As Wen Chaosheng was busy, in the dilapidated temple on the other side, A Shui, who was sleeping in a pile of hay, suddenly woke up.
She slightly raised her eyes and saw a large black dog with half-bald fur, holding a bumpy, uneven iron box in its mouth, standing in front of her, scrutinizing her, as if confirming whether she was dead or not.
This black dog looked very strange, and like Wen Chaosheng, it was wrapped in a deerskin.
The knot was almost identical to the one on Wen Chaosheng, but the black dog's deerskin was not stuffed with hay, but with many tightly packed strips of cloth, and a tattered pink woman's dress.
A Shui stared at the black dog in front of her.
After approaching her, the dog sniffed with its nose, then placed the iron box it was holding in its mouth to the side, and stepped back two paces.
A Shui vaguely understood its meaning and gently pushed open the iron box, finding that there was some congealed porridge inside.
Although the box was for dog food, there was no strange smell inside, only the faint fragrance of rice porridge.
Looking at the clean edges of the box, A Shui knew that this bowl must have been cleaned by someone, if not Wen Chaosheng, then someone in the county who fed dogs.
This dog was also particular; it didn't touch the food in the iron box, but let people eat first.
A Shui stared at the black dog for a moment, then actually picked up the iron box and scooped some food with her hand to eat, but she didn't eat much before returning it to the black dog.
With something in her empty stomach, she gained some strength, sat cross-legged against the base of the stone statue, closed her eyes, and seemed to fall asleep again.
Seeing her like this, the black dog didn't disturb her; it ate noisily until it had finished everything in the iron box.
Only then did it carry the iron box to a corner of the stone temple, placed it there, and then ran off through the wind and snow towards the distant, snow-covered hill.
Soon, its thin figure disappeared beyond the distant hill.
At noon, there was no snow in the sky, and the sun came out, covering the mountains and fields with a golden layer that was blinding.
On the other side of the ditch, Zhang Hunter came to the small ditch in the south with a dirty, old fishing net.
Looking at the ice surface of the ditch, he rubbed his hands and picked up his pickaxe to start breaking the ice.
This process was not easy; even though his strength was greater than Wen Chaosheng's, he was old, and his heart and lungs were aging quickly, especially since the winter wind was cold and dry, and breathing it in rapidly felt like thousands of needles pricking his chest, so he had to rest after working for a while.
When it came to fishing, the south of the county was definitely not a good place, but County Magistrate Liu Jinshi had already arranged for yamen runners and some Jianghu ruffians in the county to control the rivers to the north and east.
Common people in the county who wanted to fish there needed to pay taxes in advance.
Liu Jinshi said that these rivers and lakes were public property, and it was a great royal favor to let them use it to support their families.
If anyone was seen fishing without paying taxes, they would be given dozens of heavy blows, or even imprisoned for one or two months.
When Zhang Hunter was young, he was strong and capable, having killed vicious wolves and even single-handedly killed a tigress using traps, gaining some fame in the nearby area and accumulating some savings.
However, in recent years, to treat his wife Mifang's leg ailment, those not-so-many savings were swindled away by various Jianghu quacks and charlatans, leaving very little.
The remaining meager provisions at home were for winter, and Zhang Hunter knew that the County Magistrate wouldn't even bother with it, so he simply avoided getting into trouble.
After finally breaking the ice in the ditch, Zhang Hunter tried casting his net, but his movements seemed rusty, and after a few tries, the water surface he had just cleared showed signs of freezing over again.
His dark face didn't change much, only his nose was red from the cold air.
In the past of Ku Hai County, hunters never fished.
This was also the teaching of Zhang Hunter's father and grandfather—hunters were reapers in the mountains, and their targets were always wary, powerful beasts, not defenseless fish in the water.
However, now, Zhang Hunter no longer thought about these things.
The ice and snow had cooled his youthful passion, and reality had crushed his built-up pride.
What he had to do now was figure out how to get through this difficult winter with his wife.
Winter days were like water in a bamboo basket, flowing away quickly.
Zhang Hunter, who had been toiling by the ditch all day, was still wondering if he should go to the county to ask the fishermen for advice on fishing when the slowly falling snow had already merged with the light of the setting sun.
He shielded his eyes and gazed at the distant setting sun, a strange blankness written on his dark face.
After a long time, he seemed to finally accept the reality, and as he bent down to clean up the mess on the ground, a layer of frost on his eyebrows rustled down.
Today, he had gained nothing.
Woosh woosh—
The wind whimpered.
Zhang Hunter walked back step by step, carrying his iron pickaxe and the fishing net soaked in icy river water.
The sky darkened quickly, and the wind blowing became sharper.
The hunter walked with his head down, trying to prevent the falling snow from flying into his eyes.
As he passed the small stone bridge, he suddenly stopped.
On the stone bridge, Zhang Hunter saw another pair of legs.
Those torn trousers, stuffed with hay and cloth strips, belonged to no one else but Wen Chaosheng.
Zhang Hunter turned his head to look at him and said coldly, “Why are you here?”
Wen Chaosheng held a package made of a torn cloth with one hand, and snow of varying depths clung to his body, as if he had been waiting for a while.
“Waiting for you.”
Hearing this answer, the hunter was silent for a moment before saying gruffly, “There’s nothing to eat today, let’s go back.”
He was about to leave when Wen Chaosheng called out to him.
“I have something here.”
He handed the cloth package to Zhang Hunter, who looked at the package in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and did not take it, only asking, “Rabbit, or snake?”
Wen Chaosheng said, “Neither, it’s frogs.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hunter raised his eyes, glanced at him, and turned to walk towards the bridgehead without looking back.
“I am old, but I haven’t fallen so low as to eat such things.”
In the snow, his voice carried an unwavering disdain.
Indeed, no one in Ku Hai County ate frogs.
People here had an inherent aversion to frogs, believing them to be disgusting in appearance, and therefore, disgusting in taste.
Furthermore, the frogs around Ku Hai County were all poisonous and were considered a symbol of ill omen by the common people, so even fewer people would eat them.
What’s more, he was a hunter.
Facing Zhang Hunter’s reply, Wen Chaosheng said, “These frogs are poisonous, but they are not poisonous when cooked.
I’ve eaten them for three years, and the taste is not as disgusting as rumored; it’s still meat, more or less.”
Zhang Hunter ignored him and hurried on his way.
Seeing his figure about to be covered by the wind and snow, Wen Chaosheng said again, “If you don’t eat, what about Auntie Mi?”
“She won’t eat either?”
“I remember her health isn’t good.
In such cold weather, you can’t just give her some porridge, can you?”
Not far away, the hurrying Zhang Hunter suddenly stopped.
After a long while, his gradually blurred figure became clear again.
He silently came before Wen Chaosheng, his dark face showing a few more traces of compromised numbness.
The latter once again handed him the cloth package and said, “You helped me, I won’t harm you.”
“I’ve helped you wash and cut open the frogs… cook them thoroughly, cook them thoroughly, cook them thoroughly; important things are said three times.”
Zhang Hunter looked deeply at Wen Chaosheng, then took the cloth package Wen Chaosheng offered, and turned to plunge into the snow.
After a few steps, he suddenly raised his hand and shook the cloth package, scattering a flurry of snow.
Wen Chaosheng knew that this was Zhang Hunter thanking him.