Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 156: Digging stumps (1)

“Brother Ah Jian, how can I compare to you?” Lian Ze said in frustration, “You can hit a wild pheasant out of the sky with a stone but I can’t!”

After a pause, he said enviously: “I don’t know when I will have this ability!”

Ah Jian smiled and said, “You have good qualifications and are willing to endure hardship.
You only achieved your current ability through hard work and learning over and over! As long as you stick to it and persevere, I think you can do it in just two or three years.
It doesn’t have to be iron bows and arrows, but it doesn’t have to be stones, either.
Bamboo bows and arrows are also good.”

Lian Ze’s eyes lit up when he heard this and he said, “Really? Brother Ah Juan, you, you can make bows and arrows our of bamboo?”

Lian Fang Zhou nudged him and said with a smile: “Is it necessary to ask? If Ah Jian didn’t know, why would he bring it up?”

Ah Jian also laughed.

“That’s great! Bamboo is everywhere, its easy!” Lian Ze said.

Ah Jian smiled at him.
“It’s not any kind of bamboo.
It’s best to use bamboo that has grown for more than f our years so the bow is tough and the arrows are sharp enough.”

Maybe it was her imagination, but when speaking of bows and arrows, Ah Jian’s black stone-like yes seemed to shine and his expression seemed more excited.

She looked at Ah Jian in a daze, lost in thought for a moment.

She didn’t see when Ah Jian noticed her strange gaze, his heart moved like it was tumbling from the bottom of his chest, causing his usually calm mind to feel like it had been blown over by the wind.

It seemed that something was struggling to come to the surface.

Several images flashed through his mind, disappearing quickly before he had a chance to understand them.

Ah Jian tried to search for the images, feeling startled.

Lian Ze looked at Lian Fang Zhou and then at Ah Jian, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
Feeling flustered, he hurriedly shouted, “Sister, Brother Ah Jian! What’s wrong with you guys?”

After yelling a couple times, Lian Fang Zhou and Ah Jian snapped out of their dreams.

As soon as they came back to their senses, they both saw that the other had been dazed and couldn’t help but smile in embarrassment.

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking about something else for a little while.” Lian Fang Zhou said with a smile, covering the matter up.

“Me, me too.” Ah Jian agreed.

Lian Ze made an ‘oh’ sound.
Obviously, he didn’t quite believe it, but it seemed that nothing was wrong and there was no way to ask more questions.

It didn’t take long for his attention to hook back on the bamboo bow and arrows again and he quickly started asking Ah Jian various questions with enthusiasm.

Ah Jian smiled, his feelings normal again, and patiently answered his questions one by one.
As they walked, they bought some animal sinew, hemp rope, sandpaper, cow leather, and a few others things they would need to make the bow and arrows.

When they returned home, Lian Fang Zhou asked them to put the farming tools in the small platform next to the cowshed.

Seeing them carry two big yellow and green bamboo trunks, Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che were very curious and asked them what they were doing.

Hearing Lian Ze’s explanation, the two of them were very excited.
Lian Ze eagerly waited for Ah Jian to start.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and shook her head, not bothered enough to care about it.
She just told them, “Don’t grab the bamboo with your hands and don’t get too close to your brother Ah Jian! If you cut your hand and bleed, don’t complain!”

The three Lian siblings agreed.

Actually, Ah Jian was seven or eight years older than Fang Zhou, so she really should call him ‘Brother Ah Jian’ as well but Lian Fang Zhou hadn’t been young in her previous life.
Although she occupied the body of a little girl and had worked very hard to integrate into the current era, it was still difficult for her to call Ah Jian brother

Moreover, Ah Jian did not seem to care what she called him, so Lian Fang Zhou was happy just calling him Ah Jian.

Seeing the children looking at him with bright, expectant eyes, Ah Jian smiled and moved to sit on a small bench.
Holding a sharp hatchet in his hand, he started to chop methodically.

His movements were clean and neat, flowing naturally like clouds and moving water.
It was like an instinct, without thought.

He paused, thinking: How can I be so familiar with a bow and arrow? Did I often make them before? Could it be that I’m a hunter? It seems right… but doesn’t seem right.
He had the instinct for the bow and arrows but not the intimate understanding of birds and beasts a hunter would have.

In short, the feeling of ‘hunting’ seemed different than the feeling of the bow and arrows.

“Brother Ah Jian is really amazing!” Lian Fang Qing admired sincerely.

Ah Jian came back to his sense and smiled at her.
He decided to stop thinking about it.

Even if he tried, he knew he wouldn’t remember anything.

By the time dinner was ready, Ah Jian had already made two bows and arrows and cut ten or so bamboo arrows.

Looking at the bamboo bow, the back shone with the unique oily shine of bamboo and when the stretched sinew was gently tugged, it let out a vibrating buzzing sound.
Holding it in the hand, it seemed that it instantly became more majestic.

There were also the sharp bamboo arrows, each as thick as a finger from the head to the tail, and gradually Zhanging from a circle to a square shape.
The tail was forked and covered with thin iron.
In the hand, it was heavy and slightly cold.

The three children cheered, overjoyed, and Lian Ze couldn’t put it down.
Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che were very envious and they clearly wanted to bother Ah Jian.

Ah Jian listened to them make trouble and said with a smile, “Ask your sister! If she agrees, I will make one for you.”

The two of them wilted immediately.
Lian Fang Zhou would never give them permission for such a dangerous thing.

Lian Ze felt sorry for his younger siblings but not enough to give them his bow.
He coaxed them, saying: “You’re still young, its better not to play with this! Maybe if you ask, Brother Ah Jian will make a slingshot for you? The slingshot made by Brother Ah Juan will definitely be better than the ones we made ourselves!”

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che’s eyes lit up, shouting ‘yes’ in joy.

“A slingshot…?” Ah Jian was embarrassed.
“This… I’m not very good at…”

How could Lian Che and Lian Fang Qing believe this? Even Lian Ze didn’t believe him!

How could Brother Ah Jian not be able to? In their hearts, he was like their sister, omnipotent and invincible! How could there be anything he didn’t know?

Ah Jian had no choice but to obediently make the slingshot.
Of course, it was done under the carful guidance of the three siblings.

As the saying went, everything works out in the end.
Ah Jian seemed to be born with a halo in this respect.
The three children simply explained the details and he quickly understood it.

How could it take much time to make a little thing like a slingshot?

In a short while, two small slingshots were completed.

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che happily held them in their hands, playing with the slings.
Lian Ze tried one and said to Ah Jian with great admiration, “Brother Ah Jian, you said you couldn’t do it but these are much better than our old ones we made ourselves! You are good at everything!”

“…” Ah Jian moved his lips silently and couldn’t help but laugh.

TN: So cute, I love these little family moments!