When Old Liu’s family was being ravaged by the Snow Wolves, the Zhao Brothers were still trudging laboriously through the snow toward Lao Xu Jia.
They didn’t dare take the village paths, fearing discovery, so they took the longer route around the outskirts.
The commotion at Old Liu’s place was loud, but they paid it no mind, assuming it was just another husband beating his wife.
Almost everyone in the village was related, so a quarrel between one couple could often involve several families.
It wasn’t unusual for a marital spat to escalate into a full-blown family brawl, so they thought nothing of it.
The deep snow and their empty stomachs made the journey tough, and when the three brothers finally spotted the gate of Lao Xu Jia in the distance, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Mother! We’re finally here! I’m exhausted!”
Zhao San Gou plopped down into a snowdrift, needing to catch his breath before scaling the wall.
Zhao Er Gou leaned on his knees, about to tease his younger brother.
Complaining about being tired now—wait until they had to carry the pork back home, then they’d see what real exhaustion felt like.
Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Da Gou, standing beside him, clamped a hand over his mouth, while Zhao San Gou on his other side tugged his clothes, pulling him to the ground.
“Mmph, mmph!”
The words he’d been about to say were stifled, but Zhao Er Gou didn’t blame his eldest brother—in fact, he was grateful.
Pointing at the scene unfolding at the Xu family’s gate in the distance, Zhao Er Gou was so shocked that even without Da Gou’s hand over his mouth, he wouldn’t have been able to speak.
Seeing that his second brother had noticed, Zhao Da Gou withdrew his hand, patted both brothers on the shoulder, and gestured for them to leave.
Without a hint of hesitation or reluctance, Zhao Er Gou and Zhao San Gou quickly and quietly followed Da Gou’s lead, retracing their steps as silently as possible.
Just as they turned to leave, the majestic, snow-white Wolf King at the front of the pack turned its head, glanced in their direction, and twitched its nose.
If the Zhao Brothers had exerted ten parts effort on their way there, they used twenty on their way back.
Their trembling, stumbling figures made it clear they were running with every ounce of strength they had.
They didn’t stop until they’d dashed home, bolted the main gate and the door to their house, and even propped the only remaining wooden table against the door. Only then did they feel secure enough to speak freely.
“Brother, thank goodness for you, or we’d have been done for today.”
Waving a hand, Zhao Da Gou was too frightened, exhausted, and hungry to speak.
Zhao San Gou, in a similar state, patted his chest and occasionally pricked up his ears to listen for any sounds outside.
“Heavens, that scared me to death! Such a huge pack of Snow Wolves suddenly appearing! And that giant tiger leaping out from Lao Xu Jia! If not for Big Brother’s quick thinking, there’d be nothing left of us but bone fragments.”
Finally catching his breath, Zhao Da Gou was also shaken by the close call.
If they hadn’t been so exhausted and stopped to rest, but had instead climbed directly into Lao Xu Jia, they’d already be inside that giant tiger’s stomach.
“Damn, that was bizarre! That tiger really is protecting Lao Xu Jia. Looks like we can’t mess with them anymore. If they ever need help in the future, we’d better pitch in. Let’s just hope those Snow Wolves and that giant tiger don’t catch our scent.”
As Zhao Da Gou said this, his brows were tightly furrowed.
Zhao Er Gou and Zhao San Gou couldn’t understand why their elder brother would say such a thing.
Zhao Da Gou just waved his hand dismissively. He hadn’t told his brothers that during their escape earlier, he couldn’t resist looking back and saw the Wolf King turning its head to sniff in their direction.
Snow Wolves hold grudges—they can remember them for a lifetime!
The incident of the Snow Wolf attacking Old Liu’s household became the talk of Fu’an Village the next day.
Whether people were twisting hemp ropes, sewing shoe soles, or going up the mountain to gather firewood, this matter was on everyone’s lips.
Besides the Snow Wolf, Old Liu, and the Liu family, another frequently mentioned topic was the Xu family and Xu Tianbao.
It was also at this time that Xu Lao Nian’er learned that such a major incident had occurred in their Fu’an Village the previous night.
Unlike everyone else’s feelings, Xu Lao Nian’er felt no fear whatsoever—in fact, he even found it somewhat satisfying.
No wonder Xiao Hu Zai had left his little granddaughter yesterday—it turned out he had gone home to complain to his parents.
In the following days, Xu Lao Nian’er no longer saw Li Qing and those other half-grown children on the mountain. Even the number of women had significantly decreased.
With Snow Wolves and big tigers frequently appearing at the forest’s edge, every household was quite frightened.
Despite losing these little helpers, Xu Lao Nian’er didn’t gather any less firewood—in fact, he collected even more than usual.
Because he had gained three strong laborers.
The Zhao Brothers, having spent a night in fear and anxiety, appeared neatly behind Xu Lao Nian’er the next day.
They followed him step by step—one helping to gather, one helping to bundle, and one helping to carry. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought they were three hired laborers working for Xu Lao Nian’er.
With the Zhao Brothers’ help, Xu Lao Nian’er pushed a cart full of firewood home before noon.
He didn’t let the Zhao Brothers work for nothing either, giving them all the food he had brought with him.
On their way back, they luckily encountered a foolish rabbit.
The foolish rabbit was startled at the sight of them and, in its panic, ran headfirst into a large tree behind it, knocking itself dead.
Not only that, but the impact from the rabbit caused the tree to shake, dislodging a bird’s nest from above—containing three bird eggs inside.
Who knows what kind of bird would lay eggs at this time of year.
Xu Lao Nian’er didn’t keep any of these things, giving them all to the Zhao Brothers.
His family wasn’t short of meat to eat now, so he didn’t pay much mind to these small gains.
Of course, if he had known that even his family would go hungry in the future, he might have regretted being so generous today.
Regardless of what Xu Lao Nian’er thought, the Zhao Brothers were overjoyed—they never expected such unexpected gains.
As the four descended the mountain, they encountered Old Liu and his son.
With Old Liu’s wife having her leg broken by the Snow Wolf and confined to bed, their scheme to extort firewood from Xu Lao Nian’er had fallen through. The two had no choice but to come out and gather firewood themselves.
Two grown men, each carrying only one bundle of pine branches—it looked like they were carrying less firewood than some of the village women.
When they saw Xu Lao Nian’er, the Liu father and son quickly lowered their heads and hurried away, detouring around the four.
They were truly afraid of Lao Xu Jia now.
Not just the Zhao Brothers and the Liu family—others in the village who had designs on Lao Xu Jia had also given up their schemes.
Even though Lao Xu Jia was quite distant from the village, people still noticed that the scent of meat cooking frequently wafted from the Xu household.
Many people had the same idea as the Zhao brothers, but this time they were all frightened into retreating.
No matter how delicious the meat might be, it wasn’t more important than their lives.
Thus, in such a peaceful atmosphere, Fu’an Village passed the Spring Festival of Danyang 13th Year.
However, less than two months later, an official document completely destroyed this brief peace.