Chapter 10: If you can catch this bone, it's yours (Seeking monthly votes)

The bald man asked Wang Xiuzhi, "Who is this little girl?"

“My granddaughter lost her life because Yuanlong went up the mountain to catch wild boars because she wanted to eat meat.”

The bald man took out the IOU written by Xu Yuanlong himself and showed it to Wang Xiuzhi.

Wang Xiuzhi felt insulted and spat at the bald man, saying, "How could an old woman like me possibly be literate? If you want to curse, just curse directly. There's no need to beat around the bush."

Out of consideration for the wild boar, the bald man decided not to argue with Wang Xiuzhi.

He read the contents of the IOU; Xu Yuanlong owed them a total of eighty-nine yuan and thirty-two cents.

Since Xu Yuanlong has passed away, the amount was rounded down, and I only need to give him 89.3 yuan.

“That wild boar doesn’t look small. We’ll take it with us, and that will settle the debt on this IOU,” the bald man said.

Wang Xiuzhi was naturally unwilling and retorted, "Who knows if you wrote this IOU yourself? Yuanlong is gone, there's no way to verify it. I don't understand what you're saying, so get out of here."

"Are you trying to completely renege on your promise?" The bald man got annoyed and stopped wasting words with Wang Xiuzhi, arranging for people to carry the wild boar away.

As soon as she got close to Xu Qingmo, she reached out and pulled the stick out of the wild boar's eye socket, then pointed it at the person who was approaching.

A childish voice rang out, yet it was full of threat: "I caught the wild boar. Your business with them has nothing to do with me. Whoever comes closer, I'll beat them up."

This tiny little dumpling speaks the fiercest words.

Instead of scaring them away, it fueled their even greater malice.

"Xu Yuanlong's daughter is quite something. She's young, but she's good at bragging."

Few people believe that a five-year-old child can catch a wild boar with his bare hands.

She was able to pull the wild boar back because someone had helped her, but they didn't show themselves, probably because they didn't want to run into them.

Thinking of this, the group became even bolder.

They didn't stop and continued forward. Suddenly, a ball of fire shot out from the tip of the wooden stick in Xu Qingmo's hand, setting the clothes of the first person to rush forward on fire.

"Hot, hot, hot..." The man didn't bother to catch the wild boar; he frantically went to find water to put out the fire.

Xu Qingmo warned, "I have nothing to do with this family. My mother is divorced and is living here temporarily. If you want to cause trouble for this family, go ahead, just don't mess with me."

The men looked at each other, stunned for the first time by a five-year-old girl.

Yet they dared not utter a single word of dissent.

Xu Qingmo didn't know how to slaughter pigs or process meat. She stood at the door and announced the news to the crowd.

"Whoever can fetch Butcher Li, I will give him two catties of wild boar meat. Whoever can cook the meat and serve it at the table can eat with me."

Xu Qingmo's words were like throwing money into a crowd to the villagers.

The onlookers immediately erupted in excitement. Some reacted quickly and ran ahead to find Butcher Li, while others who were good cooks came to Xu Qingmo to sign up.

Xu Qingmo deliberately chose two people who usually didn't get along with Wang Xiuzhi. The two people happily entered the house and stood on either side of Xu Qingmo, like two guardian deities.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiuzhi immediately became agitated, "No, all I know how to cook is food, why do you need to find someone else?"

"Not only is your cooking bad, but you also sometimes sneak food. I don't like that." Xu Qingmo had already seen everything.

She hadn't bothered to argue before, but now that Wang Xiuzhi was trying to team up with those thugs to cause her trouble, Xu Qingmo naturally wouldn't give Wang Xiuzhi a friendly look anymore.

Grandma Liu and Grandma Wang, who were chosen to cook, stood in front of Xu Qingmo and started arguing with Wang Xiuzhi.

Seeing that they couldn't gain anything and that more and more people were gathering in the village, the thugs said they would come back another day and left.

The villagers quickly found Butcher Li, and Xu Qingmo agreed to give him the wild boar skin so he could butcher the boar for her.

Grandma Liu, Grandma Wang, and Wang Xiuzhi argued for the entire afternoon, barely managing to even the score.

At this moment, the wild boar had been slaughtered. Butcher Li left with the boar skin, and the villager who had gone to find Butcher Li left happily with two catties of pork.

Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, Grandma Liu and Grandma Wang went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook.

Grandma Liu tended the fire, and Grandma Wang first rendered the fat from the fatty meat. Then she took out a jar of white sugar from home, scooped out the fat, sprinkled some of it with white sugar, and presented it to Xu Qingmo.

The fragrant and sweet oil was so delicious that Xu Qingmo ate half a bowl before stopping.

Grandma Wang watched, beaming from ear to ear.

Immediately afterwards, she and Grandma Liu divided the work clearly, each of them cooking a dish.

Xu Qingmo sat down at the table, but Grandma Liu and Grandma Wang sat down without touching their chopsticks for a long time.

"Eat, why aren't you eating?" Xu Qingmo asked curiously.

Grandma Liu asked softly, "Momo, my good child, can you take the portion that Grandma ate home? Tian Tian and Xiao Kuo at home haven't had such a good meal yet."

Grandma Wang also wants to take her home.

Xu Qingmo looked at them with eyes full of expectation, and Wang Jing's face inexplicably appeared in her mind.

Previously, whenever there was something delicious, Wang Jing would bring it to her and give it to her instead of eating it herself.

A complex mix of emotions was churning inside her. Xu Qingmo nodded, "Take more meat back with you. When you come back tomorrow, try to find a way to preserve the rest of the meat so that my mom and dad can have some when they get back."

Although she could go up the mountain to catch wild boar again at any time, this was the first wild boar she had ever caught, so it was special. She wanted to keep it so that Wang Jing could have a taste as well.

"Good, what a good child, so sensible." Grandma Liu smiled so much that her eyes almost closed.

Xu Yuanyuan stood not far away, drawn by the aroma. Xu Qingmo wouldn't let her sit at the table, so she could only swallow her saliva.

Wang Xiuzhi sat there in a daze because of Xu Yuanlong's death, and Xu Yuanyuan hurriedly asked Wang Xiuzhi to think of a solution.

"Mom, look! Those two women took our meat away!" Xu Yuanyuan nudged Wang Xiuzhi's arm.

Wang Xiuzhi snapped out of her daze, remembering that she hadn't gotten the better of them that afternoon, and her heart was filled with pain. She immediately stopped Grandma Liu and Grandma Wang from doing so.

"This meat belongs to our family, put it down right now!"

Grandma Liu said directly, "These were all given to us by Momo. We took them openly and honestly. It's none of your business."

"That's right, that's right. If you want to eat, go catch wild boar yourself in the mountains. Don't come here and bring bad luck upon us," Grandma Wang retorted defiantly.

The two packed their things and left Wang Xiuzhi's courtyard without stopping for a moment.

Wang Xiuzhi followed them out, intending to take the meat back.

Xu Yuanyuan didn't follow them out. Her eyes were fixed on the meat and vegetables on the table. She licked her lips and swallowed.

Without realizing it, she walked up to Xu Qingmo and asked, "We're all family, can I sit down and eat with you?"

Xu Qingmo picked up a piece of pork rib, took a bite of the meat, and the juices burst in her mouth; it was delicious.

She deliberately tossed the rib in her hand into the air, saying, "If you can catch it, this bone is yours."