Volume One, Chapter Four: The Foolish Roe Deer

He never regarded you as his mother, nor did he treat my sister and me as family—a heart as cold and cruel as a wolf’s!”

He Yulan was about to reprimand her son but then reconsidered, realizing her son wasn’t entirely wrong. If it weren’t for Lin Xiao’s firm stance earlier, Lin Mu would have probably devoured all the rabbit meat by now.

After finishing the meat, a warm sensation spread through Lin Xi’s body. She obediently helped her mother clear the dishes on the table.

“Mother, the gaps between the wooden planks in this room are too wide. Should I seal them with some snow? We don’t even have thick enough cotton clothes—we’ll freeze to death otherwise!”

“All right! Let’s do that for tonight. Another day, I’ll ask the team leader if we can borrow some cornstalks to block the gaps,” He Yulan responded as she tidied the room.

People in the twenty-first century are so fortunate—there’s nothing they can’t have or do! Thinking of her current situation, He Yulan felt the frustration keenly. Even if she could imagine a better life, achieving it seemed impossible.

Still, she decided to do her best to change their present circumstances. Lin Xiao thought as he worked.

Just as he was about to finish sealing the gaps, a distant howl echoed through the cold air.

A wolf. It seemed what the eldest uncle had said was true—there were indeed wolves nearby.

Lin Xiao quickened his pace, finishing the sealing before heading swiftly to the woodshed.

He picked up the axe on the ground and the rope hanging on the wall, then returned to the cabin to secure the door with a wooden latch.

Lin Xiao knew that no matter how capable he was, even the most skilled homemaker couldn’t cook without ingredients.

Moreover, the original owner was only sixteen years old, with his physical condition and lack of proper tools making it impossible to fend off wild beasts.

Fighting wolves empty-handed was pure folly.

“Mother, do we have any monkey elastic bands?” Lin Xiao asked softly, noticing his mother cleaning.

“Why do you need monkey elastic bands? We don’t have such things here.” After a moment, He Yulan seemed to recall something. “I’ll ask your eldest uncle next time. If he has some, I’ll get a piece for you.”

Monkey elastic bands were rare in those days—only families with some means could afford to trade for them to use as waistbands or cuffs.

“Looks like making a slingshot is unlikely. I’ll have to figure out something else with what I have,” Lin Xiao thought.

The sound of “scrape, scrape” woke his sleeping sister.

“Brother, what are you doing?” Lin Xi rubbed her eyes and walked over to where Lin Xiao was sharpening a saw.

“Sis, sorry to wake you! I’m making you a tool to catch some meat!”

“How can you catch meat with a saw?” Lin Xi scratched her head, puzzled.

Lin Xiao thought that since he had no weapons to deal with wild beasts, he’d have to transform his tools into weapons.

He planned to modify the saw into a multipurpose weapon: pointed at the front, toothed on the top edge, and sharp on the bottom. He named it the “Saw Blade.”

As the name suggests, it could stab, slash, and saw when facing wild beasts.

“That kid! Up so early sharpening away. Little Xi, stop staring and come eat. Your mother’s calling us,” He Yulan called.

“All right, mother!” Lin Xi responded. “Brother, time to eat—mother’s calling us.”

“Coming, coming,” Lin Xiao said, returning inside to wash his face simply.

After drinking the leftover rabbit soup from last night, He Yulan was about to clear the dishes when Lin Xiao said,

“Mother, I want to finish sharpening the saw blade, then go out for a walk.”

“You want to go up the mountain? Didn’t you hear the wolves last night?” He Yulan set down the dishes and looked at Lin Xiao.

“The three of us depend on each other. If something happens on the mountain, how would I survive?”

“I won’t go into the mountain, just around it. Maybe I’ll find some wild game,” Lin Xiao replied.

“I’m taking the knife, the saw blade, and the short knife. If I meet a wolf, I’ll run. Don’t worry, mother.”

He Yulan knew she couldn’t stop her son if he was determined, so she agreed reluctantly, fearing he might slip out when she wasn’t paying attention.

“Just don’t go into the mountain. Stay around the edges,” she warned, knowing her son had grown more sensible since they left home.

Lin Xiao took a rope from inside and tied it around his waist. He slung the freshly sharpened saw blade over his shoulder and held the deer antler short knife in his hand.

He thought to himself, “All set. If only I had a gun too.”

“Mother, I’m leaving. Sister, stay home and play. I’ll be back soon!”

“Come back early…” He Yulan began, but Lin Xiao had already run outside.

Not far from the cabin, Lin Xiao stopped, panting heavily.

This original body’s physical fitness was no joke. He’d only run a few steps, and his body hadn’t warmed up yet—he couldn’t keep going. He realized he needed to exercise more.

For his own survival and for the sake of his mother and sister.

Lin Xiao understood well that without basic fitness, facing ferocious beasts meant certain death.

“The winter in the twenty-first century didn’t feel this cold. Here, it must be minus forty or fifty degrees.”

If this continued, he might truly freeze to death, as Lin Mu had warned.

As he walked, Lin Xiao thought he should first find some vines and a couple of sturdy sticks to set rabbit and wild chicken traps.

That way, he could check every day when going up the mountain. If he caught something, his trip wouldn’t be in vain.

“Mother says not to go into the mountain, but where around the forest’s edge can I find vines?”

No matter—he would venture further and see.

When he reached a large tree and rested for a moment, he noticed fresh rabbit tracks in the snow nearby.

Excited, Lin Xiao followed the footprints, scanning for vines and trees of suitable thickness.

After a while, he stopped, placed the deer antler short knife at his waist, and drew the saw blade from his back.

Using all his strength, he swung at a small tree.

With a sharp scrape, the tree fell, shaking snow down onto Lin Xiao’s head and neck.

He felt as if his neck had frozen solid, brushing off the snow.

He cut off a branch with the short knife and sawed off the tree’s top with the saw blade.

The thickness seemed perfect for making a handle for his splitting axe.

Suddenly, his special forces instincts tingled—he sensed something watching him from afar.

“Could it be a wolf? Heard them last night, and now this,” he thought.

“Original owner, what kind of luck is this? You’re small, unprepared for hunting... you want me to die!” he muttered.

His fear vanished when he saw it was only a small roe deer.

Lin Xiao’s mind instantly recalled facts about the roe deer:

An adult roe deer measures about 1.2 meters in length and weighs around 30 kilograms. It has a slender neck, large eyes, and big ears. It has no tusks; its hind legs are slightly longer than the front legs; its tail is short. Males have antlers, females do not. Male antlers have only three tines. The deer’s body is grassy yellow, with white fur beneath the tail. The tail is only 2–3 centimeters long. Roe deer prefer to move in pairs. During winter, a male deer stays with two or three females and their young. Male antlers fall off in winter, with new ones growing from March, fully developed by June or July, marking the mating season.

In the twenty-first century, the roe deer’s cute appearance and silly demeanor made it an internet sensation, earning it the nickname “snow mud horse” as a new mythical creature.

Probably the young roe deer had been separated from its family and, hearing Lin Xiao chop the tree, thought its family was nearby.

Finding no family but seeing an unknown figure, curiosity made it linger.

At that moment, Lin Xiao was already thinking: How to capture it!