“Oh my goodness, Mother!”
With a startled cry, Liu Shi was once again frightened by Xiao Hu Zai, landing squarely on her rear.
Baring its teeth at Liu Shi, Xiao Hu Zai emitted a low, rumbling growl from its throat.
“Ah!”
Everything happened so quickly that before anyone could react, Xiao Tianbao cried out again.
Hearing Xiao Tianbao’s voice, Xiao Hu Zai immediately retracted its fangs, its fierce demeanor vanishing instantly. It turned in a circle and settled back down.
Now everyone understood—these two little rabbit cubs weren’t meant for eating at all.
They were pets that Xiao Hu Zai had caught for their family’s little lucky treasure to play with!
The black and white furballs twitched their ears, tucked their little paws beneath their bellies, and curled up even tighter, resembling little balls.
Whew! Thank goodness, their lives were finally spared!
When Xu Lao Nian’er returned home that day, Old Mrs. Xu noticed he had gathered more firewood than the previous day.
While helping him unload the wood from the cart, Old Mrs. Xu voiced her curiosity.
“Why so much today? With snow this deep, how did you manage to push the cart back?”
The snow was too thick, making the wheels prone to getting stuck.
Stacking a bundle of pine branches onto the woodpile, Xu Lao Nian’er chuckled.
“It was Qing Wazi again—he helped me gather quite a bit of it.”
Pausing in her task, Old Mrs. Xu sighed. “Shall we send a cartload of firewood to the Li Family in a couple of days?”
Xu Lao Nian’er didn’t respond verbally, merely nodding in agreement.
By the time the firewood was fully stacked, dinner was ready.
It was only then that Xu Lao Nian’er noticed two new living creatures in their household.
“What do these two little things eat?”
His question left everyone stumped, and before they knew it, all eyes turned toward the goat in the corner of the yard.
From then on, the Black Mountain Goat and her kid took on an additional chore: while grazing on the mountain, they had to bring back food for the two little rabbit cubs when they came down.
Over the following month, Xu Lao Nian’er brought home increasingly larger amounts of firewood each day and returned earlier and earlier.
By year’s end, he could gather in just one morning what used to require both Da Zhu and Er Zhu’s help to collect from the mountains.
This bounty was all thanks to Li Qing.
Not that Li Qing alone made such a difference.
Several boys who were friends with Li Qing saw him helping Xu Lao Nian’er push the flatbed cart and lent a hand as well.
The next day, the households of those who had helped would find wild game—usually hares or pheasants, drained of blood—left at their doorsteps.
At first, these families were puzzled but too excited about having meat to eat to dwell on it.
Gradually, the sharper-minded ones realized that only those who had assisted Xu Lao Nian’er received these gifts.
In times like these, even a single bite of food could save a life.
The families who received the meat didn’t broadcast it, but not only did their children help—even the adults lent a hand whenever they encountered Xu Lao Nian’er in the mountains.
Meanwhile, their neighbor Old Liu grew envious watching villagers help Xu Lao Nian’er haul cartload after cartload of firewood home.
After observing Xu Lao Nian’er’s return times for several days, she deliberately waited for him at the mountain’s base.
“Oh! Brother Xu, you’ve brought back another cartload of firewood! Tsk tsk tsk, these pine branches are bundled so neatly—they must burn really well.”
Seeing Xu Lao Nian’er pushing a fully loaded flatbed cart of firewood again, Old Liu’s tone was dripping with envy.
Old Liu was notorious throughout the village for always trying to take advantage of others.
Back when every household was still doing well, Old Liu would always carry a palm-sized bowl, borrowing salt from one family and oil from another.
Every time, she used the same excuse.
“I forgot to buy it last time I went to town. I’ll return it after my next trip.”
Hmph, easy for her to say.
But every time the villagers went to town together, no one ever saw her there.
As soon as others returned from town, she would take out her little bowl again and make the rounds from house to house.
Some people couldn’t stand her behavior and would curse her out when she showed up.
But Old Liu had thick skin—she would curse right back when scolded. Even after heated arguments, the next time someone returned from town, she would still show up at their door with her bowl.
Knowing how difficult Old Liu could be, Xu Lao Nian’er didn’t want to get entangled with her.
When he saw her, he merely nodded in greeting before lowering his head and pushing the flatbed cart straight toward his home without another glance.
Old Liu had been waiting for him for quite some time—she wasn’t about to let him leave so easily.
She quickly stepped forward, blocking the path of the flatbed cart and cutting off Xu Lao Nian’er’s route.
In his hurry to shake off Old Liu, Xu Lao Nian’er was pushing the cart with considerable force. When she suddenly blocked its path, he nearly lost control and crashed right into her.
He managed to steady the cart, but a pine branch slipped off due to the momentum, landing on Old Liu’s foot before falling into the snow at her feet.
Gripping the cart handles tightly, Xu Lao Nian’er furrowed his brows and finally looked up at Old Liu.
“Sister-in-law, what exactly do you want?”
His tone was icy cold, making it clear he was angry. But Old Liu, shameless as ever, pretended not to notice.
With a sly chuckle, Old Liu bent down, picked up the pine branch, and held it in her hand. Instead of backing away, she took a step closer.
“Brother Xu, look—your family already has so much firewood. Could you lend this cartload to me for now? My good-for-nothing husband is nothing like you—he’s so clumsy at work that ten days of his labor isn’t worth one of yours. We’re about to run out of firewood for cooking, and the children are crying from hunger!”
Having been neighbors for decades, Xu Lao Nian’er knew exactly what the Liu family was like.
There wasn’t a word of truth in Old Liu’s mouth.
He sneered inwardly, unwilling to engage with her. Changing the direction of the cart, he tried to bypass her and head home.
“Sister-in-law, I’m afraid I can’t help you. Our Lao Si Xifu just gave birth to a daughter, and both mother and child mustn’t get cold. Da Zhu and Er Zhu also need to rest on the heated kang—they can’t sleep on a cold one. We don’t have enough firewood ourselves either.”
Seeing that Xu Lao Nian’er genuinely wanted nothing to do with her, Old Liu’s smile stiffened. Her eyes darted around, and she decided to go all out. She scurried forward and plopped herself down in front of Xu Lao Nian’er’s cart, clutching the wheel to prevent him from leaving.
“Oh, heavens! It hurts so much! My leg’s crushed!”
While wailing, Old Liu took the opportunity to use her hands to pull the firewood off the flatbed cart, scattering quite a bit of the neatly bundled wood that had been secured on it.
From a distance, it truly looked as if Xu Lao Nian’er’s flatbed cart had hit her.
Xu Lao Nian’er wasn’t the only one who had gone up the mountain to gather firewood; a few others were also coming down from the hills at that moment.
Seeing people approach, Old Liu’s cries grew even louder.
“Oh, heavens! I’ve been run over! My leg is crushed!”
Her pitiful wails carried far on the wind, genuinely drawing everyone’s attention.