Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Emilyâs family was well-known for being the poorest in the village. Her father, Tavis Hyde, made a living for the family by hunting in the mountains.
There was little food in the mountains and very few animals. Tavis rarely caught any prey.
In the eyes of little Emily, although her family was not rich, they were very happy. Every day was fulfilling and enjoyable for her.
One evening, a hungry white tiger came down from the mountains in search of food.
How could a small mountain village of a mere forty households resist the tigerâs attack?
In an instant, some villagers had already fallen to the ground with injuries. Tavis turned his head to look at his wife and child, he said to Emily, âIâm going to lure the tiger away. You have to listen to your mother, understand?â
âPapa, can you not go?â
All Emily knew was that the tiger was very powerful. Papa couldnât defeat it, and she didnât want Papa to go.
âI donât want to see Papa get hurt! I want Papa to be fine and healthy!â
Her mother hugged Emily tightly. âBe a good girl, Emily. Youâre holding back Papaâs work.â
Tavis looked one last time at the two most important people in his life. He turned around and resolutely took on the responsibility of a man.
After Emilyâs father cut himself with his machete, he successfully lured the tiger away with the scent of his blood.
One day passed, two days passed. Tavis never came back, and Emilyâs mother fell ill.
Emily heard from the villagers that her father was dead.
But Emily didnât want to believe that her father was gone. What about her mother? There was no money left to treat her illness.
Emily went to every house in the village, but no one was willing to lend her money.
Just like that, two months later, Emily sent her last family member away.
âMom, Iâll be strong on my own⦠Papa, Mamaâ¦â¦â
Emily wailed uncontrollably in front of their graves.
The old village chief couldnât help but pity her, and called a village meeting.
âTwo months ago, the tiger came down from the mountains. It was Tavis who lured the tiger away alone and saved everyoneâs lives. We all have to remember that. Now Tavisâs wife is gone too, and the only one left in the family is this little girl. No matter what, we have to raise her so there would be someone at Tavisâ grave to mourn and remember him.â
âAlright then, weâll take turns raising Emily and feeding her. If we raise her until sheâs 18 years old, we wouldâve repaid our debts to Tavis.â
Just like that, Emily began her days of eating at the tables of every house in the village.
In the first month, the villagers remembered Tavisâs sacrifice. But as time passed, rumors began to spread.
âTavis must have lured the tiger away for the sake of his sickly wife. Otherwise, why would he sacrifice his life for us? Weâre not even related!â
âYeah. His wife was ill and the kid was so young, no way theyâll be able to outrun the tiger.â
âWhy should we raise a girl for free? My own children arenât even getting enough to eat. Isnât she taking a share of our meals?â
âThatâs right. My family doesnât have enough to eat to begin with. Yet we still have to give some to the girl. How can this be justified?â
In just two months, the villagersâ attitudes had changed drastically.
Emily looked at the villagers who used to be friendly and amiable. Now, their faces looked detestable, as though they were her enemies.
Having not eaten for two days, Emily went to the village chiefâs house with a dizziness in her head.
It was really dark that day. Emily knocked on the door over and over again, but no one came to open the door.
Little Emily knew that she was now a burden to the villagers, and no one wanted to take care of her.
She didnât understand. Her father saved everyone, but in a mere two months, it was as if everyone had forgotten about it entirely! What made her even more confused was how it seemed like saving their lives was only worth a few meals!
Emily left begrudgingly. She didnât want to, but she still left the place where she grew up.
Emily wandered into the city. She was too young and couldnât work, so she could only rummage through garbage cans searching for food.
Occasionally, passersby would look at her pitifully and throw her some spare change. But those would soon be snatched away by older children.
Today, Emily came to the famous Jinjiang Restaurant. They were distributing free food to the homeless.
Emily happily took the food that was distributed to her, these would be enough for two whole days, she smiled sweetly at that thought.
At the entrance of an alley, she saw a guy and a dog having a stare down.
âArchie, donât bark.â
Emily hurriedly ran over and blocked in front of the dog.
She looked up at the guy, who turned out to be handsome boy not too much older than her.
However, he seemed to have a bad temper, and his expression looked a little scary.
He was holding food in his hands and wanted to feed Archie, but Archie didnât like eating food from strangers.
Shen Yu glanced at the girl who had suddenly popped out before him. The little girlâs face was dirty, and only a pair of big round eyes could be seen. It was already late autumn, but the girl was still wearing summer clothes which looked like they havenât been washed for a while.
âMister, Archie doesnât eat other peopleâs food. You eat it yourself.â
As she spoke, Emily gave Archie half of the food she distributed to her.
Archie rubbed its head against Emily and licked her hand, then lowered its head to eat. It no longer cared about this strange human who insisted on making a dog eat.
Shen Yu looked at the girlâs thin and frail figure, and his heart thumped for some reason.
âWould you like to eat this?â
As he spoke, he tried to pass the food in his hand to Emily.
Emily swallowed her saliva and refused.
âThank you, Mister, but I already have food.â She gobbled down her food in big mouthfuls.