Shu Shouyi could swear he had obediently gone to sleep after his aunt left.

But just as he drifted off, his bedroom door was struck twice with a “thump, thump,” jolting him awake from his dream.

“Auntie?”

He thought Shu Wanxiu had returned from the mountains, but after mustering the courage to call out, there was no response.

He was tense and frightened, yet amidst his trembling… there was also a hint of irresistible curiosity.

Before he knew it, he was standing by the window.

The unknown always holds a strong allure, and unconsciously, he lifted the light-blocking straw curtain on the window, just in time to see a plump gray rabbit scurrying away below.

Perhaps all children are fond of cute animals, or perhaps he was simply too craving for meat, subconsciously aware that rabbits could be eaten.

In any case, as if guided by some unseen force, he opened the door and chased after it.

The rabbit moved too quickly by the time he stepped outside, it was already out of sight. But knowing it had passed through the main hall earlier, he followed in that direction.

After searching for a while, his persistence paid off.

Shu Shouyi found it by the fire pit, though by then, the rabbit was no longer alive.

After hearing Shu Shouyi recount the entire incident, Shu Wanxiu frowned and murmured, “Could it be… it died of illness?”

With this suspicion in mind, Shu Wanxiu quickly pulled Shu Shouyi a few steps back. “Did you touch it?”

Shu Shouyi thought back blankly for a moment, then shook his head with certainty.

“I only poked it with a stick.”

Sure enough, a short, thick stick lay on the ground.

“Amitabha, that’s good, that’s good.” Shu Wanxiu first expressed relief, then seized the opportunity to educate him.

“Listen, Auntie tells you, while you’re still young and growing up, whether you see a pheasant or a wild rabbit, don’t chase or touch them recklessly.”

“You don’t realize even rabbits can bite or kick when cornered.” She pointed to her own hand and mimed a scratching motion. “If you’re scratched by a wild animal, your flesh could rot.”

Then she pointed to her eyes. “If you’re pecked in the eye, you could go blind.”

Finally, she pointed at the rabbit on the ground. “If you come across a sick wild animal, humans can catch the disease too, ending up with ruptured intestines and a rotting stomach until you die.”

These hypothetical consequences made Shu Shouyi shrink his neck in fear.

Seeing that he was scared, Shu Wanxiu urged him to step back further. “Watch from a distance. Auntie will examine it.”

Covering her nose, she picked up another stick, used it to flip the plump rabbit over, leaned in slightly, and carefully inspected it.

The wild rabbit’s fur was neat and smooth, with only one wound on its forehead.

The injury appeared quite severe not only was there some bleeding, but it was also smeared with a bit of black soot.

Recalling the position its head had been facing before she turned it over, it was right where Aunt Chen had lent her that small pot.

Could it have run too fast and crashed headfirst into the pot, killing itself?

This manner of death seemed too unbelievable. Though Shu Wanxiu hadn’t drawn a final conclusion, she had largely ruled out the possibility that it was a sick rabbit.

After all, if it were ill, it wouldn’t be so plump and robust, nor would its fur be so neat and smooth.

Shu Shouyi crouched far away, imitating Shu Wanxiu by covering his nose.

Seeing her examine the rabbit for a long time without speaking, he couldn’t help but ask in a muffled voice, “Auntie, is it sick?”

Shu Wanxiu pondered for a moment, then shook her head.

“It doesn’t seem to be sick.”

Shu Shouyi removed the hand covering his nose, changing to resting his chin in both palms, though he remained squatting in place, quietly waiting for his aunt to explain what to do next.

Shu Wanxiu also stopped covering her nose. She tossed aside the stick and picked up the rabbit, weighing it in her hands. Her estimation of weight wasn’t particularly skilled, but judging by its size, she guessed this rabbit weighed at least five or six jin.

If the two of them shared it, five or six jin of meat would be more than enough.

If they shared it with the entire village, including themselves, there were twenty-two households not even enough for one piece per family.

Since sharing equally with everyone was ruled out, then…

Their dwelling was remote; even if they ate heartily, the aroma of meat wouldn’t drift to other homes.

But doing so presented two difficulties. First, they had no salt. If they kept it all for themselves, they couldn’t preserve the meat, and in the current weather, it would quickly spoil.

What if they tried to finish the entire rabbit in one day?

The old physician in the county town who provided free consultations for disaster victims like them had said: People whose bodies have been depleted for a long time shouldn’t suddenly eat too much rich food, as their systems can’t handle it and it might overwhelm them.

Alternatively, they could dry the meat by roasting it, which would solve the storage problem. But there was a second point, and the most crucial one: they had no knife. Processing the rabbit required skinning and gutting it.

These two obstacles almost certainly meant they couldn’t keep it all for themselves.

Beyond that, she had another hidden worry.

When she inspected it earlier, it was true that the rabbit’s head was smeared with pot soot, but inside that pot…

Although she had boiled a full pot of water after cooking breakfast, during her trips to gather firewood, she had drunk several bowls of the cooled boiled water, leaving only about half a pot.

The rabbit weighed five or six jin. If it had truly died from accidentally crashing into the pot blocking its path, the pot should have been knocked flying. Yet the pot sat properly on the fire pit, only shifted an inch or two.

Being new here, Shu Wanxiu felt she hadn’t offended anyone.

But from the moment this rabbit caught Shu Shouyi’s attention to its death here, everything seemed too coincidental, too strange.

Rather than thinking heaven had dropped a pie from the sky, she suspected… someone might have planned this.

Sighing, Shu Wanxiu clapped her hands and stood up.

Apart from Five Tablet Village, they had no other place to settle, so she had to be cautious and prepare for the worst.

Dismissing the idea of keeping it all for herself, she gave Shu Shouyi a bright smile. “Come on, let’s go down the mountain with Auntie.”

Carrying a fat rabbit openly would be too conspicuous, and she didn’t want to cause a stir.

So, she took a bamboo basket from the wall of the main room, placed the rabbit inside, and walked down to the stream at the mountain’s base. There, she picked a lot of plantain leaves to thoroughly cover the rabbit.

They walked all the way to Village Head Pang’s house. Luckily, they saw Chen Lian sitting alone by the main room door, mending clothes.

The gate in the fence was open, but before stepping into the yard, Shu Wanxiu stood by the gate and called out, “Sister-in-law Pang!”

After finishing a patch, Chen Lian spat on her hand to moisten the thread and was about to rethread the needle when she looked up.

“Oh! It’s Wanxiu! The sun’s so fierce, why did you bring your nephew out? Come in quickly and sit awhile!”

Invited in, Shu Wanxiu led Shu Shouyi into the yard.

As they got closer, Shu Shouyi shyly looked up and greeted, “Auntie Lian.”

Chen Lian smiled and readily agreed, putting away the clothes and sewing kit before standing up to invite them inside. She then fetched stools for them and poured water.

Truly her aunt’s niece, Chen Lian’s hospitality mirrored Aunt Chen’s enthusiasm perfectly. No matter how much Shu Wanxiu insisted that water wasn’t necessary, Chen Lian still handed the cups to them.

Learning that Village Head Pang and Aunt Chen were both resting inside the house, Shu Wanxiu didn’t rush to state her purpose.

As they chatted and drank tea, Chen Lian finished mending the remaining clothes. By the time she was done, Village Head Pang and the others had also gotten up.