Chapter 178 No way, not again?
Brother Liu readily accepted the offer, agreed immediately, and drove the donkey cart around, slowly disappearing at the bend of the winding slope.
Looking at the two ribs on the ground, and then thinking about the whole pig in the refrigerator, I realized I couldn't possibly finish it all.
It seems my plan to slaughter a pig for Chinese New Year this year is going to fall through.
The two ribs were hung securely in the west wing, and the final preparations for hibernation began.
Pickling various kinds of salted vegetables, sauerkraut, and eggs.
I was busy until dark, and just as I was about to rest, I heard wolves howling at the door.
Winter is just around the corner, and the weather is getting cold; you might even need to wear a coat when you go out.
As I approached the door, I saw a dozen or so wolves of all sizes standing there, having left their prey scattered on the ground.
Seeing a large pile of prey on the ground, I was a little suspicious. Could it be that they want to talk to me again?
I stared at the twenty-odd eyes of the wolf pack for a while. They didn't do anything unusual. It was just that the mother wolf's two cubs, Sangbiao and Xiaotu, came up to me and rubbed against my trouser leg affectionately.
They seem to be simply delivering prey, and there's nothing more to it.
Since there's nothing else to do, I should take care of things quickly and go to bed early.
I dragged the prey out of the ground into the yard one by one. The outdoor temperature is quite low now, so it won't spoil overnight. I'll clean it up tomorrow.
"If there's nothing else... I'll go back inside."
Having collected their prey, the wolves remained motionless. They couldn't just stand there idly, so regardless of whether the wolves could understand them, they gave a greeting and prepared to close the door and go back inside.
Just as I was about to close the door, the wolf king led his pack of wolves through the crack in the gate and into the yard.
A family of more than a dozen wolves, big and small, lay sprawled in the yard, looking like they were determined to stay there.
The dogs inside the house ran out when they heard the noise, making the once spacious courtyard feel a bit crowded.
I stood there stunned for a moment, then opened the courtyard gate wide.
"Aren't you...going back to sleep?"
They tentatively asked the wolf pack if they were leaving.
No matter how long I stood in front of the door, the dozen or so wolves lay comfortably in the yard. Some were leisurely licking their paws, while others simply lay on the ground and squinted their eyes, showing no intention of leaving.
What does this mean?
This pack of wolves really has me cornered.
After a standoff of more than an hour, seeing that the wolves showed no sign of leaving, I simply let them stay in the yard, closed the doors to the pigsty and chicken coop, and went back inside to sleep.
The next day, I woke up groggily to the sound of wolves howling, and then I remembered that there were still more than a dozen wolves in the yard.
After getting dressed and going into the yard, I saw the wolves were restless and trying to get out.
I quickly opened the gate, and led by the wolf king, a pack of wolves ran up the mountain.
Seeing the wolves leave, I breathed a sigh of relief. If a pack of wolves had stayed here, not only would my livestock have been in danger, but I also wouldn't have been able to afford to support them.
Boil a large pot of water until it's boiling, then pick up the game from the corner of the yard and prepare it.
Rabbits are skinned and gutted, pheasants are scalded with boiling water and their feathers are plucked, and badgers are skinned and gutted.
I've never eaten a badger before, but when I was little, my grandpa told me that badger meat makes the most delicious dumplings, and the dumplings would stand upright in the pot while cooking.
This sentence is deeply imprinted in my mind. It feels somewhat magical and a little scary, which makes me feel a chill down my spine whenever I handle badgers.
Now that the weather is getting cold, once all the meat has been processed, it will be coated with a layer of salt and hung up in the side room with wire.
There's no need to wait for the meat to dry; it will be easier to preserve when the temperature drops below freezing in a few days.
The rabbit skin was washed clean with water and stored in the west wing, where it might be needed sometime.
In the afternoon, after finishing pickling the remaining vegetables, I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the howling of wolves sounded outside the yard again.
"No way, you're staying here tonight too?"
Praying silently that it wouldn't be like this, I quickly walked to the gate and looked outside. Just like yesterday, the entire wolf pack had come.
But since I accepted their gifts, there's no reason for me not to take them back.
Reluctantly, I opened the gate, and the wolves walked in on their own, lay down on the ground, and without any politeness, started to doze off.
I reluctantly closed the gate and went back inside to sleep. I wanted to ask the wolves what was going on, but we couldn't communicate and there was nothing I could do.
I didn't fall asleep as quickly as I did last night. I thought it was just a coincidence yesterday and didn't take it seriously, but I still came to stay today, which feels a bit unusual.
I've known the wolf pack for a while now. Although they sometimes ask me for help, it's usually only one or two wolves that stay with me.
Wolf packs are usually independent but very united. They have their own methods for hunting and finding shelter. The fact that they all came to me today must mean something is about to happen, or has already happened.
What could it be? I couldn't figure it out no matter how hard I tried, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
I slept fairly well that night, and the next day I did the same as the day before, opening the door and letting the wolves out onto the mountain.
All day long, I was clinging to a sliver of hope, thinking that maybe the wolves were just staying for two nights and wouldn't come back tonight.
I waited anxiously until nightfall, and the wolf pack appeared at the door again right on time.
It is said that animals are more sensitive to unusual changes in nature than humans, so the wolves' unusual behavior most likely means that something is about to happen.
I hope the wolves simply want to stay at my house and nothing bad happens.
But if it is indeed a sign of a natural disaster, then I have no choice but to take precautions.
The natural disasters I can think of are nothing more than earthquakes, droughts, extreme cold, extreme heat, and strong winds.
The water level in the mountain ponds has been normal recently, and the groundwater flow is even more abundant than usual. In addition, there were a few light rains a few days ago, so I ruled out drought.
If it were an earthquake, the wolves would have sought refuge in open areas, not come to my cramped little courtyard. It seems unlikely that it was an earthquake.
After basically locking in the three natural disasters of extreme cold, extreme heat, and strong winds, I became very tense.
During the day, they reinforced the roofs of pigsties, chicken coops, and rabbit pens; at night, they studied books about natural disasters.
Before I could glean any useful information from the book, the weather gave me the answer directly—it was extremely cold.
When I woke up, the temperature had dropped by 16 degrees Celsius.
Some leaves that hadn't completely turned yellow and dried out were frozen directly onto the tree.
Even though winter is coming and temperatures will drop significantly, a drop of 16 degrees Celsius in one day is just too much.
No way? Another extreme cold snap?
Realizing that extreme cold was approaching as soon as I woke up in the morning, I didn't waste a minute. I put on thick cotton-padded trousers and a cotton-padded coat and drove to the Baizhen base.
The guards at the base recognized me and let me through without any problems. I went straight to the base elder's office.
After knocking on the door, enter without waiting for a response.
The base elder, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, was reading a book.
"Base Commander, the extreme cold is probably coming again. Quickly lead everyone to make preparations."
Upon hearing this, the base elder quickly put down his book and stood up: "The temperature has dropped quite sharply these past two days... but it's winter, so a drop in temperature is normal. Can you be sure it's extreme cold?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com