After a hands-on examination, the vet placed Xuetuan on the wooden board to stand. "There's a problem with its eyes. Has it been like this since it opened them?"
Song Shixue nodded in agreement. "Yes, it wasn't very obvious when it first opened its eyes, but later the pupils grew closer and closer together."
The vet slowly shook his head and flipped Xuetuan over so its belly faced up. "Its eyes just grew this way; it can't be cured. You've raised it very well, miss. Why care if its eyes don't look good?"
It wasn't as if he hadn't seen tiger cubs on the mountain before. To be honest, even those raised by their own mothers weren't this robust.
Its fur was sleek and glossy, which meant it not only ate well but was definitely bathed often.
Lan Xi spoke up to explain, "My young lady doesn't mind its eyes at all. It's just that it's a bit silly, and there seems to be a problem with its brain. We want to see if it can be cured."
The vet frowned and grabbed the tiger's leg to make it stand. Without a mother tiger to teach by example, captive tiger cubs could be a bit clumsy, but they were far from stupid.
Song Shixue told the vet about a series of Xuetuan's abnormal behaviors.
The vet put the little tiger on the ground, observing its eye reactions and posture. Finally, he brought a small chick and placed it on the ground, trying to get the tiger to bite it.
As a result, let alone biting, it didn't even know how to bat at it with its paws. Its reactions were slow, its eyes were dull and unfocused, and it seemed completely uninterested in everything. It was worse than a cat.
...
After nearly an hour, the vet helplessly returned the little tiger to Song Shixue.
White tigers were so rare. How did it end up growing like this? What a pity!
"There is indeed a problem with its brain. To put it nicely, it's slow and mentally underdeveloped. To put it harshly, it's an idiot, a fool. Plus, without a mother tiger to teach it, these symptoms will only become more obvious."
Song Shixue clenched her fists, feeling a bit of a palpitation.
"Do you mean it would be better for it to live with its own kind?"
The vet shook his head with a heavy expression.
"Someone like it absolutely cannot stay with its own kind. With its unusually colored fur and poor brain, it would be ostracized by other tigers. Even if it were bullied, it wouldn't be able to fight back and could only endure it."
Song Shixue asked, "Then what should we do? Is there really no other way?"
The vet put his hands on his hips. "You can talk to it more and train it with sounds and actions. It might get a little better, but it won't be too obvious."
On the way back, Song Shixue didn't say a word. Lan Xi, walking beside her, didn't know what to do.
Upon arriving home and learning that Song Jinzhao had gone to the clinic in the morning, Song Shixue didn't go to the clinic anymore. Instead, she took Song Anhao to play with Xuetuan in the room.
Watching her younger brother play so well with Xuetuan, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She should look on the bright side; at least it seemed very happy right now.
Song Jinzhao had looked at two shops in the morning and wasn't very satisfied with either. One building was too old, and the other was too small and right next to the main street, without even a place to set up a grill.
When returning home for lunch, Song Shixue told her what the vet had said. "Sister, I've thought it through. If it can't be cured, then it can't be cured. This is all God's arrangement. Knowing that Xuetuan couldn't survive in the mountains, He purposely arranged for us to find it."
Song Jinzhao pursed her lips and smiled. Her words could be understood as self-hypnosis after running out of options. The little girl had accepted her fate.
In the afternoon, Song Shixue went to the clinic as usual. Song Jinzhao spent two hours looking at three more shops and finally decided on the one with the largest area and a five-meter-wide open space out front.
When summer arrived, setting up tables outside, feeling the gentle breeze, and eating barbecue with beer—business would definitely be exceptionally good.
The barbecue shop didn't need much renovation, and it opened less than seven days after buying the storefront.
The smell of charcoal mixed with the aroma of meat, making the whole street mouthwateringly fragrant.
Staring at the sizzling, greasy mutton on the grill, large handfuls of spices were sprinkled on it as if they were free, tempting everyone's appetites and making them constantly swallow their saliva.
Li Tianchong and his son sat inside the shop, their eyes lingering on the barbecue chef's fluid movements. For the first three days of opening, not only were the tables inside full, but even the outdoor seating was packed.
"Another shop that will bring in a fortune every day. Song Jinzhao really has a lot of fresh ideas in her head." Li Tianchong bit the meat on the bamboo skewer with his upper and lower teeth. With one bite, it was numbingly spicy and filled his mouth with the aroma of meat.
Li Zi'en took a big bite of half a lamb kidney. "It's actually quite similar to roasted lamb; she just changed the way it's sold."
Li Tianchong finished a skewer of mutton in two bites. "It seems inexpensive, but in reality, there's only a little bit of meat on each skewer. It's simply a huge profit."
Li Zi'en turned his head and pointed at the vegetarian dishes on the shelf against the wall. "That's what you call expensive. Two skewers of cabbage combined cost as much as meat. How is this any different from daylight robbery?"
"And this beer, it doesn't seem very intoxicating. The cost definitely isn't high."
Despite complaining about the prices, neither father nor son felt bad while eating. There was a table full of bamboo skewers. By the time they finished, their stomachs were bulging. When they burped, the taste of barbecue mixed with beer swirled in their mouths; they couldn't get enough and still wanted more.
It was just that their stomachs were too small and couldn't fit any more.
Seeing the good business of the barbecue shop, people started imitating it half a month after it opened. However, the taste always fell short and couldn't compare to the special barbecue seasoning Song Jinzhao had formulated.
