With the bow drawn and footsteps advancing, the closer they got to where the sound was coming from, the stronger the smell of blood became. There were sounds of reeds being trampled, and the snow hitting the ground made a rustling sound.
“It’s injured,” Bahu took another step forward. As they approached the depths of the marsh, nothing emerged, further confirming to him that whatever was inside posed no threat.
The first thing that caught his eye was a segment of gray-brown fur, dotted with black spots, lying motionless in the snow. Half of its body was buried under the snow, and the snow underneath had turned into dark red ice blocks. There were also scattered footprints in the snow.
Bahu lowered his drawn bow and arrow, crouching down to pick up the wild animal, slightly smaller than Da Huang. It had short tails and pointed ears with black tufts. Its face resembled a large insect. He had seen it once while cutting trees in the mountains, and some people called it a mountain ferret.
“It’s been dead for a day or two. It must have died before we arrived yesterday.” Bahu stood up, casually tossing the stiff mountain ferret onto the snow. The fluffy snow was smashed into a pit, and snow particles flew. Two small creatures that had been hiding whimpered and stumbled out, throwing themselves onto the body of the dead mother beast, baring their teeth and glaring at him.
The sounds that Mi Niang heard yesterday were made by these two.
“The fur is nice. If you don’t want them, I’ll take them back.” None of them paid much attention to the shaky-legged cubs, thin and gaunt. After today, they would either starve or freeze to death.
“I’ll take the two little ones, and you can do whatever you want with the big one,” Bahu said, slinging the bow and arrow over his back. With one hand, he picked up one of the cubs and grabbed the back of its neck, rendering them unable to move.
“Boss, are you planning to raise them? That’s not a good idea, you know. They’re not dogs, they can’t be domesticated. If they grow up and harm someone, it won’t be good,” Higil added, noting the size of the mother beast and the sharpness of its teeth. If it bit someone, it could tear off a large piece of flesh. “And this creature has never been seen on the grasslands. Who knows if it will end up killing sheep when it grows up.”
“I’ve seen them before. They hunt rabbits and deer. I’ll keep them, and when I go to the mountains, I’ll take them with me,” Bahu walked briskly, recalling the time he saw a mountain ferret in the mountains, gnawing on a deer. That one was even larger than the dead one, with thick claws and long fur. It lazily pressed its claws against the deer’s belly, ears perked up when it noticed him, looking a bit silly and foolish, but the bits of meat and fresh blood on its mouth clearly showed its wild nature.
“Better-looking than dogs, Mi Niang will surely like them,” he said as he exited the reeds and headed straight to where the cart was parked. “Come out and see what I’ve caught.”
“A cat?” Mi Niang hesitated, watching the two cubs baring their teeth, looking fierce. “Where did the cat come from? A wild cat? If we take it home, it can help keep the mice in check.” There were simply too many mice on the grassland. Every spring, when they cleaned the grain storehouses, the bags of grain were always chewed open, and a lot of grain was eaten.
“No, it’s a mountain ferret. It can catch rabbits and deer. I don’t know if it can catch mice,” Bahu explained. By now, the others had also come out. Bahu pointed to the mother beast, which was almost as big as a thigh. “When they grow up, they’ll be this size, just a little smaller than Da Huang.” He took a bag and put the two cubs in it, thinking he would bring a fish over to fill their bellies later. But they seemed like they hadn’t been weaned yet, so he wasn’t sure if they would eat the fish on their own.
“Was it just them yesterday?” Mi Niang got out of the cart and walked to the other side where the other cart was parked. The mother beast’s belly, with blood-caked ice, had a long wound on it. The wound was neat, making her somewhat uncertain. She called Bahu over and asked, “Is this a knife wound? Or was it torn by a wolf?”
“A knife wound,” Higil confirmed before Bahu could come over. “It’s not from a wolf’s bite or clawing. Only a knife would leave such clean-cut wounds.”
“It must have been someone who caught it from the mountains, got bitten by it, and then chopped it when it escaped. Or it could have encountered someone while fleeing,” Bahu said as he lifted the mother beast out of the car. He said to the male servant who had originally wanted to skin it, “I’ll swap with you. I’ll give you a sheepskin when we get back. I’ll bury this one so that the two little ones won’t grow up and hurt someone again.”
“It’s alright. You were the one who found it anyway,” the servant waved his hand, feeling embarrassed to accept.
Bahu didn’t say anything but went back inside and brought out an untanned sheepskin to hand to him. “Take it. What’s promised is owed.”
The two little mountain ferrets, Qiqige and Jiya, were also drinking camel milk. Worried about being bitten by the dogs, Bahu gave them a hot bath overnight, dried their fur by the fire, and then tied them with ropes around their necks to keep them in the room. Both the bedroom and the room were off-limits to dogs.
Mi Niang sat cross-legged on the heated brick bed, watching Bahu busy himself. She supported her head, thinking that he seemed to enjoy raising these little creatures. Bala and Alse wolves had been raised by him and were now fat and healthy, with shiny fur. Initially, when she saw Da Huang, she wanted to buy him. Now, encountering these two creatures that looked like cats, he was fully devoted to them. He made a nest for them and even found his old, worn-out sheepskin coat to pad the basket for them.
“Are they asleep?” Mi Niang opened her arms.
Bahu picked them up and closed the door with one hand. After entering the bedroom, he whispered, “The mountain ferrets look good. You’ll definitely like them.”
“My favorite is still Da Huang.”
Bahu also liked Da Huang, but unfortunately, Da Huang didn’t pay much attention to him. Plus, Bala and Alse wolves were influenced by Da Huang, which left him frustrated. “The mountain ferrets have a different bark from dogs. They definitely won’t change their nature when raised.”
Mi Niang didn’t understand the nature of mountain ferrets. She leaned on Bahu’s stomach and asked him to come up with two names. “Come up with two simple ones, not as complicated as Alse wolves.”
“Big Spot and Little Spot?” Simple like Da Huang hoping they’d be as easygoing.
“Sure.” Bahu saw Jiya lifting his leg and quickly sat up to lift him. He ran to the chamber pot without even putting on his shoes. Just as he removed the diaper, there was a loud noise of splashing. It was a close call; he almost wet the bed again.
Mi Niang also picked up Qiqige, coaxed him to urinate, and then lay back down. Mistakenly thinking that there were wolves hiding in the reeds yesterday caused her to have a sleepless night. Holding the soft children in her arms and lying in the warm bed, her eyelids fought against each other.
“I’ll go to sleep first. Wake me up when it’s time to feed the babies.”
Even without Mi Niang’s reminder, Bahu would wake her up. As Qiqige and Jiya grew bigger, so did their strength. If they were not fed quickly when hungry, they would fight. One person couldn’t handle everything.
After feeding them milk at midnight, they would have to get up again to feed them when it was almost dawn. At this time, they were full and sleepy. They wouldn’t let others sleep either. If they weren’t restless with their mouths, they were fidgeting with their hands and feet, kicking off the covers with their legs, or stepping on their parents’ bellies.
The dogs in the kennel were also awake. The eight puppies in the yard were playing and biting, barking loudly. When they heard the noise inside the house, they came over and scratched the door.
Mi Niang closed her eyes, put the little hand playing with her hair in her mouth, and took a bite. She lifted the covers and hid under them against the wall, not letting the little troublemaker climb onto her.
“Husband, your house is too small.” With eleven dogs in the front and back yards, two noisy babies in the bed, and two mountain ferrets next door, it was enough to give anyone a headache.
“Tonight, I’ll put the dogs in the sheep pen. I wonder when the government plans to build houses for the people who migrated north. When the time comes, we’ll get a space. We’ll replace the shed roof in the sheep pen with tiles and build a dog house outside the pen specifically for the dogs.” In the next two years, he didn’t plan to give away the puppies born from Da Huang. He intended to raise them himself. When he went to guard at night, he would bring along a large group of dogs. This way, he could sleep peacefully knowing that everything was safe.
After slaughtering the cattle, catching fish, buying grain, and storing vegetables, the days of heavy snowfall became days of each staying to themselves behind closed doors. Mi Niang started to mend shoes, cut cloth, and sew clothes again, while Bahu repaired fishing nets under the eaves. The two children lay on Ajima’s lap, tilting their heads to listen to him speak. The bracelets on their hands jingled as they moved restlessly, wanting to grab people’s mouths. Big Spot and Little Spot curled up in their nest. From the initial startle, they gradually got used to the babbling of the two babies.
“Time for milk, time for milk.” Uncle Muren carried half a bucket of milk from outside into the house, followed by a string of dogs. He first scooped out some milk for the children to drink and put it on the stove to boil. Then, he scooped out two ladles of milk for the dogs before going inside to fill the mountain ferrets’ bowls with a full bowl of food.
As soon as the person left, Big Spot and Little Spot sneaked out of their nest like thieves and licked the milk from the bowls. They looked over at the two babies, whose sound they were all too familiar with, leaving saliva marks as they stared. When their faces turned red, they rolled towards the Kang, only to be caught and scolded.
“No one can do without you two,” Mi Niang put down her work, took off her shoes, and climbed onto the Kang. She hugged one baby in each arm while watching Bahu bring in two bowls of milk. She quickly pressed down the flapping little paws. “Your dad brought milk, let your little hands rest, just open your mouths.”
“Ajima, yours is still in the kitchen, go get it yourself.” Bahu sat by the Kang, first testing the temperature with a spoon before feeding the children.
“They have such good appetites.” Bahu felt content watching the two children eat heartily. He didn’t know about other people’s children, but in his eyes, his own children were perfect in every way, even if they ate messily and were dominant at mealtime, refusing to yield to each other for the spoon.
There was a knock on the door, and as soon as Big Spot and Little Spot heard it, they scurried to the corner of the wall.
“I’ll go open the door, you stay inside,” Ajima shouted, then went to welcome the visitor when he saw it was a constable.
“I won’t go in, is your mistress here?” Seeing a woman come out of the inner room holding a baby, he asked loudly, “Are you Miss Hu? The relief school near the charity hospital has been open for several days, and you haven’t gone once. What’s going on, have you learned everything already?”
Mi Niang’s face turned beet red. She had completely forgotten about this matter.
