The return of Li Wei to the Li family courtyard was met with a reaction he hadn't quite anticipated. He had expected joy at the three copper coins earned, or perhaps curiosity about his trip to town.
Instead, he was met with screams.
"Ahh! A monster!"
It was Li Hua. She had been sweeping the yard when Li Wei walked in, the one-eyed, scarred yellow dog limping at his heels. The dog was imposing, its coat matted with mud and blood from the knacker's pen, its single amber eye gleaming with a predatory intelligence.
"Get back! It's a wolf!" Wang Mei grabbed her children, pulling Dahu and the infant behind her, brandishing the broom like a weapon.
Even the usually calm Li Yue stepped back, her face paling.
"Quiet!" Li Wei commanded, his voice cutting through the panic. He stepped between the dog and his family. "It's not a wolf. It's a dog. His name is Yellow."
"Yellow?" Li Jun scoffed, picking up a stone. "That thing looks like it crawled out of hell. Wei, are you trying to get us killed? It will bite the children!"
The dog growled low in its throat, sensing the aggression. It bared its teeth, a rumble that vibrated in the air.
"Put the stone down, Jun," Li Wei said, his eyes locking onto his second brother. "If you throw that, he will attack. He is a guard dog. He protects what is mine. If you threaten him, he threatens you."
"I'm not having a beast in the yard," Li Qiang said heavily, stepping forward with a hoe. "Brother, I know you want to help, but this is too much. We have children here."
"Wait."
The voice came from the main house. Grandfather Li Dagen stepped out, leaning on his cane. He looked at the dog, then at Li Wei.
"You bought this?"
"Yes, Grandfather. For two coins."
"He looks like a fighter," the old man observed. He didn't approach, but he didn't back away.
"He is," Li Wei said. "The hill is isolated. We have sheep. The Wang family boys are already sniffing around. I need teeth. I need a guardian."
Grandfather Li Dagen looked at the cowering children, then at the sheep huddled in the corner. He sighed. "Tie him up. If he bites anyone, he dies. If he barks all night, he goes. Understood?"
"Understood." Li Wei grabbed the rope he had looped around the dog's neck. "Yellow. Sit."
The dog hesitated. It looked at Li Wei, then at the family. Slowly, its hindquarters lowered to the dirt.
Li Wei led the dog to the corner of the courtyard, near the sheep pen but far from the main house. He secured the rope to a sturdy post.
"Good boy," Li Wei whispered, tossing him a piece of the meat bun he had saved. The dog snapped it out of the air and swallowed it whole.
***
That night, the atmosphere in the Li household was suffocating. The presence of the dog outside felt like a ticking time bomb.
Li Wei sat at the table, pushing his porridge around. He had bigger problems than the dog. The system had given him a worrying notification when he checked on the sheep earlier.
*Target: Hill Sheep (Ewe #2).*
*Status: Pregnancy Stress. Calcium Deficiency.*
*Risk: Miscarriage or stillbirth.*
*Recommendation: Immediate nutritional supplementation.*
The ewe was listless, barely touching the scrub grass. If she lost the lamb, Li Wei's entire plan—his promise to the family, the investment—would crumble. A dead lamb was a total loss. A live lamb was profit.
He needed to act fast. But supplements? In this era? There were no bags of feed.
"Father," Li Wei said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I need to buy something tomorrow."
Li Shun looked up. "What?"
"Bones," Li Wei said. "And some beans. I need to make broth."
"Broth?" Chen Lan's eyes lit up. "Son, are you feeling weak? I can make you a broth with the chicken bones we saved..."
"No, Mother," Li Wei said gently. "The broth is not for me. It's for the sheep."
The table went dead silent.
"You... you want to feed broth to a sheep?" Li Qiang asked, his voice rising in disbelief. "We haven't eaten meat in three months! We are drinking watered-down porridge! And you want to feed bone broth to an animal?"
"The ewe is pregnant," Li Wei explained urgently. "She is weak. If she doesn't get strength, she will lose the lamb. Or die herself. If she dies, we lose everything. If she lives and gives birth to a healthy lamb, we have doubled our flock. It's an investment."
"Investment!" Li Jun slammed his hand on the table. "It's madness! Feeding good food to livestock while the family starves? This is exactly what the village says—you've lost your mind!"
"Silence!" Grandfather Li Dagen shouted. He glared at Li Wei. "Wei-er, your brother is right. We can barely feed ourselves. You ask us to sacrifice for a sheep?"
"I'm not asking for sacrifice," Li Wei said, standing his ground. He met the old man's gaze. "I'm asking for a loan. Give me the beans. Give me the money for the bones. When the lambs are born and sold, I will pay it back with interest. I will eat only the chaff until then. Give my portion of the buns to the children. I will work."
He looked at Li An. "An needs tuition. This is the only way."
Grandfather Li Dagen stared at his grandson. The old man saw the desperation, but also the calculation. It wasn't madness; it was a gamble. A desperate, calculated gamble.
"Chen Lan," the Grandfather said finally. "Give him the beans."
"But the children..." Chen Lan hesitated.
"Give him the beans!" Li Shun, the silent father, spoke up. He reached into his belt and pulled out a small pouch. He poured out ten copper coins onto the table. "My savings. Buy the bones."
Li Wei looked at his father. The man's face was impassive, but his hand trembled slightly as he pushed the coins forward.
"Thank you, Father," Li Wei said, his voice thick. He bowed deeply. "I won't let you down."
***
The next few days were a testament to Li Wei's resolve.
He walked into town again, buying cheap pork bones and bean dregs from the tofu maker. Back at the house, he spent hours boiling a strange, thick sludge over a fire in the backyard.
The smell was pungent. It drove the family crazy—the scent of meat and beans wafting through the yard, only to be ladled into a trough for a sheep.
Li Hua cried, saying it was a waste. Li Jun refused to speak to him.
Even the villagers talked.
"Li family's third son is boiling soup for sheep!"
"He's possessed by a fox spirit!"
"They've lost their minds."
Li Wei ignored them all. He focused on the ewe.
He coaxed her to drink the warm, protein-rich sludge. He added crushed eggshells from the kitchen (which his mother saved for him with a sigh) for calcium. He mixed in a specific herb the system identified as beneficial for blood circulation.
Day by day, the ewe's coat began to shine. The dullness left her eyes. She stopped trembling. She ate the grass with vigor.
*System Update: Ewe #2 Health Status improved to 85%. Pregnancy stable.*
It was a small victory, unseen by the world, but a massive relief to Li Wei.
***
Three nights later, Li Wei was woken by a sound that didn't belong in the quiet village.
It was a soft *thud*, followed by a stifled curse.
He sat up on the *kang*, his heart pounding. The night was moonless, pitch black.
Then, a bark. Not a fearful yap, but a guttural, explosive roar of fury.
*WOOF! GRRRR!*
"Yellow!" Li Wei scrambled off the bed, grabbing a wooden club he kept by the door. He rushed into the courtyard, barefoot.
In the darkness, he saw a struggle near the sheep pen.
A dark figure was trying to pry open the fence. But Yellow, the one-eyed dog, was a whirlwind of teeth and fury. He had broken his rope—he must have snapped the old, rotted hemp—and was lunging at the intruder.
"Get off! Get off, you beast!" a voice hissed. It was familiar.
*Clang.* A metal tool hit the stone.
"Thief!" Li Wei shouted, raising his club. "Father! Brothers! Thief!"
Lights flicked on in the main house. Li Shun was the first out, grabbing a hoe. Li Qiang and Li Jun followed, holding torches made of oil-soaked rags.
The light flooded the courtyard.
Caught in the beam was a young man, his pants torn, bleeding from a bite on his calf. He was scrambling backward, trying to get to the gate.
It was Wang Er. The bully from the hill.
And in his hand, he held a knife.
"Yellow! Hold!" Li Wei commanded.
The dog didn't listen. It was in a frenzy, its warrior blood awakened. It lunged again, clamping its jaws onto Wang Er's arm holding the knife.
"AHHH! Let go! Help!" Wang Er screamed, dropping the knife.
"Call the dog off! Call it off!" Wang Er begged, tears streaming down his face.
Li Wei walked up to the boy. He saw the terror in his eyes.
"Yellow. Release," Li Wei said coldly.
The dog let go with a wet snap, but it stood over Wang Er, snarling, daring him to move.
Li Wei kicked the knife away. He looked at Wang Er, who was clutching his bleeding arm.
"You came to kill my sheep," Li Wei said, his voice low. "You came to destroy my livelihood."
"I... I just wanted to scare you! I didn't mean to..." Wang Er stammered.
"Liar," Li Jun stepped forward, holding the torch high. "He had a knife. He meant to slaughter them and steal the meat."
The neighbors were waking up now. Lights were turning on in the surrounding houses.
"What is happening?"
"Thief?"
"It's the Li house!"
Li Shun looked at the scene. He looked at the fierce dog, the bleeding boy, and the knife on the ground. He turned to his son.
"Wei. What do you want to do? Hand him to the authorities?"
Li Wei looked at Wang Er. Sending him to the magistrate meant a heavy punishment—possibly beating or exile. It would also start a blood feud with the Wang family. They were many, and the Lis were few.
But letting him go unpunished was weakness.
"Brother Qiang," Li Wei said. "Go fetch Village Chief Liu. And wake up Wang Er's father. Tell him his son tried to steal our livestock with a knife."
Li Wei looked down at Wang Er. "You wanted to see if I was crazy? Now you see. I don't just have sheep. I have a wolf."
Wang Er looked at the dog, then at Li Wei's cold eyes, and fainted.
***
By dawn, the matter was settled in the village hall. The Chief, the elders, and the heads of both families were present.
Wang Er's father, a thick-necked man, looked shamed but furious. The evidence—the knife, the bite marks, the broken fence—was irrefutable.
"Wang Er trespassed with intent to steal and harm," Village Chief Liu said gravely, knocking his pipe. "According to village law, the Wang family must pay for the damages and the medical costs of the dog's... exertion."
"I will pay," Wang's father gritted his teeth. "But that dog... it's a monster. It should be put down."
"It defended its home," Li Wei spoke up. "If the dog is put down, I will take the matter to the county magistrate. Attempted theft with a weapon is a criminal offense, not a village squabble. Your son could lose a hand."
The threat was real. The Wang patriarch paled. He knew the harsh laws of the Great Yu Dynasty.
"Keep the dog," the man spat. "But this isn't over, Li Wei."
"It is over," Li Wei said calmly. "You pay the fine. We move on. But if I see Wang Er near my hill again, I won't call the Chief. I'll call Yellow."
The Wang family left, dragging their son. They paid a fine of two hundred copper coins—a significant sum.
Two hundred coins.
Li Wei stood in the hall, the pouch heavy in his hand. He had protected his assets, and he had made a profit.
"Good dog," Li Wei whispered, patting Yellow's head as they walked home. The dog limped slightly—he had strained his leg in the fight—but his tail gave a singular, slow wag.
Back at the house, the atmosphere had changed completely.
The family looked at the ugly, scarred dog with awe.
"He saved the sheep," Li An whispered, offering Yellow a piece of his own bun. "He's a hero."
Li Hua stood at a safe distance, but she nodded. "Maybe... he's not so ugly."
Even Li Jun looked impressed. "Two hundred coins. And we kept the sheep. Brother, maybe that dog was worth the two coins after all."
Li Wei smiled. "He's worth every coin. Now, we have money to buy a cow."
"A cow?" Li Qiang's eyes widened.
"A calf," Li Wei corrected, looking at the rising sun. "A local calf. And we start building the barn. It's time to expand."
The ranch was no longer a joke. It was a fortress. And Li Wei was its commander.