The Return of the Noble Abandoned Consort

Chapter 6: The First Income

Xú Dà Zhuàng lived alone in the village; his parents passed away early from illness, and while he has an older sister, she has already married out when she was in her late teens. Previously, he also tried his hand at handling crop fields but had no skills and ended up killing off everything. He couldn't always count on his older sister so with no other option, he could enter the mountains to start hunting. It has been over ten years since.

At first, he could only hunt hares and pheasants. But after learning how to use the bow, he was gradually able to also hunt weasels and deer. He has also hunted wolves and foxes before. After all, the more fierce the beast, the higher the selling price. Last year, he came across a dying tiger. That tiger was already dying naturally, even if he had not made the final blow, the outcome would have still been the same.

As he followed Qiáo Wēi and Aunt Luō up into the mountains, he thought Qiáo Wēi's situation was the same as his own. So he could only go numb with shock when he saw the body of the powerfully-built, adult tiger.

"This... this... was this really killed by you?" Xú Dà Zhuàng was flabbergasted.

Qiáo Wēi smiled in embarrassment. "Saying that I killed it isn't exactly accurate," she said, fear still lingering in her voice. "It was already hurt and was about to die. So when it climbed up the tree and its neck was extended towards me, I anxiously slashed down in its direction and it ended up like this."

While Aunt Luō could not imagine the image, Xú Dà Zhuàng was a hunter and could easily see the picture her words were painting. While unfavorable for the tiger, he would have done the same thing had he been in the same position. But he was a hunter, he knew how to kill a tiger. Xiǎo [1] Qiáo, on the other hand was a woman. How could her single, panicked strike have been so accurate? If her strike had missed by even a little bit, the one dead would have been Xiǎo Qiáo.

Qiáo Wēi saw that Xú Dà Zhuàng was staring at the wound on the tiger's neck and knew that he was probably suspicious. The strike from her knife was simply too accurate. Forget a weak woman, there weren't many who could pull something like this off even if it had been a man. But she could not tell the truth; after all, she was not the original Qiáo Wēi but Doctor Qiáo from the 21st century, someone who had used knives everyday.

"I was terrified to death," she stammered. "I really thought I was going to die." Qiáo Wēi lowered her head, her slender fingers picking at the corner of her sleeves. Light from the setting sun shined down onto her thin figure, her slightly exposed neck was white and delicate; her entire being seemed like it could break with the gentlest touch.

This kind of young woman, if it wasn't for her good luck, would have long since been in the tiger's stomach.

Xú Dà Zhuàng shook his head, felt that his initial suspicions were superfluous. "In the future, do not go into the mountains again," he told Qiáo Wēi, which only reiterated what Aunt Luō had told her before.

Knowing that their advice was coming from a good place, Qiáo Wēi gave a gentle nod. "I understand, Dà Zhuàng Gē [2]."

Dà Zhuàng Gē? Xú Dà Zhuàng was stunned for a moment. Younger villagers all address him like that but this was the first time he has heard it from Xiǎo Qiáo's mouth. Xiǎo Qiáo seemed to... be different from before. While still delicate and weak, it was no longer as annoying.

Xú Dà Zhuàng carefully checked over the tiger. "This one is better than the one I had from before," he said.

"Then Da Zhuang Gē, how much do you think it can sell for?" Qiáo Wēi asked.

Xú Dà Zhuàng thought for a moment. "It's hard to say," he finally answered. "It really depends on how much the buyer is willing to offer. But there's little prey during the winter so it should be able to sell for higher than usual. Besides, this is also a strong, adult tiger and its skin is in good condition." He held up two fingers, "I'll try my best and sell it for you for this price."