Chapter 16

In broad daylight, there was no need to use the map on his phone. He just had to run to the general area, and he would see that unique patch of grass, which was over ten centimeters taller than ordinary grass, with fatter, wider leaves and a deeper color, making it very noticeable.

At night, he would secretly come to water it. If people noticed something unusual during the day, they would just think the grass had mutated. Hehe, the better the grass, the happier the cowboys would be, and they wouldn't care too much about it.

Standing at a distance to observe, hmm, it was spreading faster than he had anticipated, which was even better. Once this patch of grass covered the pasture, he would plant it on the farm as well. Qin Yi had already chosen the grass seeds. He would plant perennial ryegrass on the farm, a type of grass that was just as widely planted as alfalfa, with its own nutritional advantages. Ryegrass was also easier to tiller; after planting it for a month and harvesting it once, the new ryegrass would grow into multiple plants. By adding some spiritual spring water, the ryegrass would spread without attracting too much attention.

He assumed that the other improved alfalfa would grow similarly, so Qin Yi didn't go to check. He rode Little Black back to the main house and let Little Black go graze on its own.

Little Black was now even stronger. Yesterday, when he and Ryan went to herd the cattle, the two of them rode their horses at a fast pace for over half an hour. Little Black only sweated, while Ryan's horse was already panting heavily. At that moment, Ryan looked at Little Black with shining eyes, probably wanting to ride it for a few more laps. Unfortunately, everyone knew Little Black's temper...

Back in the house, Qin Yi poured a cup of coffee and lay on the porch, sipping it slowly.

After resting for a while, Qin Yi went to the warehouse to find carrot seeds and planted them in the vegetable garden. The vegetables had only been planted for two days and hadn't sprouted yet. He was speechless; he had been thinking about the grass and hadn't come to water them. Now, since Susie was still herding, no one was paying attention to the garden. He would come to water it at night. The garden had no spare space, so Qin Yi scattered the carrot seeds in the lettuce rows, spreading them out a bit, covering a large area.

After planting the carrots, he had nothing else to do. Should he go fishing? He had all the fishing gear in the warehouse, but since he had been thinking about guns since yesterday, he couldn't get it out of his mind. Everything else seemed meaningless!

Qin Yi originally planned to have Ryan go with him to the gun store to help him choose, but Ryan was checking the grass growth today. Qin Yi didn't want to interfere with Ryan's work, so he decided to go buy a gun tomorrow.

However, Qin Yi, who had never touched a gun, was captivated by this thing that all men loved. He couldn't let it go. Forget it, he would drive himself and choose a gun that felt good to use. If he bought the wrong one, he could always buy another one later. Was it true that a man could only have one gun in his lifetime? Who said that!

Deciding to act, Qin Yi went to the garage, drove out the Dodge Ram, and hit the road!

Listening to country music, he drove for half an hour to Augusta. Qin Yi didn't waste any time and used the car's navigation to head straight to the destination.

Parking at the entrance, Qin Yi entered the store and was immediately amazed. The store had rows of counters displaying various caliber handguns, a large number of ordinary hunting guns, which were divided into shotguns (commonly known as bird guns in China) and rifles. In addition, there were a few semi-automatic rifles on the counter in front of the salesperson, making Qin Yi, who had never seen real guns, feel dazzled.

As for the bullets, they were even more impressive. Boxes of shiny copper bullets were casually placed, and you could grab a handful!

The salesperson was a young man with fair skin. When Qin Yi entered, he was carefully polishing an old rifle. From his gentle movements and loving gaze, it was clear he was a gun enthusiast.

"Hello, sir, I'm Bill. Would you like me to show you around?"

Noticing Qin Yi's entrance, Bill gently put down the gun and greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Bill. I'm Yi. I'll take a look first. You know, I'm already a bit overwhelmed," Qin Yi joked, indeed feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Bill smiled and nodded in understanding, gesturing for him to take his time, then continued his work.

Qin Yi first approached a silver pistol, picked it up, and felt its weight, raising it to aim and shoot. There was no standard, but he felt pretty cool. All the guns in the store were locked, with trigger locks and magazine locks, so he had to ask the salesperson to unlock them to truly feel the gun and prevent accidents. He put down the pistol and picked up a rifle, holding it to feel its weight. Hmm, no feeling. Well, no point in looking aimlessly. He would let Bill recommend a few and try them at the shooting range.

Qin Yi approached Bill and explained his thoughts. Bill stood up and asked if he wanted a hunting gun or another type, single-barreled or double-barrelled. After thinking for a moment, he snapped his fingers, "Yi, wait a moment." He walked to the rifle counter, selected three guns, and brought them back to Qin Yi, introducing them one by one. The first was a large-barreled, cool-looking hunting gun.

"This is the Remington M870 civilian shotgun, with a capacity of 7+1 rounds, a total length of 1060mm, and a weight of 7.93 pounds. It's durable and reliable, known as the 'universal gun' in the United States, a very common hunting gun."

Looking at this powerful shotgun, Qin Yi liked it a lot. Regardless of the others, he had to buy this one!

Bill then lifted a reddish-brown rifle: "This is a derivative of the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, with a 7.62mm caliber, a capacity of 8 rounds, a total length of 1100mm, and a weight of 9.63 pounds. Its effective range is 790 meters."

The last one was a black, old-looking hunting rifle: "This is an improved Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle, with a single-shot manual action, a capacity of 5 rounds with a double magazine, a length of 1130mm, and a weight of 8.8 pounds. Its effective range is 1000 meters."

After holding the Garand and the Lee-Enfield, Qin Yi finally chose a Remington M780 and two improved Lee-Enfields.

Under Bill's recommendation, he also chose two pistols: a 2.1-pound M9 pistol, with a 9mm caliber and an effective range of 50 meters. The other was also very good, a domestically produced QSG92 police pistol, also with a 9mm caliber, an effective range of 50 meters, and a double-stack, double-feed magazine with a capacity of 15 rounds.

After selecting the guns, he took some bullets and headed to the shooting range. He might as well practice a bit before leaving. Before reaching the range, he met an elderly white man. The old man had white hair but was tall and robust, walking with a strong presence and looking very spirited.

"Hello, you must be Yi. I'm the owner here. You can call me Old Jack," the old man stopped in front of Qin Yi and introduced himself warmly.

Seeing the old man greet him, Qin Yi was a bit surprised. He didn't recognize him, even though he had bought a ranch, his photo hadn't been in the newspaper... He was confused but didn't want to be impolite, "Hello, Jack. I'm Yi."

Old Jack laughed at Qin Yi's puzzled expression, "Yes, Yi, this is our first meeting, but I've lived here for decades. I know all the few Chinese people in the area, and the new Chinese rancher at Sun River Ranch is you." He winked at Qin Yi, "You understand, Yi. There are more cows than people here! Hahaha."

Qin Yi understood. As a new face, someone with a keen eye could guess who he was. He smiled at the last joke. Augusta had a population of about 10,000, while his ranch had over 6,000 cows. When the ranch was fully stocked, there would be even more cows than residents!

"Are you going to the shooting range? Would you like me to take you there?"

"Of course, if you're not busy. I'm just here to play with guns and would love some tips!" Qin Yi was happy. It was like getting a pillow when you're sleepy.

"Of course, I'm very free. Bill is taking care of things up front. I'd rather go to the shooting range with you! Follow me, Yi."

Old Jack led the way, and Qin Yi followed with his long and short guns. At 1.8 meters tall, he looked like a sidekick next to the robust old man. Old Jack led Qin Yi to an empty shooting station, placed the guns on the table, and warned Qin Yi not to touch them yet. He then took out the M9 pistol, unlocked it, and began explaining to Qin Yi: "Yi, when you get a gun, remember, never point the muzzle at anyone! Point it diagonally downward at the ground, like this."

Old Jack demonstrated with each gun.

"This is very important. If there's no prey in front of you, keep the muzzle pointed at the ground. Of course, don't look into the muzzle either; that's a wrong operation."

Qin Yi thought it was necessary. An accidental discharge could be troublesome. Seeing Qin Yi listening attentively, Old Jack explained even more enthusiastically, going on and on. Qin Yi didn't get impatient, remembering everything carefully. He would be playing with guns often, so it was better to be cautious to avoid accidents. After a few minutes, he finally finished explaining the important points, and Qin Yi could start practicing.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After a few shots, although he didn't miss the target, his scores were mostly in the 2nd and 3rd rings.

"Use your wrist, but don't stiffen your whole body. Feel its power, adjust your stance and strength, and try a few more times. You need to work with its force, not against it, and eventually control it!" Old Jack advised from the side.

Qin Yi fired a few more shots, made some adjustments, and gradually got the hang of it. After using over 50 rounds, his scores stabilized around the 7th and 8th rings. This was largely due to Qin Yi's superior mental and physical abilities, which allowed him to focus and improve quickly.

Qin Yi took more bullets and continued practicing. A few minutes later, after using 200 more rounds, he could consistently hit the 9th ring!

For his first time at the shooting range, to achieve such results in just a few minutes, he was truly gifted. Qin Yi praised himself inwardly. Seeing his rapid improvement, Old Jack was also amazed. If he hadn't seen Qin Yi's novice shooting earlier, he wouldn't have believed it was his first time!

After practicing with the pistol, Qin Yi started with the hunting gun. He would definitely need to hunt on the ranch, so he had to practice with the hunting gun. Without a good hunting gun, he would be laughed at for missing his shots! With the pistol as a foundation, after a few shots, he gradually got the feel of the hunting gun. After firing a dozen rounds, he was shooting quite well.

Feeling he had practiced enough for the day, Qin Yi didn't want to stay any longer. He would set up a target at the ranch and practice there. He had already remembered the techniques Old Jack taught him.

"Jack, I'm going back. Thank you, I learned a lot."

Hearing Qin Yi was leaving, Old Jack waved and patted his shoulder, "No need to thank me, Yi. You're a natural with guns. I'm happy to teach a genius!"

He didn't dwell on why Qin Yi learned so quickly. There were many geniuses in the world, and he had just met one today. It wasn't a big deal. His straightforward nature meant he could easily dismiss it.

Following Old Jack back to the store, Qin Yi completed the paperwork, paid, and left with a bag of long and short guns and hundreds of bullets. Back at the ranch, he moved the guns and bullets to the bedroom, locked them in a cabinet, tidied up, and it was almost noon. Time to cook.

There was flour in the kitchen, so Qin Yi decided to make some noodles. Although they didn't look great, they were a big comfort after eating hamburgers and beef and potato stew for several days.

He heated the oil in a pan, added chopped green onions and green peppers, and stir-fried them for a bit to release the aroma. Then he added diced beef, quickly stir-fried it, added salt, a little soy sauce, a bit of chili oil, and no MSG or chicken essence, as Qin Yi didn't like them.

After adding the seasonings, he continued to stir-fry for a minute, then set it aside. He boiled water and cooked the noodles, which was simple. After boiling for two to three minutes, he drained the noodles, placed them in a bowl, added the stir-fried beef, and a spoonful of the noodle broth. His homemade beef noodles were ready!

Stir before eating!

PS: Thanks to everyone for the spontaneous recommendations over the past two days. I'm very surprised and excited by your support. I'll work hard to create more exciting plots to thank you! Thank you all again. It's almost midnight, so get some rest!