After the four of them argued for a few moments, Zhang Shuya cast an unfriendly glance toward Wang Shuai, who had been maintaining a neutral stance.
Receiving that not-so-kind signal from Zhang Shuya, Wang Shuai, who had been enjoying the spectacle, immediately spoke up
"Uh, Dong-zi, how about we go hunt grey squirrels instead? We can go fish for those little guys tomorrow; that'll be just as good."
Hearing Wang Shuai say this, Zhang Shuya finally gave him a small, appreciative look.
Just because of that one appreciative glance, this guy was so delighted that he practically skipped with joy.
However, Wang Shuai's sudden change of heart left Wu Dong and He Liang feeling dissatisfied.
Wu Dong looked at Wang Shuai with a face full of mockery and said
"I say, Little Shuai, you're a grown man of seven feet; how can you let yourself be swayed by a woman? Aren't you a bit too pathetic?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Shuai didn't show a hint of shame. Instead, he said smugly
"So what? Every one of you has a wife, but I'm still a bachelor. With such a great opportunity to make a good impression, I absolutely have to seize it."
Truth be told, Wang Shuai's reasoning was sound; there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
However, Wang Shuai's words left Wu Dong, Ma Guoqiang, and He Liang quite shaken. Ma Guoqiang said with a look of shock
"No, I say, Little Shuai, why did I call you pathetic? You're actually venturing further and further down the path of being pathetic! How does that saying go? Oh, right—there are so many trees in the forest, why do you insist on hanging yourself from just one?"
Wang Shuai spread his hands, putting on a helpless expression
"I can't help it. That's just my personality. Once I've set my sights on a tree, I must hang myself from that specific tree. As my brothers, shouldn't you consider my feelings?"
It was clear that although Wang Shuai's tone seemed somewhat cynical, these were his true feelings. After hearing this, something clearly shifted in Zhang Shuya's eyes.
Once Wang Shuai finished, Wu Dong and the other two looked at him, then at Zhang Shuya. Wu Dong then raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and said
"Fine, fine, fine. Let's just go hunt grey squirrels. If we keep talking, I'll end up being the villain who destroys a brother's romance."
As soon as Wu Dong finished speaking, everyone burst out laughing.
Zhang Shuya patted Wang Shuai on the shoulder and praised him
"I guess you are useful for something."
Having received Zhang Shuya's praise, Wang Shuai became instantly puffed up, like a primary school student praised by a teacher.
To be fair, when it came to love, Wang Shuai was genuinely a bit of a simp.
With everyone in agreement, they each took an air rifle from Zhang Shuya's car and slung them over their shoulders.
Actually, Zhang Shuya and the others had prepared air rifles for Mu Xueli and Wang Li as well, but since those two were busy planting vegetables at home, one of the rifles went to Huang Zhong.
Worried that something unexpected might happen in the mountains, Wang An had tucked a Type 54 pistol into Huang Zhong's pocket. While the power of an air rifle wasn't small, it still fell into the category of toy guns and couldn't compare to the power of a real firearm.
Each person took a box of pellets, and they walked out of the courtyard together.
Hunting squirrels didn't require going too deep into the mountains; the pine forests around the village were sufficient.
Thus, the group of eight didn't ride horses and simply strolled into the hills.
Along the way, Wu Dong teased Wang Shuai
"I say, Little Shuai, if you had been this shameless earlier, wouldn't it have been better? Would Little Ya have started dating you long ago?"
Hearing this, Wang Shuai immediately became displeased and said crossly
"Hey, hey, hey, stupid Dong-zi, what are you talking about? What do you mean 'shameless earlier'? Is this being shameless? This is called lowering one's posture, understand?"
As soon as Wang Shuai finished, He Liang let out a snort of laughter and said while laughing
"Sure it is. You call that lowering your posture? Before Dong-zi started dating his wife, that was called being shameless. I remember you didn't spare any words calling Dong-zi shameless back then, hahahaha!"
Ma Guoqiang immediately chimed in
"Right, right, right. When others do it, it's called being shameless, but when Little Shuai does it, it's called lowering his posture. If you ask me, he's the most shameless of all, hahahaha..."
The three of them opened fire collectively, leaving Wang Shuai speechless. Mainly, Wang Shuai's wit was average; he wasn't as silver-tongued as Mu Xueli.
Even so, Wu Dong clearly didn't want to let Wang Shuai off the hook and continued to tease him with a grin
"Little Shuai, I remember before you started dating your sister-in-law, you were acting so arrogant every single day. Now that it's your turn, why aren't you posing anymore? Oh right, before we came to Little An's house, we hadn't seen a trace of you. I heard you were helping out at the Public Security Bureau?"
Hearing this, Wang An finally understood why the relationship between Wang Shuai and Zhang Shuya seemed to have become much closer—at the very least, they had the vibe of a couple. It turned out Wang Shuai had been helping Zhang Shuya all this time.
That said, Wang Shuai's "job" was truly mysterious; not only did he help during Wu Dong's exercises, but he could even be useful to the Public Security side.
Wang Shuai didn't mind Wu Dong's teasing and said with a hint of pride
"Yeah, so what? If I hadn't been proactive in helping Little Ya with her work, how could we be visiting Little An's house right now? You guys should be thanking me for my sacrifice, you know?"
He Liang immediately joked
"Sure thing. No one else but Comrade Wang Shuai could make being a simp sound so dignified."
Hearing He Liang's words, everyone burst into laughter once again.
Strangely, no matter how much Wu Dong, He Liang, and Ma Guoqiang teased Wang Shuai, Zhang Shuya remained silent, simply watching the scene with a smile on her face.
Amidst the chatting and laughing, the group entered a pine forest.
At this point, Wang An spoke to the group
"This pine forest isn't very large and is close to home. If you look north, you can see the village houses. If this many of us huddle together in a noisy crowd, those grey squirrels won't even come out of their tree holes. How about we split up? A distance of about ten meters between pairs should be enough."
Wild squirrels are very curious but timid. If it's too noisy, they'll vanish in a few leaps through the trees, and finding them again is an immense struggle.
After Wang An finished, Zhang Shuya checked her watch and said
"It's 8:30 now. Regardless of whether we catch anything or how many we get, we head home at 12:00."
Everyone agreed and dispersed in different directions.
In the mountains near a village like this, there was no need to worry about safety.
Since it was an area with frequent human activity, aside from small animals like squirrels, sparrows, rabbits, and pheasants, larger animals generally didn't appear.
(End of Chapter)