Hou San

The door had barely been bolted when the stifling atmosphere inside the room became almost suffocating.

The oil lamp was lit, its bean-sized flame flickering and casting light over Liu Wanwan's panicked face and Little Bean Sprout's trembling figure.

"What exactly happened?" Fang Yuan kept his voice low, yet it carried an unquestionable force.

His burning gaze fixed on Liu Wanwan.

Liu Wanwan's eyes darted away. Her hands nervously twisted the hem of her clothes, and her lips moved several times, but no words came out.

Instead, she instinctively tucked Little Bean Sprout farther behind her.

She was afraid—afraid that telling Fang Yuan would only bring him trouble, and even more afraid that he would impulsively go out to confront them and suffer for it.

Seeing her like this, Fang Yuan's heart sank even lower.

He turned to his younger sister, whose little face was deathly pale as she hid behind her sister-in-law.

"Little Bean Sprout, come here." He tried to soften his tone.

Little Bean Sprout was a nickname Fang Yuan had privately given her after transmigrating. In these times, rural children were thought harder to raise if they had proper names.

Most were called lowly names like Dog Egg or Stone. The original owner's sister did not even have a formal name, and she was so thin and frail that she truly looked like a bean sprout that would topple over in a gust of wind.

Little Bean Sprout shuddered in fright. Not only did she not come over, she clutched Liu Wanwan's skirt even tighter, her big eyes filled with terror.

Knowing she could no longer hide it, and seeing Fang Yuan's expression grow uglier by the moment, Liu Wanwan finally said in a tiny, tearful voice:

"It... it was Hou San... He, he came knocking after dark..."

Hou San! That idle, bully-the-weak-and-fear-the-strong thug from the village! Memories of the man immediately surfaced in Fang Yuan's mind.

He was usually fond of brawling and throwing his weight around. Now, in this famine-ridden year of disaster, people like him were even more lawless!

"What did he do?!" Fang Yuan's voice instantly turned cold, and his grip on the rabbits tightened unconsciously.

"We didn't, didn't suffer anything!" Liu Wanwan hurriedly waved her hands, her voice trembling.

"I didn't open the door! The moment I heard his voice, I didn't open it! He cursed outside, and... and kicked the door several times.

"Later, he seemed afraid of alerting the neighbors, so he left..."

As she spoke, she secretly watched Fang Yuan's expression. Seeing his face dark as still water,

and his eyes seeming to be rimed with ice, she grew even more frightened and hurriedly urged:

"Husband, don't go looking for him! There are many of them, and they're utterly shameless. We can't afford to provoke them... Just endure it, and it'll pass, all right?

"I heard they specifically pick on families like ours... families without a man to hold things up. Even if things get ugly, they aren't afraid..."

Listening to her, Fang Yuan felt both furious and heartsick.

He was furious that Hou San had gone too far in bullying them, and heartsick over Liu Wanwan's meekness—her habit of swallowing broken teeth and blood together.

But he knew she was afraid. Afraid of losing the only support she had now.

His face turned icy.

Hou San had dared come only because he knew Fang Yuan had been stripped of his scholarly title and become an ordinary commoner. He had also seen that Fang Yuan used to be a frail scholar,

so he thought he could squeeze him however he pleased, treating him like a soft persimmon.

"I understand." Fang Yuan took a deep breath and forcibly pressed the surging fury back into his heart, his tone unexpectedly calm.

"Leave this to me. You two don't need to be afraid."

He did not roar, nor did he immediately seize an axe and rush out to fight someone to the death. Yet this unusual composure

instead left both Liu Wanwan and Little Bean Sprout stunned, staring blankly at him.

They vaguely sensed that the Fang Yuan before them seemed somewhat different from the scholar he had once been—either gloomy or impatient.

To distract them and set their minds at ease, Fang Yuan raised the heavy string of rabbits in his hand.

"Look what I brought back."

Sure enough, the sight of those five plump wild rabbits made Liu Wanwan's eyes fly wide, and she covered her mouth in disbelief.

Little Bean Sprout even poked her little head out from behind her sister-in-law. Her fear was instantly replaced by delight, and she cheered in a small, timid voice:

"Rab... rabbits! Brother caught rabbits!"

"Shh—!" Liu Wanwan reacted quickly, clapping a hand over Little Bean Sprout's mouth and smothering her tiny cheer.

She nervously listened for movement outside the window. Hearing only the howling winter wind, she finally relaxed a little.

The winter night was too quiet; even the slightest sound could carry far away. They could not let anyone know there was meat in the house.

Though her mouth had been covered, Little Bean Sprout was not angry at all. Her big eyes sparkled brightly.

She wriggled free from beneath her sister-in-law's hand, crouched down, and carefully touched the rabbits, which were still twitching faintly.

The soft, furry sensation brought a rare, pure childlike joy to her face, as though she had completely forgotten her earlier fear.

Only Liu Wanwan, beneath her delight, still held an unshakable worry in her eyes.

She knew all too well how difficult it was to hunt prey in the winter mountains.

So many experienced old hunters could return empty-handed, yet Fang Yuan, a scholar... She could not help circling Fang Yuan once,

carefully inspecting him for injuries beneath the dim oil-lamp light.

"Husband, you... you weren't hurt, were you?" Her voice carried lingering fear.

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine." Fang Yuan moved his arms, showing that he was completely uninjured.

Only then did Liu Wanwan truly set her mind at ease and let out a soft breath.

At that moment, within the dim and shabby earthen house, Fang Yuan's safe return and these unexpected game animals somehow brought forth a rare trace of warm, lively comfort.

The oil lamp cast the shadows of the three of them onto the wall, like a truly whole family.

Liu Wanwan looked at Fang Yuan's steady profile, and something inside her stirred faintly. The feeling was unfamiliar, yet it seemed to warm even her ice-cold hands and feet a little.

"Go fetch a basin of water," Fang Yuan instructed.

Liu Wanwan immediately understood that they were going to prepare the rabbits. She readily agreed and turned to fetch a wooden basin from beside the stove.

But Little Bean Sprout lifted her little face and tugged at Fang Yuan's sleeve, her big eyes full of hope and reluctance.

"Brother, the bunnies... the bunnies are so cute. Can we... can we not eat them?"

Her small voice carried a child's innocent plea.

Looking at his younger sister's frail little face, Fang Yuan's heart softened. But he still hardened himself and patted her head.

"Little Bean Sprout, only by eating them will Brother have the strength to protect you, to keep bad people from bullying us. Understand?"

Little Bean Sprout seemed to understand, yet not fully. She looked at the rabbits, her little face full of struggle. In the end, she gave a soft "Mm" and silently stepped aside.

Liu Wanwan brought over half a basin of cold water and set it on the floor.

Looking at the living rabbits, her hand holding the knife trembled slightly, and fear appeared on her face.

"Husband... I, I've never killed one..."

"I'll do it." Fang Yuan took the not-very-sharp kitchen knife from her hand, his tone calm.