After resting for a day—since having so many animals in the village inevitably made people feel unsafe—
the next day, once they had prepared everything, Lin Zhen and his group rented horses and headed for the grasslands.
For Lin Nan and Lin Bei, it was their very first time riding horses, so they were both excited the moment they mounted.
“Slow down! You haven’t even learned how to walk the horse yet and you’re already trying to run. If you fall, it won’t be pleasant. You’re already this big, can’t you be a little steadier?”
Song Wei grabbed the reins of Lin Nan’s horse, scolding him in exasperation.
Lin Nan chuckled. “Mom, I was just too excited! This horse is so cool—way more thrilling than driving a car.”
Boys were naturally more interested in things like this.
The brothers also learned quickly.
In less than half a day, they had already gotten the hang of riding.
Lin Zhen and Song Wei each carried Yueyue and Xiaoxiao in front of them on their horses, riding at the lead, while a pack of animals followed close behind. Feng Tingxuan drove the off-road vehicle at the rear.
The northwest terrain was vast, mostly grasslands and stretches of desert. Driving an off-road vehicle there was no problem at all.
“Yo-ho! Here we come, great grasslands!”
Lin Nan howled like a monkey.
“Awoooo~~~”
Once they entered the grasslands, the wolves became just as excited—especially the five that Song Wei and the others had once taken away from the grasslands.
The grasslands were their true home.
Even though they had been very young when they were taken away, now, faced with the endless expanse of grassland, the instinct etched into their genes surged up, making them howl uncontrollably.
The horses in the lead were startled by the wolf howls and began running even faster.
“Hahaha… this feels amazing—cough cough cough…”
Too excited, Lin Nan ended up choking on the wind.
Lin Bei: “Serves you right!”
Yueyue and Xiaoxiao nestled in their parents’ arms, their bright eyes shining as they gazed at the beautiful grasslands.
They had come at just the right time—the grass was lush and dotted with clusters of pretty little wildflowers.
When the wind blew, the grass swayed in neat rippling waves like water.
The sky was an immaculate blue, with a few fluffy white clouds hanging at the horizon.
The grasslands teemed with small animals; occasionally they spotted startled wild hares and pikas darting away.
It was as if the wolves had awakened some buried bloodline. They immediately dashed off to hunt down the small animals.
In no time at all, they began returning one by one with pikas clamped in their jaws.
Crunch, crunch. With a single bite, a small rabbit was gone.
Suddenly, the white eagle circling above swooped down. Its movement was so fast they didn’t even see it clearly—by the time it lifted off again, its talons were already clutching a fat wild hare.
Everyone watched, dazzled and overwhelmed.
As the horses slowed down, Song Wei pulled out her camera to snap pictures of the scenery—just then, her two sons let out miserable screams.
“Ahhh, Dad, Mom, it hurts so bad! My legs hurt like crazy!”
They had been thrilled while galloping earlier, but after such a long ride, the two brothers—riding for the first time—finally realized their inner thighs felt like they were on fire.
Lin Nan howled in pain.
Song Wei had expected this.
“There’s medicine in the car. Let’s set up the tents and rest here for the day.”
Given where the pain was, the brothers were too embarrassed to apply medicine out in the open—they’d have to do it inside the tent.
Most of the animals had already run off, except for Xiongzi.
Even the fat little fox, who had never been to the grasslands before, whimpered excitedly as it went off hunting.
This fox had more or less latched onto their family. It was a male fox, extremely fond of acting spoiled—but also a bit of a scoundrel.
Every mating season, it would run off into the mountains to find vixens. But once the season was over, it would trot right back to them, wagging its tail.
Twice it had even brought its own kits along to “visit,” but after letting the little foxes linger for a while, it drove them off again.
The reason, apparently, was that in this household, there was only room for one freeloading fox.
Although those little foxes didn’t live at Song Wei’s house, they would sometimes come over, whimpering pitifully as they acted cute to beg for food.
Song Wei and the others were never stingy—each time they’d give them some meat, maybe even a chicken.
But from beginning to end, the only fox that firmly lived in their home was that one fat fox.
Xiongzi was the laziest. After running around for so long, he was too tired to bother hunting.
With his massive build, he went straight to rummage through the car’s trunk for food and water.
Huffing and puffing, he dragged out a big pumpkin, split it open with his paws, and started gnawing on it.
He wasn’t picky about food, but he ate way too much.
“Thump…”
Something fell down.
Looking down, they saw it was a fat wild hare.
From above, the white eagle cried out.
Song Wei picked up the hare and joked with a smile, “Looks like today we won’t even need to go hunting—we’ve got food already.”
Lin Zhen: “I’ll go get the rabbit cleaned.”
They had deliberately pitched their tents near a water source.
“Mom, this medicine feels icy cold. It’s like I’m not even wearing pants right now.”
After applying the ointment, the two brothers crawled out of the tent, Lin Nan making a big fuss.
Lin Bei: “Just say if it works or not.”
The medicine had already dulled that burning pain.
Lin Nan squirmed for a bit, then gradually got used to it, and soon his boundless energy bubbled back up again.
“What are we eating today? Should we go hunting? I want to go!”
Song Wei: “Go knead the dough. The white eagle already caught us a hare—we don’t need you.”
Lin Nan: Disappointed. He had wanted to show off his skills.
But with the vast grasslands around him, there was still plenty of room for him to run wild.
On the open steppe, a thin wisp of cooking smoke curled upward. Before long, the animals that had run off came trotting happily back.
“Xiao Laoda has a little rabbit in his mouth!”
Yueyue and Xiaoxiao ran over, and Xiao Laoda dropped the pika in front of them.
The little creature was still alive. The moment it was released, it tried to dash away—
but was instantly pinned down with a squeak.
It was Wolf One.
He lowered his head and clamped the pika back into his jaws.
Surrounded by several wolves and dogs staring intently at it, the unlucky pika trembled all over, too terrified to move.
Yueyue and Xiaoxiao poked at it—soft and furry.
They wanted to pick it up, but Song Wei quickly stopped them.
“Don’t touch it recklessly. Be careful it doesn’t bite you. Wild animals carry viruses.”
“Especially marmots. If you ever see one, don’t touch it no matter what, understand?”
The two little ones nodded obediently at their mother’s warning.
“If you really like it, let your father find a cage. We’ll take it back, get it vaccinated, and you can keep it as a pet.”
Yueyue and Xiaoxiao’s faces bloomed into sweet smiles.
“Mommy, you’re the best~”
Song Wei gently stroked their chubby little faces, still soft with baby fat.
“Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner.”
The wolves and dogs had already eaten their fill, sprawled out casually in the surrounding grass to rest.
But with their ears pricked upright, it was clear they weren’t completely relaxed, still alert to everything around them.
As for gluttonous Xiongzi—after devouring a big pumpkin, a few sweet potatoes, and the rabbit and pika meat the wolves had brought back, he still wasn’t satisfied.
At that moment, he was squatting beside their dining table, clutching his personal enamel food bowl, gazing pitifully at them.
Yueyue and Xiaoxiao secretly slipped a flatbread into his bowl.
Xiongzi: Dinner again already? Happy~
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