The little wolf cub looked like it had just turned a month old, fluffy and adorable, but Ming Fei dared not linger. She scrambled to her feet and ran.
Although, judging by the earlier sounds, the mother wolf was likely in trouble, what if she wasn't? What if she was unharmed and came looking for her cub? What if the wild boar chasing the cub followed them here? Ming Fei, a six-year-old child, couldn’t risk these possibilities.
Strangely enough, as Ming Fei got up and ran, the little wolf cub also toddled after her on its short legs. Ming Fei, exhausted, hungry, and desperately thirsty, couldn’t run fast. The cub, well-protected by its mother and uninjured, actually overtook her.
Ming Fei: "…"
The moment the cub passed her, she felt its backward glance was full of mockery.
Eventually, Ming Fei grew desperate. Too tired to run any farther, she had to sit down and rest.
Her head grew dizzier, her limbs weak, and her throat felt as if a tiny flame were dancing wildly inside.
She wondered what was happening down the mountain.
Before she could catch her breath, Ming Fei’s expression changed abruptly. She quickly stood up and tried to climb a tree, but this time she truly had no strength left. Twice she failed, and only on the third attempt did she shakily manage to pull herself up, scraping her hand on a thorn in the process.
Below, the little wolf cub, sensing Ming Fei’s tension, tried to follow her up the tree. Unfortunately, it didn’t know how to climb and whimpered anxiously on the ground. Soon, however, it fell silent and darted toward a nearby thicket.
Had the mother wolf really found them?
Ming Fei could only pray that the mother wolf was gravely injured by the boar and would take her cub away, seeing that Ming Fei hadn’t harmed it.
Before the cub reached the thicket, the mother wolf emerged—one eye blinded, covered in blood. From her perch in the tree, Ming Fei could see the deep, bone-exposing wound on its back, flesh torn outward. Its belly seemed pierced by the boar’s tusks, with internal organs faintly visible, and its left forelimb hung twisted.
It was a mystery how the wolf had managed to find its way here in such a state.
Seeing the cub, the mother wolf lowered its head to lick the little one’s head, then collapsed, unable to hold itself up any longer. Its fierce gaze fixed on Ming Fei in the tree, as if ready to lunge and tear out her throat should she threaten the cub.
This wolf wouldn’t survive.
Ming Fei swallowed hard, certain of it. Yet, even knowing the mother wolf was near death, she didn’t dare climb down, fearing a final, desperate attack. Her small frame couldn’t withstand it.
Moreover, she had no idea what had become of the wild boar—whether it had followed them.
For now, she heard no other movements around her. Just as the thought crossed her mind, the little wolf cub, anxiously whimpering around its mother, suddenly pricked up its ears. Trembling, it burrowed between the mother wolf’s forelimbs, as if trying to hide its entire body.
Seeing the cub’s reaction, Ming Fei’s heart leaped into her throat again. Her eyes darted swiftly across the surrounding trees.
This time, she had chosen a sturdier tree. With the mother wolf present, the boar’s attention should be focused elsewhere, not on her.
After about four or five minutes, Ming Fei finally saw what approached.
It wasn’t the boar.
Clad in thin, patched clothes and covered in grime, a boy stared in surprise at Ming Fei hanging from the tree. Clearly recognizing her, he quickly approached.
"Don't come any closer! There's a wolf!"
She wasn't sure if the mother wolf was dead. The boy approaching was only two years older than her. Although the original owner wasn't familiar with him, they definitely knew each other since they were from the same Dadui. What if he rashly came over and got attacked by the mother wolf?
The mother wolf hadn't moved for quite a while, its eyes still fixed on Ming Fei's direction, but who knew if it was faking? Wolves were clever animals—playing dead or pretending to sleep was no problem for them.
Hearing Ming Fei's shout, the boy paused hesitantly, then immediately climbed a nearby tree. Ming Fei then broke off a branch from her tree and hurled it forcefully at the mother wolf's body.
Even if it was pretending to be dead, a blow like that would trigger an instinctive reaction in a wild animal. The branch landed precisely on the wound on the mother wolf's back.
No movement.
Perched on the tree, the boy waited a while and saw the mother wolf still showed no reaction. Gritting his teeth, he called out to Ming Fei, "Ming Fei, don't move! I'll go down and check!"
"Be careful."
As the boy climbed down, he held a stick as thick as his forearm, ready to scramble back up the tree at the first sign of trouble. His movements were far more skilled than Ming Fei's.
He poked the mother wolf's body with the stick—still no movement. The cub seemed frightened, desperately burrowing into its mother's belly. Confirming the mother wolf was dead, the boy hesitated for a moment before walking toward the tree where Ming Fei was.
"The wolf is dead. You can come down now."
Ming Fei relaxed, nearly tumbling from the tree, but the boy quickly reached out to steady her.
Unlike Ming Fei, the boy wore very thin clothes. His black trousers were clearly hand-me-downs from someone else, appearing overly large with a hole at the knee. On his feet were cloth shoes meant for spring and autumn, now split open like gaping mouths grinning foolishly.
Though Ming Fei was in a sorry state, she wore a thick cotton-padded jacket and trousers, with warm cotton shoes on her feet.
"Thank you."
"No need."
Ming Fei caught her breath and glanced down at the mother wolf. Through its already glazed eyes, she could still see its gaze fixed on the tree where she had been sitting.
Even in death, the wolf had remained vigilant, protecting its cub from her.
But…
Ming Fei stared at the mother wolf's body and swallowed hard.
Wolf meat might not taste good, but it was still meat!
It was meat!
"I can't find my way down the mountain. Can you take me down?" Ming Fei asked the grimy boy, shifting her gaze from the mother wolf. She knew he must know the way down and quickly sought his help. He agreed almost without hesitation.
They were from the same Dadui, and he knew Ming Fei was frail. Even though she hadn't said anything, he could tell she was in a bad state—her face was pale, and her lips had a bluish tint.
He often saw Ming Fei in the Dadui. Despite her family's poverty, her parents treated her very well. She was always clean, her braids the neatest in the entire Dadui. But now, she had lost that tidy, well-kept appearance.
He didn't ask why Ming Fei was alone here. Instead, after a moment's hesitation, he rummaged through his patched pocket and pulled out a bright orange persimmon.
He went up the mountain to find food, hoping that if he was lucky, he might catch a rabbit or a pheasant. This persimmon was discovered in the bushes, already pecked at by birds, but as long as it was edible, he didn’t mind. If it weren’t for Ming Fei’s poor condition, he wouldn’t have been willing to give it up.
"Here, eat this. But you have to pay me back after we go down the mountain."
Thinking it over, he still couldn’t bear to part with it, so he added a reminder.
Ming Fei’s eyes lit up as she took the persimmon and took a bite. The sweet flavor instantly filled her mouth, urging her to quickly swallow it.
"Do you have one for yourself?"
"I already ate one. Let’s hurry down the mountain."
Reluctantly, he tore his gaze away from the wolf. Like Ming Fei, he couldn’t bear to leave the meat behind, but now was not the time to crave it. The wolf was severely injured, its wounds still fresh, and whatever had hurt it might still be nearby. They couldn’t stay long.
Ming Fei nodded, eating as she followed him down the mountain. But she was too exhausted to keep up with his pace, which annoyed the boy walking ahead.
"I’ll carry you down, but you have to give me three sweet potatoes afterward. How about that?"
Three sweet potatoes would be enough for him to eat for a day, and if he rationed them, they might even last two.
Ming Fei’s heart leaped with joy, and she nodded repeatedly. "I’ll give you six!"
She knew carrying her down the mountain would be hard work, but she truly had no time to waste. She had to return as quickly as possible. Her offer clearly pleased him, as he immediately crouched down, signaling for her to climb onto his back.
Ming Fei leaned against his not-so-sturdy back and felt herself being carried at a jog. Only then did she realize how much he had slowed down earlier to wait for her.
After running a few steps, the boy crouched again, picked something up, and stuffed it into Ming Fei’s arms before continuing on.
With one arm wrapped around the boy’s neck and the other holding the persimmon, Ming Fei felt something furry being pressed against her chest.
The little wolf seemed terrified, snuggling tightly into Ming Fei’s embrace.
Ming Fei: "??"
Why did he pick up the wolf cub too?
Meanwhile, down the mountain, the place Ming Fei was thinking of had already descended into chaos.
Xu Cuihua couldn’t find Ming Fei and, after being reminded by someone, went to look for Jin Dan. However, both Jin Dan and Yin Dan, her nephews, flatly denied having taken Ming Fei away. If it weren’t for their guilty expressions, Xu Cuihua might have believed them.
She couldn’t understand why, despite how well she and her husband Ming Erde had treated their two nephews, these children would take her daughter away and stubbornly refuse to reveal her whereabouts.
Thinking of the malice and disdain Ming Dade’s family had always shown toward her daughter, Xu Cuihua felt as if the sky had fallen. She pressed the two relentlessly for Ming Fei’s whereabouts.
With her husband lying in bed, his fate uncertain, and her daughter taken away and missing, Xu Cuihua was on the verge of madness.
Neighbors on both sides heard the commotion and gathered around.
"Ming Fei is in poor health. Jin Dan, where did you two take her? Hurry up and tell us!"
"Yeah, could it be that because Erde’s condition is so bad, you wanted to abandon Ming Fei?"
"That’s too cruel—she’s their own cousin!"
"Exactly…"
"Cuihua and Erde have always been so good to Jin Dan and his brothers!"
"Cuihua and Erde only have this one child. Jin Dan, Yin Dan, stop being stubborn and tell us where you took Ming Fei!"
"What are you gossipy old biddies blabbering about? How could our Jin Dan and Yin Dan have taken that wretched girl Ming Fei away? She must have gotten distracted playing and forgotten to come back!"
"Who knows if that wretched girl saw that Erde wasn't doing well and decided to find herself new parents!"
Zhao Xiulan and Old Mrs. Ming, seeing the crowd pressing Jin Dan for answers, immediately began arguing fiercely, shouting at the surrounding people while glaring at Xu Cuihua.
"Jin Dan, Yin Dan, tell your aunt where Feifei is. Just tell me, and I won't hold it against you for taking her away. Tell me where she is?" Xu Cuihua completely ignored the curses from Old Mrs. Ming and Zhao Xiulan, her eyes fixed solely on the Jin Dan and Yin Dan brothers. She hated them to death, yet in this moment, she had to force herself not to hold a grudge.
As long as her daughter could come back, she could let it go!
Yin Dan looked helplessly at his older brother, not daring to speak, while Jin Dan, faced with Xu Cuihua's pressing questions and the accusing voices around him, immediately reverted to his usual bully self.
"She's just a worthless girl. I threw her into the mountains to feed the wolves, so what?" As the eldest grandson and the most beloved by Old Mrs. Ming and her husband, Jin Dan enjoyed privileges at home that were beyond compare. Old Mrs. Ming, her husband, and Ming Dade often mentioned at home how Ming Erde and Xu Cuihua spent money on Ming Fei. In Jin Dan's eyes, the money spent on Ming Fei was his!
His grandmother and the others had said that since his uncle's family had no sons, everything from his uncle's household would eventually be his. Yet his uncle and aunt had spent all their money on Ming Fei. This was precisely why Jin Dan hated Ming Fei so much—if the money spent on her had been used to buy malted milk powder, candy, biscuits, or meat, think of all the delicious things he could have eaten! Instead, it was all wasted on Ming Fei.
"Let me tell you, in the future, you and Uncle will have to rely on me to carry the mourning staff and smash the funeral bowl, not that girl Ming Fei. If you don't treat me well now, I won't take care of you in your old age or perform the funeral rites!"
These were the kinds of things whispered at home. Jin Dan was already twelve years old—how could he not understand matters that affected his own interests?
So he never felt that Xu Cuihua and Ming Erde were being kind to him. In his view, it was only natural. After all, Xu Cuihua and Ming Erde would have to rely on him in the future, so they were just currying favor with him in advance.
When Xu Cuihua heard Jin Dan's angry words, the thread of reason in her mind snapped instantly. She rushed over to Jin Dan in a few steps, slapped him across the face, then grabbed him by the collar and demanded, "Where did you throw Feifei? Tell me! Take me to find her! Take me to find her!"
Author's Note:
I've been so busy lately that I forgot I had planned to start posting during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although it's a day late, happy Mid-Autumn Festival, my darlings!
P.S.: If I hadn't logged in to upload the draft and suddenly noticed there were comments, I probably still wouldn't have remembered (:з」∠)