"A little thing?" Li Xiuer immediately forgot about the goat meat, her eyes widening with curiosity.
Li Xuan carefully reached inside his clothes, into the warmth against his chest, and took out the tiny bundle wrapped in an old scrap of cloth.
He lifted one corner, revealing a small, furry gray head. Its wet black nose twitched gently, and its eyes had not yet fully opened as it let out faint whimpers.
"Wow! A puppy!" Li Xiuer cried in delight, reaching out to hold it.
"Hey, be gentle. It's still little, and it's half-frozen."
Li Xuan carefully placed the little wolf cub in his sister's hands.
Feeling the warmth, the little wolf cub instinctively burrowed into Li Xiuer's arms.
Li Xiuer instantly could not bear to put it down. She gently stroked its soft fur, her face blossoming into a smile.
Li Shan and Li Zhong also came over to inspect the little curiosity.
"Is that... a wolf cub?"
Li Shan had plenty of experience and spotted something amiss at once. His brows immediately furrowed, and his tone turned stern.
"Xuan'er, why did you bring this thing home? You can't tame a wolf cub! And mother wolves are fiercely protective and hold grudges. If it follows the scent here, we'll have a disaster on our hands!"
Li Zhong grew nervous at those words as well.
Li Xuan had already prepared an explanation and calmly said, "Dad, don't worry. This cub had been abandoned in a patch of weeds, frozen until it had barely a breath left. There were no signs of adult wolves nearby, either. The pack probably left it behind while migrating, or something happened to them."
"I was very careful bringing it back. With snow this heavy, the scent is long gone. It's so little that it can't survive without someone caring for it. I thought... perhaps we were meant to cross paths."
He did not mention the panel's contract, explaining only in terms of reason and compassion.
Hearing this, and seeing the little wolf cub trembling in Xiu'er's arms, looking so frail and pitiful,
Li Shan's taut expression softened somewhat, though he still cautioned him:
"Since you've brought it back, take good care of it. But keep an extra eye on it. It's a wild creature, after all."
Seeing the old man relent, Li Xiuer grew even happier. She cradled the wolf cub carefully, already talking about what she could find for it to eat.
By the time the lively bustle settled, the sky had darkened further, and the snow had gradually eased.
Xing'er, who had been standing quietly in the corner all along, watched the Li family's happy, harmonious gathering.
Looking at the steaming kitchen and taking in the comforting aroma of goat meat, her eyes brimmed with envy and a barely perceptible loneliness.
She quietly shifted her feet and whispered to Li Xiuer, "Xiu'er, it's getting late. I... I'll head home now."
Her home was at the far end of the village. Her parents had died young, leaving her to live with her elderly, sickly grandmother. Their house had nothing but four bare walls, and it was common for them to have one meal without knowing where the next would come from.
In times like these, no family had much to spare. Any little treat was saved for their own. She understood that and never dared hope for more.
"Huh? You're leaving already?" Li Xiuer was reluctant to see her go.
Just then, Li Xuan straightened up and brushed the dust from his hands, turning a gentle gaze toward the quiet, skinny little girl.
He remembered Xiu'er mentioning that Xing'er's grandmother was ill and that things were hard at home.
The longing she had tried to restrain while looking at the goat leg earlier had not escaped his notice, either.
"Xing'er," Li Xuan called to stop her, his voice casual yet carrying a kindness that allowed no refusal.
"It's cold, and the roads are slippery. Don't go running back and forth. Stay and eat with us once the goat leg is ready. It's just one more pair of chopsticks."
Xing'er abruptly raised her head and stared at Li Xuan in disbelief, then looked at Wang and Li Zhong. Her little face flushed with shock and sudden delight as she stammered:
"N-no, there's no need, Third Brother Li. I... I can just eat at home..."
Wang was kindhearted too and had long felt sorry for the child. Now that her brother-in-law had spoken, she warmly urged her to stay:
"That's right, Xing'er. Listen to your third brother! Stay and eat with us! We'll have Xiu'er take some hot soup over to your grandmother later! Come on, get inside and warm up. It's cold out here!"
Li Zhong also nodded good-naturedly. "Yes, stay. The more people, the livelier it is!"
Li Xiuer was happier still. Holding the wolf cub in one arm, she reached for Xing'er with her other hand.
"Sister Xing'er, stay! The goat meat my third brother brought back smells so good!"
Faced with the utterly sincere warmth pouring from the Li family,
Xing'er felt her nose sting, and her eyes reddened in an instant.
She nodded hard, swallowing the sobs and gratitude welling up inside, and said softly:
"Th-thank you, Third Brother Li. Thank you, Auntie. Thank you, Uncle Li..."
She followed close behind Xiu'er into the house. As she crossed the threshold, she could not help looking up again.
She stole a quick glance at Li Xuan's tall figure as he stood at the doorway stamping snow from his feet.
The dancing flames in the stove edged one side of his figure in warm gold.
Those broad shoulders seemed capable of bearing all the wind and snow.
Xing'er felt as though something had filled her heart to the brim, leaving it glowing with warmth.
In those large eyes, dulled somewhat by years of poor nourishment,
That warm silhouette was now clearly reflected, sparkling with pure admiration and gratitude.
In the kitchen, Wang was about to chop the heavy goat leg into pieces and put it in the pot.
Her usual method would have been to simmer it slowly over low heat with dried mushrooms and mountain bamboo shoots, producing a whole pot of rich, creamy-white broth. Both soup and meat would be delicious, and nothing could be more practical.
"Sister-in-law, hold on."
Li Xuan stopped her, and under his family's puzzled gazes,
He deftly cut one goat leg into several fairly even, thick chunks with a woodcutting blade, then found a few washed hardwood sticks and sharpened their ends.
"Xuan, are you going to..." Li Shan had a vague inkling of his plan.
"Roast it."
Li Xuan smiled and used a few bricks and stones to put together a makeshift fire pit in the middle of the main room.
He lit some dry pinewood and hardwood charcoal.
"This wild goat's meat is especially firm, with just the right balance of fat and lean. Roasting will really draw out the aroma of its fat, leaving it crisp outside and tender inside. It's a different kind of flavor."
Hearing this, Wang clicked her tongue in dismay. "Oh dear! Roast it? Think how much firewood that'll take! And meat shrinks terribly when you roast it. A piece that looks huge will end up no bigger than a scrap! Stewing it for soup would be much better value!"
In her view of running a household, the amount of food and the abundance of broth came first.
Li Zhong scratched his head too, feeling that his younger brother was being a little "wasteful."
Li Xuan kept working, threading the thick pieces of meat onto the sticks. Then he went over to the stove, scraped up a little coarse salt, and carefully rubbed it over the meat.
"Sister-in-law, trust me this once. Game like this is hard to come by. Let's try eating it a different way. There's plenty of firewood on the mountain behind us. Getting more is no trouble."
Seeing how certain he was, Wang could hardly keep stopping him, though her eyes were still written
Full of distress over the meat "shrinking."
The charcoal gradually burned hotter, settling into a steady orange-red glow.
Li Xuan propped the meat-laden sticks above the fire pit, keeping them away from direct contact with the flames.
Instead, he let the radiant heat roast them slowly.
Soon, the surface of the cold meat began to change. Moisture was driven out with a faint sizzling sound.
Then the outer layer of fat began to melt, turning into glistening beads of oil.
Bit by bit, they gathered and swelled until they could no longer resist gravity and suddenly dripped down.
Hiss!
The drops struck the glowing coals, instantly bursting into little, lively flares.
An utterly commanding aroma of meat, mingled with the smoky scent of pine charcoal, burst forth!
Entirely unlike the mellow richness of stewed meat, this aroma instantly filled the main room, even slipping through the cracks around the door and drifting outside.
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