Chapter 144: Chapter 143: Selling the Tiger

After resting in the mountain cave for a night, the next morning, Qin Yao and her son parted ways with Yang Da and his son.

The father and son still needed to stay in the mountains to continue hunting. They would only come down once Yang Xuzhen had caught some prey.

Before Qin Yao left, she informed Yang Da about the situation she had observed last year in the area: there weren’t any fierce beasts, the cave was quite safe, and they could use it as a temporary base with peace of mind.

“Be careful going down the mountain as well, the road is slippery,” Yang Da advised.

The mother and son nodded to show they understood, then set off down the mountain with their prey.

Qin Yao dragged the prey at the front, while Da Lang followed behind, carrying his burlap sack and holding a lively, biting squirrel.

They didn’t take the original path back but instead headed along the foothills toward Kaiyang County.

Having traveled the route before, they knew it well, and with good physical condition this time, dragging over six hundred pounds of prey didn’t feel too tiring.

Instead, Qin Yao was often concerned about Da Lang following behind, which was mentally exhausting.

The child walked slowly, so she couldn’t walk too fast.

When the slope was too steep, she simply had him sit on the sled, dragging both him and the prey uphill together.

When they encountered sheer cliff sides, she had to tie a rope to him to prevent the child from disappearing while walking.

Delayed in this way, a county town she could reach alone by evening took them an extra night.

They had to spend one more night in the mountains, reaching the city gate of Kaiyang County by Noon the next day.

Fortunately, the mountain’s cooler temperature preserved the prey quite well; the beheaded tiger and sika deer were still relatively fresh.

But the meat certainly wouldn’t sell for much; instead, there was some room for negotiation on the tiger skin.

This time, remembering last year’s experience, Qin Yao covered the prey completely with branches to keep people from seeing what she had hunted.

Paying the entrance fee for two, the mother and son entered the city discreetly.

Today wasn’t a market day, so there weren’t many people on the streets. Remembering Manager Fan, Qin Yao led Da Lang directly to the restaurant’s back door.

“Auntie, why are we taking the back door?” Da Lang asked curiously.

Qin Yao replied, “Going through the front might affect their business.”

Da Lang nodded, having learned something new.

The little squirrel, exhausted and lying limp in his arms, might have been hungry, as it hadn’t eaten in two days.

Da Lang wanted to feed it some fruit he picked from a tree, but it wouldn’t eat, only drinking water, so it had no energy to cause trouble.

Qin Yao placed the prey on the ground, patted the dust off her disheveled clothes, and tidied her hair before stepping forward to knock on the door’s brass knocker.

After a while, someone finally opened the door; it was the head chef’s young apprentice.

“Miss Qin?” The young apprentice was shocked; if he didn’t recognize Qin Yao, he might have thought two beggars had come.

Qin Yao waved helplessly, gesturing for him to come out, “I’ve got something good to show you!”

Uncovering the branches covering the prey, the golden fur was revealed. The apprentice’s eyes widened in astonishment, gasping for air in excitement, unable to speak, only gesturing for Qin Yao to wait as he went to fetch the shopkeeper.

In no time, Manager Fan and the head chef came out. Upon seeing the tiger body on the sled, they both took a step back in surprise.

They looked at Qin Yao in unison, and seeing her gesture indicating the tiger was dead, they dared to approach and inspect the fur and the bloody tiger neck, checking if the meat was still fresh.

Being familiar, Qin Yao didn’t hide the time of death of the sika deer and tiger and plainly stated:

“The tiger died at dusk the day before yesterday, not even twenty-four hours ago. I rubbed salt on the wound, so it’s kept well; the meat will still be fragrant if cooked by tomorrow noon.”

The head chef curiously asked, “Miss Qin, where’s the tiger head?”

Carrying his burlap sack, Da Lang uneasily stepped back behind Qin Yao, afraid they would find out the tiger head was with him and try to buy it.

Unfortunately, his slight movement caught their attention.

When entering the city gate, the two guards naturally noticed the bloody burlap sack and inevitably conducted a check.

This led to loud intakes of breath.

Afraid they might block them, Qin Yao gave an extra ten cents to each guard, which allowed them to enter the city smoothly.

Seeing they had discovered the tiger head, Qin Yao straightforwardly said, “I’m taking this head home, not selling it.”

After all, it didn’t affect the tiger skin.

But the price was naturally lower, with Manager Fan offering ninety taels of silver.

Excluding the head, the tiger weighed just over four hundred eighty pounds, and the sika deer around one hundred and twenty; Manager Fan didn’t bother weighing them, knowing they were essentially additions to the tiger.

Seeing Qin Yao was not entirely satisfied with the price, Manager Fan explained with a wry smile:

“Had you brought it yesterday evening, I could have offered a higher meat price. But being a headless carcass, finding a buyer for the skin is tricky.”

Qin Yao didn’t press the issue, knowing if not for Da Lang, they might not have encountered the tiger at all.

“Alright then, let’s proceed. I’ll help you move it inside.”

Manager Fan happily instructed, “Remember to help me peel the skin off.”

The head chef also eagerly said, “Once you’re done, I’ll make braised beef noodles for you two; just this morning, I prepared some extra braising sauce. It’s packed with spices, quite costly!”

Qin Yao replied from the courtyard, “Sure, make it for five, I won’t charge you for the tiger slaying!”

The head chef sulked, “Almost forgot about your big appetite.”

Turning back, seeing Da Lang still standing by the door, he gestured him inside, closing the back door to avoid letting the opposite restaurant catch wind of it.

Today, they were going to catch the opposition off guard!

In this small county town, one might not taste tiger meat even once in decades.

Qin Yao spread out the prey, had the sled disposed of by the young apprentice, and entered the kitchen to choose a suitable knife to skin the tiger completely.

Seeing Manager Fan was about to take it away immediately, Qin Yao remembered the tiger head at home and quickly asked, “Manager Fan, who will you have make things from this skin?”

Recognizing her intent, Manager Fan waved Da Lang, squatting by the door, over, “Bring the tiger head; I’ll have someone do it all together, and next time you return to town, come find me to pick it up.”

Qin Yao asked, “How much?”

“Five hundred cents; I’ll deduct it directly from the silver I’m giving you,” he said, hurrying off with the tiger skin and head.

After handling this skin, he still needed to hang today’s big tiger meat sign outside.

While Qin Yao dealt with the prey, Da Lang quietly sat in the courtyard, holding the squirrel.

When Qin Yao finished, the head chef brought over the braised beef noodles, a huge bowl, inviting them, “Eat it while it’s hot!”

The aroma of the braised meat filled the courtyard, masking the scent of blood. The five-spice pork chunks were cooked until glistening and translucent, covering the white noodles, garnished with a sprinkle of fragrant green onions, appealing in color, aroma, and taste.

Da Lang, long hungry, stared at it with wide eyes.

Qin Yao appeared calm on the outside, but her hands moved swiftly, requesting a clay bowl from the kitchen, filling a bowl to the brim for Da Lang, “Eat quickly.”

Then she herself picked up the bowl and indulged heartily.

The small courtyard was filled with the fragrance of braised beef noodles and the happy sounds of the mother and son slurping noodles.

After finishing a bowl, Manager Fan came over with the silver, rounding off the mother and son’s adventurous journey.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep