Chapter 289: Gray Dog, Heaven Granary

Mu Xueli had not expected that by using Wang An's slingshot this time, he would actually hit a squirrel on the first try.

This made Mu Xueli suddenly realize that his behavior was no less than aiming at his brother-in-law's cheek and giving him a hard slap.

Thus, Mu Xueli looked at the frowning Wang An and said:

"Brother-in-law, if I say I didn't know I would hit it, would you believe me?"

Wang An was stunned upon hearing this, but he understood what his brother-in-law meant.

While switching back to his own slingshot, he said with a chuckle: "I believe you, hahaha."

After Wang An took back his slingshot, he turned around and continued to search for the traces of the little squirrel.

Mu Xueli looked at Wang An's back in confusion, suddenly realizing that his brother-in-law, at times, was not that petty!

Wang Li, seeing Mu Xueli knock down the little squirrel with one shot, ran over and picked it up.

Then he said cheekily: "Brother Mu, can you teach me how to use a slingshot?"

Mu Xueli scratched his head upon hearing this and said:

"How do you teach this? I don't even know how I hit it myself. Why don't you just follow me and watch?"

Wang Li nodded with a grin and became Mu Xueli's shadow.

Wang An ignored the two of them and focused intently on using his slingshot, shooting at squirrels when he saw squirrels, and shooting at birds when he saw birds.

It could be said he was firing shot after shot, sending steel balls everywhere.

Although he never hit anything, Wang An's focus would definitely make anyone who saw him give a thumbs up.

Of course, during this time, Wang An had been micro-adjusting various angles.

Mainly the angle of his eyes, the tip of the slingshot fork, and the rubber bands.

Because Wang An discovered that when Mu Xueli hit that squirrel, he hadn't really aimed at all.

It seemed like he had subconsciously assumed that posture and then pulled the slingshot.

So Wang An felt that when it came to using a slingshot, one had to find the angle that suited oneself.

Finally, after firing who knows how many steel balls, Wang An successfully killed a sparrow.

Wang An looked at the little sparrow before him, a very happy smile appearing on his face.

Although the sparrow was small, who could say this wasn't a harvest?

Afterwards, it was as if Wang An and the slingshot had become one.

Out of every ten steel balls fired, at least three would hit their mark.

Actually, for slingshot shooting, this was already a very impressive performance.

After all, a slingshot is different from a gun; there are simply too many factors that affect the hit rate!

And he was shooting at living creatures; one must know that neither birds nor squirrels are stupid.

Many times, the "flutter" sound of the slingshot would cause the birds to fly away or the squirrels to run off.

If the first steel ball missed, there was basically no chance for a second shot.

Furthermore, many times, a person's line of sight would not be on the same plane as the trajectory of the flying steel ball.

This led to the steel ball hitting passing branches or twigs; as long as it hit something, it was guaranteed to miss the target.

Soon, Wang An ran out of the steel balls he had brought in his pocket, but he had also harvested 3 sparrows and 5 squirrels.

In the mountains of the Northeast, there are many types of birds, but most are migratory, meaning they fly away once autumn arrives.

Although there are quite a few birds that stay for the winter, most are quite clever and will fly away as soon as they see a person from afar.

As for magpies and crows, no one is interested in them because their meat is truly not tasty.

It must be said that Wang Li, having watched Mu Xueli use the slingshot, also summarized his own method.

One could tell from the fact that the sack Wang Li was carrying had some weight that there was loot inside.

Wang An asked curiously: "What did you two catch?"

Wang Li said happily: "Fourth Brother, I caught 4 Gray Dogs."

Gray Dog is the squirrel; the locals call squirrels Gray Dogs.

To be precise, there are two types of squirrels in the Northeast: the squirrel and the black squirrel, also called the millet and the black demon. The squirrel,

The tail fur of the squirrel is shorter than that of the black squirrel, and the color is mainly grayish-white, but there are several dark stripes on its back.

And there is the black squirrel.

Black squirrels are not all pure black; many are more grayish, and their abdomens and bellies are pure white.

However, whether it is a squirrel or a black squirrel, the locals collectively call them Gray Dogs.

Although this creature is small, weighing only about 7 liang, its fur is called "gray skin," which is a valuable item, worth 4 yuan per pelt.

What is the concept of 4 yuan? That is the three-day wage of a formal employee.

For such a small thing, it really is quite a significant amount.

Moreover, the value of its fur is only one aspect; the main thing is that its meat is extremely delicious.

Perhaps because it only eats pine nuts, or walnuts and other nuts, its meat has a hint of pine nut fragrance.

After being stewed, it is quite unique and also quite delicious.

Mu Xueli looked at the sack and said: "I don't know how many I hit, maybe more than ten."

Wang An knew that these two must have only shot squirrels and ignored the sparrows.

But there was nothing wrong with that; if it weren't for the fact that Wang An wanted to practice his slingshot, he wouldn't have shot sparrows either.

A creature that doesn't even provide a mouthful of meat is pure waste of time and money.

Most importantly, 10 sparrows aren't even worth as much as a single steel ball.

Wang An's steel balls were gone, and Mu Xueli and Wang Li didn't have many left in their pockets either.

Although steel balls can be reused, once they are fired, they are truly very hard to find.

With no more steel balls, Wang An had to put away his slingshot and scan left and right, hoping to discover traces of some prey.

Just as Mu Xueli and Wang Li finished their steel balls, the three of them were carrying their sacks and chatting while walking toward the sled.

Wang An suddenly saw a tree hole; this tree hole was quite hidden.

Because a pine branch was drooping down, covering more than half of the tree hole.

Wang An looked around the base of this tree again and could clearly see the footprints of two people who had passed by under this tree earlier.

Then Wang An turned his head back to look at the footprints the three of them had left behind.

In the end, Wang An concluded that Mu Xueli and Wang Li must definitely have something wrong with their eyes.

Because the footprints under that large pine tree with the hollow were clearly left by those two idiots.

Wang An said to the two of them, who were laughing quite happily and joyfully: "You two, wait a moment."

Mu Xueli and Wang Li looked at Wang An in confusion, not knowing what he wanted to do.

Wang An pointed at the tree hollow and asked them: "You two take a look, what is that?"

The two of them followed the direction Wang An was pointing and said almost simultaneously, with pleasant surprise: "Tiancangzi."

As they spoke, they were about to crowd closer to it.

Wang An stopped them again, pointed at the footprints under the tree, and asked: "What's the deal with those footprints?"

The two of them subconsciously looked down at their own footprints, then looked at Wang An's, and simultaneously began to feel embarrassed.

Wang An looked at them and said with a bit of helplessness:

"Your eyes are truly something else; neither of you saw the person, and neither of you saw those two people either?"

Wang An paused for a moment, then continued:

"It's not like we're short on this one bear gallbladder, but the key is, aren't you two afraid that a black bear might suddenly pop out and kick you two to death?"

The two of them, like students who had made a mistake, listened to Wang An babbling on.

Wang An also knew that many people are like this with many things—it's clearly right before their eyes, yet they still turn a blind eye.

(End of chapter)