Chiang Xiao doubted whether her skill could now trap all the game in the mountains.
She decided to wait a couple of days before trying to lure out another big fella; she would need to draw more bait when she got back.
The drawings had lost their effect, and she also felt that she had caught enough game, so she packed up the drawings. These two drawings were actually of no further use anyway, as they had been torn to shreds by the wild rabbits and pheasants.
All she could do was burn them when she got back.
Just as she was about to continue picking morel mushrooms, she suddenly heard Ge Dejun’s voice coming from outside Lin Zi, sounding hugely excited.
"Lin Jiang, Little, come see what I’ve got!"
Chiang Xiao was overjoyed. Had her granduncle’s trap really brought in a catch?
She immediately ran over.
Ge Dejun walked over, struggling to carry an animal.
The animal was gray, and as Chiang Xiao looked at its head, she felt something off about the black-and-white patterns and was taken aback. "Granduncle, what is this thing?"
At this point, Ge Dejun’s face was slightly flushed with excitement.
"This is a badger! Little, you don’t recognize it; this is a real treasure!"
Xu Linjiang was also inexplicably delighted, "Dad, did you catch this in a trap?"
"Indeed! I set up several traps the other day, and the first few didn’t catch anything," Ge Dejun laughed heartily: "I thought I had nothing, but the last trap held this big surprise! It seems like it died less than a day ago."
He threw the badger onto the grass.
This badger had fallen into a trap and was pierced through the belly by the bamboo spikes that Ge Dejun had set inside; now, it had long since lost its breath.
"Little, now your grandfather can play his part as a hero!" Ge Dejun was hugely pleased. "The oil from this badger is medicinal, really effective, especially for burns – just a smear and it doesn’t hurt, and it doesn’t leave scars either."
"My grandfather knows how to render badger oil?"
"Of course! These badgers are not easy to get, but once you have one, not just anyone knows how to process it! Your grandfather does! We’re not selling this, it’s not something that money can easily buy!"
Chiang Xiao also felt happy upon hearing this.
For the fact that she, along with Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang, had to go up the mountain to forage for goods to make money, Chiang Songhai indeed felt some melancholy.
Because he felt somewhat useless, having to rely on his granddaughter taking time off school to earn money to provide for the family, while he was of little help at home.
But now with the capture of the badger, Chiang Songhai had something to do, and it was his forte; he would definitely be delighted.
"Granduncle, you’re amazing!"
Chiang Xiao immediately gave Ge Dejun a thumbs-up.
"Haha, it’s not just me being amazing; Bai Gu Mountain is filled with treasures everywhere!"
Because of the badger, Ge Dejun’s mood remained extremely uplifted. He even stopped cutting bracken, "I’m going to go tend to those traps properly now and also mask the scent of the badger so other game won’t be scared off by the smell. Lin Jiang, Little, I’ll leave the wild vegetables to you two."
Xu Linjiang smiled and nodded.
Chiang Xiao raised her hand and snapped off a military salute, "Mission guaranteed to be accomplished!"
Ge Dejun laughed heartily in response and tapped her forehead, "Yo, Little, that salute of yours looks mighty fine; did Captain Meng teach you that?"
Chiang Xiao was immediately at a loss for words.
Granduncle, she learned that salute during military training in college, okay? What does it have to do with Tyrant Meng!
At this moment, Comrade Meng Xinian, whom she had unwittingly recalled, was sitting in his office writing a training plan; his mind wandered as he wrote. He had been away for two days, and he reckoned that the cat should be sending him a letter at the town tomorrow, right? He should receive it in a couple of days.