Chapter 4: An Uninvited Guest

The aroma of roasted rabbit meat filled the wooden cabin, and the white flesh began to turn a golden brown. The sparse fat from the rabbit oozed to the surface, dripping onto the fire with a sizzling sound.

"It smells so good!" Lin Qian picked up the roasted rabbit, brought it to her nose, and took a deep sniff. The appetizing scent made her swallow hard again.

"It's ready to eat." Zhao Weimin, experienced in wilderness survival, could tell at a glance that the meat was thoroughly cooked. "Start eating."

"Mm!" Lin Qian smiled sweetly and reached for a knife to carve the rabbit. It took quite an effort to detach the leg. The large, plump leg was bigger than her palm and rose with white wisps of steam. The rabbit, which had been hopping about just moments ago, was gone in an instant.

"Weimin, you take the leg." Lin Qian passed the piece to him, and he did not refuse. After all, there were four legs; it didn't matter who ate one first. However, to his surprise, Lin Qian only sliced off a few small pieces to pop into her mouth. The meat was so hot it made her gasp, "Sss-ha, sss-ha." She seemed to have no intention of eating the leg herself.

"Why aren't you eating the leg?" Zhao Weimin stared at her. "There’s hardly any meat on the rest of the rabbit."

"I'll just have a little. The heavy snow has sealed the mountains, and we don't know when the next catch will come. I’ll eat less so you can eat more."

Hearing this, he finally understood; she was worried about running out of food. It was normal—people in this era were haunted by the fear of hunger. They would save every grain they had, let alone such a plump, delicious rabbit. But Lin Qian’s concern was clearly unnecessary.

"Here." Zhao Weimin handed his own rabbit leg to her. "Eat this. You're physically frail, so you need more meat. I don't want to have to split my focus to take care of you if you collapse." Without allowing any argument, he forcibly shoved the leg into her hand. Then, he took the rabbit and the hunting knife from her and carved off a front leg for himself.

"The front leg has no meat," Lin Qian said, trying to stop him in a panic. "Eat the back leg instead."

"The front leg has more fat. Eating more fat is better than eating more meat."

A rabbit’s front legs don't get much exercise, so they store a good amount of fat. In a frozen, snowy wilderness, fat is indeed far more valuable than meat. Even grizzly bears, before winter, will gorge on salmon fat while ignoring the succulent flesh. This is the way of survival for both people and animals in cold regions. Lin Qian didn't need to go out often, so eating more meat was fine for her.

Hearing this explanation, Lin Qian nodded, only half-understanding. After all, at seventeen or eighteen, she was still at an age where many things remained unclear to her. She looked down, smelled the leg in her hand again, and after staring at it for a long moment, finally took a bite. The full, meaty texture brought her instant satisfaction. Oil dripped from the corner of her mouth, and she quickly licked it away, wasting not a drop. Gorging herself on meat like this was something she had never dared to imagine even in her dreams.

Watching Lin Qian eat with such contentment—perhaps because he was too hungry, or perhaps because the rabbit meat was truly that fragrant—Zhao Weimin took a bite of his own portion. The tender meat mixed with the fat felt like eating pudding. Whether it was the breed of the rabbit or the fact that they hadn't touched a grain of rice in so long, there was no gamey odor even without any seasoning. The smoky flavor was enough to make the meat taste divine, comparable to the rarest of delicacies. Truly, when a person is in dire straits, everything tastes delicious.

Just then, he noticed Lin Qian choking back sobs beside him.

"What's wrong?" He swallowed the meat in his mouth and looked at her, bewildered. "Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

"It's nothing!" Lin Qian raised her sleeve to wipe away her tears, staring at him with reddened eyes. "I just feel like life right now is a bit unreal."

"What do you mean, unreal?"

"Thinking back to when we lived with Mom, Dad, and my older brother and sister-in-law—let alone rabbit meat, we couldn't even get our fill of mixed-grain flour. To be able to eat meat in such big bites today... it feels like I'm dreaming."

Her words stirred the original owner's memories in Zhao Weimin. Before they had split from the family, any game caught was always prioritized for his older brother, his sister-in-law, and their infant nephew who wasn't even a month old. As for himself, he was lucky if he got a little grease or scraps, but he never ate his fill. As for Lin Qian, she lived on mixed-grain flour. If she got some wild vegetables, it was considered a feast. She ate little and had to do all the dirty, back-breaking work every day. If she displeased her sister-in-law even slightly, she would be met with a whip. Her life was no better than a slave's in the old society.

It was no wonder that just one bite of rabbit meat was enough to move her to tears.

"It's alright." Zhao Weimin pulled her into his arms. "From now on, it’s just the two of us living our lives. I promise to make your life more comfortable than a deity's."

Lin Qian nestled obediently in his embrace. She wiped her tears and shook her head silently. "I don't need a life more comfortable than a deity's. As long as the two of us can live well together, that's enough." She certainly didn't expect to have meat every day like this. Her only wish was for her husband to return home safely every day. They would work from sunrise to sunset, the man tilling the fields and the woman weaving.

Zhao Weimin didn't say much else. "Eat your meat. Once you're full, get some sleep. We'll worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes."

"Mm."

Just as the couple was gnawing on their rabbit legs, the cabin door was rudely kicked open. Both were startled and looked up to see their sister-in-law, Zheng Qiuhua, standing outside, holding her child. Although both mother and son were bundled in thick cotton-padded jackets, they were still bright red from the freezing cold.

Zheng Qiuhua had originally intended to bring the couple home. After all, with Lin Qian gone, all the household chores had fallen on her shoulders. She had begged for a long time to get the family's permission to bring them back. She figured they couldn't have had it easy out here, and with one word from her, the couple would surely scurry back with her.

Little did she know, she would smell roasted meat before even stepping inside. Already hungry, she kicked the door open impatiently. Sure enough, she saw the couple huddled by the fire, their mouths glistening with oil, holding a roasted rabbit. With the heavy snow sealing the mountains, even Zheng Qiuhua hadn't had a taste of meat in a long time. Seeing the roasted rabbit, she couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

"Well, look at you!" Zheng Qiuhua said, holding the child while warming herself by the fire. "Where did you scavenge this dead rabbit? You've got good luck."

"E-elder sister-in-law!" The memory of the whip seemed to flash before her eyes; seeing Zheng Qiuhua, Lin Qian instinctively shrank back in fear. "W-why are you here?"

"Mom, Dad, and your brother were worried you'd freeze or starve to death out here, so they specifically sent me to bring you back." As she spoke, Zheng Qiuhua’s eyes never left the rabbit meat. "I didn't expect you two to be living so comfortably."

"I..." Lin Qian looked at Zhao Weimin, not knowing what to say. Zhao Weimin, however, frowned, staring at the woman, wondering what she was up to.

"Since I haven't eaten, give me some of that too." Zheng Qiuhua was not the least bit polite; she reached out to grab it.