Chiang Xiao felt climbing trees should be a breeze for her now.
Indeed, once they reached the woods, Xu Linjiang gave her a brief on tree climbing and she scampered up in no time.
Her speed was truly comparable to that of a nimble little monkey.
Even Xu Linjiang couldn’t keep up with her.
Staring at Chiang Xiao, mouth agape, he said, "Little, are you sure you’re not fooling me? Had you really never climbed a tree before?"
Chiang Xiao casually sat atop a high branch, swinging her legs and looking down from her lofty perch, replying, "Really! This is my first time climbing a tree!"
She thought her agility was on par with that of a little monkey!
But then her mind suddenly recalled the tone of a certain man calling her "kitty cat". Did "kitty cat" imply praise of her nimbleness and lightness?
Even if that was the meaning, she wasn’t keen on having that nickname!
Moreover, that bully had demanded she write to him daily, yet she hadn’t picked up the pen. He expected letters every three days, but she hadn’t written a word. What was she supposed to send him?
Forget it, who has that much free time? She’d write when she felt like it and had the time. What was there to write about now, anyway? Should she tell him about the heroic tale of her thrashing her own uncle and aunt?
"Then you really are a tree-climbing prodigy!" Xu Linjiang couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head, turning to Ge Dejun, saying, "Dad, I don’t think we have to worry about Little anymore, just look at how agile she is."
Ge Dejun too saw Chiang Xiao’s triumphant posture atop the tree and chuckled, "Alright, Little, you gather mushrooms here in the woods, I’ll go check the traps!"
He was looking forward to it as well.
It had been so many years since he last set traps; he was eager to see if he’d caught any game!
At this moment, Ge Dejun was as excited as a teenage boy.
As he went to check the traps, and Xu Linjiang went out to forage for bracken, Lin Zi was left with Chiang Xiao alone. She looked towards the deep mountains from her treetop perch, swiftly slid down, and after glancing around, took out two paintings from her Space and found a spot to set them down.
This time, she really wasn’t holding out much hope; she would be satisfied if she could attract just a hare or a pheasant. If every time she went to the mountains, she caught a big creature, people would definitely grow suspicious. Even Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang would find it unbelievable and certainly would never let her venture out alone again.
After all, no matter how agile she was, consistently attracting big creatures was always dangerous.
So, slow and steady was the way to go.
Chiang Xiao actually hoped Ge Dejun’s traps would catch some game; that would be much more reliable and less suspicious than consistently using her magical paintings to attract prey.
That’s why this time she had painted carrots and rice grain again.
The few paintings from the last time had lost their magical effect after being outside for a while, now they were just ordinary, mundane paintings. So, these two were freshly painted by her.
After placing the paintings down, she began harvesting the mushrooms throughout the area.
The woods were truly a mushroom haven, with each tree laden with plenty of them.
Chiang Xiao harvested merrily, tempted to hum a tune. But rifling through her memory, she couldn’t find a song from this era that she could sing in its entirety. Oddly enough, she had a deeper recollection of pop songs from the nineties, so she decided to refrain.
Also, she didn’t want to scare away any small game that her paintings might attract.
Actually, Chiang Xiao was feeling quite anticipative.
Since planting the Ginseng, she felt the spirit in her paintings had grown stronger and those carrots almost enticed her to take a bite herself!