Reborn in 72, I hunt to support my family and spoil my younger sister rotten.

As soon as Li Xiangyang stepped into the courtyard, the gate was blasted open by the wind with a loud bang.

The black leopard cat gracefully leaped over the fence and landed lightly on the snow, leaving a trail of tiny paw prints.

"Brother's back!" Li Xiaohua's voice came from inside the house.

She and Wang Ying were helping Li's mother prepare vegetables when they heard the noise and ran out.

The two little girls' eyes lit up when they saw the prey on Li Xiangyang's back.

But when they noticed the black leopard cat beside him, they were so surprised they couldn't speak.

“This is…” Wang Ying timidly peeked out from behind Li Xiaohua.

“Don’t be afraid,” Li Xiangyang said with a smile, “this is a helper I met in the mountains.”

The black leopard cat seemed to realize that it had become the center of attention. It slowly walked up to the two little girls, sat down, and looked up at them with gentle and bright amber eyes.

"Xiangyang is back?" Li's mother's voice came. She wiped her hands and came out. When she saw the game her son had brought back, she was about to speak, but her eyes were drawn to the black leopard cat.

"Heavens!" Mother Li suddenly knelt on the snow, her finger trembling as she pointed at the black leopard cat. "The Black Cat! The Black Cat has appeared to us!"

"Mom, what are you doing? Get up quickly." Li Xiangyang quickly helped his mother up.

Li's mother, however, said sternly, "My child, you don't understand. Black cats are spirits of heaven and earth, capable of warding off evil and protecting the peace of the area. As the old saying goes, 'A black cat entering the house brings good fortune.'"

"When your grandfather was alive, he often said that in his generation, a black cat appeared in the entire village only once, and afterwards the village enjoyed three years of good weather and abundant harvests."

"Not only that," Mother Li said, becoming increasingly excited, "The Black Cat understands Yin and Yang and can foresee good and bad fortune. Look at its pure black fur, without a single other color, and its eyes like glass—this is a true Black Cat!"

Li Xiangyang almost laughed: "Mom, I know what a black cat is, it's just a pure black cat. If we're talking about supernatural powers, and this is a female, giving birth to three or four litters a year, each one of them supernatural, then gods would be worthless."

Upon hearing this, the black leopard cat's amber eyes narrowed immediately, and its tail swished unhappily.

"You child, how can you be so ignorant!" Mother Li scolded. "Black cats are most averse to disrespect; if you speak like that, it will get angry."

"Then I'll see if it's male or female," Li Xiangyang said, reaching out to catch the cat.

Seeing that he was serious, the black cat immediately jumped onto the fence.

If he couldn't catch it, so be it. Li Xiangyang wasn't annoyed. He squatted down and carefully examined whether the cat was male or female.

This behavior immediately made the cat's fur stand on end.

Li Xiangyang had just realized it was a female cat and hadn't even had a chance to speak when the black leopard cat slapped him hard across the face.

"Snapped!"

The slap was swift and precise, and Li Xiangyang's face immediately stung.

Fortunately, the black panther cat's claws didn't pop out, otherwise he would definitely have been bruised on the face.

However, this palm strike also made him suffer, as the force was quite formidable.

"Serves you right!" Mother Li laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up. "You didn't believe me? Now you know how powerful the Black Cat is, don't you?"

The black leopard cat snorted coldly, raised its head haughtily, and sat down next to Li's mother.

She looked exactly like a well-bred young lady who had suffered a great injustice.

"Hahaha!" Li Xiaohua and Wang Ying both laughed so hard they were bent over. "Brother, you deserved it! She's a girl! Weren't you just being a pervert?"

Li Xiangyang rubbed his burning face and said sheepishly, "Okay, okay, I was wrong, alright?"

But in his heart he was thinking, if it's really that miraculous, I'll definitely find a male one when I go back into the mountains.

If it works out, let alone having three or four litters a year, even if it's just one litter a year, wouldn't that be like being blessed by gods from all directions?

A new member joined the family and was warmly welcomed.

The two little girls started playing with the black leopard cat.

Meanwhile, Li's mother had already gone inside to find meat for the black leopard cat.

As she walked, she muttered to herself, "No wonder I dreamt of a gold ingot falling from the sky this morning; it turns out the black cat was coming to our house..."

Li's mother quickly brought out a bowl of marinated raw pork from the kitchen, the best part of the tenderloin, which she had been saving for the New Year.

"Come on, Black Cat, eat meat." Mother Li carefully placed the bowl on the ground.

But the black leopard cat only glanced at it, then turned its head away and ignored it.

"So precious!" Li Xiangyang couldn't help but exclaim, "You don't even eat cured pork?"

"Shut up!" Li's mother glared at her son. "How can a black cat be fed ordinary food?"

Li Xiangyang shook his head and put the roe deer off his back: "Fine, whatever you say goes. I'm not hungry, to be honest. Okay, Mom, I'll go prepare the game. You keep an eye on the children and don't let them come out."

"I'm not afraid of blood, I want to see it!" Li Xiaohua immediately shouted. "I saw my second uncle's family slaughter a pig last time, and nothing happened to me. Even if I have nightmares, that's experience, and I won't be afraid anymore."

Wang Ying stood next to Li Xiaohua, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

She secretly tugged at Li Xiaohua's sleeve and whispered, "I...I want to watch too. I'm a little scared, but Dad says knowledge has to be learned by oneself."

Hearing Wang Ying's words, Li Xiangyang once again marveled at how she truly came from a scholarly family.

For such a quiet and shy girl to say such things, it must have taken a lot of courage.

But he still patted his younger sister's head and said softly, "Be good, take good care of Ying-jie. We'll see when you're older."

“But…” Wang Ying wanted to say something, but Li Xiaohua grabbed her hand.

“Okay,” Li Xiaohua said, adopting a mature demeanor, “Sister Ying, I’ll just tell you what happened. Actually, the first time you see it, you really will have nightmares.”

Wang Ying pursed her lips and nodded, but couldn't help glancing towards the courtyard, her eyes filled with longing and regret.

In the corner of the yard, there was a wooden stake specifically for processing game. Li Xiangyang took out a gleaming boning knife from the house.

The knife was left to him by his father. It was sharp and had never dulled over the years.

He first hung the roe deer on a wooden stake, then gutted it with practiced ease.

The fur of a roe deer must be completely removed without any damage, as this is considered top-quality fur.

Soon, a complete deer skin was peeled off.

Li Xiangyang then carefully processed the internal organs, collecting the edible parts such as the liver, heart, and lungs.

These were rare treats of meat during those hard times.

The black leopard cat had somehow crouched down nearby, watching longingly.

"What, feeling hungry now?" Li Xiangyang smiled and cut off a piece of fresh heart. "Want to try some?"

The black leopard cat didn't hold back this time, snatching it away in one bite.

“That’s more like it,” Li Xiangyang said, continuing to process the venison. “Stop pretending to be so high and mighty.”

In the kitchen, Li's mother was chopping cabbage.

In this season, being able to eat cabbage is already considered very good.

Of course, there are also pickled vegetables.

"Mom," Li Xiangyang said as he came in after finishing processing the game, "tonight we'll have braised venison with cabbage, and some cucumber slices too."

“Okay,” Li’s mother replied, then asked, “Is the black cat full?”

“I’m full,” Li Xiangyang laughed. “I’m telling you, don’t be so superstitious. It’s just a stray cat; it’ll eat anything when it’s hungry.”

Upon hearing this, Li's mother's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Alright, if you don't like it, I won't say it anymore. You'll get used to it after a while."

The fire in the stove was burning brightly, and the roe deer meat was simmering in the big pot.

The fragrance gradually filled the room.