Shen Xingmian looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a group of people huddled together, looking at something.

Shen Xingyan, who always loved to join in the fun, told them where she was going and then ran ahead.

Upon getting closer, she realized she wasn't tall enough, so she crouched down and peered through the gap below. After seeing it, she immediately turned around happily and beckoned Shen Xingmian over.

Shen Xingmian moved closer to her. Since everyone was wearing makeup, it wouldn't be their own loss of face, so it didn't matter if they acted childishly.

She turned around and pulled Xiao Yanyue over as well, and then they also looked through the gap.

Before she even looked, she already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on. Hearing the soft, whimpering sound, she assumed someone was selling kittens, but when she looked over, she discovered that it was actually a tiger cub.

It wasn't the yellow-striped Siberian tiger I used to see on TV; it was white with black markings.

You don't even need to touch it; just by looking at it, you can tell it must feel amazing—soft, fluffy, and with a sweet, babyish voice.

It's so incredibly cute just thinking about it!

People around were discussing how cute the tiger cubs were, but no one actually intended to buy one. After all, these were carnivorous beasts; they might be cute when they were young, but they could be dangerous when they grew up.

Just building a large iron cage for it would be beyond the reach of an ordinary family, not to mention how much meat it would eat every day once it grew up.

Watching it for fun is fine, but if you actually buy it and bring it home, even if you're from a wealthy family, you'll probably get a good scolding.

Unless you're royalty or extremely wealthy, probably no one would dare want this. But not being able to afford it doesn't stop them from watching the spectacle; it's not like they're forbidden from watching.

The seller looked like a hunter, with a very honest face. He patiently answered one question after another, but after answering for a long time, he realized that no one was making a bid, so he simply sat down on the ground and stopped talking.

Shen Xingmian quite liked the tiger cub, but she felt that keeping pets was too troublesome and didn't plan to buy one.

Moreover, raising chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep means you can eat meat when they grow up. But what can you do with such a huge animal?

She really couldn't have imagined it.

But Shen Xingyan tugged at her sleeve and whispered excitedly, "Little sister, if we buy it and take good care of it, we can ride it when we go hunting in the mountains, right? Wouldn't that be even more comfortable than riding a horse?"

Her eyes were filled with excitement and joy; she seemed to be really looking forward to this future.

Hearing this, Shen Zheng, who had come over from the side, also got a little excited and nodded, saying, "Tigers run so fast on the mountain, it's exciting just thinking about it."

Shen Xingmian saw that four people had come out. She was very interested in two of them, so she looked at the fourth one, her "little sister".

It turned out that Xiao Yanyue's eyes were very focused. Although she did not express her opinion, you could tell from her expression that she liked it very much.

Well, what else could she say?

Constantly traveling can be quite tedious, so having a little creature to cheer everyone up makes it all worthwhile.

Moreover, there were many wild animals in ancient times. You could easily hunt a lot of small animals by just wandering around in the forest, so you didn't have to worry too much about being eaten out of your means.

If she can be eaten out of house and home, then probably no one in the world can afford to raise her.

She whispered a few words to Shen Zheng, then slipped him two hundred-tael silver notes, figuring that should be enough, before pulling the other two away.

This tiger cub probably isn't cheap. Although she wasn't familiar with the prices of many things here, especially wild animals in the mountains, she knew that tiger cubs with this kind of fur were extremely rare.

If you were to take it to the capital, you could sell it for several hundred taels of silver. It's just unknown what price the hunter would be willing to pay.

The four of them gathering here is too conspicuous. It would be better to take the other two away first, let my cousin buy it by himself, and then meet up with them.

Although Shen Zheng looks rough and careless, he is extremely skilled and has a way of shaking off people even if he is being targeted.

Even though Shen Xingmian felt that there shouldn't be any of the emperor's people in this small town, he didn't dare to be careless. Better safe than sorry, and he should never lose his vigilance.

The three of them continued strolling along as if nothing had happened, buying a lot of food along the way, including still-warm glutinous rice cakes and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) that were said to be unique in the entire town.

Although the Dragon Boat Festival has long passed, it doesn't stop some people from enjoying eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

Shen Xingmian also bought quite a lot, tied them into a long string with a rope, folded it several times, and carried it in her hand as she continued shopping.

Then, when no one was looking, they stuffed everything into the space in a corner, and when they came out, they felt light and free again.

We continued walking along the street until we reached the end, where we saw my older cousin waiting for us.

Shen Xingyan immediately let go of her sister and rushed towards her brother, heading straight for the little tiger cub yawning in his arms.

She couldn't wait to hug it, and when she took it, she found that the little thing was actually quite sturdy and heavy, much heavier than a cat of the same size.

Shen Zheng then came over to report on the expenses to his cousin.

"He said he knew he could get a high price in the prefectural city, but he had a sick person at home waiting for him to go back, so he couldn't go. He could only try here first. After waiting for a day, only people came to watch the spectacle, but no one actually bought anything."

I had originally planned to go home first and try my luck in the prefectural city tomorrow, but then I showed up. Seeing that I was sincere in wanting to buy it, he only charged me two hundred and twenty taels of silver.

"It's about what I estimated. If I hadn't taken out those two silver notes, it really wouldn't have been enough. You little thing, you're quite valuable."

With a smile in her eyes, Shen Xingmian poked the little tiger cub's pink nose with her finger. The closer she looked, the more she liked it.

She couldn't resist touching it and felt that the money was well spent. Just touching the soft, fluffy texture every day brought her joy.

No wonder working people in their past lives loved keeping pets; they were truly therapeutic.

Shen Xingyan hugged the tiger cub so tightly she didn't want to let go, but knowing her younger sister had paid for it, she reluctantly stuffed the little white dumpling into her sister's arms, her eyes sparkling as she promised:

“Little sister, I will definitely learn hunting skills well in the future and take responsibility for feeding it until it can find its own food! It will definitely be very powerful in the future, the king of the forest, and it will definitely not let your money go to waste.”

Shen Xingmian didn't care about the two hundred taels of silver, but she was still very happy with her cousin's promise.

Although they are still children, they have already shown such a sense of responsibility, which deserves encouragement.

So she nodded, smiled, and tucked the little white ball back into her cousin's arms: "Then I'll have to trouble you from now on, sister~"

Shen Xingyan looked around and realized that her brother, sister, and she had all held the tiger cub, but the little prince... oh wait, her little sister hadn't held it yet. So she stuffed the tiger cub into Xiao Yanyue's arms and said with a grin, "Little sister, hold it too, it's so soft!"