That wolf even followed him here. In just a short while, they settled the matter of Li Xiangdong moving to the village and Hunting. After that, the group continued eating and drinking.
They drank until a little after four in the afternoon. By the time it got dark, they finally called it a night.
After seeing them off, the family went back inside.
Li Guihua asked Sun Qingfeng, “Dear, why didn’t you let Dongzi choose the first option? That way, he could have gotten a little more grain!”
“What do you know? It might look like Dongzi would come out ahead, but think about it: if we manage to hunt something, we’ll be the ones losing out. If we don’t, the team leader will have something to say about it. We’re better off hunting on our own first!”
Li Xiangdong chimed in, “That’s right, Aunt. Uncle is right. If I take on a task from the production team, we won’t get much of the game we hunt for ourselves.
“This way is much better. If we get something, we get the bigger share. If we don’t, I can only blame myself for being no good. I’ll just keep practicing. It’s not like I’ll never catch anything!”
Li Xiangdong still thought it was better to hunt on his own. If he caught something small, he could share it with the village, but what if he caught something big?
The meat was secondary; the main thing was that the pelts were valuable. If he signed on for a task with the village, then when the team leader asked him for the pelt, would he give it up or not?
This arrangement was much better. If he caught game, the pelt was his, and he would still split the meat with the village on a 60-40 split.
“All right. As long as the two of you have decided, that’s fine. Make the most of Hunting this winter and earn a little money, so you can build a house next spring. Once it’s done, I’ll find someone to arrange a marriage for you, and then you’ll be all set!” In just a couple of sentences, Li Guihua had steered the conversation back to the matter of carrying on the Li family line.
Li Xiangdong felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head. “Aunt, how can you already be talking about finding me a wife? I’ve only just turned eighteen!”
“So what? Eighteen is grown-up. You need a wife to have a proper home. People your age in this village are already getting their marriages arranged! As your aunt, how could I let you stay a bachelor?”
Knowing he couldn’t win an argument with his aunt, Li Xiangdong changed the subject. “By the way, Aunt, Uncle, does that run-down house where I slept last night belong to someone?”
As soon as Li Xiangdong asked, Li Guihua and Sun Qingfeng understood what he was getting at.
“Oh, that house? It was put up as a temporary place back when the village was first being built. Later, everyone built their own houses, so that one was left empty. No one’s lived there for several years. What is it, Dongzi? You want that house?”
That was indeed what Li Xiangdong had in mind. Saving money was only one reason; he also felt it would be inconvenient to keep living at his aunt’s house.
Their house had only three rooms: a main room in the middle, with bedrooms on either side. Judging by what he’d seen that morning, his aunt and uncle slept in the east room, while his younger cousins slept in the west room.
With him there, his younger brother and sister would surely have to squeeze into the east room. That would be all right for a short while, but if it went on too long, it would become inconvenient.
So if he could move into his own house sooner, he should. That way, he wouldn’t be a burden on them.
He nodded. “Yeah, the walls looked pretty sturdy. With a little fixing up, it should be livable. That would save me some money, too!”
Sun Qingfeng nodded. “That could work. We’ll talk to the team leader and see if he agrees. If he does, we’ll find people to help you fix the place up after winter, and you’ll be able to move in before long. Don’t rush for now. Just stay here and make yourself at home.”
That made sense. No matter how eager he was, there was nothing they could do right now. They couldn’t build in winter; they would have to wait until spring.
After chatting for a while, everyone got ready for bed.
In those days, people generally went to bed early. There was no electricity and no entertainment. If a man had a wife, he could cuddle up with her and play a little game.
If he didn’t have a wife, he could only go looking for one in his dreams.
Li Xiangdong was assigned to sleep in the west room. His younger cousins’ bedding was moved to the east room, where they would sleep with Sun Qingfeng and Li Guihua.
After several days of rough travel, and with little sleep the night before, Li Xiangdong fell asleep soon after lying down.
In the middle of the night, he heard something outside in the courtyard scratching at the door with a steady clacking sound.
“What in the world is that?” Li Xiangdong rolled over and sat up.
He pricked up his ears and listened. Something really was scratching at the door. He grabbed his padded jacket and trousers, pulled them on, shoved his feet into his shoes, and got out of bed.
As soon as he stepped into the main room, he saw Sun Qingfeng coming out of the east room, too.
“Uncle, what’s out there?”
Sun Qingfeng was no stranger to such things. “It’s definitely a wolf that’s come into the village. It must be scratching at the door!”
“A wolf?!”
Li Xiangdong walked in confusion to the doorway of the main room and listened again. The noise had stopped.
“Uncle, I’ll go take a look!” Li Xiangdong moved to open the door.
“Wait!”
Sun Qingfeng stopped him, reached for the machete leaning beside the stove, and handed it to Li Xiangdong. He picked up the kitchen knife beside the chopping board for himself.
“Open it!”
Once they were ready, the two of them carefully opened the door a crack and peered outside. They didn’t see anything.
They opened the door wider and stepped outside, standing beneath the eaves as they looked into the corners around the courtyard. Still, there was nothing to be seen.
“Looks like it ran off. Let’s go back in,” Sun Qingfeng said.
Li Xiangdong nodded. Just as they were about to turn back, he caught sight of a dark shape crouched in the passage between the main house and the storage shed in the east wing.
“What’s that?” he muttered, puzzled, and walked over with his knife in hand.
When he was three or four meters away, the dark shape suddenly sprang at him.
“Holy crap!” Li Xiangdong cried. He quickly dodged, swinging his knife at it as he did.
He heard a howl.
The dark shape leaped over the wooden wall and ran off.
Now not only Li Xiangdong but Sun Qingfeng had seen clearly: it was a wolf. But when Sun Qingfeng had gone back inside for his kitchen knife, he hadn’t seen the wolf trying to flee.
Li Xiangdong was a little on edge. He’d run into wolves twice in a row. Was the local ecosystem so healthy that wolf packs had become rampant?
Or was it the same wolf that had cornered him last night, coming to avenge its companion?
That swing had felt like it hit something. Looking down, he saw a dark, furry bit of something on the ground. He bent over to pick it up and discovered it was a section of wolf tail.
The piece of wolf tail was a little longer than a handspan.
No wonder the wolf had howled and run away.
“Uncle, take a look!” Li Xiangdong held out the piece of wolf tail.
Sun Qingfeng took it and laughed. “Well, look at that—you even chopped off a piece! No wonder the wolf was howling!”
“Too bad I didn’t hit its body. If I had, I could’ve killed it with that swing!” Li Xiangdong felt a little regretful.
“Never mind that you missed. Let’s get back inside. It’s freezing!”
“Uncle, do you think that wolf will come back?”
“Definitely not. Wolves are clever. Once they’ve taken a hit somewhere, they’ll avoid that place from then on. Even if it comes into the village again, it won’t come to our house!”
“Oh, I see!”
They kept talking as they went back inside.