Proximity of the Wolf

The First Sentence

Blowing a gentle breeze, Mo Yan saw the mountain full of wild fruits and vegetables. People on both sides of the road were busy with farming activities, watering, sowing seeds. Not far ahead, a few people were bathing in the river, splashing water at each other while laughing and playing. Mo Yan didn't like humans, but at this moment, it felt a rare sense of leisure. Tang Fachu, perhaps feeling thirsty, picked a ripe pear from the roadside and walked while munching on it. The pear was full of water, and he ate it with gusto.

At this moment, Mo Yan finally relaxed. It seldom felt so comfortable. Even the leg that had been aching seemed to feel better. Life seemed to be getting better officially. Tang Fachu reached his land and put down the basket. He took a detour to Dr. Qiu's place. As he had expected, it was already close to noon by the time he started working. He picked up Mo Yan, took out a bun from the bottom of the basket, and broke it into pieces.

Mo Yan glanced at Tang Fachu with some disdain. It thought this countryman lived quite roughly. Just now, it was standing on these buns, albeit separated by a thin layer of cloth. Tang Fachu didn't seem to mind at all. This formed a stark contrast with Tang Fachu's accent. Tang Fachu's accent wasn't as heavy as the locals', and he spoke with a clear tone, unlike his rough lifestyle.

Tang Fachu broke the bun into pieces and threw it in front of Mo Yan, urging, "Eat it. Uh, eat it like a human, be a good boy."

Mo Yan: ...

Mo Yan didn't eat too much last night, but it had gotten used to being hungry during this period. Although it was hungry, it was used to skipping meals. After some contemplation and sniffing at the bun, it reluctantly started eating.

Tang Fachu was very satisfied, sitting on a pile of soil, squinting his eyes, and eating his bun. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Hey, where's the clothes I gave you yesterday?"

Mo Yan ate very elegantly, which indicated that it wasn't very satisfied with the current food. It held the bun in its mouth with some disdain, looking up at the human.

Tang Fachu was also pondering. He didn't need Mo Yan's answer, and in fact, Mo Yan didn't intend to answer him.

Tang Fachu tied one of Mo Yan's legs with a rope and then tied it to a small tree nearby. This wasn't very secure, and Mo Yan was a bit confused because it could easily bite through the rope and escape. At worst, it could even bite off its own leg—wolves often did this for something as trivial as a rope. It licked its injured leg, and the bitter medicine made it sneeze.

Tang Fachu struggled with the knot. The sun was too scorching, and he couldn't open his eyes. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and he hissed, throwing the rope aside, "Go run! I don't care anymore, damn it."

Impatient, hot-tempered, and explosive. This was Mo Yan's initial definition of Tang Fachu. It didn't struggle, and even seemed a bit lazy, licking its fur while reminiscing about the smell of the medicine just now.

This human was stupid. There was food here. It really didn't intend to run away.

At least for now, life was much better than before. As for its escape plan, it planned to heal its injuries first before executing it. Tang Fachu threw Mo Yan aside and began working.

Mo Yan panted with its tongue out in the scorching sun, watching Tang Fachu watering and spraying stuff around. The smell was somewhat pungent, perhaps pesticides. Mo Yan gazed into the distance from the small mound of soil.

A few naked children seemed to be observing it from afar, and the two large dogs they were leading were also staring at Mo Yan.

"Mo Yan!"

Suddenly, Tang Fachu started shouting. He shouted three or four times, and Mo Yan didn't realize he was calling for it until Tang Fachu rushed over in frustration and kicked it. Mo Yan barely turned its head to look at him.

"Come here."

Tang Fachu turned his head to look at the two dogs crouching low, urging impatiently, "Come on, you damn wolf."

Mo Yan couldn't walk fast. It hobbled along with Tang Fachu. When they reached the middle of the plot, it felt even hotter, and it felt like its skin was about to peel off from the sun.

Mo Yan was thirsty. It took a few steps forward and bit Tang Fachu's trouser leg.

Tang Fachu looked down at it, and it weakly tugged at his trouser leg.

Tang Fachu scratched his head and squatted down, puzzled, "Didn't say you couldn't pee?"

Mo Yan went to bite his sleeve again.

Tang Fachu looked helpless as he muttered, "Wolf cubs are troublesome." He lifted Mo Yan up, belly facing up, and said to it, "Go ahead, pee, ancestor."

Mo Yan was furious. With a roar, it bit Tang Fachu's hand.

Tang Fachu cried out in pain and shook it off. He stomped the ground in anger and fixed his feet. Mo Yan hastily dodged.

Mo Yan howled at him.

Tang Fachu glared at it angrily, then suddenly had a realization. "Aren't you thirsty?"

So Mo Yan drank water contentedly. It found that Tang Fachu's little basket was magical; it had everything inside.

Tang Fachu worked in the field very hastily. After a while, he picked up the basket and prepared to leave. Mo Yan wobbled inside the basket, and everything underneath had been eaten. It was quite small, and it couldn't see outside.

So it stared at the sky, which was very beautiful. The waves of blue emitted a faint white color, and the sun gradually softened. The rustling breeze made Mo Yan feel a bit itchy.

It was a bit curious about where Tang Fachu was going. It wriggled around in the basket behind, while Tang Fachu in front turned his head and said, "Behave."

Tang Fachu went to fetch pigs. The pigs he bought were delivered today, as he had arranged. When he entered his house, the boss who sold the pigs and a few assistants had already prepared them. The pig seller's surname was Zhu, and he looked friendly, smiling, "Oh, you're back."

Tang Fachu felt uncomfortable with Mo Yan fidgeting behind him. So he took it out and hugged it tightly, still smiling, "Ah, just finished work."

"Oh, this is that wolf." Mr. Zhu had obviously heard about what happened at the market. Almost everyone in the area knew which household kept a wolf. Mr. Zhu also had one at home. He looked at Mo Yan and said, "Is this a male wolf? It just happens to pair up with my female wolf at home!"

Tang Fachu didn't like Mr. Zhu's one-eyed female wolf at all. Besides, he didn't keep wolves for breeding, and Mo Yan definitely couldn't become some kind of "breeding wolf."

"How old is it?" Tang Fachu waved his hand, changing the subject. "Is the pigsty ready?"

"Yes, we're all set, comprehensive service." Mr. Zhu warmly introduced, "These are the three pigs you chose! Look, they're all well-fed and easy to raise."

Mo Yan's eyes lit up, but as soon as it did, Tang Fachu covered its eyes with his hand. From the darkness, Mo Yan heard Tang Fachu say, "Hmm, they're quite good."

Mo Yan thought it should taste human-raised pork before escaping.

As night fell, Mr. Zhu left. Tang Fachu carried Mo Yan down. Seeing it didn't run during the day, he decided not to bother with it this time.

Mo Yan limped over to see the pigs. Several fat pigs poked their noses and mouths out of the pen to eat. They obviously didn't take notice of this small, lame wolf, despite its terrifying eyes.

Tang Fachu went inside for a while. When he came out again, he found Mo Yan had turned into a human. The teenager was trying to open the pigsty.

Tang Fachu shouted, and then he stared at the teenager's clothes, realizing they were now on his body. This transformation feature was really amazing.

The teenager turned his head to stare at him and spoke for the first time, "I want to eat pork."