We have noodles made with fine and buckwheat powder for breakfast. According to Zhong-Older brother, one jin of white rice costs 10 liang, while fine powder costs at least 5 liang. Luckily, buckwheat is much cheaper, only 2 liang for a jin. It's a luxury for a small farming family like ours to have fine rice with a meal because they usually sell all of their harvest to buy necessities. Currently, we have 3 jin of white rice, 2 jin of pine powder, and 3 jin of buckwheat flour, which is just enough for about two weeks of daily consumption. Fortunately, I have discovered a great source of cassava, but since winter is coming, I need money to buy new quilts and fuel for oil lamps.
" Uncle Jiang, are those bamboo arrows ready? I plan to head to the inner mountain this time," I ask Uncle Jiang, whom I had previously requested to make many bamboo arrows.
" Bal, you and Cree will collect our trophies, then give them to Zhong-Older brother to sell, but please save some for us,"
Seeley protests and stares at me. We continue to stare at each other for a while until he heaves a sigh and gives in.
" You need to be careful, okay?" I assure him and pack some rations in case we can't go back until lunch. We all head to the mountain entrance and then part ways. According to Zhong-Older brother, few hunters dare to venture into the inner mountain, so basically, it's unexplored. After walking to the east for more than an hour, I can feel a change in the atmosphere.
" We need to be careful," I remind my eldest brother, and he nods at me. As we take a leisurely walk, I spot some precious herbs and collect them, carefully placing them in my woven gasket.
" Older brother, this is the purple jade vine. Come help me take some, but be careful not to damage the roots. We can plant them to grow more vegetables before winter comes," I explain, knowing that this vine helps plants grow faster, up to two times their normal speed.
We continue exploring the mountain, and I also gather coriander, mint, parsley, and some cold medicine herbs. We find a tree and sit down, taking a rest. I drink water from a nearby spring—it's cold and fresh.
I ask my elder brother to cut some bamboo strips so we can take some water home. My elder brother is busy making a bamboo tumbler when I see a long brown snake jump down from the tree. I have no time to waste, so I immediately pull out my dagger and fling it, severing the snake's head. After seeing me and the headless snake, my older brother is frightened.
" Thank you, Younger sister. You saved my life. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if you didn't save me," he says gratefully.
" There's no need for thanks. We are family," I reply.
" Hmm, you're right. We are family!" We laugh and continue with our tasks.
I ask my eldest brother to put the snake in his basket. He just glances at me but doesn't question my intention. We're heading back when I notice a cave in my peripheral vision. I enter the cave and see a dying white tiger, covered in blood and with bite marks—probably from wolves. It weakly growls at me, trying to intimidate me. I realize that the white tiger is pregnant and about to give birth, but because of its injuries, it didn't make it. I immediately cut open the tiger's belly and take out the tiny cub.
" Hey, look! This little cub is quite unusual," said my eldest brother. " It has birthmarks on its forehead that symbolize royalty."
The cub opened its eyes and gazed at me, nuzzling its tiny head against my chest. It seemed to consider me as its mother. Ha-ha, how adorable! I couldn't help but chuckle as I picked it up and carried it with me.
" Older brother, we should take the tiger with us," I suggested.
" I knew you would say that, haha! But is it really safe? Won't it pose a danger to us?" he replied.
" Oh, no worries at all. If we raise it properly, it will recognize us as its family," I assured him, gently stroking the cub's cheek as it fell back asleep.
" Alright, alright, how could I say no to you?" he shook his head and chuckled. His eyes were filled with affection as he wiped some blood off my face.
" We should also take this," he added, pointing to the dead tiger.
" Maybe we can sell its skin for a few taels." Elder Brother went off to find a stronger rope to tie the tiger, while I carefully placed the sleeping cub in my bag and joined him.
As we made our way down the mountain, it was exhausting to drag the tiger along. When we reached the foot of the mountain, we encountered a middle-aged man.
" Is that a tiger? Come here quickly!" he exclaimed, rushing towards us, seemingly trying to protect us from the tiger. Unaware that it was already dead, he shielded us.
" Ahem, Uncle, pfft... the tiger is already dead," Elder Brother informed him, causing the man to be shocked before bursting into laughter.
" Oh my, I was scared, thinking there was a live tiger! Eh? Did you kill it? Are you injured?" he asked, curious.
" We were lucky that the tiger was already dead when we found it. It may have died while giving birth," I explained.
" That's fortunate. Where are you heading? Let me help you carry this," he offered kindly.
" In that case, we wouldn't want to be impolite. Thank you, Uncle. By the way, what should I call you?" I inquired.
" Ha-ha, little guiniang, you can call me Uncle Fred. I'm the eldest son of the village chief. And what about you and your brother? I haven't seen you before," he introduced himself.
" We just moved to the village a week ago, Uncle Fred," I replied.
By the time we reached home in the early afternoon, some villagers had noticed Uncle Fred helping us with the dead tiger. They looked curious but didn't ask any questions, as they saw Uncle Fred accompanying us. I couldn't imagine the commotion if they had seen two children carrying such a massive tiger.
Uncle Jiang thanked Uncle Fred for his assistance and offered to share the tiger's meat.
" How could I accept that? This tiger was caught by these two children. I just helped them bring it back. We're all villagers, so it's only natural to help each other," Uncle Fred declined graciously before bowing and taking his leave.
Seeley provided me with a stool and began massaging my feet while Little Cree excitedly examined the enormous tiger.
" Sister, can we eat it?" he asked eagerly, his eyes fixed on the tiger.
" You little rascal! Ha-ha, all you think about is food," Seeley playfully bumped his head.
" Tss! Of course, I know how to eat! Big sister said that if I don't eat, I won't grow up to be handsome," he exclaimed, puckering his rosy lips.
" Hey, how many trophies did we catch?" I asked.
" We caught 1 pheasant and 3 rabbits. I already gave the pheasant and two rabbits to Zhong-Older brother to sell in town," he replied.
" Ugh! Zhong-Older brother originally left one pheasant and one rabbit for us, but that mean and smelly woman stole it," he grumbled.
" What happened?" Older brother asked, curious about the situation.
" I went to Zhong-Older brother's house, and when I came back, Little Cree was arguing with a middle-aged woman," I explained.
" Elder sister, don't listen to his nonsense. I didn't fight with her. I just tried to explain everything. I told her that it was our pheasant, but it escaped. However, she didn't believe me and called me a smelly brat and a liar," he complained, shuffling his feet.
" Let it go. We shouldn't stoop to the level of wild dogs. When a wild dog bites you, you shouldn't bite back," I consoled him.
" Yeah, you're right! By the way, did you know that you can eat tiger meat? I heard it's delicious when cooked directly over the fire," he exclaimed, giggling and running off.
" Uncle Jiang, could you please clean the tiger skin so I can sell it in town tomorrow? I need to plant these saplings in the backyard right away," I requested.
We all divided the tasks among ourselves. Cree and I planted the saplings, Uncle Jiang and Elder Brother skinned the tiger and cleaned the meat, and Seeley went to the bamboo grove to gather firewood.
I felt satisfied looking at our backyard. I really needed the money to expand our land. After finishing our tasks, I headed to the kitchen to make barbecue sauce. I boiled the tiger meat and added seasonings, letting it simmer on low heat.
" Bal, can you finish this up? I need to take a bath. I'm covered in the foul stench of blood," I said.
" You go first. I'll help you carry the hot water," Seeley offered.
He always pampered me and never allowed me to bathe with cold water alone or work on heavy tasks. I truly enjoyed having him and the others around. This familiar feeling was strange, but it brought me joy. I had always been lazy, but with them by my side, I had a reason not to be. I took the tiger cub with me.
" Bal, look! This is my new baby," I happily showed him the tiger cub.
" Little White, say hi to your uncle, ha-ha!" Luckily, I found some soapwort flowers to use as soap, which helped alleviate some of my longing for modern-day baths.
Ah, it feels wonderful to bathe with fragrant flowers. I plan to make soap out of these flowers and sell them in town.
After changing into a light purple robe, I headed out to gather the ingredients I needed to make the soap. Seeley noticed me fidgeting with things and quietly drying my hair. Having long hair was quite troublesome, even though it remained smooth. I often wished to cut it short, but the rules and culture of ancient times didn't permit such a change.
Seeley never complained about drying my hair. Initially, he lightly scolded me for going out with wet hair, especially after the incident with big brother Zhong. However, he soon let me be and took on the task of drying it without complaint.