The next day, after finishing her milk, Xu Tianbao didn’t fall into a deep sleep as before but instead grabbed the little tiger cub’s tail to play with.
Though Xu Tianbao had completely lost her memories of her previous life, her soul’s essence remained that of the former Beast God’s Young Child and later King of the Beast Clan.
Beneath an appearance no different from an ordinary infant lay a body and mind developing at an astonishing speed.
Feeling her grip on his tail tighten slightly, the little tiger cub flicked the tip of his tail.
Good—she didn’t pull it out.
Li Shi, who had fully accepted that her daughter now had a tiger bodyguard, watched the playful Little Dumpling and the young tiger with tender affection.
Outside the house, Old Mrs. Xu was worrying about what to feed the little tiger cub.
Apart from the humans themselves, their household didn’t even have a shred of meat.
They couldn’t possibly slaughter the Little Lamb in the yard!
As she thought this, Old Mrs. Xu unconsciously cast her gaze toward the two sheep in the corner of the yard.
Truth be told, their family didn’t actually raise the sheep—when the sheep got hungry, they would bleat at the door.
All the family needed to do was open the main gate, and after a couple of hours, the two sheep would return on their own after feeding.
Seemingly sensing the meaning in Old Mrs. Xu’s gaze, the ewe warily shielded the lamb behind her. The pair retreated to the corner, and the ewe let out a long, plaintive “baa” in Old Mrs. Xu’s direction.
The mournful, drawn-out bleat seemed to say, “What are you doing? You milk me every day, and now you’re eyeing my meat too? You’ve gone too far!”
Sighing helplessly, Old Mrs. Xu could only withdraw her gaze from the Little Lamb and continue fretting.
Just then, a series of “oink-oink” grunts came from outside their courtyard wall.
Old Mrs. Xu quickly looked up, searching for the source of the sound.
The noise sounded familiar—it really did resemble the grunting of a piglet!
As she stepped into the yard, there was a sudden “thump,” and a barely breathing little wild piglet landed right in front of Old Mrs. Xu.
“Heavens! Meat!”
After exclaiming, Old Mrs. Xu hastily covered her mouth.
Once again, she felt grateful that the Xu family lived far from the other villagers. Otherwise, with that shout, their evening would be anything but peaceful.
They’d be up all night guarding against thieves!
After two more weak grunts, the little wild pig fell completely still.
Old Mrs. Xu hurried forward, grabbed the piglet by its two hooves, and carried it into Li Shi’s room.
The previously lazy little tiger cub, catching the scent of blood, opened its eyes.
It leaped forward, putting some distance between itself and the Little Dumpling.
Extending its front paws and raising its hindquarters, the little tiger let out a soft “huff” as it stretched luxuriously.
Shaking its head, it then jumped down from the kang and approached the little wild pig.
Hmm, its breakfast had arrived.
Knowing the little tiger was about to eat, Li Shi covered her own eyes and the Little Dumpling’s, afraid of witnessing a bloody and gruesome scene.
But in reality, the little tiger ate with remarkable elegance.
The piglet wasn’t very large, and the little tiger’s sharp fangs easily tore open the wild pig’s belly.
After consuming the internal organs and half of the pork, the little tiger nudged the remaining half toward Old Mrs. Xu with its nose.
Then it sat upright on the ground and began licking its paws and mouth clean.
“Is this… for you to freeze for later?”
Thinking the little tiger meant for her to preserve the remaining pork, Old Mrs. Xu reached out to take it when the little tiger suddenly extended a paw and pressed it down on the meat.
After opening its mouth to mimic a biting motion, it nudged the meat toward Old Mrs. Xu with its nose.
Though hardly daring to believe her guess, Old Mrs. Xu still asked in delight, “So… this is for us?”
This time, the little tiger made no further moves, simply licking its paws contentedly.
Now not only Old Mrs. Xu but even Li Shi grew excited.
This was meat! The last time their family had eaten meat was back when her husband was still alive.
A pheasant the size of two fists had been stewed into a large pot of soup with wild vegetables. Aside from Xu Hu, each person got just one piece of meat before it was gone.
And though this young boar wasn’t large, the remaining meat had to weigh at least twenty-some pounds.
Holding the remaining half boar, Old Mrs. Xu grinned so widely her smile nearly reached the back of her head.
She needed to process this meat quickly.
Fortunately, the cold weather had come early this year, otherwise the meat wouldn’t keep.
As Old Mrs. Xu carried the meat to the kitchen, Zhao Shi heard the commotion and came out to look. At the sight, she exclaimed “Mother!” but quickly covered her mouth after receiving a glare from Old Mrs. Xu.
Hurrying into the kitchen, Zhao Shi felt she could already smell the aroma of meat.
“Mother, where… where did all this meat come from? This must be over twenty pounds!”
As she spoke, Zhao Shi’s hand reached out instinctively.
“What are you doing! Go wash your hands, don’t dirty the meat!”
When her mother-in-law slapped her hand away, Zhao Shi didn’t feel the slightest displeasure.
Their family had meat! Over twenty pounds of meat!
Watching Zhao Shi happily go wash her hands, Old Mrs. Xu thought for a moment before calling toward the eldest son’s room.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, come help in the kitchen!”
Liu Shi, who had been mending Xu Hu’s trousers, frowned upon hearing her mother-in-law’s summons.
“Hmph! Always ordering me to work. With two sick people in my room, when do I have time to cook! Why can’t the second daughter-in-law do more work for a few days! She sent her two daughters to her parents’ to work while she stays home enjoying leisure.”
Though grumbling under her breath, Liu Shi still set down her needlework and began moving toward the kitchen.
Despite her complaints, she wouldn’t dare disobey Old Mrs. Xu even with ten extra lives.
Entering the kitchen with a cold expression, Liu Shi was about to make a sarcastic remark to Zhao Shi when she saw the pork in their hands and nearly cried out in surprise.
Old Liu looked up from her knife and glared at her.
The exclamation caught in Liu Shi’s throat.
“Cough! Mother, is this pork? There’s so much! Are we eating all of this today?”
The question made Old Mrs. Xu’s face darken immediately.
With a heavy chop, she split the rib section, the knife embedding itself in the cutting board from the force.
“Eat eat eat! All you think about is eating! Do you think you’re an imperial concubine who can eat this much pork in one meal? Stop wasting time and come help! Otherwise, don’t expect any dinner!”
Like Zhao Shi, Liu Shi didn’t mind the scolding at all.
With meat to eat, what did a few harsh words matter!
Beaming, she washed her hands and joined the pork processing team.
While the three women worked on the pork in the kitchen, the little tiger finally finished cleaning its paws and mouth.
Leaping back onto the heated kang, the little tiger wanted to curl up next to Little Dumpling again.
But just as she reached Xu Tianbao’s side, before she could even settle down, a tiny foot kicked the little tiger’s bottom.
Hmm? Does my master not like this position?
After thinking for a moment, the little tiger shifted its bottom and changed positions.
Then the tiny foot landed squarely on the little tiger’s forehead.
Seems it’s not about the position.
Taking two steps back, the little tiger crouched beside Little Dumpling, tilting its head at Li Shi.
A small tiger head, filled with great confusion.
Li Shi was so charmed she truly wanted to hug the little tiger and give it a good rub.
Unfortunately, it was always the little tiger that initiated contact with her. Every time she tried to touch the little tiger, it would dodge away.
Not understanding why her daughter suddenly wouldn’t let the little tiger get close, Li Shi carefully observed Little Dumpling’s expression. After watching for a while, she noticed the child seemed to wrinkle her nose from time to time.
After some thought, Li Shi slowly shifted her position, got down from the kang, and carrying the little tiger cub, walked slowly toward the kitchen.
Just as Li Shi was approaching the kitchen door, Old Mrs. Xu, Liu Shi, and Zhao Shi were nearly finished processing the pork.
Liu Shi was cutting the pork in her hands into thick slices – her mother-in-law had said this piece of meat would be stewed with cabbage for tonight’s meal.
Her eyes darting around, Liu Shi secretly moved closer to Old Mrs. Xu.
“Mother, where did all this meat come from?”
Old Mrs. Xu glanced at her but didn’t hide the truth.
“The big tiger brought it for the little tiger.”
Liu Shi’s face lit up with joy, “So it came for free then! Mother, since it’s free, do you think we could send some to my parents’ family? Not much – two jin, no! One jin! Just one jin would be enough!”
Hearing Liu Shi’s words, Old Mrs. Xu could only laugh in frustration.
She really wanted to ask Liu Shi – after what happened earlier this year, how could she still have the nerve to ask for meat for her parents’ family?