Chapter 10

Mo Ruyue walked forward and pushed aside the bushes to take a look. A fat rabbit had been pierced through the eye by a stone. It was still kicking its hind legs and looked like it was about to die.

She casually pulled out a handful of grass that was half the height of a person and rolled it into a grass rope. She tied the herbs in her hand and stood up with the rabbit. She looked around. She had heard more than one sound just now.

This time, the waiting time was slightly longer, but as a top-class assassin, Mo Ruyue did not lack patience.

When she returned to the dirt road from the forest, she was holding a straw rope with three rabbits and a pheasant tied to it.

“It’s a pity that I scared off two rabbits. But this is enough for those little turnips[1].”

Mo Ruyue muttered to herself and looked up at the sky. Just now, she was only focused on hunting and didn’t notice that the sky had already darkened. The sun was about to set behind the mountain.

She picked up her prey and quickened her pace. From afar, she saw two small figures standing at the village entrance.

Looking at their figures, they looked like Er Bao and San Bao. Why were they still playing outside at such a late hour?

Mo Ruyue walked a few steps faster and took a closer look. It was indeed them.

They also saw Mo Ruyue at the same time. They had only taken two steps in this direction when they suddenly stopped.

“Why are you guys still playing outside? Aren’t you afraid of being taken away by a wolf?”

As soon as Mo Ruyue opened her mouth, she saw the two children cowering at the same time. San Bao, in particular, had a layer of fear in his eyes.

“We were scared. We saw that mother didn’t come back, so we were afraid… that you would get lost.”

Er Bao also forced himself to speak to her. He protected San Bao behind him with both hands as if he was ready to escape with him at any time.

Mo Ruyue’s brows furrowed slightly. She didn’t know what kind of feeling she was having at the moment.

Over the past few days, she could also sense the conflicting thoughts of the little ones. They wanted to be close to her, but they could not help but avoid her of fear. Their careful appearance reminded her of herself when she was young.

‘What are you thinking? It was all in the past.’

Mo Ruyue shook her head and stopped herself from thinking further.

However, the two little guys misunderstood her actions and thought that she was blaming them for not staying at home obediently. Their expressions suddenly became nervous.

Mo Ruyue had just raised her hand when San Bao was so frightened that he burst into tears. Er Bao, on the other hand, turned around to protect his younger brother.

“Don’t hit my brother. If you want to hit someone, hit me. I was the one who brought him out!”

“You guys aren’t here to pick me up? Take these things.”

Mo Ruyue untied the prey from her waist. Although the children’s cries gave her a headache, she didn’t scold them.

Er Bao turned his head hesitantly and saw Mo Ruyue handing over a dead pheasant and a bundle of herbs to San Bao.

“Those who are still crying will not be eating chicken or rabbit meat tonight.”

Mo Ruyue took a step forward after she finished speaking. She seemed to be ignoring the two little fellows, but her steps were very slow. When she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve up slightly.

When the three of them returned home, smoke was already rising from the kitchen. Si Bao and Tang Tang were squatting in the courtyard and playing with something. When they heard footsteps, they looked up and immediately stood up, hiding their hands behind their backs.

“Mother… I-I-I’m not playing with mud.”

Si Bao rubbed his fingers hard but did not dare to wipe them on his body.

“Tang Tang didn’t play either.”

Tang Tang’s words were not very clear. She also imitated her brother and rubbed her fingers. She lowered her head and did not dare to look at Mo Ruyue at all.

“San Bao, bring your younger siblings to wash their hands. Er Bao, deal with the chicken and rabbit. I will go to the kitchen to take a look.”

Mo Ruyue passed another wild rabbit to Er Bao while she walked to the kitchen without stopping.

She would not pamper her children just because they were still young. When she was still Si Bao’s age, she had already been struggling to survive in the assassin training camp.

Da bao had arrived long ago and was lighting the fire in the kitchen. The pot on the stove was steaming, and it smelled like he was cooking brown rice.

He didn’t look up when he heard the sound of footsteps. Looking at that tense little face, he seemed to be still angry with Mo Ruyue.

“We’ll have rabbit meat and chicken mushroom stew tonight. I remember buying some vermicelli. Where did you put them?”

As soon as Mo Ruyue came in, she started rummaging through things. She had bought a lot of things today, and the kitchen looked like it was in good shape.

“They’re all in the cabinet.” Da Bao answered briefly and resisted the urge to ask the next question.

“Boil some water again and pluck the chicken feathers for Er Bao. I’ll deal with the rabbit.”

Mo Ruyue said. As if she did not notice that Da Bao still had something to say, she went out again with a sharp knife that she had just bought.

The rabbits she had caught were all shot in the eyes, and their fur was not damaged at all. If they were completely peeled off and tanned, she could even sew small boots and gloves for the little ones.

Three rabbits were definitely far from enough. Anyway, there were many wild animals in the mountains. When her body recovered a little, even if she had a third of her previous life’s physical fitness, she would be able to hunt larger prey.

It was mostly due to luck that she had been able to hunt that wild boar last time. The rest could be attributed to the effects of adrenaline. If it wasn’t to save Da Bao at that time, with the original owner’s small body, she would have been killed by the wild boar’s fangs a hundred times over.

Mo Ruyue skillfully used a knife to completely peel off the skin of the three rabbits. She also removed the internal organs and claws. As for the rabbit heads, she left them to make spicy rabbit heads later.

When she was done with the rabbits, Er Bao had just plucked the feathers from the pheasant. However, his technique was rather clumsy, and there were still some fine feathers left on the pheasant’s body.

“If you can’t get rid of it, then use fire. Quickly deal with it. I’m going to use it now.”

Mo Ruyue paused for a moment and then said, “Well done, that’s quite like it.”

Er Bao’s originally dejected little face suddenly brightened up. His eyes were sparkling as he stared at Mo Ruyue. She seemed to see a tail wagging behind him like a big windmill.

There was only one stove in the small kitchen, and she couldn’t cook the meat while the rice was being cooked. Two days ago, Mo Ruyue had brought the little ones to build another stove in the yard.

It wasn’t cold today, so she could cook in the yard.

Mo Ruyue first cooked rabbit meat with mixed vegetables. She added a lot of vegetables to the rabbit meat to achieve a nutritional balance.

She first cut the rabbit meat into pieces and boiled it in a pot of warm water. Then, she took out the rabbit meat and dried it.

Then, she poured the water out of the pot and heated it to dry. Then, she added a little more oil, sautéd the scallions and ginger, then added the rabbit meat and sautéd it for a bit. After that, she added butter and cooked it for a while more.

At this time, the rice in the kitchen was ready. Mo Ruyue asked Da Bao to put the rice into the newly bought bamboo basket, cover it with a layer of cotton to keep it warm, and then wash the pot clean for later use.

In the meantime, she poured cold water into the pot to soak the rabbit meat, added thirteen spices, star anise salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and so on. Then, she simmered it on high heat until the lid was opened and then switched to low heat.

This dish was supposed to have dried chili, but she and her children were weak and not suited to eat such a strong and stimulating thing, so they removed the seasoning.

Mo Ruyue walked into the kitchen and said to Da Bao, “Go and watch the fire outside. Leave this to me. Remember to call me when only 20% of the soup is left.”

Da Bao would usually talk back when she ordered him around, but he was unusually quiet today. His behavior was abnormal, but he did a good job.

Mo Ruyue was busy cooking and didn’t have time to be a counselor. It was just a child’s awkward temper, so it would get better after this.

Chicken mushroom stew was Mo Ruyue’s favorite, and she often cooked it. Now, she could make it even with her eyes closed. It was much faster than making rabbit meat with mixed vegetables.

The chicken[2] and mushrooms had just been stewed when Er Bao ran to the kitchen door and said to Mo Ruyue, “Mother, big brother said the soup is almost done.”

This kid actually send Er Bao to inform her.

Mo Ruyue turned around and glanced at the courtyard.

He seemed to be really going against her.

Notes:

[1]: referring to her stepchildren

[2]: the author referred to the pheasant meat as chicken meat.