Cui Hongyu shook her head slightly, "If it were a person, I could take their pulse, but I really don't understand how to treat animals."
Yes, Cui Hongyu didn't understand, and neither did he. But then again, not understanding wasn't a big deal; one could always deduce.
"Hongyu, what are the common symptoms if a person has a fever?"
"They might catch a chill. It can also be due to the heat, or certain severe illnesses, naturally, will cause a fever."
Chen Xiaobei nodded. "Since you say that, then consider this: if a person spends their days in the woods, hot during the day and cold at night, wouldn't they be susceptible to catching a chill?"
Cui Hongyu nodded. "It's possible."
"Alright, then let's treat the little wolf as if it has caught a chill."
Hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, Cui Hongyu smiled. Chen Xiaobei was indeed very smart; this approach was worth a try.
Cui Hongyu picked up her brush and wrote a prescription. Chen Xiaobei then rushed to the county town by donkey cart to get the medicine. As he walked, Chen Xiaobei pondered that wolves were not like dogs. Dogs would get familiar with people after a few days of feeding.
But it would take a long time to tame a wolf, so he had secured the ground. To be safe, he decided to get an iron cage.
After entering the county town and getting the medicine, Chen Xiaobei headed towards the general store.
Chen Xiaobei ended up buying two iron cages in one go.
One cage for each wolf, so he could raise them from young to old.
Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei pull back two large iron cages, Cui Hongyu immediately understood his intention.
"Husband, after they've recovered, let's release them. They probably won't live long kept in cages."
Chen Xiaobei gently shook his head. "We'll be venturing into the mountains more and more frequently. If they are in the mountains, they will always pose a threat to the villagers' safety. It's better to keep them in cages and provide them with three meals a day; that way, we can be considered to have treated them fairly."
Cui Hongyu brewed the herbal medicine and pried open the little wolf's mouth to force some down.
Wolves were not people, so Cui Hongyu was very careful with the dosage, giving each wolf only a little less than half a bowl of herbal medicine.
Chen Qiao'er squatted beside them, watching the two busy themselves, a look of curiosity on her face.
"Sister-in-law, will the little wolves get better?"
Cui Hongyu nodded. "They will definitely get better."
Only then did Qiao'er's face break into a smile. "That's great, that's great! I'll have two more little companions."
Looking at the innocent and pure Chen Qiao'er, Chen Xiaobei felt a pang of envy. What a simple child she was, seeing all living creatures as her companions. She never once considered that wolves might eat people.
To be safe, after giving them the medicine, Chen Xiaobei directly put the wolves into the iron cages.
He then secured the cages with wooden stakes.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei busy with this, Cui Hongyu smiled again.
"Husband, our family's zoo is getting livelier."
Chen Xiaobei looked at the large area in front of him: pheasants, sheep, dogs, donkeys, and now these two wolves. Oh, and there were a few snakes in the big vat.
He suddenly felt like something was missing.
Yes, pheasants.
There were only two pheasants, and pheasants laid an egg maybe every two or three days.
This egg-laying speed was far from enough to eat. The pickled eggs he had prepared earlier were almost all gone before they could even develop a salty flavor.
Indeed, he needed to go into the mountains to catch some pheasants, otherwise, he wouldn't even have eggs to eat.
Of course, relying on his current sporadic method of catching pheasants was too inefficient. He needed to find a way to catch more.
Chen Xiaobei thought hard and recalled his childhood experience of catching birds in the snow.
In the dead of winter, heavy snow would cover everything, leaving only one color in the world: white.
At this time, he would clear a patch of ground, scatter some grain, and then prop up a sieve with a stick.
He would tie a string to the stick and hide in a corner. When birds landed to peck at the grain, he would pull the stick, and the sieve would trap the birds.
Yes, that's what he would do. This way, he wouldn't have to wait until dark for a quick sale; he could do it during the day.
Although he didn't have a sieve at home, he had a fishing net. Propped up by four sticks, it would make an excellent tool for catching pheasants.
Chen Xiaobei cut a piece of fishing net with scissors.
He found four sticks of appropriate length and tied them together first.
It was too difficult to assemble now, so he decided to take it to the mountain first.
He found some rice grains and a rope, and with everything ready, Chen Xiaobei shouldered it and headed into the mountains.
When he reached the checkpoint at the foot of the mountain, Chen Xiaowen and two other village guards were on duty.
Chen Xiaobei greeted them and called Chen Xiaowen to accompany him.
Such an exciting capture scene needed an audience to be even better.
Actually, it was easier to find pheasants during the day. Although pheasants scattered to forage during the day, they still had a range of activity. The simplest way to identify their location was their droppings. Pheasants often perched on branches, and there would naturally be droppings beneath the trees.
The two soon found the territory where a flock of pheasants was active. On the treetops, a few pheasants spotted the approaching humans, poked their heads out to observe, and then flew away with a flutter of their wings.
No rush, they would come back after flying away.
Taking this opportunity, Chen Xiaobei assembled the net.
Then, on a conspicuous open patch of ground, he scattered the white rice. He propped up the net with a stick, tied one end of the rope, and retreated about seventy to eighty feet away before hiding behind a tree.
Looking at this familiar scene, Chen Xiaobei felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had returned to his past life, to his carefree childhood, to the happy times of catching birds in winter and fish in summer with his friends.
"Brother Xiaobei, a pheasant has gone in," Chen Xiaowen whispered, bringing him back to reality.
Indeed, not far ahead, a pheasant cautiously entered under the net.
It was clearly testing the waters, as several other pheasants were watching from the trees nearby.
This was the same tactic as the sparrows he encountered in his childhood. It seemed that the survival instincts of creatures had some commonalities.
Chen Xiaobei lowered his voice and said softly, "See those pheasants in the trees watching? So we can't catch this one, or the others will run away."
Chen Xiaowen nodded, as if he half-understood, his eyes fixed on the front, not daring to look away for a moment.
The pheasant entered the net, pecked at a few grains of rice, and then quickly ran out.
Seeing that there was still no movement, it went back in and ate a couple more mouthfuls.
As there was still no movement, the pheasant seemed to gain courage and started eating non-stop under the net, making clucking sounds as it ate.
This seemed to be a signal. With its calls, the other pheasants on the trees gradually came down and rushed under the net.
"Hoo-ray, jackpot! Five pheasants!"
Chen Xiaobei quickly and decisively pulled the rope, and all five pheasants were caught.
The pheasants trapped under the net tried to flap their wings, but there was no space.
They tried to wriggle out, but the mesh was not large enough. They could only get their heads out, while their bodies got stuck, further restricting their movements.
Chen Xiaobei and Chen Xiaowen quickly slid down from the tree and rushed forward.
They carefully lifted a corner, caught one pheasant, tied its wings and legs, then caught another, and so on. Soon, all five pheasants were securely bound.
Chen Xiaowen looked at the five pheasants, his eyes shining with excitement.