The little fellow just whimpered and rubbed its head against her. Although it was a wolf, its demeanor was very much like the dogs Gu Youyou had raised before, which pleased her.
"How about you come back with me? From now on, I’ll take care of you!"
Gu Youyou grabbed its two front paws, making it stand on its hind legs as she teased it, unilaterally deciding that she was pleased.
She decided to take it home and raise it as a pet wolf.
When Jin Zijin came back from hunting, sometimes he would catch a glimpse of that... little wolf at home, and he was clearly startled.
It looked somewhat familiar, with white fur and a tuft of yellow on its head—isn’t this the one that ran out of the ancient tomb, with Gu Youyou’s skirt fabric tied around its leg?
He glanced into the house. Gu Youyou was humming a tune as she cooked, the scent of meat bones filled the air; she must have stew the roe deer she caught yesterday.
"You’re back! Go wash your hands first, and we can eat soon!"
Jin Zijin responded, put down his tools and a bag of grain, and then asked Gu Youyou, "Did it come on its own, or did you bring it back?"
Gu Youyou realized that Jin Zijin was asking about the little wolf pup and felt a bit surprised. She asked in return, "You’ve seen it before?"
Jin Zijin didn’t deny it and nodded, "I saw your clothing on its leg, and when I saw it crawl out of a tree hole, that’s how I knew where the entrance to the underground palace was."
Gu Youyou paused in her activity, looked at the wolf pup sitting by the door that really did look like a little dog, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly. She didn’t expect it to have actually saved her!
Alright, tonight you’ll be rewarded with meat.
Gu Youyou smiled and said confidently, "I went to town today, and when I was coming back, I found that it kept following me, so I brought it home. From now on, it’s my pet. It will eat with us. You’ll have to hunt more because it needs to eat meat!"
Jin Zijin was stunned for a moment after hearing this, his lips twitched, and after pondering for a while, he finally said, "It can just eat bones."
"Are you abusing it? It’s not a dog!"
Jin Zijin looked down at the little wolf pup sitting by the door and said, "It’s the offspring of a wild wolf and a stray dog in the mountains. It’s not wrong to call it a dog."
"What?" Gu Youyou walked away from the stove, seriously looking at the little creature on the ground.
She would never have guessed it was a crossbreed.
Jin Zijin said, "Its eyes are amber-colored, but they don’t have the fierce gleam of a wolf’s, rather they are very gentle. Just looking into its eyes, you can tell that its wolf blood is not pure. It has a short muzzle, yet a broad back, and its tail is short and stiff. It doesn’t fully conform whether you say it’s a wolf or a dog.
And moreover, I’ve seen the wild wolf king in the mountains—it has this white fur. If I’m not wrong, it’s probably the offspring of the wild wolf king and a mountain stray dog. If it weren’t for its impure lineage, it wouldn’t have been chased out of its pack alone."
Listening to Jin Zijin’s analysis and looking more closely at the little guy, it seemed to make some sense.
A stray dog wouldn’t look , and wolves are very ferocious, obviously not as gentle as this one.
Gu Youyou squatted down and rubbed its head, smiling slightly, "Alright then, turns out you were driven away by your own kind. From now on, you’re with me. If you want bones, you’ll have bones; if you want meat, you’ll have meat. I’ll give you a name... Abao, how about that? Unloved by father and mother, but I’ll cherish you."
Jin Zijin’s lips twitched, he didn’t want to say anything, but upon hearing the name, he couldn’t help but speak, "Be careful or your grandma might come to make a fuss."