Even so, the young men vying for her attention stretched all the way from Shaoguo Village to the top of the mountain, simply because she was drop-dead gorgeous.
She possessed a standard oval face with delicate eyebrows and well-proportioned features. Today, she wore a light blue floral cloth tunic, the hem fluttering gently in the breeze, accentuating her slender waist and making her look as graceful as a wild lily blooming in the mountains.
"Bingbing is here..."
Her mother clearly adored the girl. The moment she saw her, the gloom on her face instantly melted away, replaced by a broad smile. "Come on in!"
Xue Bingbing lived at the foot of the mountain, also in Shaoguo Village, and knowing the situation in Zhou Yang's household, she frequently brought things over.
Handing a jar of dried radishes to the mother, Xue Bingbing glanced in the direction the second uncle had left, her pretty face etched with worry, though she kept silent.
Her lovely eyes swept inadvertently across Zhou Yang's face, a flush rising to her cheeks as she muttered softly, "It's nothing, Auntie. Just bringing some things over. My dad sent me..."
Seeing the young girl's bashful and timid appearance, the old couple exchanged a knowing, taciturn smile.
Her mother gave her son a subtle nudge and glared at him. Zhou Yang reacted immediately, picking up a hind leg from the cart and handing it to Xue Bingbing like he was offering a prized treasure.
Even he thought he was pathetic. Reborn into this life, seeing her again still left him acting like a clueless, tongue-tied youngster.
"Well... I hunted this today. Here."
The man scratched his head, his simple-minded expression making Xue Bingbing burst out laughing.
Following the direction of his hand, the girl finally noticed the carcass on the cart, her face a mask of shock. "Brother Yangzi, did you hunt this?"
"Mmm-hmm."
Brother Yangzi had only been up in the mountains for a few days, and already he could bag a wild boar?
Across all of Shaoguo Village, he was by far the most capable!
A flash of admiration crossed her eyes, but Xue Bingbing still declined, saying, "This single leg of pork is enough to last for ages. I can't take it..."
"Why are you being so polite with your brother?"
"Your family has helped us out plenty over the years. Don't stand on ceremony over a single leg—I can always hunt more next time."
Without waiting for argument, Zhou Yang thrust the pork leg straight into Xue Bingbing's hands.
Then, watching the girl bare her teeth in struggle, holding on for dear life without making any progress, her elbow slipped and the meat thudded onto the ground.
"Tsk, what a stubborn little block of wood!"
His real mother smacked him from behind.
Scratching his head, Zhou Yang said with some embarrassment, "How about I walk it over to your house?"
"...Thank you, Brother Yangzi."
This time, Xue Bingbing didn't put on airs, though she lowered her head with a blushing face.
The two of them walked side by side out of the courtyard, heading down the mountain toward the Old Xue family's house.
Though they didn't exchange many words along the way, that rustic yet ambiguous atmosphere continued to brew between the young man and woman.
Time flew by damn fast.
Zhou Yang felt as though they had reached her doorstep within just a few steps, leaving him feeling a bit reluctant to part.
Placing the pork leg by the gatepost, he couldn't help himself and called out to her.
"Bingbing."
"Yeah?"
Looking at her earnestly, Zhou Yang said, "When I've saved up enough bride price, I want to come to your house to propose. Will you say yes?"
The sudden, direct pitch made Xue Bingbing's pretty face turn even redder.
She bit her glossy lip, keeping mum for a long while before finally letting out a mosquito-like response: "We'll see..."
With that, she shyly turned and hurried inside the house.
Seeing her reaction, Zhou Yang grinned from ear to ear.
***
That night, Zhou Yang lay in bed.
His parents had long since fallen asleep, the room filled with earth-shattering snores, yet he didn't find it annoying at all; instead, with a self-mocking twist of his lips, he felt a deep sense of warmth.
Pillowing his head on his hands, his mind began mapping out the road ahead. But after a few moments of plotting, his brow furrowed deeply before smoothing out again in sudden resignation.
In this lifetime, he only wanted to be a proper mountain-bred commoner, a traditional Mountain Forager passing down the ancestral craft, while cherishing the time by his family's side.
Why overcomplicate things? For now, all he needed was to ensure his family had enough to eat, and the days ahead would naturally sort themselves out.
As for his second uncle, that old beast definitely could not be left alive.
For someone who had survived the battlefield, a human life wasn't all that much more precious than the beasts in the mountains. Given the right opportunity, he would pull out this thorn in his heart without hesitation—avenging his past life and securing peace for this one.
Filled with pleasant daydreams of the future, Zhou Yang slowly closed his eyes.
When he woke up again, it was broad daylight. He had slept soundly through the night.
Packing up his foraging gear while it was still early, Zhou Yang prepared to head straight up the mountain.
He had gone to see the old blacksmith yesterday, but his hunting rifle wasn't fixed yet. This trip would be for gathering mountain goods—the vast patch of yellow-flower yams he'd discovered yesterday hadn't been harvested yet, and paired with the wild boar meat, they'd be eating rich for days to come.
To his surprise, Xue Bingbing took the initiative to seek him out this time.
"Brother Yangzi, I'm going up the mountain to dig some wild vegetables. Will you take me along?"
Zhou Yang didn't refuse, nodding readily.
Being mountain folk living at the foot of the great peaks, even if they didn't spend every waking hour immersed in the deep, primeval forests like a Mountain Forager, they still knew a thing or two about surviving the mountain environment.
Besides, he wouldn't be able to carry all those mountain yams back in one trip anyway, so he could share some with her.
The two entered the woods together, moving with tacit coordination up the dirt slope.
However, before reaching their destination, there was something else that needed to be done.
Zhou Yang untied the pouch from his waist and pulled out the wild boar meat he had brought down yesterday, weighing roughly three to five catties.
Placing the meat on a stone stump beneath an old tree, Xue Bingbing, standing close by, guessed what he was about to do and asked, "Brother Yangzi, are you paying respects to the mountain?"
"Mmm."
With that, Zhou Yang dropped to his knees.
Paying respects to the mountain was a traditional ritual performed by Mountain Foragers to honor the Mountain God, symbolizing a prayer for a bountiful harvest that day.
Yet in reality, they were paying homage to the mountain itself, not a deity.
This tradition dated back to the earliest generation of Mountain Foragers, when ferocious beasts roamed thick in the wild. Before setting out, people made a habit of sacrificing a farm chicken or some other small animal; once the beasts had food to eat, they wouldn't attack humans—a rather pragmatic form of faith.
Zhou Yang wore a solemn expression as he looked up at the towering, cloud-reaching old tree. Its canopy spread like an umbrella, thick with lush foliage, as if acting as a divine guardian over this expanse of mountain forest.
He took a deep breath, slowly knelt, and brought his hands together in a clasp.
"Your descendant Zhou Yang comes only to forage, never to plunder, and asks the Mountain God for your kind tolerance. Please bless this trip so everything goes smoothly."
Xue Bingbing stood to the side; though a bit shy, she joined in the kowtow, saying, "Mountain God bless us, keep the two of us safe and sound."
Once it was all done, the two stood up. Zhou Yang told Xue Bingbing the location of the yellow-flower yam patch, and they resumed chatting and laughing as they made their way toward the slope.
Yet before they reached the spot, Xue Bingbing suddenly called out, "Brother Yangzi, look! Is that a rabbit warren?!"
Zhou Yang's eyes lit up instantly, and he hurried over.
Sure enough, a mound of earth bulged out from the dense grass, the soil still fresh—undoubtedly a rabbit burrow.
Yet his brow furrowed immediately afterward.
"System, activate the detection function."
[Ten points consumed. System detection initiated.]
Ding!
The system interface flashed red.
[Large wild beast tracks detected nearby.]
This was the lowest-consumption scan, meaning no detailed information was visible, but for Zhou Yang, it was more than enough.