I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Zhao Wendong’s eyes flew open. He grabbed the flashlight from his bedside but didn’t turn it on. Instead, by the faint moonlight, he swung himself out of bed, put on his jacket, then pulled the pistol from his coat and flicked off the safety.

”What was that sound? What’s wrong?”

Lin Zhiyin had also been woken up. She had gone to bed late and had only just fallen asleep, so her mind was still foggy. She rubbed her eyes groggily and looked at Zhao Wendong, who put a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet.

”Don’t talk. It’s a tiger!”

Lin Zhiyin instantly remembered Zhao Yinhua and the others talking about a man-eating tiger at the dinner table. Her expression changed in a flash, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

AWOO— WOO—!

The tiger’s cry came again, this time sounding as if it was right outside the house. The sound woke Zhao Yinhua and Zhou Cuicui as well. Lin Zhiyin quickly whispered for them not to scream. Both Zhao Yinhua and Zhou Cuicui were panicking, but seeing Lin Zhiyin so composed helped them calm down a little.

”NEIGH-HE-HE-HE!”

The big brown horse cowered in the corner, whinnying anxiously.

’Danger, danger. Nothing good ever comes from following this jinx.’

Zhao Wendong’s expression was grim. Pistol in hand, he slowly moved toward the outer room. Lin Zhiyin and the other two women followed behind him; he was their only hope right now. Zhao Wendong pointed to the space beside the stove, telling them to hide there.

He himself crouched down and crept to the door, pressing his ear against it to listen.

HFF... HFF...

Heavy, panting breaths came from outside, pacing back and forth. Zhao Wendong knew the tiger was right outside the door. He even knew why it had appeared. Regardless of whether this was the man-eating tiger or not, it had been drawn by the scent of the big brown horse and the game on the sled. He knew because he could hear its thoughts.

’Horse... and the smell of the sea. Want to eat.’

SCRAPE! SCRAPE!

The sudden sound of claws scraping at the door made Zhou Cuicui open her mouth to scream. Lin Zhiyin was quick, clapping a hand over her mouth, but a short gasp still escaped.

”ROAR!”

The tiger seemed to have heard Zhou Cuicui. A sudden roar echoed, followed by a loud THUMP against the wooden door. The tiger outside was ramming the door, trying to break in.

The old wooden door was no match for its charge. Half of it immediately splintered from the frame, letting a large patch of moonlight spill through the crack. Zhao Wendong, crouched nearby, didn’t move a muscle. His heart was about to pound out of his chest, and he had to force himself to stay calm. The hand gripping his pistol was already slick with sweat.

Suddenly, the incoming moonlight was blocked. A dark shadow appeared in the splintered opening. The instant the three women shuddered in fear, Zhao Wendong sprang into action.

A beam of light shot out from the flashlight in his left hand as his right hand squeezed the trigger. BANG! BANG! BANG! The gunshots rang out.

”AARGH!”

The tiger outside let out a pained cry, followed by a series of roars. But the sounds were growing more distant, filled with rage, frustration, and also fear.

Zhao Wendong switched off the flashlight and continued to listen intently. In the brief moment the light was on, he had clearly seen the tiger’s head and its stripes. He didn’t know if he’d hit it. He didn’t dare risk opening the door now; when facing a wild animal, the worst things you can do are panic and make sudden moves.

He waited for a long time, so long that his legs went numb from crouching. Only when he saw the big brown horse lie back down on its worn-out quilt and start to doze off again did Zhao Wendong dare to open the half-broken door and check outside with his flashlight, confirming if the tiger had left.

The snow in front of the door was covered in a mess of tiger tracks. As Zhao Wendong scanned the area with his flashlight, he also spotted a few drops of blood. It seemed he had hit it. Following the tracks around the yard, he noticed there was very little blood—just a drop or two here and there. It meant the tiger had fled quickly and probably wasn’t seriously injured.

”Dongzi, is the tiger gone?”

Zhao Yinhua’s voice trembled uncontrollably as she spoke. Who could have thought that they’d be talking about a man-eating tiger at dinner, only for it to show up at their door in the middle of the night!

”Yeah, it’s gone, Second Aunt. We’re okay now!”

”Will it go to someone else’s house?”

”I don’t know, but I doubt it. My bullet grazed it, so it probably won’t dare stay in the village.”

”That’s good, that’s good!”

Zhao Yinhua patted her chest. Her husband, son, and grandson were at Zhou Mancang’s house. As soon as the crisis here was over, she started worrying about them. Hearing that the tiger wouldn’t go to other houses, she could finally relax.

Lin Zhiyin’s eyes shimmered. This Zhao Wendong, who had handled the tiger with such calm composure, was filled with a masculine charm. In that moment, the Prince Charming and peerless hero from her fantasies seemed to merge with the young farmer before her.

They went back to lie down on the kang, but no one could get much sleep for the rest of the night. After something like that, and with the door broken, it was impossible to rest easy. The north wind blew constantly into the house through the cracks in the damaged wooden door. In the end, the four of them gave up on sleeping, got up, and lit a fire to heat the kang. Zhao Yinhua and Zhou Cuicui even started making breakfast.

Zhao Wendong sat on a stool, guarding the doorway. Noticing Zhou Cuicui’s eyes kept darting toward his hand, he smiled and handed her the flashlight. But she had barely started fiddling with it when Zhao Yinhua snatched it away and gave it to Lin Zhiyin.

”This flashlight is so valuable! You’ll break it fooling around like that! Hurry up and let your cousin’s wife hold it. If anyone’s going to play with it, it should be her!”

Zhao Wendong felt his face darken. ’Why do my second aunt’s words sound so off?’

Just as the sky was beginning to lighten the next day, Zhou Mancang came rushing over with a shotgun, followed by Zhou Laogen and the others. They were shocked to see the broken wooden door and the jumble of tiger tracks outside the yard. It was only after seeing that everyone inside was safe that they breathed a sigh of relief.

”Last night, I heard the tiger roaring from over here. I said I wanted to come back and check, but Dad wouldn’t let me!”

Zhou Mancang was still a bit shaken. Thank goodness his family was okay, or he would have been eaten up with guilt.

Zhao Wendong shook his head and smiled. ”Cousin, my uncle did the right thing. In an uncertain situation like that, the tiger can’t do much when you’re inside a house. But if you had walked out of the house, you would have been putting your life in the tiger’s hands!”

”Besides, did you really think I was just bragging about all my exploits? With me here, a little tiger like that doesn’t stand a chance of running wild!”

”Wendong, you’re the man!”

After listening to Zhao Yinhua and Zhou Cuicui describe last night’s ordeal, Zhou Mancang was filled with admiration and gave Zhao Wendong a thumbs-up. In that situation, anyone else would have been considered tough just for not wetting their pants; they definitely couldn’t have been as calm and collected as Zhao Wendong.

They ate breakfast especially early today because it had already been prepared. By the time they finished eating, hitched up the horse-drawn sled, and the Zhou family helped Zhao Wendong load the supplies for the farm, the sun had only just peeked over the horizon.

Worried they might run into the tiger on the road, Zhou Mancang made sure to bring his family’s shotgun with him. The three of them then set off on the sled for the farm.

Zhao Yinhua and her whole family saw them off at the door. She held Zhao Wendong’s hand, repeatedly telling him to be careful.

Torn between laughter and tears, Zhao Wendong said, ”Second Aunt, we’re coming back tonight. We can’t just finish our business and go straight back to the county, can we? We’d be traveling in the dark.”

”Haha, that’s right!”

It dawned on Zhao Yinhua, and she laughed heartily. She had been in such a hurry that she’d forgotten all about that.

Because of the tiger attack last night, everyone in Dahei Mountain Village had spent the second half of the night on edge and hadn’t slept well. Early in the morning, the streets were already full of people standing around in twos and threes, discussing the night’s events and asking if any family had suffered a loss.

Seeing the crowd of people ahead, the big brown horse slowed its pace slightly. Zhao Wendong gave it a pat, and it resumed its steady advance. A group of Dahei Mountain villagers watched the approaching horse-drawn sled and stopped their conversations.