Chapter Four: The Red Fox Delivered to the Door
“Crunch, crunch!”
In the afternoon, Zhang Huacheng keenly heard the sound of crunching coming from the courtyard. His heart stirred—it wasn’t the sound of footsteps on snow, but of chewing!
A wolf?
“Shh!”
Startled, Zhang Huacheng signaled Wang Lin to be silent and quietly leaned against the window to peer into the courtyard.
Wang Lin, curious, also stretched her head to look.
A large tail of deep yellow tinged with red stood out conspicuously.
A wolf?
No, it was a red fox—one that had wandered out from the Changbai Mountains!
The red fox had already dug a pit in the snow and was gnawing on the seafood it had hidden beneath the snow; it had been drawn by the scent of the seafood!
Money delivered right to the doorstep!
Zhang Huacheng’s heart raced. How much could a whole fox pelt sell for nowadays?
Judging by the tail, it was clearly an adult red fox!
A wolf pelt nowadays seemed to fetch about twelve yuan, and the snow fox pelt was even more valuable. A complete one could probably sell for around fifteen yuan.
Seeing only half the fox’s body and tail exposed, Zhang Huacheng knew the opportunity had come.
“You can’t hit it!” Wang Lin hurriedly waved her hand when Zhang Huacheng picked up a stick.
In Northeast China, among the five spirits—Hu, Liu, Hui, Bai, and Huang—the leader Hu represents the fox, the fox spirit.
The elders always said these creatures must not be harmed.
“We can hit rats, can’t we?” Zhang Huacheng whispered persuasively. “This one pelt can sell for fifteen yuan.”
Fifteen yuan for one pelt?
Wang Lin’s beautiful eyes widened, then she stealthily picked up a rolling pin and followed in quick, eager steps, her large dark eyes shining.
Indeed, when you’re this poor, what do you have to fear?
Quietly opening the door, perhaps hearing a slight noise, the red fox paused mid-chew on the frozen fish, as if listening intently.
Zhang Huacheng didn’t give it a chance to escape. He lunged forward and struck hard on its back with the stick.
A sharp scream pierced the air. The red fox twitched a few times before falling motionless.
Zhang Huacheng kicked it twice, dragged it out, and felt the weight—over ten jin. It was a fully grown red fox.
“Bang!”
He slammed the fox against the wall hard to ensure it was truly dead before exhaling. Red foxes were ferocious and cunning and could feign death; he knew their habits well.
Fifteen yuan just like that?
Wang Lin hadn’t expected it to be so easy; her mind filled with thoughts of the substantial sum.
Doudou, hearing the noise, ran out blinking her big eyes and looked at the red fox.
“Meat!”
She pointed to the fox with her little finger.
Fox meat was somewhat gamey and not very tasty, but it was also a medicinal ingredient. In these times, even having meat was a blessing; who cared about the taste?
“I’ll prepare it first, stew it in a pot. Later, I’ll bring a bowl back to our old home to trade for some charcoal.”
The fox was plump; it would yield about seven or eight jin of meat.
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