They also saw a Pallas’s cat on the grasslands, but they couldn’t tell if it was the same one they had met before.
Because Pallas’s cats are really hard to recognize.
Still, the kids somehow managed, relying on their own ability, to pet the Pallas’s cat, ride yaks, fight off a wolf pack to defend territory, and dig out a corsac fox’s den.
With Lin Nan and Song Wei’s almost cheat-like strength, even the yaks were subdued.
Finally, they went to dig for caterpillar fungus.
The little boss, the fat fox, and the wolves helped search, and by the end of the day, they really did find quite a lot.
When it was time to leave, the wolf pack stayed behind.
Of course, Wolf One, Wolf Two, and their wives and cubs still had to follow them back.
They were forest wolves, not natives of the grasslands.
But the wolves that had originally been brought from the grasslands this time chose to remain.
In fact, Song Wei had already had a hunch when she first came to these grasslands.
They belonged here, to the grasslands.
“Have you found your territory?”
Song Wei didn’t try to persuade them to leave.
A few wolves rubbed against her hand, whimpering softly.
They had feelings too—after all, they had lived together for so long.
In their eyes as they looked at Song Wei’s family, there was also reluctance.
But the instincts engraved in their genes made them choose to stay here.
This was their true home.
The wolf pack chose its territory—with the help of Xiongzi, Wolf One, and the others, it was a fertile land, and they drove away potential dangers.
It was far from human settlements, even herders rarely came this way.
This territory was safe both for the wolves and for humans.
They even took Song Wei on a tour of it.
When it was time to part, Song Wei put five strings of wolf-tooth necklaces around their necks.
“These are the fangs of your parents and elders.”
On the grasslands, there was no need to worry about ropes getting caught in branches. And even if they did catch on something, their teeth could bite through easily.
“Goodbye.”
As they left, Yueyue and Xiaoxiao clung to their parents, crying until their little faces were smeared and blotchy.
“Wuwuwu… why aren’t they coming home? Why aren’t Xiaoxue and the others coming back with us?”
Their shoulders shook with sobs.
Song Wei wiped their tears. “Because this is their home.”
“In the future, we’ll come back to visit them. You can also come look for them when you have time.”
“Be good, Yueyue, Xiaoxiao. We have to go back to our own home too.”
Lin Nan and Lin Bei, though also sad, were after all older kids now. Their emotions weren’t as openly shown.
When they left the wolves’ territory, the pack followed them for a while.
Finally, they stood on a hillside, watching them depart.
“Awoooo~~”
Led by the alpha, all the wolves raised their heads and howled to the sky—this was their way of saying goodbye.
Yueyue and Xiaoxiao waved through their tears.
“Goodbye! We’ll come back to see you!”
Crying and crying, they grew exhausted and eventually fell asleep in the car.
By the time they woke up, they were already back in the village.
After venting their emotions through tears, although still a bit listless, they weren’t as heartbroken anymore.
They stayed in the village for a while longer, bought a yak to make beef jerky, and experienced the local customs and culture.
In the end, they filled their car with local specialties.
“We’re going home. We’ll come back again when we have time.”
Leaving here, Muna was the saddest of all—after all, this was the place where she had lived.
Although transportation had become much more convenient, both husband and wife had jobs, so they couldn’t just come back whenever they wanted.
After returning home, Song Wei didn’t clamor to go traveling for several years.
Wild animals were gradually being brought under protection laws. By rights, the wolves, foxes, bear, eagle, and other animals Song Wei had raised all should have been released back into the wild.
But Xiongzi had already completely lost the ability to hunt in the forest.
Releasing him was out of the question.
So she simply set up a small private zoo.
As long as the paperwork was in order and she had the ability to raise them, it was allowed.
Her small zoo wasn’t meant for public viewing—it mainly served as a retirement home for the family’s animals.
So although it was technically a zoo, it wasn’t open to the public, and she didn’t rely on it to make money.
When Yueyue and Xiaoxiao entered high school, Song Wei handed the zoo and the village businesses over to trusted people, and then went traveling with Lin Zhen.
Lin Zhen entrusted the family businesses to Lin Bei.
Lin Bei was steadier and capable—he had studied economics in university specifically to inherit the family enterprises, and he had been learning directly under his father’s guidance while studying.
Right after graduating, Lin Zhen gave him several companies to practice managing.
Now Lin Zhen had fully stepped into the background, leaving most of the family’s businesses in Lin Bei’s hands, aside from some portions set aside for the other three children.
Then he eagerly set off with Song Wei to enjoy a long-awaited honeymoon.
They had toiled half their lives, and now all they wanted was to spend the rest of their time as a couple—on honeymoon, traveling the world.
Just the magnificent rivers and mountains of their own homeland were enough to keep them exploring for a very, very long time.
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