“Big Bug! Big Bug has come down the mountain! Run for your lives!!!”
A panicked shout drew everyone’s attention.
A young woman carrying a bundle of firewood pointed toward the mountain, her face full of terror.
Following her finger, the crowd saw a large black and yellow tiger descending from the mountain.
The massive tiger had a bloody mass clutched in its jaws.
“A tiger! Everyone run!”
The stunned crowd snapped to awareness at the warning and immediately scattered in all directions.
As people dispersed, the enormous blood-stained tiger appeared directly before Xu Lao Nian’er and Old Liu.
Before Xu Lao Nian’er could react, Old Liu—who had been lying on the ground wailing about her broken leg—let out a yelp and sprang up from the ground.
She scrambled away in a flash, showing no trace of her earlier feigned weakness.
The crowd fled in panic, terrified of being chased by the big tiger. Only Xu Lao Nian’er remained standing motionless in place.
The old man who had spoken up for him earlier couldn’t run as fast as the younger folks and lagged behind.
Seeing Xu Lao Nian’er still standing there, he shouted toward him, “Xu Lao Nian’er, run! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Before Xu Lao Nian’er could respond, the big tiger leaped through the air and pounced from behind him.
“Ah!”
More than just the old man saw the tiger lunging at Xu Lao Nian’er—many others witnessed it too.
The crowd gasped in horror, some even closing their eyes, unwilling to witness the bloody scene they expected to follow.
Yet what happened next defied all expectations.
The big tiger did indeed leap from behind Xu Lao Nian’er, but instead of pouncing on him, it landed beside the flatbed cart.
With a gentle toss of its massive head, the tiger flung the small wild boar it was carrying onto Xu Lao Nian’er’s cart.
Noticing the scattered firewood on the ground, the tiger tilted its head and let out a soft “whimper” toward Xu Lao Nian’er. Miraculously, Xu Lao Nian’er seemed to understand what the big cat meant.
“Whimper?” (Need help?)
Although quite familiar with this big tiger by now, Xu Lao Nian’er didn’t have the nerve to ask it to help carry firewood.
He could only shake his head to indicate he could manage on his own.
Big tigers don’t understand human politeness or pretense.
Seeing Xu Lao Nian’er decline, it paid him no further mind. After glancing toward the distant crowd, it let out a roar in Old Liu’s direction, startling her so badly she fell hard on her backside once again.
This time, she didn’t dare covet anything on Xu Lao Nian’er’s cart—neither the wild boar nor the firewood.
All she wanted was to get as far away from the big tiger as possible and hurry home to hide under her blankets.
With everyone gone and the boar delivered, the big tiger didn’t linger. It gave Xu Lao Nian’er a parting “whimper,” then bounded away in a few leaps, disappearing into the mountain forest.
With the tiger gone, Xu Lao Nian’er acted as if nothing had happened, gathering the firewood that Old Liu had knocked to the ground.
After loading everything onto the cart, he began heading home.
The cart, already full of firewood, now also carried a small wild boar, making it so heavy it left deep ruts in the ground. Xu Lao Nian’er struggled to push it.
But suddenly, the cart felt lighter. Looking up, he saw Li Qing walking beside his cart, helping him push.
Before long, several more men arrived to help Xu Lao Nian’er push the cart to his doorstep.
These were the same families who had previously helped Xu Lao Nian’er gather firewood and received meat in return.
Having witnessed the large tiger delivering wild boars to Xu Lao Nian’er’s cart, and recalling the tiger’s roars and wolves’ howls heard on the day the Xu family’s granddaughter was born, they couldn’t help but think: perhaps the Xu family hadn’t been exaggerating. Maybe they truly had a little lucky treasure in their midst—hadn’t even the mountain’s Big Bug come to their aid?
Those who had seen the tiger interacting with Xu Lao Nian’er spread the story far and wide. The tellers spoke with conviction, though whether the listeners believed them was another matter.
Regardless of belief, news that the Lao Xu Jia’s Xiao Fu Bao was under the protection of a large tiger spread throughout Fu’an Village in a single night.
While rumors circulated, in the Zhao family’s courtyard at the farthest end of Fu’an Village from the Xu residence, Zhao San Gou peered left and right outside his gate. Seeing no one around, he closed the door securely.
Returning to the yard, he spoke with his two brothers.
“Eldest Brother, is it true what they’re saying? Does Lao Xu Jia really have the Big Bug’s protection?”
Zhao Da Gou picked up a bowl of water from the table and gulped it down in several swallows. It did nothing to relieve his hunger—if anything, it made him feel emptier.
Hearing his younger brother’s question, Zhao Da Gou rubbed his cramping stomach and nodded.
“It’s true. I saw with my own eyes that tiger toss a wild boar onto Xu Lao Nian’er’s cart. And…”
Here Zhao Da Gou paused, unwilling to continue.
Zhao Er Gou, being impatient, grew agitated at his brother’s half-finished statement.
“And what?”
It wasn’t that Zhao Da Gou meant to be cryptic—he simply found his own speculation too absurd to believe.
“And… I think Xu Lao Nian’er can talk to that Big Bug.”
This statement made not only Zhao Er Gou but even Zhao San Gou find it far-fetched.
“How could that be? Can a Big Bug understand human speech? Or does Xu Lao Nian’er know how to speak tiger language? If that were true, the Xu family would be strutting around the village like they owned it!”
Not only did Zhao San Gou disbelieve it, even Zhao Da Gou himself felt he might have been frightened out of his wits by the tiger.
While his brothers focused on the tiger, Zhao Er Gou’s attention remained fixed on the boar.
“Eldest Brother, you really saw that tiger throw a pig onto Xu Lao Nian’er’s cart with your own eyes?”
“How could it be false? I witnessed it myself!”
Having said this, Zhao Da Gou realized his second brother had designs on the Xu family’s boar.
“But that tiger…”
Seeing his eldest brother’s clear apprehension about the tiger, Zhao Er Gou—more concerned with filling his belly than the rare sighting—persisted.
“Eldest Brother, it’s a pig! How long has it been since we brothers last tasted meat? Our fourth brother left without ever getting to taste meat before he went!”
Zhao Er Gou pleaded fervently. Zhao San Gou, swallowing hard at his brother’s words, chimed in support.
“That’s right, Eldest Brother! Besides, both Xu Dazhu and Xu Er Zhu have broken legs now. Aside from Xu Lao Nian’er, the Xu family only has women and children left. This would be the easiest time to succeed!”
Thinking of their fourth brother who had left with the conscription officers, and their family’s nearly empty rice jar, Zhao Da Gou struggled to overcome his fear of the large tiger.
Smack! A hand slapped down on the table.
“Damn it! Let’s do it!”
While the Zhao brothers were scheming about how to steal Lao Xu Jia’s pork under the cover of darkness, over at the Xu family’s dinner table, Xu Lao Nian’er was recounting his earlier ordeal.
Nestled in Li Shi’s arms, the Little Dumpling clung to a large bowl with both hands and feet, gulping down milk while listening with great interest to Grandpa’s story.
It wasn’t until Old Liu was mentioned demanding four cartloads of firewood from Xu Lao Nian’er that the little one’s leg-kicking against the bowl paused.
Huh? Were bad people trying to steal their family’s firewood?