At Li Qingxia's question, Li Long said with a wry smile:
"I saw a fox while cutting poles and thought I'd get it out and skin it. Never expected it to be something else's prey. While I was going after the fox, I startled that thing, and it came right up and clawed me..."
"What kind of animal was that fierce?" Looking at Li Long's torn clothes and wounded arm, Li Qingxia said with concern, "Such a big gash. You must've lost so much blood... Why don't you go down the mountain and see a doctor?"
"No need, no need." Li Long waved his hand. "The bleeding's stopped. There's medicine here too, and I've put some on. It'll be fine tomorrow."
"It didn't hurt the bone, did it?"
"No, no. Just a flesh wound, one cut. It looks scary, but it's not actually that serious."
"Then you rest." Li Qingxia waved his hand. "I'll cook the porridge and all that."
"Don't I need to stir-fry a couple of dishes?" Li Long said with a smile. "Dad, when it comes to cooking, you're not as good as me."
"Why worry about all that now? As long as it's edible."
"All right... I'll go pick some wild vegetables," Li Long said. "We can't just have porridge and steamed buns."
"Don't we have red tofu? We can make do with a few bites."
"We've got what we need, so let's cook a couple of dishes. We're doing hard physical work. We shouldn't skimp on ourselves."
Li Long had his own reasoning, and Li Qingxia couldn't talk his younger son around-mainly because he hadn't been there as Li Long grew from a teenager into an adult. Although he had some authority as his father, he didn't have much confidence behind it.
Besides, he could