Chapter 87: Outdoor Cooking

What is happiness? Is it a cat eating fish, a dog eating meat, Ultraman fighting little monsters? Or is it possessing untold riches, a harem of wives and concubines? Perhaps it is having the heartthrob Du Minjun? Ask a thousand people, and you will receive a thousand answers. Everyone has their own unique definition of happiness. In truth, happiness is an experience, a feeling. It brings joy and delight—at this moment, Xiao Lin and Wang Yuqing are the very picture of happiness in the eyes of others.

“Hey, Xiao Lin, where did you take my Yuqing? You’ve been gone so long!” Tan Linlin, finally bored of playing with the wild rabbit, casually tossed the barely living creature to Xu Tong beside her. Seeing Xiao Lin and Wang Yuqing returning hand in hand, she wrinkled her nose and asked.

“Where could we have gone? We just went to pick some wild vegetables. These are pure, natural, green foods.” Xiao Lin pointed to the basket hanging from his arm.

“Wild vegetables, huh? Let me see.” Tan Linlin muttered as she walked over, lifting the greens in the basket with her hand. They seemed perfectly ordinary, nothing worth her attention. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand in boredom, she suddenly noticed that Wang Yuqing’s cheeks were flushed. She reached out and touched Wang Yuqing’s face, asking mischievously, “Yuqing, picking wild vegetables made your face so red? Oh, I get it…” She dragged out the last words deliberately.

“Oh, it’s not… it’s not what you think. He just kissed me, lightly…” Seeing Tan Linlin’s teasing expression, Wang Yuqing hurried to explain, but stopped midway. Wait, when Xiao Lin kissed her, they shouldn’t have known…

“What? Xiao Lin kissed you?” Tan Linlin had only meant to tease them, but Wang Yuqing was so honest, she had unwittingly revealed a major scoop.

“Pfft!” Xu Tong, who had just taken a sip of water, spat it out. He looked at Xiao Lin with admiration—this brother managed to take advantage of Wang Yuqing in such a short time. Xiao Lin, meanwhile, looked at Wang Yuqing, exasperated—this girl was just too straightforward.

Seeing Tan Linlin’s shocked expression, Wang Yuqing suddenly realized her blunder. She punched Tan Linlin angrily—so embarrassing! Stamping her foot, she was mortified.

“Come on, darling, tell me all about it,” Tan Linlin leaned in, her head resting on Wang Yuqing’s chest, her face full of gossip.

“Here we go, wild pheasant’s here!” At that moment, Er Pang walked back carrying two brilliantly colored wild pheasants, interrupting Tan Linlin’s interrogation. Tan Linlin shot him an angry glare.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?” Seeing Tan Linlin’s murderous gaze, Er Pang scratched the back of his head. Then he noticed Wang Yuqing’s flushed face, quickly put down the pheasants, and ran over, worried. “Yuqing, what happened to your face? Why is it so red, did you get burned?”

With a thud, Xiao Lin collapsed to the ground. Wang Yuqing’s cheeks grew even redder at Er Pang’s words. She muttered, “I’m fine,” and then, embarrassed, ran to the creek to splash cold water on her burning face.

Tan Linlin burst into peals of laughter, doubled over, pointing at Er Pang. “Burned? Hahaha… you’re just… too adorable… oh, my stomach!” She laughed so hard she was out of breath. Xu Tong hurried over to lead her away.

Er Pang couldn’t fathom what Tan Linlin found so funny; honest as he was, he had no idea of girls’ thoughts.

“Xiao Lin, is Yuqing alright?”

“She’s fine, she’s fine. Er Pang, you caught some impressive pheasants, they're huge!” Xiao Lin, with a resigned expression, stood up and changed the subject.

When Er Pang heard Xiao Lin praise his catch, he perked up and began to recount how he’d managed to nab them.

After another ten minutes, everyone decided it was time to start cooking, as there was still an afternoon task: catching wild mountain sparrows. Er Pang originally wanted to kill the wild rabbit and roast it, but Tan Linlin and Wang Yuqing stopped him, saying it was too cute, and killing it would be too cruel. Xu Tong looked at the rabbit in his hands and sighed quietly—it wouldn’t live much longer anyway. The poor creature had been so abused by Tan Linlin that its ears drooped sadly.

Er Pang had no choice but to relent, and instead killed the two wild pheasants he’d caught. He fetched water from the creek to clean them, built a rack, threaded them with wire, gathered some dry wood, arranged it in a pile, and lit it with matches to begin roasting the pheasants. Xiao Lin and Xu Tong dug a pit, set up a small pot, and fetched creek water to make a pot of wild vegetable soup.

After about ten minutes of bustling activity, the wild pheasants were roasted to a golden brown, their savory aroma making everyone’s mouths water. The wild vegetable soup wafted its own fresh scent through the air. Er Pang, satisfied with his work, sprinkled cumin powder, salt, and other seasonings onto the pheasants, cut them up with a knife, and used a few small bowls to serve everyone some vegetable soup. As they ate the fragrant roast pheasant and sipped the refreshing soup, surrounded by the beauty of nature, happiness filled everyone’s hearts. Xiao Lin couldn’t resist standing up, gazing at the blue sky and surveying the earth below.

“Countless heroes bow before beauty; life is infinitely wonderful, and we are the sunshine of our motherland.”

The first half drew nods from everyone, but when Xiao Lin finished, Wang Yuqing rolled her eyes. “If Grandpa Mao knew you’d changed his words, he’d beat you senseless.”

“Haha. Grandpa Mao would never bear to harm us fine young people,” Xiao Lin replied, brimming with spirit.

“What are you laughing at? Are you so full you can’t help yourself? Er Pang, come on, take us to catch wild sparrows!” Tan Linlin wiped her mouth, patted her satisfied belly, and immediately set her sights on the sparrows.

“Fatty, I think we should rest a bit before going. It’s still early, and besides, we just finished eating—we shouldn’t do anything too strenuous,” Xu Tong said, picking his teeth with a toothpick.

Hearing Xu Tong’s words, Wang Yuqing, whose eyes had just brightened, dimmed again. She wanted to go catch sparrows too; girls always have a special affection for small animals.

“Er Pang, let’s go now,” Xiao Lin said, noticing Wang Yuqing’s small disappointment and understanding her heart.

“Alright!” Er Pang agreed. Three to one. Xu Tong had to abandon his plans for a rest. They packed up their things and followed Er Pang toward another mountain. The hill they were now on was treeless, while wild mountain sparrows live in tree holes, so they had to go to another mountain to catch them.