Chapter 11 Retribution

The night was so cold it could freeze a person to death; there certainly wasn’t a soul outside. Everyone was asleep on the kang.

Hua Youcai and Hua Fangfang had spent the entire afternoon devising a rather imperfect plan.

It was a bit of a spiteful act, harming others without benefiting themselves.

They took chicken and pig manure from their home and spread it in Old Wang’s courtyard, intending for the Wang family to step in it.

To disgust them.

The only problem was, the manure was a pity; it was such good fertilizer.

Hua Fangfang carried the iron hoe, hanging the basket filled with manure.

The two arrived at the Wang family’s house, standing outside the fence to observe for a while.

It was deathly quiet, without a sound.

Hua Youcai took two steps back, scooped up a hoe-full of manure, and just as he was about to throw it…

His son, who was keeping watch, suddenly spoke, startling him.

“Dad, Dad, there’s movement!”

Hua Fangfang spoke in a low voice, afraid his father would hear.

His courage was even less than his daughter’s.

The two quickly crouched down, motionless.

After a while, they heard the sound of a door opening and voices.

“This terrible weather, it’ll freeze a person to death.”

Wang’s mother’s stomach was aching for some reason, and she wanted to defecate in the chamber pot, but her husband wasn’t happy about it, complaining about the smell.

“Ouch— What’s wrong? Why does it hurt so much?”

Suddenly, Hua Youcai saw a yellow weasel not far away, leaping over the fence and into Old Wang’s courtyard…

Then he heard a scream, “Ah—”

And a splat, the sound alone made it seem painful.

“Help! Old man! Eldest son—”

…

Hua Youcai straightened up, peeked inside, and quickly pulled his son away.

Retribution!

Serves them right!

What a loser.

Hua Fangfang was almost pulled off her feet by her father and hurried to catch up.

After her father and brother left, Hua Yuanyuan felt uneasy and listened intently for any sounds.

She vaguely heard footsteps, thinking her father and brother were returning.

But then she thought again, it was too soon for them to be back from the Wang’s house.

Before drinking the spatial water, Hua Yuanyuan’s hearing was exceptionally sensitive.

At night, she could clearly hear the ticking of the clock, as if it were right next to her ear.

She had always been like this, able to hear the slightest sound.

After drinking the spatial water, all her senses became even sharper.

Therefore, she was certain that there was someone outside, and it wasn’t her father and brother.

Could they be so unlucky?

Her father and brother would be back soon, and if they ran into the people outside, it would be trouble.

Hua Yuanyuan pondered for three seconds, then began a one-woman show, truly Hua Youcai’s daughter.

She used the same tactic as her father.

She played three roles by herself.

At one moment she imitated her father’s cough, then pinched her nose to mimic her brother’s voice, and then deliberately shouted a few lines… she was very busy.

Cough cough—

“Dad, why are you coughing again!”

She lit a candle and went to the east room.

“Xiao Fang, quickly get some water!”

“Okay.”

“Why are you so clumsy, it takes you so long to get some water…”

Cough cough—

With the light and noise in the room, the outside fell silent.

She walked back and forth between the outer room and the east room a few times, and then heard footsteps again.

The sounds became fainter and fainter, were they leaving?

She prayed that the two groups wouldn’t meet.

Hua Youcai was puzzled to see the lights on when he returned home. When his daughter told him someone might have been there, he almost wet himself.

The incident with the Wang family wasn’t worth mentioning, but thinking about it made him shudder, with only his daughter at home.

If they had encountered someone malicious, he dared not even think about it…

He would never leave his daughter alone at home again, God bless.

Thank goodness his daughter was clever and scared them away.

It was all because of the money; they had to leave after the New Year, they absolutely had to, as quickly and quietly as possible.

If they were targeted by those unscrupulous people, they wouldn’t give up until they achieved their goal.

Hua Youcai tossed and turned until late before falling asleep. As the head of the family, he had to make a decision.

After a while of dozing, he got up at dawn.

He called his son to guard the door, forbidding him to open it for anyone, while he went out for a while.

Hua Youcai’s guess was right. The gossipmongers in the village had spread the news about the Hua family extorting over two thousand yuan from the Wang family at the town’s market.

Someone with ulterior motives had overheard it and had a bad idea.

Every village had its share of idlers and loafers who looked for easy money.

The Hua family’s situation was easily investigated: an old man with a daughter and a son.

Their fighting ability was weak; two young men could easily rob them.

Their original plan was to leave on a lucky day after the New Year, the sixth or eighth day, but that was no longer possible.

They had to leave earlier, perhaps the second or third day, or even the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month?

He had to discuss it with his daughter; something else might happen, and it was hard to say.

Worst-case scenario, the three of them would only take their money, and their safety was the most important thing.

He might be overthinking it, but life was precious, and he couldn’t be careless.

Although it was a new society, there were still vicious crimes.

He cursed the Wang family’s ancestors again, those wicked people, never doing anything good.

First, he would find the village butcher to see if he was available and choose the earliest date to slaughter the pig.

As usual, at noon, the family who had originally scheduled the pig slaughter for that day had to reschedule due to some matter.

They came to inform him early in the morning, just as Hua Youcai was leaving.

He got lucky.

Zhu Laosan learned the craft from his father. The butcher’s job was a skilled one, enough to make a living, especially during the twelfth lunar month, when there was work every day.

He was supposed to go to a neighboring village to work that day, but it was just such a coincidence.

After Hua Youcai left, Zhu Laosan quickly packed up his tools.

Hua Youcai went to ask his brothers for help.

There were four Hua brothers, and he was the third.

The eldest brother, Hua Youwei, the second brother, Hua Youde, and the youngest brother, Hua Youzhi.

The Hua family members usually lived their own lives, but they would help each other out when needed.

They were all honest and hardworking farmers, none of them had achieved great success.

They all farmed, with their faces to the soil and their backs to the sky.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Hua family quietly slaughtered their pig.

Hua Youcai told his daughter to stay in the west room and not come out.

He said she wasn’t feeling well. The Hua brothers guessed that she was mainly feeling uneasy, so they didn’t say anything more.

Hua Fangfang helped her aunts and the fourth aunt.

It was all done in the morning, and they didn’t even stay for lunch.

The butcher had a fixed price, and they also got a large piece of meat.

The other Hua family members were the same, except for a pot of pig-slaughtering stew.

The offal was divided among the families, and they also received a substantial piece of meat.

Hua Youwei, the eldest brother, was angry at his third brother’s extravagant spending habits.

He could only fume in silence; if he scolded him, he wouldn’t listen, only humming and hawing.

In the countryside, raising a pig and slaughtering it at the end of the year, keeping some for the family’s New Year’s feast and selling the rest, was a considerable income.

They each went home for lunch.

Hua Yuanyuan ate until her stomach was full, it was delicious.

This was genuine country pork, the most authentic pork flavor.

The fat wasn’t greasy, and the lean meat wasn’t dry.

Hua Fangfang’s face and mouth were covered in oil; she was ashamed, dirty like a little kitten.

Just as the family was enjoying their meal, they heard someone calling for their sister-in-law outside.

Hua Yuanyuan: … What the heck?