Chapter 71.1

Qin Qingman was both shocked and surprised as she faced the small black wolf pup, Xiao Hei, biting onto her pant leg and trying to climb up. The little, chubby bundle of fur was indeed adorable. Though its four legs were quite strong, its own weight made the task difficult. It seemed to climb three inches, only to slide back two. Eventually, it struggled and huffed on top of Qin Qingman’s foot.

“Sis, where did this puppy come from?”  

Chuchu, who had gotten up upon hearing the commotion, widened his eyes in astonishment.  

This question was truly hard for Qin Qingman to answer.  

The tiny wolf cub, not yet a month old, did look very much like a puppy. After all, dogs were originally descended from wolves.  

The young wolf, Xiao Hei, continued to whimper and struggle as it tried to climb up Qin Qingman’s leg. It was drawn to her, comforted by her familiar and soothing scent.  

Seeing the wolf cub’s difficulty, Qin Qingman bent down, scooped it up into her arms, and walked out the door.  

There was no way such a small cub could have come here on its own.  

Sure enough, as soon as Qin Qingman stepped outside, she spotted the figure of Xiao Hei’s mother squatting in the shadows by the door.  

Xiao Hei, the leader of the mountain wolf pack, had a sleek, silver coat that shimmered like satin. If not for Wei Ling’s naming her “Xiao Hei,” she probably would have had a much grander and more imposing name.  

“Big dog!”  

Chuchu, who had never been to the mountains nor seen a wolf in person, mistook Xiao Hei in the dim light of the shadows for a large dog.  

Hearing Chuchu’s voice, Xiao Hei turned her head proudly to glance in his direction.  

Qin Qingman felt a wave of relief wash over her. Thankfully, her child was simple-minded enough not to recognize the wolf. Otherwise, he would have surely screamed in fright. If that happened, the entire village would likely be thrown into a panic.  

“Chuchu, it’s cold outside. Go back to the kang and wait for me. I’ll be back in a moment.”  

Qin Qingman wasn’t sure why Xiao Hei had come to her, but she was also worried that Chuchu might realize Xiao Hei was a wolf. She quickly sent the child back into the house.  

“Alright.”  

Chuchu was obedient. He responded to Qin Qingman, then immediately took the wolf cub, Xiao Hei, from her arms and carried it inside.  

Qin Qingman: !!!

Xiao Hei: ……

Qin Qingman: ……Wait, no, this is a wolf! A child with parents!  

As Qin Qingman and Xiao Hei stared at each other in silence, Chuchu was already happily carrying the little wolf cub, Xiao Hei, back to the west room.  

Perhaps it was the familiar scent of Qin Qingman on Chuchu that made the wolf cub settle down. After struggling briefly in Chuchu’s arms, it stopped fussing, sniffing here and there on Chuchu’s body. In the end, it quietly followed him into the room without causing any trouble.  

The west room had a lit stove, and the warm temperature made the little wolf cub incredibly excited. As soon as it entered, it leaped out of Chuchu’s arms and began running all over the place.  

Its enthusiasm was so contagious that Chuchu’s sleepiness completely vanished. He followed behind the wolf cub, keeping an eye on it to make sure it didn’t accidentally crawl into the stove. If it really did, its shiny, beautiful fur would undoubtedly be ruined.  

Qin Qingman glanced toward the west room, then turned back to Xiao Hei with a helpless smile. She explained, “Well, Chuchu doesn’t mean any harm. He just thinks the little cub is cute, so he carried it away. Don’t worry, I’ll return it to you soon.”  

Whether Xiao Hei could understand her or not didn’t matter—Qin Qingman felt the explanation had to be made.  

Xiao Hei’s sharp gaze remained fixed on Qin Qingman, its eyes filled with seriousness.  

“Xiao Hei, what’s wrong? Why did you come to find me?” Qin Qingman asked while gesturing for Xiao Hei to come inside. It was cold outside, and although she knew wolves weren’t afraid of the cold, she instinctively treated Xiao Hei as she would a person.  

However, Xiao Hei didn’t move. It simply stood there, its ears perked up, listening intently for a moment. Then, it softly howled a few times toward Qin Qingman before turning around and leaving.  

It moved swiftly—so swiftly that before Qin Qingman could call out, Xiao Hei’s figure had already disappeared into the dark night.  

Qin Qingman: …!!! Xiao Hei, are you just abandoning your son?!  

Qin Qingman stood quietly at the doorway for a long time, but Xiao Hei’s figure never reappeared. As she listened to the laughter coming from the west room, a sudden realization dawned on her.  

She remembered something Wei Ling had once told her.  

The ecology of the mountain had changed due to the accidental emergence of the hot spring lake. Xiao Hei’s wolf pack might have to migrate before the end of the year. Xiao Hei had likely come to bid her farewell—or perhaps, to abandon its responsibility for raising the little wolf cub.  

There could only be one alpha in the pack. From birth, Xiao Hei’s cub had been weaker than another cub. In such situations, natural selection often dictated the outcome.  

Xiao Hei’s wolf cub was the one abandoned.  

At that moment, Qin Qingman felt the harsh cruelty of the animal world deep in her heart. Her chest trembled—not from the cold, but from an instinctive reaction to the situation.  

“Awuu—”  

Just as Qin Qingman lost track of how long she had been standing there, a long wolf howl echoed from the distant mountains. The sound carried a faint tinge of farewell, and alongside it came another wolf howl.  

Qin Qingman’s nose suddenly stung, and her eyes threatened to tear up.  

She knew what those two howls signified. It was Xiao Hei and its mate bidding farewell—to her and to Xiao Hei’s cub.  

“Awuu—awuu—awuu—”  

The wolf cub, who had been playing happily in the west room with Chuchu, suddenly bolted out. It rushed into the courtyard, howling in response to the distant calls.  

Kaoshan Village was eerily quiet; there wasn’t even a single dog barking.  

In these times, people could barely feed themselves, let alone spare food to keep dogs. The few hunting dogs owned by the village’s hunters had followed Zheng Anguo’s group up the mountain for a hunt. That was why Kaoshan Village was so unnaturally silent this evening—too silent, in fact.  

Even the two geese in Qin Qingman’s yard, which were usually aggressive, had buried their heads deep under their wings the moment Xiao Hei appeared. They huddled in their nest, trembling in fear.  

Geese, no matter how fierce, were still just geese.  

In the face of a wolf, they were naturally suppressed by instinctive fear rooted in their bloodline. They dared not honk or make any sound, relying only on their primal instincts to avoid drawing the wolf’s attention.  

“Awuu—”  

The wolf howls came again, fainter this time, signaling that Xiao Hei and its mate had truly left.  

“Awuu—awuu—awuu—”  

The wolf cub ran anxiously in circles around Qin Qingman’s courtyard, desperately trying to chase after the sound. But no matter how hard it ran, it couldn’t go far—its legs were simply too short.  

In the deeper snow, the wolf cub would sink up to half its body whenever it tried to move forward.  

“Awuu—awuu—” The wolf cub, growing more anxious, began to bounce around in frustration, whimpering incessantly.  

“Sis.”  

Chuchu’s voice suddenly sounded beside Qin Qingman. She hadn’t noticed when he had come to stand there.  

Qin Qingman reached out and gently patted the boy’s head.  

“It… it’s a wolf, isn’t it?” 

Chuchu, though he had never seen a wolf in person, could recognize the sound of its howls. The distinct calls had finally made him realize the little cub’s true identity.  

“Yes, it’s a wolf.”  

Qin Qingman had no intention of hiding the truth from the child.  

“Did… did its parents abandon it?”  

Chuchu’s nose tingled with emotion as he looked at the anxious little wolf cub bouncing in the snowy yard.  

Qin Qingman didn’t know how to respond to his question right away. After a long moment of thought, she finally said, “It wasn’t abandoned. Its parents need to migrate to a very far place, and it’s hard to take care of two cubs. So they left one for me to raise.”  

“Are we… going to keep it?”  

Chuchu’s face showed a mixture of hesitation and conflict.  

He knew how terrifying wolves could be. The adults in the village often used wolves to scare children, saying that if they misbehaved, they would be thrown up the mountain to be eaten by wolves.  

So Chuchu understood all too well that wolves could eat people.  

Qin Qingman saw Chuchu’s internal struggle and didn’t want to make the decision for him. Instead, she asked softly, “Do you want to raise it?” If Chuchu was truly too afraid, then they wouldn’t keep the wolf cub. They could let Wei Ling figure out a solution for its survival.  

After all, Xiao Hei must have entrusted the cub to her for a reason, and Qin Qingman believed Wei Ling was somehow involved. Xiao Hei’s first connection had been with Wei Ling, and it trusted him the most.  

Chuchu hesitated at Qin Qingman’s words. He glanced at the little wolf cub, still anxiously whimpering and stumbling in the snow. Then he asked, “Sis, if we don’t raise it, does that mean it won’t survive?”  

“This cub hasn’t been weaned yet. It can’t hunt or survive on its own,” Qin Qingman answered gently.  

Wolf cubs are different from human babies. They don’t have a clear “one-month full term” concept. Wolf cubs can drink milk for about half a year, though at a little over a month old, they can start eating small scraps of meat.  

This cub, however, had been born just over half a month ago. It had only recently opened its eyes, could run and jump, but was still far from living independently.  

“Sis, if we don’t raise it, will it die?”  

Chuchu looked even more conflicted.  

“If no one takes care of it, it won’t survive for long,” Qin Qingman replied honestly.  

Chuchu’s breathing grew faster. The child was grappling with a difficult decision in his heart.  

“Chuchu, it’s okay if we don’t raise it. I know this little cub’s parents, and so does Ah Ling. If we can’t take it in, we’ll let Ah Ling raise it. He’ll definitely do a great job,” Qin Qingman said, trying to ease Chuchu’s burden.  

“But big sister, Brother-in-law is in the military unit. How could he take care of a wolf cub? He can’t bring it with him all the time,” Chuchu said, his young mind already considering practicalities.  

“Ah Ling will find a way to take care of it. Don’t worry about that,” Qin Qingman reassured him, reaching out to ruffle his hair once again.  

“Sis, will wolves eat people?” Chuchu finally voiced his deeper fear.  

From a natural perspective, wolves, when starving, could certainly attack humans. However, Qin Qingman had also read about cases in the future where wolves raised and trained properly could coexist peacefully with humans.  

So she answered him, “Wolves are very intelligent animals. They learn quickly. As long as we teach it well, it won’t hurt people without reason.” She added after a pause, “We can raise it until it can live independently and then release it back into the wild.”  

A wolf belonged in the forest; that’s where it could truly be free.  

“Sis, let’s raise it,” Chuchu said, finally making up his mind after hearing her words.  

“You won’t regret it?” Qin Qingman asked him seriously. She wanted him to think it through carefully, not make a hasty decision in the heat of the moment.  

“Sis, I’ve thought it through. The little wolf doesn’t have any family now. If we don’t raise it, it’ll be so pitiful and sad. Listen, I think it’s crying. I want to give it a home. With Brother-in-law in our family, I believe he can teach it well,” Chuchu said firmly. His sympathy for the cub was genuine, but so was his faith in Wei Ling’s abilities.  

He believed Wei Ling could handle a wolf.  

“Alright, then let’s raise it,” Qin Qingman said.  

In truth, she had long wanted to bring the little wolf cub back into the house.  

She had personally delivered this cub at birth, and that connection made her naturally soft-hearted toward it. Hearing its pitiful whimpering had already tugged at her heartstrings.  

“Chuchu, fetch a basin of water. I’ll clean the little wolf in a bit,” Qin Qingman instructed Chuchu as she stepped into the courtyard to pick up the cub.  

The little wolf had been jumping around in the snow for quite some time. Its fur was now covered in patches of snow. The abandonment by its parents had left it exhausted and distressed. When Qin Qingman picked it up, it no longer struggled. Instead, its limbs went limp, and it tucked its head beneath its paws, motionless.  

Qin Qingman could tell the little cub was heartbroken.  

“It’s okay, you still have me,” she whispered, gently stroking the cub’s back as she carried it inside.  

Once the door closed behind them, the warmth of the house enveloped them.  

The snow clinging to the cub’s fur began to melt.  

The cub was still very young, and its parents had taken good care of it. Qin Qingman decided not to give it a full bath but to wipe its fur down with a damp towel instead.  

Sitting by the fire, she carefully and patiently cleaned the little cub.  

The fire burned brightly, glowing red in the stove’s belly. The damp towel dried quickly as she wiped the cub’s fur.  

After thoroughly wiping down its entire body, Qin Qingman moved on to washing its paws.  

Despite the fact that the cub’s fur was entirely black without a single stray hair, its paw pads were a delicate pink—soft and adorable.  

“Sis, it looks so beautiful,” Chuchu said, squatting beside Qin Qingman. He watched in amazement as the pink pads of the wolf cub’s paws were revealed during its “paw-washing session.” His face was full of awe, and he seemed tempted to reach out and touch them.  

While washing the cub’s feet, Qin Qingman noticed that its paws weren’t particularly dirty. She guessed that Xiao Hei had likely carried the cub all the way home in its mouth.  

“You were just playing happily with the cub, why are you acting so reserved now? Just treat it like a puppy,” Qin Qingman knew that Chuchu had some psychological burden, so she simply told the child to treat the wolf cub like a little puppy.

“I didn’t know before, hehe—”

Chuchu scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

Qin Qingman wiped the wolf cub for a while and comforted it for some time. By now, the cub had regained some energy and was holding onto one of Qin Qingman’s fingers and biting it.

The cub was still a baby, with no teeth, so the biting didn’t hurt at all.

Qin Qingman looked at Chuchu, who actually seemed like he wanted to play with the wolf cub, and directly placed the cub into the child’s arms. She said, “You hold it for a bit, I’ll make a little bed for the wolf cub so it can sleep soon.”

“Okay… okay—”

Chuchu froze completely when the wolf cub was placed in his arms.

He held the cub without moving.

When Chuchu didn’t know the wolf cub’s true identity, he had no reservations while playing with it. But now that he knew he was holding a wolf, his mind kept wandering. After all, no matter how small, it was still a wolf.

Qin Qingman didn’t pay attention to how Chuchu was interacting with the wolf cub. She poured the water she had used to wash the cub outside the house, then cleaned the basin with soap, before going to find materials to make a bed for the cub.

It was cold. Even though the temperature in the west room was high, the floor’s temperature still felt some influence. Back in those days, there weren’t many cardboard boxes around. After searching for a while, Qin Qingman finally took out the cotton jacket she had worn when she went to the Hongqi farm.

Qin Qingman had worn this cotton jacket before, and the garment still held her scent, which could comfort the cub.

Qin Qingman took out a needle and thread, quickly stitching the cotton jacket to make a little bed that the cub could crawl in and out of.

The floor of the west room was made of thick wood, and beneath it was a raised space that effectively blocked the coldness from the ground.

“Chuchu, give me the cub.”

Qin Qingman placed the wolf cub’s little bed near the stove and said to Chuchu.

When she turned around, what she saw was a child completely stiffened, with the cub in his arms still twisting and wriggling. It was trying to get down to run.

Qin Qingman went over, took the cub from Chuchu, and placed it in the little bed.

Although the cotton jacket had been washed many times and the fabric was no longer in its prime, it had been well-dried in the sun, and the cotton inside still provided warmth. As soon as the wolf cub entered the bed, it started crawling in and out, playing happily.

Although his father left him behind, the wolf cub’s heart didn’t hurt for long because of Qin Qingman’s familiar scent…