Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 189 - 187: Regret

Chapter 189: Chapter 187: Regret

When their three teams arrived at the assembly area, the other teams had already eaten.

Seeing that they had brought down not one but two tigers, everyone gathered around in admiration.

Though they were satisfied with their own harvest, now that they had seen what Shen Chengyao’s team had brought in, including these two tigers, they felt ashamed of their own catch.

Although the tigers would be divided among two or three teams, each person could still share several taels of silver.

While they all envied Shen Chengyao’s team, other than Wang Dafu’s team who were extremely envious, the rest only felt a twinge of jealousy.

After everyone had eaten their dry food and rested, the village chief stated, "The roars of these two tigers might have scared off a lot of animals in the vicinity. I propose we call an end to the hunt early tomorrow morning and descend the mountain. What do you think?"

The villagers knew this to be true. They also acknowledged that their catch this year was greater than previous years, so many agreed.

However, a sizable number still wanted to hunt for a bit longer. Nonetheless, succumbing to the majority’s decision, they relented.

As per the usual protocol, one person from each team would stay up to keep watch, with each one standing a half-night shift, and two people rotating shifts throughout the night.

For Xiao’er’s team, the village chief volunteered to take the first half of the night, while Shen Chengyao said he would do the latter half.

Xiao’er had brought sleeping bags and tents, ten in total. Xiao’er had a tent for herself, another one was shared among the three brothers, and the remaining eight were distributed among the team.

In such freezing weather, each tent could accommodate two people. Everyone was willing to crowd in, so two extra tents were available. Shen Chengyao planned to give these to the four oldest men from the other teams.

"Brother Chengyao, spare me a tent. I don’t know what’s wrong with my arm, it goes numb from time to time. I think it’s frozen," pleaded Wang Dafu upon seeing this situation.

"Why should we lend our things to you? You dared to push my father toward a tiger and yet you still have the nerve to ask him for favors!" Jing Hao retorted immediately.

"Who pushed your father? Show your evidence! Who saw it? If no one saw it, then stop slandering me!" Wang Dafu retorted, steaming with anger as this matter was brought up again.

"That’s enough, Hao’er, ignore him!" Xiao’er pulled Jing Hao back.

Jing Hao snorted, returning to sit by the fire.

Naturally, Shen Chengyao also wouldn’t lend to him, and instead moved on to the elderly men. "Uncle Er, Uncle Liang, Uncle Lin, and Uncle Tan, you are all older, why not pair up and share these tents for the night?"

"You’ve always been a respectful boy. We used to say when we saw how mature you were at age three that you’d grow up to be outstanding. And we were right! Now you’re successfully farming your own land as a Marquis," one elderly man affirmed. He recalled a time when Shen Chengyao, just three years old then, was copying them in planting peanuts, proclaiming he would grow up to help his father and not have him work so hard anymore.

Everyone thought young Chengyao was just playing, but he saw how serious the boy was. Although he was slow, he worked diligently for the entire afternoon, managing to plant a strip of land himself!

And he continued to do so every year after that. Everyone was full of praises for him!

He predicted then that this kid would grow up to be exceptional. A glance at him now proved him right; the boy has now grown into a Marquis, managing farmlands.

This was indeed a beautiful misunderstanding.

Shen Chengyao simply laughed lightly when he heard this.

To her disappointment, Xiao’er waited in her tent all night and Bai Tian never returned.

Could he have lost his way? Xiao’er wondered while packing up the tent.

"No, he most likely hasn’t finished his mission yet," Tian Bai speculated.

Xiao’er felt somewhat sorry for Bai Tian and thought of comforting him later.

As day broke, everyone got up.

They broke up into smaller groups to descend, hoping to catch some game along the way down. Why not?

They returned to the village before nightfall.

With the fruits of the hunt, Shen Chengyao thought he could give a helping hand and proposed to purchase everything the villagers had caught.

The prices were market value so the villagers were happy to sell.

After discussing with Xiao’er, Shen Chengyao offered to buy the two tigers at 120 taels each.

Wang Dafu was not pleased upon hearing this, "Tigers are rare creatures. They should be at least 150 taels each!"

A hundred and fifty taels would be the price for a tiger with a perfect pelt!

Hearing this, Xiao’er replied, "Never mind then. We’ve already bought a lot for the restaurant. It would be a struggle to consume these two tigers, let alone sell them elsewhere."

She planned to soak the tiger bones in medicinal liquor so it can be sold later on at the pharmacy, but she wasn’t willing to overpay!

"That’s better. I might even be able to sell them for a few more taels." Wang Dafu felt that Shen Chengyao was only trying to take advantage of the villagers.

Now that the year-end was near, many restaurants and rich households loved buying game to add variety to their dishes.

Judging Wang Dafu’s reaction, Xiao’er said, "Well, we will only buy these two tigers at 120 taels each today. By tomorrow, these two tigers won’t be as fresh, and we will no longer be interested in buying them. So don’t blame us." She was convinced she wouldn’t be short of tigers.

Some people, upon hearing this, decided to sell, rationalizing, "Better to sell now than risk not being able to sell later!"

"Yes, we’ve grown up together, Shen is an honest man."

"Don’t listen to her. I guarantee I can sell them at a higher price than 120 taels. If I don’t, my brother and I will cover the difference!"

"That’s right, we brothers will cover it!"

Everyone heard this and considered it. After all, a little extra money wouldn’t hurt. And they wouldn’t suffer any losses this way.

"Fine! More money would certainly make us happy. But your word isn’t enough, we should put it in writing. We captured this tiger as well, and I wouldn’t want to lose out for nothing!" Xiao’er was not one to sit back and accept losses.

Although she had made her terms clear beforehand, when profit is involved, all else can be overlooked! She didn’t want them to return to her if they couldn’t sell the tigers for a higher price, and then bear the blame and earn a reputation for being inconsiderate if she refused to buy.

Hearing Xiao’er’s terms, the others felt they were reasonable and demanded a written agreement.

Everyone knew Wang Dafu was unreliable.

"We’re from the same village. Don’t you trust my character?" Wang Dafu wanted to back out when he noticed this request.

Actually, they didn’t trust him, but out of politeness, nobody said it out loud.

But Wang Dacai was impulsive and said, "Fine, we’ll sign! We brothers always keep our word!"

"That’s good." Xiao’er smiled.

After the village chief wrote the agreement, Wang Dafu and his brother reluctantly left their handprints. Internally, they were nervous.

The two brothers set off to sell the tigers before night fell.

When Shen Chengyao weighed all the game and distributed the silver,

The villagers discovered that each member of their team had hunted a deer, and recalled how they had already sent a dozen deer downhill yesterday. When they remembered how Xiao’er, a young girl, managed to hunt two deer with just two shots, they felt profound regret. Why had they complained about others bringing kids to hunt in the mountains?

A deer weighed around 50 pounds and could be sold for about ten taels of silver!

A male deer, with its antlers, could sell for an additional three or four taels!

Each person should have several taels from the two tigers, not to mention the game caught in the afternoon and today. Not counting the wild chickens and rabbits, they managed to capture several cages full, all somehow caught alive and squirming!

There were eight roe deer, five goats, and twelve foxes. A fox’s fur was worth at least a tael of silver!

Each person in their team should have over twenty taels each!

This amount could buy two to three acres of fertile land.

The reality was that excluding the tiger silver, each person in Xiao’er’s team received twenty-three taels.

Of course, Shen Chengyao’s high price point played a significant factor.

Looking at the silver in their hands, everyone couldn’t help but feel a hint of envy. This was enough to spur jealousy!

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