Two Little Tigers

Zhou Wanwan chuckled. "Second Uncle, don't worry! We all have daggers, my brother has a bow and arrows, and I have a crossbow. We'll be fine."

Liu Erlang was dumbfounded. "Where did you get all that stuff? That's amazing."

"Shh," Zhou Wanwan said. "Don't talk. Let's get up a tree, quickly, quickly..."

The three Zhou brothers scrambled up a tree in a flash. Their uncles were a beat slower, and just as they climbed up, they heard tigers roaring nearby.

Little Ginseng trembled in the bag. "What's that bastard doing here? Wanwan, I'm scared."

Zhou Wanwan looked at Little Ginseng with a half smile. "Oh! I didn't think there was anything you were afraid of."

"I remember running into it two years ago. It nearly swallowed me in one gulp. That thing is really formidable."

Sure enough, several tigers kept roaring nearby. Only after more than an hour did the forest return to its usual silence.

Zhou Wanwan heard the wild grass beside her say, "I wonder if those big fellows have left. I was so scared I didn't dare say a word."

"I'll go ask around and see how the battle went."

Soon, a plantain said, "They're gone, they're gone. They say two big tigers fought, and one died. It's rather pitiful."

"Oh! You don't see battles on that level very often!"

Only then did Zhou Wanwan breathe a sigh of relief. "It's all right. It was just two tigers fighting. We can come down now."

Then she heard a wild chive say:

"My friend just told me there are two tiger cubs, too. They were hidden away.

It's really pitiful. Their mother was bitten to death, and they haven't even opened their eyes yet!"

Zhou Wanwan walked toward the spot where the fighting had just taken place. The ground was covered in blood and scraps of flesh.

A clump of mugwort nearby said, "Ah! Those two tiger cubs are so pitiful. They'll probably starve to death in a couple of days."

"Isn't that so? A child without a mother is like a blade of grass. As things stand, they're even worse off than we are!"

Zhou Wanwan walked over and pushed aside the grass. Sure enough, two tiger cubs were curled up in the mugwort, trembling.

Zhou Wanwan promptly put the two tigers in her carrying basket. "Let's look somewhere else!"

Second Uncle coughed.

"Wanwan, how did you know there would be tigers?

How did you find those two cubs hiding here? You're really amazing!"

Zhou Wanwan said mildly, "Don't ask what you shouldn't. We still have to keep looking for medicinal herbs!"

Zhou Wanwan spotted a few atractylodes plants nearby and dug them up.

Third Uncle looked at her. "Wanwan, you know about medicinal herbs too?"

"Mm, a little. Uncle, help your baby dig up some herbs!"

Little Ginseng also took the chance to run off, and soon found out about lots of medicinal herbs:

"There's lots of rehmannia up ahead, and lots of schisandra over there, and over there's lots and lots of gastrodia that I love to eat. Boohoohoo...

I'm going to drool. Wanwan, when are you going to make wine?

Grandpa said the wine you make is especially delicious. He also told me to stay close to you and said you wouldn't hurt me."

Zhou Wanwan said helplessly:

"When would I find the time to make wine now?

I'm busy to death, and making wine takes a lot of things. We'll talk about it when I'm not so busy!"

Little Ginseng said, "Grandpa Purple Ginseng said he counted on his fingers and worked out that a drought really was quite likely. He told us to get ready and store plenty of water."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. "I know that too, but we still don't know when that day will come. While we have time, we need to find a way to stock up on more food."

Zhou Wanwan had originally thought the locust plague would arrive in the next couple of days, but there had been no sign of it so far. Old Madam Zhou probably didn't remember the exact date either and could only calculate it.

People in ancient times generally couldn't calculate dates very precisely and could only arrive at an approximation, which might be off by a few days or even more than ten.

Zhou Wanwan needed to use the extra time to continue growing stronger.

Liu Family Village was actually quite a decent place. If the house on the mountain could be fixed up, it could also shelter them from the wind and rain.

What Zhou Wanwan feared was having no way out if they couldn't go on living in Wild Field Village. Now Liu Family Village had become their way out.

For now, Zhou Wanwan didn't want to think too badly of the people of Wild Field Village either. The village chief really had been good to her family.

But if disaster really struck, no one could be sure what the people of Wild Field Village might do.

So she wanted to give her family an extra safeguard.

In that short time, Zhou Wanwan gathered many kinds of medicinal herbs. Zhou Qingyan's carrying basket was full of rehmannia, Zhou Qingchen's was full of gastrodia, and Zhou Qinghe's held a whole basketful of mushrooms.

Zhou Qinghe was unhappy. "Why do I have mushrooms when theirs are all valuable?"

Zhou Wanwan chuckled. "Your pay is the same anyway. All right, let's head down the mountain! We can make a trip to town and sell these herbs while we're at it."

Second Uncle coughed. "Wanwan, these things aren't worth anything. How can you sell them for money?"

"They are. If I say they'll sell, they'll sell. Oh, right, Second Uncle, you'll also have to help me dig a cellar when the time comes," Zhou Wanwan said with a smile.

It couldn't be helped. A crafty rabbit had three burrows, after all!

Just as they were about to leave, Little Ginseng suddenly spoke up. "Wanwan, come here... Keep going straight. Yes, yes, yes, now go more than a hundred steps to the right."

Zhou Wanwan walked over, and Little Ginseng said, "Look, this is a huanghuali tree."

Zhou Wanwan looked at the tree. Overall, it looked like an ordinary, unremarkable hardwood tree.

Zhou Wanwan looked at Second Uncle. "Second Uncle, can you help me dig this tree up?"

"Sure," Second Uncle said.

He took off a piece of clothing and started chopping. As he chopped, he muttered to himself that his niece was really too strange, digging up useless grass one moment and wanting to dig up a tree the next.

But he also thought the child had been scared by poverty, and that the grass was probably meant to be taken home and eaten. The thought made him feel rather bad.

Third Uncle sighed. "Wanwan, what do you want this tree for? Are there any other trees you like? How about Third Uncle digs them up for you?"

Zhou Wanwan quickly shook her head. "No, no, no, I only want this tree. Does our Liu Family Village have an ox cart?"

Fourth Uncle smiled. "Of course, but there's only one, and it belongs to the village chief. I'll borrow it when the time comes."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. They returned to the village, and Fourth Uncle promptly borrowed an ox cart and took Zhou Wanwan to town.

Second Uncle looked at Zhou Wanwan. "Wanwan, what use is digging up this tree? Could it be that people in town like to burn this kind of tree for firewood?"

Zhou Wanwan chuckled. "Second Uncle, this tree is definitely useful. Don't ask so many questions."

The Liu family were actually quite kindhearted, and they did whatever they were asked. They just liked to get to the bottom of things sometimes.

They didn't mean any harm; they were simply curious about everything they saw.