During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

Is there any room for negotiation on this?

If it refuses, will you not lend it to it?

Seeing his barely suppressed laughter, Ye Qingqing raised an eyebrow and said,

"Brother Dazhuang, what are you laughing at? She entrusted her child to me, so I have to charge her some money for nutrition, right?"

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because once he did, Ye Dazhuang couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"What if it refuses?"

"Then it's out of their hands."

Ye Qingqing put the two whimpering wolf cubs into her basket, stuffed some dry grass inside to keep them warm, and then said...

"Big Brother Zhuang, put on your coat quickly, be careful not to catch a cold. Third Brother, carry the wolf on your back, let's go down the mountain and go home."

"Yes, sir!"

Zhao Laosan was already itching to get started. He excitedly grabbed the mother wolf's two front legs, let out a "hey!" and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

The blood and intestines protruding from the mother wolf's body smeared all over the tattered cotton-padded jacket on his back, making Ye Qingqing frown.

You have absolutely no sense of propriety!

However, looking at his tattered cotton-padded jacket, which was shiny and patched so badly it was almost impossible to keep up with the patches, Ye Qingqing was speechless.

On the way down the mountain, Zhao Laosan carried a wolf weighing over 100 pounds, and beads of sweat dripped down his face.

Ye Dazhuang tried to take it, but he waved his hand and refused, saying with a smile,

"Brother Dazhuang, there's no reason for the employer to do this kind of rough work. It's alright, I can handle it!"

Ye Qingqing smiled and said,

"Third brother, you did a good job today. I'll reward you with some when I sell the wolf pelts later... Just tell me what you want."

"No need, no need. It's only right to work for the master! Besides, I didn't really help much."

Zhao Laosan waved his hand憨厚ly, but then a thought suddenly struck him, and he quickly said,

"If the master is truly willing to reward us, could... could he possibly give us a few pounds of cotton?"

Ye Qingqing glanced at him. "You want cotton?"

"Um!"

Zhao Laosan, panting heavily, said with an embarrassed look, "My parents' cotton-padded clothes have been worn for several years, and they're almost too patched up to be worn out."

Actually, it wasn't warm to begin with. It was stuffed with a pound of cotton and reed fluff, and in winter it was so cold that people didn't even dare to go outside.

I wanted to... I wanted to stuff some cotton stuffing into my parents' coats...

"no problem."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Qingqing raised an eyebrow and said, "Just based on your filial piety, I'll give you two bolts of cloth and ten catties of cotton later."

"What? Ten...ten pounds? My goodness, how much does that cost?!"

Zhao Laosan trembled in fright and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No need, no need, two or three pounds of cotton clothing is enough."

Ye Qingqing glanced at him speechlessly, then frowned and said...

"You three brothers are my family's guards. Are you dressed in these tattered clothes to be my guards or to beg for food?"

"Everyone, put on your new coats and make sure they're clean and tidy. Don't let anyone think I, Ye Qingqing, am mistreating my employees!"

Zhao Laosan stared at her in astonishment, so excited he was almost speechless.

"We all have new coats? Master, are you serious? You're the most generous master I've ever met!"

With that, he let out a wolf-like howl, hoisted the mother wolf weighing over a hundred pounds, and leaped and bounded away in a flash.

"Oh ho... Master, you're the best master I've ever had!"

Ye Qingqing chuckled to herself.

Her arm was suddenly touched lightly, and Ye Dazhuang moved closer to her.

"Qingqing, what are you going to do with these two wolf cubs?"

"Keep it, keep it in the yard like a dog."

Ye Qingqing smiled and said, "I traded the mother wolf's pelt for silver, so of course I have to take good care of her cubs."

These two wolf cubs are certified by the spirit oracle as exceptionally talented dogs.

Ye Dazhuang hesitated and said, "Wolves have wolf-like nature and dogs have dog-like nature; their nature is hard to change."

Ye Qingqing knew what was going on, so she naturally didn't mind and said...

"Brother Dazhuang, don't worry. These two little pups are still young. If they're with their mother wolf every day, they'll be wolves. But if they're with people every day, they'll be dogs."

The key lies in domestication; in fact, domesticated dogs were domesticated from wolves.

Ye Dazhuang paused for a moment, then said softly,

"Although I've never heard of taming wolves into dogs, it's worth a try."

……

It took three hours to go up and down the mountain, and it was already evening when we got back to the village.

Smoke rose from the village chimneys, and villagers, each holding an earthenware bowl, either leaned against the door or gathered in small groups, eating coarse grain pancakes and chatting idly.

"Oh, Second Sister's back from the mountain?"

Someone with sharp eyes spotted someone approaching from the village entrance, pointed with their chopsticks, and exclaimed, "Look, look! It looks like they've hunted some game again!"

Everyone immediately stood up and craned their necks to look towards the village entrance.

There stood the young Zhao boy, whom Er Yatou's family had recently taken in. He had a huge head, a mouthful of sharp teeth, and his tongue was sticking out and dangling on his shoulder.

Upon closer inspection, everyone gasped in shock, "A wolf!"

"My goodness, did they bring back another wolf?"

"Where did Er Yatou get such good luck! She catches prey as soon as she goes up the mountain!"

"Absolutely! They just took in a family of five as caretakers, and they've already made back the money they spent!"

"How much would it cost to hire a guard? A wolf pelt can sell for several taels of silver!"

……

Hearing the villagers' envious chatter, Zhao Laosan straightened his back, carrying the wolf on his back, and strode forward, meeting everyone's surprised gazes.

It seems he was the one who killed the wolf.

However, he also admired the master family from the bottom of his heart. The wolf's den was hidden so deep that he didn't even see it when he walked past it, but the master family found it at a glance!

That's why they're the ones making the money!

"Second Girl, did you make another fortune?"

Seeing Ye Qingqing and Ye Dazhuang approaching side by side, the villagers warmly gathered around to greet them, saying, "How lucky you are! You caught a wolf as soon as you went up the mountain!"

"Second Girl, take me with you next time you go up the mountain, so I can share in your good luck!"

"In the dead of winter, don't wolves usually hide in the woods and not come out? How did you spot the wolf?"

……

Ye Qingqing exchanged a few perfunctory pleasantries and went straight home.

Even though I was wearing a thick coat, after going up the mountain and working up a sweat, I was completely frozen.

Zhao Laosan left the wolf in the yard and started gesturing wildly as he talked to Zhao Laoda and Zhao Laoer about how they had killed it, his spittle flying everywhere.

Li Chunyan no longer cared about the wolves; she quickly went to the stove to stir up the smoldering fire and added some firewood to boil water for tea.

"Dad, I'm home!"

She rubbed her frozen hands and plunged into the house, tucking them under the quilt to warm them. She quickly took off her shoes and crossed her legs on the kang (heated brick bed), instantly relaxing completely.

"warm……"

"You must be freezing! What time is it to be climbing the mountain? No wonder you're cold!"

Li Chunyan brought a large bowl of wild mountain tea to her, "Hurry up and have a sip of this hot tea... Where's Brother Dazhuang?"

Ye Qingqing took a sip of tea from her teacup, then said, "I'm going back to my room."

"You're so cold, why don't you come over and have something warm to drink? We're family, why are you still being shy?"

Li Chunyan clicked her tongue, turned around and went out, "I'll go call him!"