Eating Meat and Having Babies
Mark Hunter pointed to a wild rabbit and two chickens hanging from his waist. He was the best hunter within a hundred miles.
“Mark, I don't have your skills with a bow and arrow. I just made a few traps for fun. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and catch something by accident.” Lily Evans seemed full of confidence as she finished setting up the traps and directed Lucky to place them properly.
Seeing Lily Evans so sure of herself, Mark Hunter grew curious. He’d been hunting for more than ten years, but had never seen traps like the ones Lily made. He wanted to see if her traps could really catch anything.
Lily told everyone to hide at a distance. The three of them lay low in the dry grass, while Lily patiently watched the clumps of grass where the traps were set.
Mark Hunter was full of questions, but as a hunter, he had plenty of patience for waiting out prey, so he stayed quiet and kept low.
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the grass suddenly rustled. Lily’s eyes lit up—she knew the prey had arrived!
A plump pheasant strolled through the grass, glancing around warily every now and then. Suddenly, its claw stepped right into Lily’s trap, and the pheasant was caught, flapping and screeching.
At Lily’s word, Lucky dashed out and grabbed the pheasant, bringing it back.
“Lily, your trap really caught a pheasant! Amazing! How did you come up with it?” Mark Hunter gave her a thumbs up.
Lily chuckled and made up a casual reason: “My family’s poor, and we had a mouse problem recently. I fiddled around and made a few mouse traps. Then I thought, why not try making bigger ones to catch something else? I figured I’d give it a shot, and it actually worked!”
Mark Hunter didn’t doubt her and admired, “Lily, you really are impressive!”
Lily laughed, “I could never compare to you, Mark. Your archery skills are famous for miles around.”
Mark chuckled awkwardly. Suddenly, another patch of grass rustled—a plump wild rabbit dashed by, skillfully avoiding the trap.
Lily was just annoyed that the rabbit escaped, when she saw Lucky pick up a stone and hurl it at the rabbit.
The rabbit ran fast, but Lucky’s stone hit it squarely. He picked up the rabbit and proudly showed it off: “Wife, look! I caught a rabbit. Am I amazing or what? From now on, I’ll catch lots of rabbits and pheasants for you so you can eat meat every day!”
Lily burst out laughing. “Alright, I’ll enjoy the good life with you.”
Mark Hunter was stunned. That rabbit was moving so fast—most people couldn’t hit it. Was Lucky secretly a martial artist?
But when Mark saw Lucky circling Lily with a goofy grin, he thought it must be luck. How could a fool know martial arts? Maybe it was just dumb luck.
A rabbit and a pheasant—what a haul! The three of them left the mountain and went their separate ways.
Margaret Evans was overjoyed when she saw Lily and Lucky bring home wild game. She praised her daughter and son-in-law nonstop.
As night fell, Lily stored the wild game in the chicken coop for now, waiting to butcher them later.
“Lily, it’s such a shame to kill the pheasant for meat. Why not keep it and raise it?” Margaret Evans, used to poverty, couldn’t bear to part with a healthy chicken.
“Pheasants can fly—how could we raise one?” Lily laughed. “Don’t worry, Mom. Soon we’ll have meat on the table every day.”
Lucky clapped his hands and said happily, “Mom, Lily and I will bring you meat every day!”
“Wonderful! I’ll enjoy a good life with Lily and Lucky from now on!” Margaret Evans winked. “Now hurry up and give me a grandchild. Then I’ll have no regrets in this life!”
“Mom!” Lily blushed bright red, covering her face as she ran into the bedroom.
“Lucky, go after her!” Margaret Evans urged, covering her mouth as she egged him on.
Lucky hurried after her, and found Lily lying on the kang.
“Wife, let’s have a baby!” Lucky climbed onto the bed, snuggling up with wide, blinking eyes—so adorably earnest you’d want to pinch his cheeks.