Section Chief Wang and the men under him slunk away.
As they left, they still looked as though they were dreaming.
Next door, Auntie Wang's face went from livid to pale. Finally, she gave a huff and swayed her hips back into her own home.
Just like that, the whole disturbance had been resolved by Nuannuan saying, "Sit."
But the matter was not over.
That afternoon, Lin Wanyi was looking through a picture book with Nuannuan in the living room when the doorbell rang.
The housekeeper opened the door to find Auntie Wang from next door.
She carried a mesh bag of fruit containing a few shriveled apples, a fake smile plastered across her face.
"Oh, Sister Lin, I've come to see the child." Auntie Wang walked into the living room as though she belonged there. "I heard the Su Family found their little princess who'd been missing for years. As your neighbor, I simply had to come congratulate you."
Lin Wanyi frowned slightly.
She had never been particularly friendly with Auntie Wang. The woman was a notorious gossip, and her visit today could mean nothing good.
Still, she could hardly lash out at someone who came smiling, so Lin Wanyi politely invited her to sit.
"This must be Nuannuan? What a pretty little thing." Auntie Wang's gaze swept over Nuannuan again and again. She looked less like she was looking at a child than appraising a piece of merchandise.
"Only... a little thin. She must have suffered quite a bit during those five years away, right?"
Uncomfortable under her scrutiny, Nuannuan burrowed closer into Lin Wanyi's arms.
"Our Nuannuan has us to cherish her now. We'll soon nurse her back to health," Lin Wanyi said coolly.
"Of course, of course. With all the Su Family's wealth and influence, how could you have any trouble raising a child?" Auntie Wang changed tack, glancing out the window. "But, Sister Lin, there's something I'm not sure I should say."
"If you're not sure you should say it, then don't." A cold voice came from the foot of the stairs.
Su Mingfeng had come downstairs. He had changed into casual clothes, but his imposing presence had not diminished in the slightest.
Auntie Wang's smile stiffened before she put on another ingratiating smile. "Oh, it's you, Mingfeng. I'm only saying this for your family's own good. Look, finding the child is a tremendous joy, but why did you bring a wild beast back too?"
She lowered her voice, putting on a mysterious air.
"I heard that thing is a snow leopard, a protected animal. Killing is against the law! Keeping it here in the compound is an open violation of discipline. People outside are talking. They're all saying the Su Family throws its weight around and has no regard for the law. If word reaches the higher-ups, just think how badly that would reflect on Old Master Su."
Her words sounded like "concern," but every sentence was really a jab.
She had come specifically to laugh at the Su Family's misfortune.
A "wild child" of unknown origins and a "wild beast" of unknown origins had given her just the ammunition she needed to attack the Su Family.
Lin Wanyi's face darkened.
Su Mingfeng's gaze turned cold as well.
"Auntie Wang." Su Mingfeng's voice betrayed neither pleasure nor anger. "You needn't trouble yourself over the Su Family's affairs. If you're feeling unwell, I'll have Mingyuan arrange a full examination for you."
He was showing her the door.
But Auntie Wang was utterly shameless. She planted herself on the sofa and refused to leave.
"Aren't I just trying to help? That beast's wild nature can't be tamed. It looks obedient today, but what if it goes mad one day... Ah!"
Before she could finish, she suddenly screamed.
An enormous white shape charged through the open living room door without warning.
It was the snow leopard!
It had been sunning itself in the yard. Somehow, it had come inside.
It charged into the living room and headed straight for Auntie Wang.
"Ah! Help!" Scared out of her wits, Auntie Wang tumbled off the sofa.
The snow leopard did not pounce on her.
It merely stopped in front of Auntie Wang, looked down at her, then opened its enormous, blood-red maw.
"Roar!"
A low growl, laden with warning, sounded right in Auntie Wang's face.
A gust of rank breath, mingled with the distinctive scent of a wild animal, blasted her full in the face.
Auntie Wang's eyes rolled back, her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the floor.
A pungent stench of urine quickly spread through the living room.
She... she had actually wet herself in fright.
The living room instantly fell deathly silent.
Su Mingfeng and Lin Wanyi were both stunned. Neither had expected the snow leopard to charge in so suddenly.
"Big Kitty, no scaring people."
Nuannuan's childish voice broke the silence.
She wriggled out of Lin Wanyi's arms, ran over to the snow leopard, and patted its big head.
The snow leopard immediately dropped its fierce expression, rubbed its head against Nuannuan's hand, and gave an aggrieved rumble in its throat.
Nuannuan looked up at Su Mingfeng and Lin Wanyi, who were already stupefied with fright, and innocently began to "translate."
"Grandma, Uncle, Big Kitty says..."
She pointed at Auntie Wang, who lay sprawled on the floor.
"It says this auntie smells like she's been stealing pork that belongs to the state."
"It doesn't like her."
At those words, everyone fell deathly silent again.
The corners of Su Mingfeng's mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh but had to hold it in.
Lin Wanyi, too, looked torn between laughter and tears.
Stealing state-owned pork?
In those days, the military canteen was strictly managed, but some family members still liked to take petty advantages and sneak meat and vegetables home. Auntie Wang was one of them, an almost open secret in the compound.
Who would have thought a leopard would actually "sniff" it out?
Standing nearby, the housekeeper finally failed to hold back and let out a snort of laughter.
That laugh was like a switch.
Su Mingfeng could no longer help himself either. He turned his head away, his shoulders shaking.
Hearing those words, Auntie Wang's face instantly turned a dark, purplish red as she lay sprawled on the floor.
Shame, anger, and fear mingled together.
She scrambled up on all fours and, without sparing a thought for the stench on her, stumbled and crawled toward the door.
She looked as wretched as a drenched dog whose tail had been stepped on.
All she left in the living room was a puddle and a lingering stench.
Watching Auntie Wang flee in panic, Nuannuan tilted her head and asked Su Mingfeng in bewilderment:
"Uncle, why did that auntie run away? Big Kitty didn't even bite her."
Su Mingfeng walked over, scooped Nuannuan into his arms, and kissed her cheek.
"Because she did something bad and has a guilty conscience."
He made up his mind. From now on, if anyone dared come to the Su Family's home to gossip again, he would shut the door and unleash the snow leopard.