Volume One, Chapter 11: A Benevolent Deed!

Hearing that Xu Mo did not agree, Xu Datou did not insist either. In his view, Xu Mo’s ability to kill the wolf king was surely just a stroke of luck. Everyone had grown up together; they knew well what Xu Mo was truly capable of. As for how Xu Mo saved the others, it was nothing extraordinary—they all understood it. It was just that the situation had been too urgent for anyone to react in time.

The reason Xu Datou invited Xu Mo, to be honest, was simply to lend him a hand. After all, with the heavy snow sealing off the mountain, hunting alone had become far from simple. There is wisdom in numbers. Even if they were indeed surrounded by the wolf pack before, without Xu Mo’s help, although there would have been casualties, it wouldn’t have been a complete massacre. That’s the advantage of having many people. If Xu Mo had been alone facing the wolves, death would have been certain.

“Hei Zi, if you change your mind, remember to come find me. I’ll be off for now!” Xu Datou, seeing the couple chewing heartily, couldn’t stand it any longer and decided to head home to cook some wolf meat. “Alright!” Xu Mo agreed readily.

After eating his fill, Xu Mo wiped his hands with the snow and began nailing together a bed from wooden planks taken from a small shed. The crazy woman was only a little mad, not foolish. Seeing Xu Mo busy, she silently stepped forward to help.

Meanwhile, inside the main house, Xu An surveyed the chaotic scene with tears welling up. Fortunately, with Xu Datou’s group stepping in, they had managed to reclaim some food and essentials; otherwise, the house would have been utterly stripped bare.

The old woman sat on the floor, wailing and lamenting. Old Xu sat frustrated, smoking his pipe. Pregnant Xiao Cui looked around for a chair but found none, her face sullen as she glanced at Xu An.

“Look, look, all you do is watch!” Xu An snapped irritably at Xiao Cui’s gaze, storming to the doorway and sitting on the threshold. After a moment, Old Xu stood, kicked Xu An lightly on the leg, and said, “You’re coming with me to Da Han’s place. This can’t just be left like this!”

Xu An, typical of those who pick fights at home but cower outside, hesitated and said, “Dad, maybe we should just let it be?”

“Let it be? How? They took our bed and blankets. What, we’re just going to freeze?” Old Xu’s resolve hardened; if he couldn’t get the bedding back, he’d stay at Da Han’s place and refuse to leave.

Under Old Xu’s usual authority, Xu An neither dared nor wanted to argue further. He rose reluctantly and followed Old Xu out of the yard.

The old woman, exhausted from the commotion, retreated to the inner room, gathered a bundle of straw, and laid it out as a makeshift bed in the living room. Thankfully, the stove fire was still burning hot, so no one had dared to take it.

Xiao Cui, full of grievance and hunger after all the fuss, dared not speak up. Pouting, she considered whether to return to her parents’ home for a meal. But that would be a disgrace to her in-laws, and Xu An would surely punish her.

Inside the yellow clay house, Xu Mo fashioned a simple bed from wooden planks and spread an old quilt over it, making it look quite decent. He washed the iron pot clean, boiled a pot of water, and said with a smile, “Weiwei, come here, let me wash your face!”

The crazy woman tilted her head, her face obscured by tangled hair. Xu Mo shook his head with a smile, soaked a towel in hot water, wrung it out, and approached her.

Her face was truly filthy—not just greasy, but layered thickly with the ash she had brought, turning the white towel pitch black no matter how much he tried to clean it.

In all his past and present lives, Xu Mo had never seen the crazy woman’s true face. In his previous life, he had joined the army in early spring, and six years later when he returned on leave, she had long since turned to dust.

How beautiful she was! Xu Mo stared in amazement. Her skin was somewhat dark, but her features were exquisitely delicate, especially her eyes framed by long lashes, like a porcelain doll. Seeing her cracked lips, Xu Mo resolved to make some lip balm later—making such a remedy was not difficult.

“Stay here quietly, I’m going out for a bit!”

The crazy woman blinked her big eyes. Once Xu Mo stepped outside, she turned to the freshly made bed, the corners of her mouth curling slightly as she smoothed out the wrinkles on the bedding. After tidying the bed, she took out the venison from a small earthenware pot.

At the same time, Xiao Cui, driven by hunger and her heavy belly, crept stealthily outside the yellow clay house.

Seeing the bone scraps on the ground, she swallowed hard. After a moment’s hesitation, glancing at the tightly closed door and then the front yard, she cautiously stepped forward, picked up a bone, and her stomach growled uncontrollably.

Holding the bone, Xiao Cui nibbled on it slowly. It was delicious!

“Creak!”

Suddenly, the yellow clay house’s door swung open, nearly causing Xiao Cui to fall. Seeing it was the crazy woman, she breathed a sigh of relief, hiding the bone behind her back, her cheeks flushed as she coughed dryly. “I—I was just passing by.”

The crazy woman stared intently at Xiao Cui’s large belly. Xiao Cui felt uneasy under that gaze, thinking she had been careless; if the woman went mad, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. At that moment, she wanted to cry.

Then, wide-eyed, Xiao Cui saw the crazy woman extend her right hand, holding a chopstick with a large piece of venison speared on it.

“For me?” Xiao Cui’s breath quickened as she took small steps forward. When the woman held up the meat, Xiao Cui bit her lip, snatched the chopstick, and turned to run.

But after a few steps, she stopped. If she took the venison back to the old house, she feared she would barely get a bite. Looking back at the crazy woman standing at the door, Xiao Cui hesitated, then opened her mouth and began to eat.

As she quickly swallowed the large piece of venison, a happy smile spread across her face. Just as the crazy woman was about to go back inside, Xiao Cui called out, “Hey!”

The woman tilted her head, watching her.

Xiao Cui blinked. “Now that you and Hei Zi are married, you should behave like a proper wife. If you want, I can help you get cleaned up.”

Without waiting for an answer, Xiao Cui, her belly prominent, walked toward the crazy woman. “Come on, inside, I’ll help you get fixed up.”

There is a saying: pregnancy makes a woman foolish for three years. That was exactly Xiao Cui now. She hadn’t even considered what would happen if the crazy woman truly lost control.

Grasping the woman’s hand, Xiao Cui smiled brightly and pulled her inside. “Sister-in-law, back when your group of educated youths came to the countryside, everyone said you looked like a celestial fairy. Hei Zi is truly lucky to have married you.”