Liu Mei, who had been rebuked by the vendor, was even less pleased, but she didn’t dare to offend him and instead took it out on her own son. Xiu Cheng was hit until he cried out, and the vendor seemed to notice that this was just a woman making trouble out of nothing. He didn’t bother with her and pushed his bicycle away.
Only when his figure was out of sight did Liu Mei spit at his retreating back, as if that could retrieve the face she had lost.
When the Ruanlin family returned to their house, they took a bowl from the kitchen with frozen popsicles in it. Seeing Ruan Jiaojiao licking them with contentment on her face, they smiled and said, "Is it that delicious? Should we buy a refrigerator for the new house?" After these words, they sighed. The team hasn’t gotten electricity yet, and they heard that the neighboring village was about to get it; who knew when it would be their turn.
Ruan Jiaojiao looked at the distressed Ruanlin family and offered the ice cream to their mouth, "Granny, have some, it’s sweet."
The Ruanlin family pushed it away with a smile, coaxing her, "Granny won’t have it, let Jiaojiao have it."
"Try it, try it, it’s really sweet," Ruan Jiaojiao urged, blinking her big eyes at them.
The sight of her melted the Ruanlin family’s heart, and they couldn’t bear to refuse. They took a small bite, and the cold sensation of the ice cream made them shiver subconsciously when it hit their teeth, but the sweetness that followed soothed their frown.
They sighed, "Life is so much better now. Your dad and his brothers didn’t have anything when they were young."
Back then, with four sons and her husband away, the Ruanlin family didn’t even dare to think about how they had managed to get through that period. Fortunately, life was better now, and they had their little Jiaojiao.
The Ruanlin family hugged Ruan Jiaojiao close, watching her eat the ice cream while talking about her father’s childhood.
Ruan Jiaojiao listened attentively as well, occasionally asking a question, creating an extremely warm atmosphere between the two.
This lasted until a muffled thud, indicating something had fallen, was heard from the backyard. The Ruanlin family hastily put Ruan Jiaojiao down and hurried to the backyard to see what was going on, with Ruan Jiaojiao following, holding the bowl with the popsicles.
Xiu Xi jumped down from the meter-high hill behind the house, with a dirty, chubby, almost indistinguishable little thing in front of him that roughly looked like a puppy at first glance.
"Xiaoxi, what have you brought back?" the Ruanlin family asked curiously, their gaze fixed on the little thing that had fallen over and struggled for a long time to get up, crying out with its little pink mouth.
"Wolf," Xiaoxi answered, his eyes landing on Ruan Jiaojiao with a hint of anticipation.
"So small, it must still be nursing, right? Why did you bring it back? Won’t the mother wolf come looking?" the Ruanlin family exclaimed in alarm, soon expressing concern. Mother wolves are extremely protective of their pups, and if it were to come looking for the cub, that would be very dangerous.
"She won’t come. The mother wolf is dead."
Wolves are pack animals with a strict hierarchy that does not accommodate a cub without a mother’s care. This wolf was one he had picked up. Though it couldn’t compare to his previous self, it would still be good for guarding the house.
In the future, if he were not at home, he would have it watch over Ruan Jiaojiao. That way, he could feel at ease when outside.
Ruan Jiaojiao looked curiously at the dirty little creature, truly so small it was pitiable, probably only a few days after birth, right?
After struggling to get up, the little thing stood by the side of the small antagonist, shivering with fear yet not daring to walk away. It just looked at her with longing in its big watery eyes, its small nose twitching, looking both aggrieved and pitiful.