Chapter 71.2

“Sister, let’s give it a name.”

Chuchu was quite fascinated by the wolf cub.

“What do you think we should call it?” Qin Qingman gave Chuchu the right to name the cub.

Chuchu carefully examined the wolf cub.

It was really well taken care of, its fur shiny and smooth, its body chubby, its short, fat legs, and its round little head made it incredibly cute. From top to bottom, everything about the cub was round.

“It’s a bit chubby,” Chuchu concluded.

Qin Qingman laughed. “Do you want to call it ‘Pang Pang’?”

“‘Pang Pang’ doesn’t sound good. Let me think again.” Chuchu reached out his hand to play with the little wolf cub, which immediately grabbed onto his hand and bit it non-stop.

Although the cub was still young, it didn’t slobber all over when it bit. In fact, there was no drool at all.

“How about calling it ‘Dudu,’ since it’s so chubby?” Qin Qingman laughed, petting the wolf cub.

Its little body felt soft and bouncy, with a really nice texture to the touch.

“Sister, ‘Dudu’ is such a nice name. Let’s call it Dudu. It’ll definitely like this name.” Chuchu’s eyes lit up. He liked the name Dudu because it was both cute and pleasant-sounding.

“Dudu.”

Qin Qingman smiled and petted the wolf cub again.

The cub immediately stopped biting Chuchu’s finger and switched to grabbing Qin Qingman’s finger.

Qin Qingman didn’t let the cub hold onto her finger, instead, she teased it, making the little wolf cub jump around for a while. It wasn’t until the cub opened its mouth and let out a big yawn, its bright eyes half-closed, that she stopped.

“Chuchu, go wash your hands and go to bed.”

Qin Qingman placed the cub back into its little bed while instructing Chuchu.

Xiao Hei had come late in the evening. They had played with the wolf cub for a while, and it was still not dawn yet.

“Okay.” Chuchu ran off to wash his hands and then climbed onto the heated bed.

“Sleep well, be good, and don’t be naughty anymore.” Qin Qingman used her free hand to gently pat the wolf cub’s head before she went to wash her hands.

Facing the departure of Qin Qingman and Chuchu, the wolf cub, who had already been dozing off, suddenly opened its eyes again and anxiously searched for Qin Qingman’s presence.

“Dudu, go to sleep.”

Chuchu lay on the edge of the bed, trying to comfort the little wolf.

The little wolf looked up at Chuchu. The bed was too high for a cub still nursing, and it tilted its head back too much, tumbling over with a soft thud. It quickly got up and, as if nothing had happened, looked up at Chuchu again.

In fact, the little wolf wasn’t looking at Chuchu; it was trying to identify the scent.

It was still young, and the whole house was filled with Qin Qingman’s scent. The cub was trying to figure out her location.

“Sister, Dudu is so pitiful, it’s so small. How about we let it sleep on the same bed with us?” Chuchu saw how cute and chubby the little wolf was, and couldn’t help but suggest to Qin Qingman. Of course, he only dared to suggest it, not to actually pick up the cub and put it on the bed, because he knew Qin Qingman was particular about cleanliness.

“No, Dudu is old enough to remember things now. We need to teach it proper manners from the start. If we don’t teach it now, it’ll be much harder to teach when it’s older.”

Qin Qingman’s voice came from the living room.

As soon as she finished speaking, she entered the west room carrying some firewood.

“Sister, are you going to make a fence for Dudu?” Chuchu immediately guessed what Qin Qingman was planning when he saw the firewood in her arms.

“Yes, the stove is burning in the room, and I’m worried Dudu might crawl into it.”

Qin Qingman set down the firewood and went back outside. At that moment, the wolf cub had figured out where Qin Qingman was and toddled over on its short little legs, continuously circling around her feet.

Its goal was to climb onto Qin Qingman’s legs.

The floor in the room was always clean and tidy, so Qin Qingman wasn’t worried about the cub running around and making the place dirty. She didn’t mind the little one following her and went back into the west room, holding more firewood.

Two handfuls of firewood were enough to make a simple fence.

While Qin Qingman was building the fence, Dudu finally managed to grab hold of Qin Qingman’s leg and sit down on her foot.

Carrying the weight of her foot, Qin Qingman didn’t push Dudu away, instead continuing her work.

When the fence was finished, Qin Qingman looked down and saw that the little wolf had already fallen asleep.

Not only had the wolf cub fallen asleep, but Chuchu on the bed had also fallen asleep.

It made sense. Both little ones were still in their growing stages, so it was impossible for them to stay up late like adults.

Qin Qingman smiled as she gently pulled the wolf cub, which had been tightly holding onto her leg while sleeping, off her foot.

“Ao—”

The alert wolf cub struggled to open its eyes and let out a soft whimper toward Qin Qingman.

“Go back to sleep, I’m not leaving.” Qin Qingman stroked the wolf cub’s body, and once it closed its eyes and fell asleep again, she carefully placed it back into its bed.

The bed was surrounded by Qin Qingman’s scent, and the wolf cub did not wake up.

Qin Qingman added a few more pieces of coal to the stove and pressed the fire down before washing her hands and getting onto the bed. The whole process had taken at least an hour and a half.

Lying on the bed, Qin Qingman didn’t have time to think about Wei Ling before falling into a deep sleep.

Before she came to this world, she used to stay up late, but since her arrival, everything had been moving toward a more regular routine. Qin Qingman had already gotten used to early bedtimes and early mornings, and her sleep quality was excellent.

Before Qin Qingman and Chuchu fell asleep, Wei Ling was also bidding farewell to Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei did not enter the military camp.

The military camp had many people and many weapons, and for Xiao Hei, it was an extremely dangerous place. Naturally, it would avoid the camp with its pack. So, it stayed far away from the camp, howling at it from a distance.

Wei Ling had spent a year with Xiao Hei, so he could easily understand the meaning of its howls.

He gave a brief instruction to the others on duty and left the military camp.

This wasn’t considered a violation of regulations.

Because the wolf pack was already within the camp’s surveillance range, Wei Ling was simply performing a routine check on the camp’s perimeter.

Seeing Xiao Hei under the moonlight from a distance, Wei Ling rushed toward it.

Friends were parting, and neither of them knew when they would meet again, so it was only natural that there would be a fierce battle before they said their goodbyes.

Xiao Hei had become the leader of its pack because of its high fighting abilities, and its natural size gave it an advantage. Without weapons, most people would not be a match for it. But Wei Ling was different. Even without a weapon, his skills were exceptional.

So, under the moonlight, two friends who had never fought before engaged in a fierce battle.

Wei Ling’s arm had a long bloodstain from where Xiao Hei had scratched it, and Xiao Hei’s left eye was bruised from a punch Wei Ling had thrown.

Even though there was a lot of fur around the wolf’s eyes, the punch still caused Xiao Hei to have one large eye and one small one.

After the fight, both the man and the wolf lay on the ground, panting heavily.

“Take care of yourself, don’t die so easily.”

Wei Ling wasn’t sure if he would ever see Xiao Hei again in this lifetime, so all he could do was offer that piece of advice.

“Awwoooo—”

Xiao Hei let out a low howl, unsure if it understood.

“Let’s go, goodbye for now.”

Wei Ling sat up and patted Xiao Hei’s head.

Xiao Hei arrogantly tossed its head, as if it were disdainful of Wei Ling touching its head. After flicking its head, Xiao Hei stood up, let out a few soft howls into the forest, and a black wolf with a wolf cub came out.

Xiao Hei’s wife approached Wei Ling, circled around him three times, and then stopped.

That was its farewell ritual.

Wei Ling’s gaze fell upon the Xiao Hei couple. A small silver wolf cub was trying hard to walk through the snow with its short legs, but its legs were too short, so each step buried half its body in the snow.

Even so, the cub didn’t give up, and it stubbornly walked toward Wei Ling.

Wei Ling understood from watching this little wolf that the decision for the next alpha wolf had already been made.

He didn’t help the little wolf, nor did Xiao Hei and his wife. The three pairs of eyes just watched quietly. The short distance seemed so far for the little cub, which took nearly half an hour to reach Wei Ling’s side.

By the time the cub reached him, its limbs were shaking uncontrollably.

It was clear how much strength it had exhausted.

“Aw—woo—”

The wolf cub was still young and hadn’t truly learned to howl, so its sound was more of a whimper. But this was the cub’s first vocalization toward Wei Ling, and it carried a special meaning.

Wei Ling couldn’t understand wolf language, but he could sense that the little wolf was bidding him farewell.

“Live well, grow up healthy,” Wei Ling sent his blessings to the wolf cub.

“Aw-wooo—”

The wolf cub whimpered.

At that moment, Xiao Hei took a step forward, grabbed the wolf cub in its mouth, then turned its head to give Wei Ling a long, deep look. Without another word, it turned and ran toward the deep mountains, followed closely by Xiao Hei’s wife.

In less than a minute, the entire family disappeared from sight.

A few minutes later, wolf howls echoed from the mountains in the distance.

The long howls carried far in the quiet night, and soon, other howls answered from nearby. Eventually, they all merged into one.

The pack howled at the moon for a while before vanishing.

From that point on, no one ever saw the wolves in the mountains again, nor did anyone hear their howls. Everyone knew that the wolf pack had likely migrated.

When people found out that the wolf pack had migrated, the villagers at the foot of the mountain let out a deep sigh of relief.

Hunting had become safer.

Wei Ling stood atop a high hill, watching as Xiao Hei’s pack left.

His eyesight was sharp, and under the bright moonlight, he could see far into the distance. He watched the entire pack disappear.

Xiao Hei and the others were heading north, toward a colder place.

Though Wei Ling felt a faint sadness at the departure of his friend, he could only silently watch his friend leave.

At the Qin household, Qin Qingman woke up to a series of whimpers.

Before even opening her eyes, she heard the wolf cub’s dissatisfied whines and another noise from the ground, a soft thudding sound.

Qin Qingman lay quietly on the kang for a minute, then slowly sat up and lit the oil lamp.

What she saw was the fence she had worked so hard to build the previous night—completely knocked over by the wolf cub. Not only that, the cub, in retaliation, had scattered the firewood surrounding the fence all over the place.

The thudding sound she’d just heard was the cub rolling the firewood with its paws.

“Sis, Dudu is pretty strong,” Chuchu, who had been woken up, was also lying on the edge of the kang, looking down at the mess.

Goodness, the firewood was scattered all over the place.

It was clear how big the wolf cub’s temper was.

“Aw-wooo—” Before Qin Qingman could respond to Chuchu, the wolf cub stopped kicking the firewood and instead lifted its head, howling at her in dissatisfaction.

Qin Qingman felt a headache coming on.

The wolf cub had just arrived at her home, and it was only a month old. It was natural for such a young cub to be playful and mischievous. It was also inevitable that it would be unfamiliar with the home. The fact that it wanted to approach Qin Qingman was because it trusted her, which was only natural. But Qin Qingman really didn’t want the cub to get on the kang.

Once the cub was on the kang, it would be difficult to get it off.

“Aw-wooo—” Seeing that Qin Qingman wasn’t responding, the cub couldn’t help but howl even more pitifully.

“Sis, how about I take Dudu and sleep in the east room from now on?”

Chuchu, who was also awake, looked at the wolf cub looking up at Qin Qingman and thought about himself.

Since their parents had passed away, he had become very dependent on Sis, just like the wolf cub at that moment.

Qin Qingman listened to Chuchu’s suggestion and thought about it seriously.

It was inevitable that Chuchu would need to sleep in a separate bed as he got older. They had all been sleeping on the same kang because firewood had been scarce, but now their home had coal and an additional stove, so the temperature was sufficient. Even if they added another kang, it wouldn’t consume too much fuel.

“Sis, sooner or later, we’ll have to separate. I can’t keep sleeping on the same kang with you and Brother-in-law forever,” Chuchu said wisely.

Qin Qingman’s face turned red instantly. “Fine, you can take Dudu and sleep in the east room. I’ll tidy it up.”

The east room had previously stored many of the things they bought from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. They didn’t have cabinets, so they had cleared out some space in the east room to store them. If Chuchu and the wolf cub moved there, the cloth and other items would need to be put in the wardrobe.

As for the sewing machine, Qin Qingman also planned to move it to the west room. After finishing the sweater, she would practice cutting fabric and making clothes.

Once she learned how to use the sewing machine, she would be free to make her own clothes.

When Chuchu saw that Qin Qingman agreed, he quickly got off the kang and picked up the wolf cub to sit back down. He didn’t crawl back into the quilt, nor did he let the cub run around on the kang. He just held the cub tightly in his arms, smiling at Qin Qingman.

Qin Qingman helplessly looked at Chuchu and reminded him, “The floor is clean, but there’s still some dust. From now on, Dudu has to wipe his paws before getting on the kang.”

“Got it, Sis.”

Chuchu was extremely excited by Qin Qingman’s concession.

Excited beyond measure, Chuchu couldn’t fall asleep and tightly held the wolf cub.

Perhaps it was because the cub was now on the kang, or maybe it sensed that it was closer to Qin Qingman, but it stopped being restless.

Of course, it could also be that the cub had tired itself out from all the earlier commotion.

Qin Qingman didn’t wear a watch, so she had no idea of the exact time. She simply pulled back the curtains to take a quick look outside. It was already faintly light, a bit earlier than her usual wake-up time, but she could still get up if she wanted to.

Seeing Chuchu and the wolf cub on the kang, Qin Qingman helplessly climbed out of bed.

At that moment, she was worrying about what the wolf cub should eat.

The cub hadn’t been weaned yet, and it wasn’t old enough for solid food. Unlike in later times, where milk and goat’s milk were readily available, this era didn’t have people raising cows or goats!

So, finding food for the cub had become an urgent matter for Qin Qingman to figure out.

“Sis, where are you going?” Chuchu looked at Qin Qingman, puzzled. It was still early, and they could have slept a little longer.

“I’m going to ask around to see where I can find cow’s or goat’s milk.”

Qin Qingman didn’t hide anything from Chuchu.

Chuchu looked down at the cub in his arms. After causing a lot of commotion earlier, the cub was now not only tired but also hungry. It opened its mouth and gently bit Chuchu’s finger, its little mouth making soft whimpering sounds.

“Sis, I’m getting up too.”

Now that he had become the cub’s new “nurse,” Chuchu couldn’t stay still.

“Mm, you can play with Dudu at home. I’ll go ask Aunt Yun for some information.” Qin Qingman finished tidying herself up, checked the stove, and then gave Chuchu instructions before heading out the door, casually looking around to see if there were any traces of wolf paw prints on the ground.

She didn’t want anyone to know that wolves had entered her home the day before.

It might cause unnecessary panic.