When Carpenter Wang heard this, he immediately slapped his thigh.
“That’s a small matter. I’ll make it for you within the next couple of days and deliver it.”
Seeing how easygoing Pei Luo was, many villagers began to change their opinions of her. After chatting with them for a few more moments, Pei Luo headed home. As for the fox meat, she said she would skin the fox first and then deliver the meat to Carpenter Wang.
When Pei Luo arrived home, the two little children were sitting at the doorway with teary eyes, staring outside as if waiting desperately.
The moment they saw Pei Luo return, they burst into tears and ran toward her.
“Waaah… Mother!”
“Mother!”
The two children each hugged one of her legs and cried loudly.
Pei Luo thought they had been bullied, so she quickly crouched down and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Waaah… Mother, please don’t abandon Xiao Man and my little brother. I promise I’ll eat very little from now on, and I’ll help Mother work. Please don’t leave us, okay?”
Xiao Man cried so hard that her small body trembled.
Pei Luo hurriedly wiped her tears.
“Silly girl, how could Mother abandon you? Mother went to find food for you. Look, I’m back now. Come on, Mother will cook for you. We’re going to eat meat today. Aren’t you happy?”
When the two children heard that there would be meat, they immediately forgot about crying.
But when Xiao Man noticed the blood all over Pei Luo’s body, she thought Pei Luo had been injured. Her eyes kept scanning her nervously, yet she didn’t dare ask.
Although their stepmother used to beat them, at least they still had a home and a mother.
If their stepmother left as well, the two of them would truly become children without a home.
Their father wasn’t around. If their grandmother decided to sell them, they might never see their father again.
Because she understood this, Xiao Man had been extremely afraid that Pei Luo would leave.
When they saw the fox and rabbit Pei Luo took out, Xiao Chen was filled with curiosity. He recognized the rabbit but didn’t know what the fox was.
“Rabbit,” Xiao Chen said, pointing at it.
Pei Luo rubbed his little head.
“That’s right, a rabbit. Our Xiao Chen is so smart. Do you know what this one is?”
She pointed at the red fox.
Xiao Chen stared at it curiously and shook his head.
“I know, Mother!” Xiao Man said quickly. “That’s a little fox. Father once hunted a fox before, but it wasn’t as beautiful as Mother’s.”
Xiao Man was older, so she had seen one before. After all, Lu Yuan used to hunt.
“Xiao Man is very smart. This is called a red fox. Now go inside and wait. Mother will make roasted rabbit for lunch. How does that sound?”
Because they didn’t have many seasonings, roasting was the only way Pei Luo could think of to make the rabbit taste good.
She skillfully skinned the rabbit, removed its organs, and washed it clean.
The rabbit was quite large. One rabbit was enough for the three of them to eat, so she stored the other rabbit inside her space.
She had discovered that the space had a preservation function—anything stored there would not spoil.
As for the fox, she set it aside. After they finished eating, she would skin it and send the fox meat to Carpenter Wang.
Pei Luo built a small fire in the yard.
After cleaning the rabbit, she skewered it and placed it over the flames to roast.
At first, the two children obediently stayed inside the house.
But before long, the delicious smell of roasting rabbit drifted through the air and lured them outside.
Inside the rabbit’s belly, Pei Luo had stuffed some wild Sichuan pepper she had gathered in the mountains. As the aroma seeped through the meat, even she felt like drooling, not to mention the children.
Since she had been worried the children might be hungry, she hadn’t even changed clothes after returning and had gone straight to preparing the rabbit.
Now that the roasting was underway, she finally couldn’t stand the blood-stained clothes anymore.
Fortunately, with the space available, taking a bath was extremely convenient.
But not wanting the children to wait too long, she only washed quickly before leaving the space.
Just as she finished changing clothes, a loud cry suddenly sounded from outside.
Pei Luo rushed out immediately.
She saw that Old Madam Lu had arrived at some point. The two sons of the eldest family—Lu Dazhuang and Lu Dabao—were there as well.
One of them was biting Xiao Man’s arm fiercely, while the other was trying to snatch the freshly roasted rabbit she was holding.
Xiao Man cried loudly in pain.
Xiao Chen stood nearby, crying in fear.
Old Madam Lu and the eldest daughter-in-law Zhao stood nearby watching.
Lu Dazhuang was ten years old and Lu Dabao was eight. Xiao Man was only five. She had no strength to compete with them.
Soon, Lu Dabao snatched the roasted rabbit away.
“Stop!”
Pei Luo shouted angrily and rushed forward.
With a swift kick to the chest, she sent Lu Dazhuang—who had been biting Xiao Man’s arm—flying several meters away.
She had used considerable force, and Lu Dazhuang nearly lost consciousness from the kick. Fortunately, he was rather chubby, and after a moment he managed to catch his breath.
“Xiao Man!”
Pei Luo looked at Xiao Man, who was crying hysterically.
Her small arm had been bitten until it bled. The teeth marks were deep.
The little girl trembled violently as she buried herself in Pei Luo’s arms.
“Mother… it hurts…”
Her heart shattered seeing the child like this.
This time, Pei Luo was truly furious.
Such a small child, yet they dared bite so viciously.
“Be good. Mother will apply some medicine soon, and it won’t hurt anymore,” she said softly, comforting her.
Xiao Chen also cried as he buried himself in her arms, clearly frightened.
“You little bitch, Pei Luo! How dare you kick my son! If anything happens to him, I’ll tear you apart!”
Seeing her son recover, Zhao suddenly went mad and rushed toward Pei Luo.
Pei Luo lifted her leg and kicked Zhao directly to the ground.
“Hmph! Your son is a human, but my daughter isn’t? He bit Xiao Man like this, and you still dare come to me for trouble? If anything happens to my daughter, I’ll dig up your Zhao family’s ancestral graves so your ancestors can see what kind of creature they produced!”
“You wretched girl! Do you even recognize me as your mother? As the elder of the children, how dare you hit a child and threaten your sister-in-law? You’re outrageous!”
Old Madam Lu trembled with rage, pointing at Pei Luo with a shaking hand.
Her precious eldest grandson—she couldn’t even bear to scold him.
Yet this woman dared to hit him.
It was simply outrageous.
“Mother? You think you deserve that title?” Pei Luo said coldly. “What are you? Coming here pretending to be an elder in my house? If you dare bring these two little brats here again to cause trouble, I don’t mind showing you what true unfilial behavior looks like.”
Her tone was calm, but her words carried an icy chill.
It was the first time Old Madam Lu had ever seen Pei Luo act so crazily.
Looking into her eyes, she had no doubt that Pei Luo meant every word she said.
“Y-you… you…”