Hearing the cheerful voices of Bei Nan and Xin Nan, as well as her younger brother's voice, Wang Daniu quickly put on her shoes, wanting to go to the river with Erniu. However, her mother stopped her: "Do you want to chase after Yan's Bei Nan? Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? Have you no shame? You greedy, ungrateful wretch, not even good-looking. You're dreaming. Go back home."
These words were too hurtful to her pride. Wang Daniu looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and said, "Mother, I was born of you too, and I only ate one big meat bun. Why do you have to keep harping on this? And why can't I go find Bei Nan?"
Wang Daniu's mother sneered, "A big meat bun is nothing, but eating it all by yourself is outrageous. You have a problem with your character. Your grandmother and the old lady of the Yan family are good sisters. We can't let you, this ingrate, ruin them. You get back here right now and don't go out and embarrass yourself."
Wang Daniu was furious: "Mom, if I go out, I'll only embarrass myself. I just ate a meal by myself. Whose face will I embarrass? Whose face will I make?"
Wang Daniu's biological father happened to be carrying two buckets of water into the yard. When he saw Wang Daniu hysterically yelling at her mother, he became furious and picked up one of the buckets of water and splashed it on Wang Daniu, soaking her completely.
Wang Daniu screamed and ran back to her room, wanting to change her clothes, but there were none to change into. She could have swapped clothes with her younger sisters, but ever since she started eating alone, her sisters had been hiding their clothes and wouldn't let her touch them. Wang Daniu gritted her teeth and lay down on the bed, still wet.
Meanwhile, Bei Nan and Xin Nan led Zhong Nan to the riverbank, where many children were already catching fish. Since the last fish surge, the whole village had a full meal—no, a full meal of fish—and the children were even more enthusiastic, going to the riverbank every day to catch fish.
Upon seeing Bei Nan and Xin Nan with a dog, they all swarmed around them. The timid ones hid in the back, while the bolder ones tried to reach out and touch Zhong Nan, but Bei Nan stopped them, forbidding anyone from touching them.
Bei Nan was the king of the village children. Anyone who dared to disobey him would be beaten to death unless he was killed. When the children heard Bei Nan's shout, they quickly took a few steps back. Only Wang Erniu stood still.
Looking at the wolf cub that had already jumped into the water, Wang Erniu asked Bei Nan hesitantly, "Bei Nan, is it because you have too much food at home that you've started raising dogs?"
Bei Nan glanced at Wang Erniu and said, "We keep dogs to keep thieves away, otherwise we wouldn't even know if our house was robbed."
Wang Erniu nodded. The police had intervened in the matter, Widow Zhang was terrified, and the old bachelor was imprisoned. The whole village was talking about it, and now every household had to use a carrying pole to hold the door bolt shut before they dared to sleep at night.
Suddenly, Southwest shouted, "Well done, Central South! One more!"
The two looked back and saw that Southwest was putting a big fish into his bucket. Zhongnan dove down again, and when he emerged from the wolf's mouth, there was another big fish hanging from its mouth. The fish's tail kept swinging back and forth, but it couldn't break free from the wolf's mouth.
Bei Nan lost all interest in talking to Wang Erniu and hurriedly ran over to take off his clothes and trousers, preparing to dive down. However, Xinan held him back tightly. The weather was still quite cold at the end of April and into May. If he continued like this, he would definitely catch a cold, and then it would cost money to see a doctor and buy medicine.
Bei Nan was a little embarrassed by what Xin Nan said. Once he saw the fish, he forgot everything else. After thinking for a while, he simply took out a fishing net and asked Zhong Nan to drive the fish over so he could intercept them one net at a time. Sure enough, the two men and the wolf worked together perfectly, and before long, both buckets were full of fish.
Wang Erniu looked at Zhongnan with envy. He wished he could have a dog like Zhongnan at home. But then he thought it was impossible. He couldn't even feed himself, let alone give the dog anything to eat. Beinan was quite nice to Wang Erniu. It took two fish and threw them into his bucket. It then called out to Dongnan along with Xinan, picked up the bucket, and prepared to go home.
Zhongnan followed along like a sycophant, sometimes running ahead and sometimes spinning around, making Xinan and Beinan laugh heartily. Their feelings for Zhongnan intensified rapidly. Nannan was right, Zhongnan was indeed their little brother.
Southeast came out to greet Zhongnan when he heard Zhongnan's call. He was overjoyed to see the two men and the wolf looking so happy. He quickly ran a few steps and saw the two buckets of fish. He exclaimed, "How are you so capable? You caught so many fish!"
The people from the Southwest and North South spoke in unison: "It was Central South who arrested him."
Xuemei also ran out and picked up a bucket of fish. "Tonight we're making braised fish, steamed fish, and tofu fish soup. Dongnan, go buy some tofu. Zhongnan, wait for Nannan and Grandma to come back so we can eat fish."
Zhongnan let out a howl in agreement. Xuemei's eyes crinkled with laughter. Dongnan couldn't help but pat Zhongnan's wolf head, thinking to himself, "What a fine wolf!"
In the late afternoon, Yan Xiaoqiang returned with Nan Nan, his mother, and his wife. The rabbit and cabbage in Cuihua's basket turned into a group of chirping chicks. In Grandma Yan's basket were some dark blue cloths, which were to be made into clothes for Bei Nan and Xinan.
Yan Xiaonan had already fallen asleep in Yan Xiaoqiang's arms. Once a nap becomes a habit, it's hard to break. Besides, such a young child should take a nap. Seeing Yan Xiaoqiang carefully holding his daughter, Cuihua felt incredibly sweet inside.
Zhongnan was lying on the floor tiles at the entrance of the main room when his ears suddenly twitched, and he darted out. Xinan quickly chased after him, because that was Nannan's favorite, and he didn't want it to get lost.
Bei Nan laughed at Xin Nan, saying he was a fool. "It must be that Grandma and the others have returned. Why bother going out to greet them? There's nothing good to eat anyway."
The little wolf howled, waking the drowsy Yan Xiaonan. Opening her eyes, she saw Zhongnan running towards her, with Xinan chasing after her.
Yan Xiaonan had her father put her down, and patted the excited wolf's head, saying, "From now on, you're not allowed to howl anymore, you have to bark like a wolf, understand?" Zhongnan was dumbfounded, and Xinan was dumbfounded too. Who barked like a wolf?
Yan Xiaonan said, "If you howl like that, people will know you're a wolf. What if they won't let you in my house? What if they beat you to death?" Zhongnan quietly said "Oh." Yan Xiaonan praised him, "You're starting to look like one. Keep it up."
Southwest looked at Central South with sympathy. Being a wolf is not easy, but being South South's wolf is even harder. Yan Xiaonan took out half a large meat bun wrapped in a handkerchief from her pocket. It was given to South South by the fat chef at the state-run canteen.
Nan Nan couldn't bear to eat alone. She gave a bite to her grandma, a bite to her mom, a bite to her dad, and then ate two bites herself. There was no way she could eat more than her own mouth, which was too small.
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