Having left Liu Xianghong's house, Wang Xiaoqiang had plans to breed wild chickens. Not only was the meat of the wild mountain chicken delicious and the eggs tasty, but both the eggs and meat were highly nutritious, quality-assured, and destined to have no issues with pricing or marketability.

According to Wang Xiaoqiang's idea, he wanted to lease Mantou Mountain and set up a chicken farm there, adopting a free-range breeding strategy. The wild mountain chickens would still rely on the mountain's insects and grass seeds for sustenance, and he planned to feed them a moderate amount of sorghum to ensure that the meat and eggs remained completely natural.

Of course, this was just an idea, and Wang Xiaoqiang decided to start slow by capturing a few wild mountain chickens to try raising them.

Since he needed to capture the wild mountain chickens alive, the hunting rifle was no use, so Wang Xiaoqiang put it away in the storage room of the Old Village Committee building and started making a slingshot.

Making a slingshot was nothing new for Wang Xiaoqiang; he had grown up playing with one. First, he would climb a willow tree to find a Y-shaped willow branch as thick as an adult's finger to serve as the frame, then buy a strong, flat rubber band for the sling, and cut a small oval piece from an old pair of sports shoes to serve as the pouch.

With these, he could make a standard slingshot, and then he would buy some steel balls to serve as projectiles.

Once the slingshot was ready, and the steel balls were purchased, Wang Xiaoqiang rummaged through his house for about half a bag of cornmeal, mixed it with some baijiu, and spread it on the empty ground between Mantou Mountain and the Yam Field in the evening. After setting everything up, he returned to the Old Village Committee building to wait.

As it was getting dark, Wang Xiaoqiang took the family's Old Yellow Dog back there and saw six wild mountain chickens that looked as if they were drunkenly huddling motionless—they had eaten the alcohol-laced cornmeal.

However, as soon as they saw someone approach, they spiritedly flapped their wings and fled toward Mantou Mountain, but before they got very far, the man and dog pounced on them, quickly pinning each one down. The one that was "least drunk" fluttered and flew toward Mantou Mountain, and Wang Xiaoqiang picked up his slingshot, loaded a steel ball, and took aim.

It needs to be said, Wang Xiaoqiang's childhood spent playing with slingshots was not in vain, his aim was quite accurate, but the shortcoming of the slingshot revealed itself—when the steel ball was about five or six meters from striking the wild mountain chicken, it suddenly veered off, deviating from its trajectory, missing, and merely brushing past the long tail of the wild chicken without causing any harm.

Wild chickens don't fly very high, nor very far. At most, they fly about thirty meters before landing,

After not hitting its target on the first try, Wang Xiaoqiang did not give up; he quickly ran after it, while fishing another steel ball from his pocket and loading it into the pouch. As he aimed again, suddenly, a flash of willpower in his mind, and a flash of white light from his thumb and forefinger, he infused a little Metal Element Spiritual Energy into the steel ball.

Then, he aimed and shot.

Whoosh!

This time, the steel ball flew out faster and more fiercely, emitting a sharp piercing sound. Although it was a farther shot than the last, it did not veer off midway and hit the wild chicken directly at the tail end.

The wild chicken squawked in pain and plummeted to the ground.

Wang Xiaoqiang looked at the wild chicken in the distance, somewhat surprised and mildly excited. This Metal Element Spiritual Energy had such wonderful uses; it seemed the slingshot could then serve as a personal weapon. If anyone annoyed him, a shot from his slingshot could make their head burst open and bleed.

Old Yellow Dog chased after and brought the wild chicken over, placing it in front of Wang Xiaoqiang. Coming to his senses, Wang Xiaoqiang looked down and saw the steel ball had sunk deeply into the wild chicken's rear, blood pouring out.

Fortunately, the vital parts were not hit, and the wild chicken had not yet died. Wang Xiaoqiang picked it up, originally thinking of using the Wood Element Spiritual Qi to heal it but he abandoned that thought. He planned to have a taste of this wild chicken instead.

The five drunk wild chickens had their wings clipped and were penned in the Old Village Committee Courtyard. The injured chicken was taken home for his sister-in-law Liu Juyi to prepare for eating.

The wild chicken was not light in weight, almost four kilograms. Liu Juyi scalded it in hot water to remove the feathers, then removed its organs and intestines from the belly, washed it clean, and made a pot of chicken soup. She also made a large plate of chicken using the carcass and legs.

The Big Plate Chicken was quite famous locally, and all the major restaurants sold it. However, the chickens used in these restaurants were ordinary farm chickens fed with feed from chicken farms. The meat was fatty but not delicious, wrapped in a thick layer of butter, making the soup or dish too greasy and thus unpleasant in taste.

The Big Plate Chicken made from wild mountain chickens was different; the meat was delicious, fatty without being rancid, fragrant but not greasy. With Liu Juyi's superb skills, it truly was a heavenly delicacy.

Wang Xiaoqiang ate that meal with great pleasure. By the time he finished, it was dusk. His mother took another bowl of chicken out of the pot, placed it in a basket, and said to Wang Xiaoqiang, "Little Qiang, Doctor Xu at the health station is ill. Take this bowl of chicken to see her. It's tough for a girl from out of town, and now she's sick and has no one to look after her..."

Wang Xiaoqiang did not take the basket and awkwardly said, "Mom, wouldn't it be more appropriate for you to go?"

"It's dark, and I can't move well, so you should go!" his mother replied. "Otherwise, you can accompany me."

Wang Xiaoqiang then took the basket and said, "I'll go! It's just a visit; no need to make a fuss about it."

"That's right, go on then!" His mother smiled.

But Liu Juyi, who was standing by, looked unhappy, with a disappointed expression on her face.

Earlier in the day, Zheng Dazui had come to feel out the Two Elders of the Wang Family to see if they favored the city girl Xu Xiaoya. If they didn't, she was planning to introduce Xia Guifang to Wang Xiaoqiang, as she thought the two of them were well-matched. Recently, Xia Sanwa had been urging her incessantly to act as a matchmaker.

Last time at the health station, although Xia Sanwa had claimed he would find a match for his daughter himself, he ultimately couldn't lose face. Known as a big gambler in the village, he feared being rejected by the Wang family. So, in recent months, he had only been urging his daughter to pursue Wang Xiaoqiang actively.

Xia Guifang, being shy, was less and less proactive the more Xia Sanwa urged her. Having no choice, Xia Sanwa had to beseech Zheng Dazui again.

The Two Elders of the Wang Family, being elderly and uneducated with old-fashioned views, of course preferred the city girl Xu Xiaoya more. Xu Xiaoya was not only beautiful but also very sensible. Xia Guifang had these qualities too. But the key appeal was that Xu was a city dweller, educated and refined.

According to the Two Elders, marrying a city bride would be an honor that would make their ancestors proud.

They decided to urge Wang Xiaoqiang to take more initiative with Xu Xiaoya.

Wang Xiaoqiang clearly understood his mother's hint, but he was not thinking about marriage at the moment. He was focused solely on developing his business and earning money. Though somewhat reluctantly, he agreed to deliver the chicken to Xu Xiaoya.

He also felt sorry for Xu Xiaoya, a city girl who had come to serve the entire Sanmiao Village, as it was both tiring and lonely for her. Now that she was sick, she deserved care and attention.

However, just as Wang Xiaoqiang was passing by the entrance of Big Mouth Supermarket carrying the basket, Xia Sanwa, who had been pestering Wang Dazui to speak on behalf of his daughter, unexpectedly saw him and pointed at Wang Xiaoqiang, asking Zheng Dazui, "Dazui, why is it so late and Wang Xiaoqiang is carrying a meal basket? Who's he taking food to?"

Looking towards the distant figure of Wang Xiaoqiang, Zheng Dazui said, "Probably to Doctor Xu..."

"This, these two still have contact? Dazui, this isn't a good sign!" exclaimed Xia Sanwa, annoyed and worried.

"Isn't he your son-in-law? Go ask him yourself," Zheng Dazui retorted with a roll of his eyes, having been pestered by Xia Sanwa recently to match Wang Xiaoqiang with Xia Guifang. However, she felt that Wang Xiaoqiang marrying Xu Xiaoya would bring more prestige, benefiting her reputation as a matchmaker as well.

With this prompt from Zheng Dazui, Xia Sanwa actually took it seriously and shamelessly chased after Wang Xiaoqiang, yelling as he ran, "Hey, Little Qiang, hey, son-in-law..."

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