Volume One, Chapter 20: The Uninvited Guest

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“Hey—”

Wang Dong pressed his lips together, unable to help but laugh bitterly from his frustration.

No, in my past life, she wasn’t this disdainful. Why is it that this time around, it’s even worse?

Xiang Yu noticed the change in Wang Dong’s expression and realized she might have said something wrong. She wiped away her tears hurriedly and tried to make amends.

“Don’t joke with me. I’m not looking down on you either. I know that as a jinx for my family, no one wants me anymore. Look at your posture, the way you talk—you’re obviously educated. I know you mean well, trying to help me convince my father, but he’s not that easy to fool. Would he really believe you want to marry me?”

Looking down at his scrawny frame, Wang Dong gave a bitter smile.

Ha, indeed.

Though he wasn’t highly educated, his current physique did resemble that of a scholarly type—just missing a pair of glasses.

But...

Earlier, he had only said that line on a whim, just to test the waters, without thinking too much.

However, Xiang Yu’s words sparked an idea.

If he just blurted out that he wanted to marry Xiang Yu, not only would her father be skeptical, but even Xiang Yu herself would hesitate. If he truly wanted to make this happen, it would be better to start with a pretense, then make it real, and finally reach a point of no return. Wouldn’t that work?

With this in mind, Wang Dong jumped down from the stone mill.

“Miss, since you’re so straightforward, I really have to help you. But not right now. For now, you have to go back. Even if your father hits or scolds you, you have to go back. He just wants to find you a place to settle.”

He reached into his bag and took out a bullet, placing it in Xiang Yu’s hand.

“If your father gets really upset, just give this to him and say you met a mountain hunter who didn’t disdain you and wants you to be his wife. This is your token of affection!”

Before Xiang Yu could react, Wang Dong turned and headed back to Liu Fuquan’s home.

“Hey, Little Dong, you’re back! Did that troublemaker get you into some mess too? Wait here, I’ve got some black dog blood…”

As soon as Liu Fuquan saw Wang Dong return, he grabbed his black dog, ready to slaughter it.

“No, no, no!”

Wang Dong hurriedly stopped him.

“That’s a good dog. When your Xiao Hong first went up the mountain, it was the first to charge out. Such a loyal dog can’t be killed! Besides, I’m not here for that—I want to talk to you about something.”

Liu Fuquan put down the black dog and nodded repeatedly.

“Alright, alright, whatever you say, I’ll sell everything I have…”

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“No need, no need…”

Wang Dong smiled wryly.

“It’s nothing major. Just that bear pelt—you get it ready in the next few days and make me a coat out of it, bigger than my size, um... preferably two sizes bigger than your Xiao Hong.”

Liu Fuquan was stunned.

“What big shot do you have to flatter like this? And it’s so sturdy? Did the black bear become an official?”

“No... ah, forget it. Just do as I say.”

Wang Dong was at a loss for Liu Fuquan’s strange train of thought but pressed on.

“Anyway, I really need that big coat, the sooner the better. I’ll need it in the next few days!”

Liu Fuquan frowned.

“In the next few days? That won’t work. This kind of pelt is tough to handle—it takes some time to get rid of the smell…”

“Oh! Right! Keep that smell!”

Wang Dong’s eyes lit up.

“The stronger the smell, the better! It has to be obvious that the bear pelt was just freshly taken!”

Now Liu Fuquan fully understood.

This was to show the big shot that Wang Dong had hunted the bear himself, not bought it! That made it more valuable than a purchased one!

“Got it, got it!”

Liu Fuquan nodded repeatedly. As Wang Dong was about to leave after finishing his instructions, he glanced at the black dog by the door.

Recalling Wang Dong’s earlier words, he picked up the dog again.

“Little Dong, don’t you like this dog? Why not take it with you up the mountain? We have two more at home, enough to guard the house.”

Without giving Wang Dong a chance to refuse, he shoved the black dog into his arms.

Watching Liu Fuquan walk away, Wang Dong exchanged a glance with the black dog, who looked utterly wronged.

“Hmm…”

...

The Shack.

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It had to be said—the black dog wasn’t scared of strangers at all.

At first, Wang Dong held it, but soon, finding it too heavy, he dropped it to the ground. The little creature was remarkably intuitive, as if it understood its former owner had abandoned it, and obediently followed Wang Dong up the mountain.

Back in the shack, Wang Dong first tended to his stomach.

He had plenty of bear meat left, so he cut two strips with his knife and roasted them over the fire.

The black dog wanted some fresh meat, but Wang Dong kicked it outside.

It wasn’t that he was stingy; he just had only this one good hunting dog. If it got sick from eating raw meat out of greed, it would be a huge loss.

He needed to train it to eat cooked food.

The bear meat sizzled on the fire, dripping oil and occasionally sparking flames. Wang Dong sprinkled some salt but added nothing else.

He cooked a pot of millet water rice, dug up some wild green onions from the creek to dip into soybean paste, and set up his gear before returning to the shack.

He ate one strip of roasted meat and tossed the other to the black dog. As for the rice, he ate most of it with the meat, pickles, and wild onions dipped in soybean paste. Only when the food cooled did he serve some to the dog.

Dogs don’t mind temperatures; if the rice were fresh and hot, they’d rather risk burning their insides than not eat.

After they were full, Wang Dong added enough wood to the fire pit and lay down inside the shack with the black dog by his side, sleeping soundly until dawn.

Upon waking, Wang Dong wanted to tidy up and cook some food. Though he had plenty stored, he still had to go up the mountain.

The most important task was to check the remains of that black bear skeleton on the mountain!

The mountains teemedI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.