Just as their lips were about to touch, they quickly separated. Shao Yunan pushed Wang Shijing away and asked, “What was that sound?” Wang Shijing’s face turned dark.

“Aooh—!!!” Shao Yunan looked at Wang Shijing and after a moment said: “Damn! Could it be someone coming for us?” In the normally calm Xiushui Village, where the most excitement would be a wild boar running down the mountain, suddenly the sound of a tiger’s roar echoed, making the villagers rush out of their homes, grabbing shovels and poles.

“Where is it?”

“From which direction did it come?” Everyone searched for the source of the tiger’s roar. Just then, a few more tiger roars sounded and a rushing village elder shouted, “Women and children, go back inside! Men, grab your weapons!”

The women and children were driven back into their houses by their own family members. Zhao Yuande, Zhao Yuanqing, Wang Wenhe, and the other more prestigious young men of the village ran ahead. The village was ablaze with torches. Some sharp-eyed people shouted, “It seems to be coming from the Wang Residence!”

Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan’s residence was the absolute mansion of Xiushui Village, so everyone referred to their house as the ‘Wang residence.’ The tiger’s roars grew more urgent and the women hiding in their homes held their children tightly. In Old Lady Wang’s house, Wang Tianyan barricaded the door so that the hungry tiger would not break in and devour them.

Old Lady Wang, who had already gotten out of bed long ago, cursed in the house. “This big beast coming down the mountain would be best off eating that unfilial family!” Wang Guo sneered, “They already have a new father and mother. Their filial piety or not has nothing to do with you.”

Old Lady Wang was so angry that she wanted to speak out, but when she saw her daughter-in-law’s face, she held back. Since Wang Guo returned, Old Lady Wang had completely lost her status in the house. Wang Guo would verbally abuse her at the slightest provocation and even resort to physical violence. Though Wang Tianyan and Wang Guo were foolish, they had realized by now that their mother-in-law was more trouble than she was worth and only caused problems for them. 

Wang Zhisong and Wang Chunxiu also didn’t come back from the county town and Wang Dali paid little attention to his own wife. Whenever old lady Wang scolded Wang Dali, he would simply leave and she had no way to deal with him. Since Wang Dali hit her, Old Lady Wang became short-tempered in front of him. It could be said that Old Lady Wang was having a tough time at home. She only hoped that Wang Zhisong would pass the exams this year and rescue her from this miserable situation.

The men in the village grabbed their tools and torches and ran towards the Wang residence. Three tigers, their bodies covered in golden fur, came running down the mountain under the light of the fire and the moon, heading straight for the Wang residence. The gates of the Wang residence opened and Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan hurriedly put on some cotton robes and rushed out. The guards remaining in the mansion also came out with their weapons and surrounded the two.

A crowd of people ran over and saw people holding the same style of large knives surrounding Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing, making everyone stunned. Zhao Yuande recalled what Zhao He had told him and was the first to regain his senses. He shouted, “Shijing, Yunan! There seems to be a big beast coming down from the mountain on your side. Hurry back to your house and secure the doors with bolts. What about the children?”

Wang Wenhe also exclaimed, “Yunan, quickly return to the house! It seems there is more than one big beast.” Just as they were speaking, a terrifying tiger roar erupted, causing panic among the crowd. “A big beast!”

“Three big beasts!” Wang Shijing quickly stopped the guards from taking action and shouted, “Everyone, don’t panic. The big beasts are here for Yunan and me.” Shao Yunan pushed aside the guard who was blocking his view and said, “Over here, Brother Tiger!” There is no reason to fear this family of tigers. They will not harm the villagers.

The fierce tiger roars carried a powerful shockwave. Amidst the terrified screams, the three golden-colored beasts leaped high above the crowd and landed beside Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing.

“Shijing!”

“Yunan!”

Cries of astonishment resounded. Immediately after, the crowd fell silent. The three terrifying tigers did not bite Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan’s necks, but instead, two of them bumped against Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan and affectionately rubbed against their legs. The largest tiger among them stood beside Wang Shijing, proudly staring at the villagers, emitting a warning growl.

Shao Yunan took a few steps forward to block the Brother Tiger and raised his hand to calm everyone down. “It’s okay, they are guests at my house. They are just looking for me and Shijing. They scared everyone, so I will make it up on behalf of Brother Tiger.”

Wang Shijing rubbed the head of the young tiger that was trying to lean on his shoulder and said amidst the stunned expressions of the crowd, “I’m really sorry. We didn’t expect them to come to our house. They live on the mountain behind our house. When we usually go up the mountain, we often encounter them and give them some food, so over time, we became familiar with each other. We didn’t go up the mountain today, so they must have been tempted and came down. We are really sorry.”

Someone in the crowd asked, “Your mountain?” Zhao Yuande spoke up. “Shijing and Yunan bought the mountain on the west side.” The crowd immediately exclaimed in surprise. Wang Wenhe asked, “Shijing, are these beasts you raised?”

Wang Shijing replied, “No. We encountered them when we went up the mountain to pick tea leaves. They don’t eat humans, they just like to eat the meat prepared by Yunan. But Yunan has been busy lately and hasn’t made anything for them, so they became hungry.”

Shao Yunan also immediately explained. The two of them apologized and emphasized that the tiger family was only here to find them and wouldn’t harm anyone. The atmosphere among the villagers became even more lively. My goodness, Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan could actually get along with the large tigers like friends, which was simply unbelievable!

After a lot of persuasion from Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan, the villagers’ uneasiness was reluctantly dispelled. The guards also put away their weapons. In addition, Zhao Yuande joined hands with Wang Wenhe in persuading the villagers. They finally put down their ‘weapons’ and returned home, feeling quite emotional. Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan had bought the entire mountain and even raised three large tigers. Moreover, since when did they have so many guards that carried weapons? It seemed like they were becoming more and more like wealthy landowners.

Before leaving, Zhao Yuande asked Wang Shijing with concern, “Are you really alright?” Wang Shijing replied, “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. If there were any problems, I wouldn’t dare let them come in.”

Wang Shuping looked at the guards who hadn’t left yet and Wang Shijing approached him and whispered, “Someone is coveting our secret tea recipe, so my eldest brother sent them to protect Yunan and the children.” Wang Shuping anxiously asked, “But has something happened?” He specifically glanced at Shao Yunan’s bruised face. “Nothing major.”

Zhao Yuande said, “I’ll talk to you later.” Then he looked at Wang Shijing. “It’s getting late, you two should go back and rest. Take good care of these three big creatures.”

“Don’t worry.”

Zhao Yuande and Wang Shuping still believed in Wang Shijing’s abilities. Seeing that the three large creatures were behaving ‘obediently’ and the two smaller ones kept rubbing against Shao Yunan, they didn’t say much more. Holding torches in one hand and machetes in the other, they went back home.

“Phew!” Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Shao Yunan looked at Wang Shijing, feeling both amused and exasperated. Wang Shijing escorted them inside and dismissed the guards. When there was no one around, Shao Yunan whispered, “Did we get ourselves into trouble?”

“Very likely.”

After reassuring the people in the mansion, Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan, under the astonished gazes of everyone, took the three tigers back to their courtyard. The commotion had awakened their three children, but seeing their Father (Uncle Shijing) and Uncle (Uncle Yunan) with three tigers by their side, the three children happily ran over, embracing the necks of the two small tigers amidst Xia Chun and Xia Qiu’s screams of joy and Su Ce’s and Miao Yuan’s cries of fright.

All the voices suddenly stopped as Wang Shijing spoke up, “Go back to your rooms. The young masters and young miss will sleep tonight with us.”

“Yes.” The three children became extremely excited upon hearing this. Once they entered the room, which was originally quite spacious, it immediately became crowded. Shao Yunan helped Nizi take off her shoes and climb onto the bed. Jiang Moxi followed suit by taking off his shoes and getting on the bed. Wang Qing hesitated for a moment before joining them on the bed. The two young tigers also wanted to get on the bed, but were stopped by Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan.

“If you come up too, my bed will collapse… and your paws are all muddy.” Holding down one of the young tigers, Shao Yunan looked at the larger one and said, “Looking at the situation today, if it weren’t for me and Shijing being at home, the others wouldn’t have understood and would have definitely hurt you.”

“Roar!” The Brother Tiger was still dissatisfied, as if asking why they didn’t come to deliver water to them today! Shao Yunan forcefully wiped his face and surrendered: “I surrender to you.” After saying that, an empty basin appeared in his hand and soon the basin was filled with the water from the spiritual spring. Then, he had a small porcelain bottle in his hand, and upon seeing the bottle, the three tigers became excited.

“Quiet!”

“Grrr~” The powerful tiger roar was forcefully suppressed. Suppressing his laughter, Shao Yunan looked at the two young tigers that didn’t make any noise. He opened the lid of the porcelain bottle and dripped a drop of spiritual milk into the basin.

“Quiet!”

“Ao~” The tiger instantly transformed into a cat. Retrieving the bottle of spiritual milk, Shao Yunan said, “Drink it, that’s all for today. I won’t be able to go up the mountain for the next few days. I have to make tea, so do you want to stay at my house or go back up the mountain?”

The three tigers were too busy drinking water and ignored him. During this time, Wang Shijing had been standing by the window, keeping an eye on the outside. There were many strangers in the house now, so they had to be cautious. When the three tigers finished drinking, licking their mouths with dissatisfaction, Shao Yunan asked again, “Brother Tiger, do you want to go back or stay at my house?”

Brother Tiger didn’t answer, but the two young tigers pounced forcefully onto the bed. The laughter of the three children instantly resounded, followed by Shao Yunan’s furious roar.

“The bed is going to collapse! Your dirty paws!”

Edited by: Jaisland

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