originally planned to lay down the law when the boy arrived, to show him who was in charge. Instead, the boy had been so thoughtful that his plan to establish dominance had fallen flat.

Sun Liuan took the sugar and cleared his throat. “I’ve heard about what happened with Zhang Desheng. He deliberately made things difficult for you by canceling your potato digging rights. But there are some hidden benefits to your new job tending the animals.”

“Oh?” Du Jianguo’s eyes lit up. He leaned forward. “Does that mean you can give me two eggs a day, Uncle Sun?”

“Don’t you even think about it!” Sun Liuan was startled and shook his head vigorously, his expression changing. “The number of eggs laid each day is strictly monitored. If you take them home, that would be a major mistake!”

Seeing that Du Jianguo looked disappointed, Sun Liuan added, “What I mean is, the person in charge of the livestock must clean up all the animal waste. This manure is excellent fertilizer for the fields the following year. The team has some freedom in how they distribute it. If you do your job well, I can arrange for your family to get several hundred pounds. That will ensure your crops grow strong next year!”

So all that was this uncle’s “hidden benefit”? The “taste” of this benefit was quite real. However, Du Jianguo understood that for villagers raising crops, this was no small matter. Right now, however, his mind was fixed on hunting.

He didn’t press the issue of fertilizer and instead smiled at Sun Liuan. “Uncle Sun, how many donkeys does our village have?”

Sun Liuan immediately began to count them off with pride. “We have six donkeys in the village right now! One is a pregnant mare who will foal in about two months. The other five are robust and healthy. I take great care of them all! You need to be very attentive when you start.”

“Five donkeys? That’s great!” Du Jianguo’s eyes sparkled with delight, and he nodded enthusiastically. He immediately asked, “Have you fed the donkeys today, Uncle Sun?”

“Not yet,” Sun Liuan wiped his hands.

“Then let me do it!” Du Jianguo jumped in, patting his chest. “I promise to cut and bring back dozens of pounds of fresh grass for them!”

“You’re quick to work,” Sun Liuan said, nodding approvingly. His tone grew warmer. “Good. Work hard! At the end of the month when we calculate work points, I’ll tell the village chief to award you an extra half point.”

Sun Liuan pointed toward the donkey shed and gave Du Jianguo a few detailed instructions on how to feed the donkeys. He explained which donkey was picky and the importance of distributing feed evenly before leaving with his basket to tend to the other livestock.

Du Jianguo entered the shed and immediately saw the donkeys. He couldn’t help but walk up and pat one of the donkeys on its thigh, thinking to himself: These are all valuable assets! He suddenly remembered the taste of donkey meat buns from his past life.

He quickly shook his head. In this era, who has such luck? Not only would no one dare to sacrifice a donkey, but healthy donkeys are vital draft animals and certainly cannot be slaughtered.

No one expected that Du Jianguo didn’t go to cut grass at all. Instead, he harnessed the donkey cart and drove it back to his own home. He loaded the hunting dog and the handmade bow and arrows onto the cart.

He was actually going to take the donkey cart to the back mountain to hunt!

The back mountain was over ten li away from Xiaoan Village. The journey was not short. Even during busy farming seasons, villagers rarely ventured that far. However, the back mountain was rich in wildlife, where one might often see hopping wild rabbits or flapping pheasants.

With the donkey cart, the journey for Du Jianguo was smooth and required very little effort. He felt even more certain that helping Sun Liuan with the animals was the right choice. If he had taken any other job, he wouldn’t have had such freedom to go out.

Soon, the cart arrived at the destination. Du Jianguo tied the cart to a large tree, patted the hunting dog on its rear, and the dog jumped down obediently to follow him.

He walked around the area and spotted plenty of animal droppings. He also noticed a small stream hidden nearby. This gave him confidence: many wild animals must pass through this area daily.

“I’ll choose this spot!” Du Jianguo decided immediately. He took out the whip rope from home, gathered some branches and loose stones, and began setting up traps for small wild game.

He built quite a few traps, working for several hours until sweat beaded on his forehead. Yet, Du Jianguo felt no fatigue because he felt the effort was worth it.

He couldn’t guarantee that every trap would catch something, but with enough traps, luck would eventually be on his side. This method looked time-consuming, but it was the most reliable way to hunt at the moment.

After finishing the traps, Du Jianguo walked to the stream and crouched down to test the water depth. The water was not deep, and small fish could be seen swimming in the clear current.

A new idea formed in his mind. “It seems I can set a fishing net here later. I might catch some big fish.”

This place was truly a Feng Shui treasure spot. Most people would never find a location this far away. If he hadn’t been able to borrow the village donkey cart, he would never have found such a perfect hunting ground.

Du Jianguo felt increasingly satisfied. He couldn’t help but wonder: Zhang Desheng probably doesn’t know about this place yet. By intentionally making things difficult for him, Zhang Desheng had ironically given him this great opportunity.