Chapter 16: His Face Suddenly Went Pale

After a hearty meal, following the usual routine and having nothing else to do, the three of them lay down early on the kang to sleep.

With the repairs done, the room was noticeably warmer, no longer drafty at all. Coupled with the cashmere quilt, it was even cozier.

Before, whenever they lay on the kang, they’d often shiver from the cold. But now, there was no trace of that biting chill from the bitter winter months.

“So warm and comfortable!” Lin Yiyi, the little girl, cheerfully exclaimed.

Lin Xing reached out to pat her head. “Yiyi, after next year, you’ll be going to school. I’ll find a good one for you. You have to be a good girl and study hard.”

“But going to school needs tuition, right? Our family…” Wu Xiulan’s worry showed.

In this era, attending school was quite a luxury. Nearly half the children in many families never had the chance to study, instead working alongside their parents in the fields from a young age.

Especially in a place like Bianxi Village, where there wasn’t even a school. To attend classes, children had to travel over twenty li to the county, and tuition fees were expensive.

Given their current circumstances, the family simply couldn’t afford the fees. In fact, very few children in Bianxi Village had the means to study in the county.

Lin Xing reassured her, “Don’t worry about the tuition. I’ll hunt more and trade the furs at the black market for money. There’s still a year left this year; I can gather enough for the fees. Education is the only way out. We can’t let Yiyi waste her life stuck here in this village. She’s still young; there’ll be many opportunities ahead.”

Wu Xiulan frowned. “Trading at the black market is forbidden. What if you get caught?”

These days, strict controls governed all buying and selling.

The black market was named so because it operated in the shadows, away from the law.

If caught, one would be dragged out for public criticism, charged with baseless crimes, and possibly even executed.

This era was good for many things, but the authorities were rigid and conservative. The country was newly founded, and regulations were stringent; even minor offenses were severely punished.

Still, this was understandable. Banditry was common, so strict enforcement was necessary.

“It’s fine. I’ll trade secretly and won’t get caught. We can’t let Yiyi miss out on schooling. Don’t worry about it; I can handle it myself,” Lin Xing said with a smile.

Wu Xiulan sighed. “These responsibilities should have fallen to me, but now they’re all on you. As your mother, I feel useless.”

“Mom, don’t say that. You’ve raised Yiyi and me all these years and endured the abuse from that bastard Lin Longyong. That’s already hard enough. Now that I’m grown, it’s my turn to support the family. This is what I’m meant to do,” Lin Xing smiled.

Wu Xiulan sighed again, unable to find words.

The three of them fell silent, sleep gradually overtaking them.

---

In the dead of night, half-awake and half-asleep, Lin Xing faintly caught the sound of something unusual.

Having been a soldier in his past life, he had developed the habit of staying alert even in sleep. He immediately snapped awake, holding his breath and listening carefully.

Creak… creak…

The noise came from outside—the sound of something stepping on the snow.

Silently, Lin Xing slipped off the kang and moved to the window. He pushed it open just a crack and peered outside.

His heart sank.

In their courtyard, over a dozen wolves had crept in, pacing back and forth, encircling the small wooden house.

Though their home was surrounded by fences, these were mere boundaries marking neighborly limits, not enough to keep wolves out.

Unexpectedly, the pack had descended from the mountains and come into the village.

Lin Xing's house was at the village’s eastern edge, closest to the forest. The wolves’ first approach was naturally here.

He held his breath, determined not to make a sound, hoping the pack would leave soon.

The village was large; if the wolves had come down just to forage, they wouldn’t target only his home. They’d wander around.

But Lin Xing sensed something was wrong. The wolves showed no intention of leaving; they circled the house continuously.

Why focus solely on his home? Why linger here?

Scanning the pack in the moonlight, Lin Xing suddenly recognized a familiar figure.

A mighty black wolf, muscular and imposing, with a large scar on its chest where fur was missing—it looked recently wounded.

He immediately realized: this was the alpha wolf he had shot during his hunt earlier that day.

Now it was clear—the pack wasn’t here to forage.

The alpha, wounded by Lin Xing, had led the pack down the mountain at night to exact revenge.

Wolves have keen senses; they had tracked Lin Xing’s scent all the way to the village.

“Damn!” Lin Xing cursed silently.

Although he knew wolves were vengeful creatures, he hadn’t expected them to harbor such grudge as to follow him into human territory.

He had no intention of going outside. The wooden house, though simple, had been reinforced enough to withstand blizzards. The wolves couldn’t get in. Staying inside meant safety.

He reasoned that by dawn, the pack would likely leave. If not, then good—when the villagers woke and saw the wolves, they could unite and wipe them out.

Lin Xing stayed by the window, watching and waiting.

Perhaps sensing the stir, Wu Xiulan and Lin Yiyi slowly woke.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Yiyi asked, “Brother, why aren’t you sleeping? What are you looking at outside?”

“Shh,” Lin Xing gestured for silence, pointing out the window. “Wolves.”

Startled, Wu Xiulan and Yiyi crept closer and cautiously peered through the window crack.

Their faces instantly paled at the sight.