I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

With everyone pitching in, dinner was soon ready.

The whole Zhou family gathered around the table, their eyes glued to the food spread before them.

A large basin of rabbit stew with potatoes, hazel mushrooms, and glass noodles sent out a tempting aroma that made everyone's mouths water.

Beside it was a heaping basin of white rice. The grains were plump and full, looking absolutely delicious. Even Zhou Laogen couldn't help but swallow, to say nothing of Zhao Yinhua's two little ones and Zhou Mancang's four-year-old child.

Zhou Cuicui and Zhou Manku desperately tried to keep from drooling. Zhou Mancang's son reached out, about to lunge for the table, but his mother quickly pulled him back, causing the frustrated child to burst into tears.

"HAHAHA! Second Aunt, let's eat! Look how anxious the little one is!"

"Yes, yes! Let's eat! Everyone, dig in!"

As soon as Zhao Yinhua finished speaking, everyone's chopsticks moved in unison. They were a little reserved at first, but soon, adults and children alike were wolfing down their food. Zhou Cuicui even started to cry. The white rice was just too delicious!

Zhao Wendong, however, first ladled a bowl of rice water from the basin next to the rice. He sipped it slowly. He liked the rice water strained from a large pot; it warmed the stomach and carried the original, sweet flavor of the rice.

"Wendong, hurry up and eat! With all this rice and meat, who would drink rice water?"

Zhao Yinhua kept putting more food on Zhao Wendong's and Lin Zhiyin's plates, urging them to eat quickly.

Zhao Wendong held up his bowl of rice water.

"Second Aunt, I'm so sick of eating meat every day I could puke. I'll start with some rice water. I really love this stuff!"

"HAHAHA! You silly boy!"

Zhao Yinhua thought Zhao Wendong was just teasing her and didn't believe him at all. She gave him a light smack. 'Who, in a time when you can't even get enough to eat, would choose thin gruel over solid food?'

But when she saw the helpless look on Zhao Wendong's face, which didn't seem fake, Zhao Yinhua's movements slowed.

"Dongzi, are you telling the truth?"

"Yep!"

Zhao Wendong's firm confirmation sparked intense curiosity in the Zhou family. In a time when most people couldn't get enough to eat, how was Zhao Wendong managing to eat meat every day?

"Dongzi, has your father gotten that good at hunting?"

Zhou Laogen couldn't help but mutter. He knew Zhao Dashan was a decent hunter, but he didn't think he was that much better than the others in their village. How was it that while everyone else, including himself, came back empty-handed, Zhao Dashan was so capable?

"Him? Good at what? He broke his leg and is laid up on the kang bed. He won't be better for another hundred days or so."

"What? Is he okay? How did it happen?"

Hearing that Zhao Dashan had broken his leg, Zhao Yinhua's heart clenched, and she immediately asked for details. She only relaxed after Zhao Wendong explained the whole story.

Zhou Mancang looked at the smiling Zhao Wendong, took a bite of the fragrant rabbit meat, and grew thoughtful.

"Wendong, did you hunt all of this yourself?"

"Haha, that's right, Cousin! You've got a sharp eye. It wasn't just me, though. I took my big bro, second bro, and Er Gouzi with me. We even went out to sea once and caught a ton of fish."

"What? For real? Tell us about it!"

Zhao Wendong then briefly recounted their adventures hunting in the mountains and fishing at sea. Lin Zhiyin was hearing many of these stories for the first time. Her beautiful eyes sparkled as she gazed at Zhao Wendong, her imagination following him into the deep mountains and out onto the vast ocean with his every word.

The more the Zhou family listened to Zhao Wendong's stories, the more fantastical they seemed. But looking at Zhao Wendong's current nouveau riche demeanor, they had no choice but to believe him. Just look at the state of him now.

After all, what common person traveled with a beautiful partner, driving the production brigade's horse-drawn sleigh and carrying a Big Eagle? He was decked out in new shoes and a new cotton-padded jacket, while the sleigh itself was piled high with food and covered by a brand-new quilt. Everyone had already gone to see the giant seal, frozen solid as a rock—a single creature like that was enough to feed their entire family through the winter.

The group ate and chatted around the dinner table, the most common way of socializing in the Northeast. In fact, many people from the Northeast don't have much to say once they leave the dinner table. The children's faces were slick with grease. Zhou Mancang's four-year-old son was especially amusing; in his haste, he grabbed a piece of meat in each hand and tried to stuff them both into his mouth at once, making everyone roar with laughter.

"Dongzi, when you go to the farm tomorrow, have your cousin go with you. He's just sitting around at home with nothing to do anyway. With a local accompanying you, they won't dare give you any trouble!"

"Okay, sure!"

Zhao Wendong readily accepted his aunt's kind offer with a nod, but a worried expression appeared on Zhou Mancang's face.

"The security there is really tight. They even have a platoon of guards. Normally, they don't even let us get close. I'm just afraid we won't even be able to get through their main gate!"

"Don't worry. I have a pass from a leader in the county government, and I have a certificate from the Commune. We'll get in."

Hearing this, Zhao Yinhua burst into happy laughter. 'My nephew is really something else!'

"HAHAHA, Dongzi, how did you get so capable? You have connections in both the Commune and the county? My dear nephew is really going places!"

"Hehe, I just got lucky. I was made the village's Civilian Militia Captain."

"What? You're the Civilian Militia Captain now?"

Zhao Yinhua was even more surprised and delighted. The Civilian Militia Captain was a position of real power in the production team, a very influential role in the village.

"I knew you had it in you! There were still people gossiping, saying you were a good-for-nothing slacker, a street loafer. I don't know which black-hearted folks were spreading those rumors, but I chewed out anyone who said a bad word about you."

"PFFT!"

Zhao Wendong had been looking smug, winking and preening at Lin Zhiyin, but his aunt's words left him utterly mortified. Seeing his expression, Lin Zhiyin couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Joyful laughter echoed continuously from the dilapidated adobe house. In the end, the Zhou family had eaten every last scrap of food from the table. Zhou Manku even licked his bowl clean until it shone.

The faces of the Zhou family beamed with satisfaction and happiness. It had been so long since they had eaten such a full meal. Zhou Cuicui and Zhou Manku were calling him "Brother Wendong" over and over, their voices thick with affection, wishing he would never leave and just stay with them forever.

During the idle chat after dinner, Zhao Wendong told Zhao Yinhua some news about their grandparents, which brought tears to her eyes. Zhao Wendong smiled and said, "Next year, when things aren't so busy, I'll come pick you all up to stay with us for a while."

Zhao Yinhua thought he was just saying it to comfort her, but she still nodded happily in agreement. The children were getting sleepy after their full meal. Zhao Yinhua sent Zhou Laogen and Zhou Manku to go squeeze in at Zhou Mancang's house for the night, while she, Zhou Cuicui, Zhao Wendong, and Lin Zhiyin would sleep in this house.

After such a filling meal, Zhao Yinhua and Zhou翠翠 fell asleep quickly. Zhao Wendong lay down next to Lin Zhiyin at the head of the kang, only to receive the same treatment Lin Zhiyin had gotten at Wang Defa's house the day before.

Afraid he would be cold, Zhao Yinhua had burned the firewood with abandon, even stuffing the stove's fire pit completely full before bed. As a result, the searingly hot kang nearly cooked Zhao Wendong's backside. He had no choice but to fold most of his new quilt and place it under his rear, leaving just a small bit to cover his upper body. With one half of him exposed to the frigid air, he was experiencing a world of both ice and fire.

Suddenly, a quilt was draped over him, covering the exposed part of his body. It was Lin Zhiyin's quilt from beside him. Zhao Wendong's heart instantly began to race traitorously. Next to him, Lin Zhiyin's pretty face was burning hot. This was basically like sharing a bed. She had agonized over it for a long time before finally lending him a piece of her quilt, unable to bear watching him freeze.

The weather in the Northeast was bitterly cold, so people only took off their outermost padded jackets to sleep, still wearing thick, padded clothes underneath. Although the two were technically sharing a quilt and their bodies would occasionally brush against each other, there was no skin-to-skin contact through the thick layers of cotton. Even so, this was enough to make both their hearts pound, making sleep impossible.

Lin Zhiyin's mind was a whirlwind of anxiety and anticipation; she would be seeing her parents tomorrow, so she couldn't sleep a wink. Zhao Wendong, on the other hand, was simply being roasted by the kang. Only after the kang's temperature finally dropped a bit did he manage to drift off into a hazy dream.

WOO—!

In his sleep, Zhao Wendong suddenly heard a cry. The sound swiftly rose in pitch and volume, transforming into a deep, prolonged howl.

AWOOO—!

The sound was resonant and drawn-out, as if it could shake a person's very soul.