Chapter 19 A Pair of Ox Bones

Lu Qiniang helped to remove the meat quickly and efficiently. The entire cow skeleton was removed so cleanly that there was almost no meat left.

Everyone was happily drawing lots to divide the meat.

After all, everyone wanted the meat in a good location, so in order to be fair, the village head used the drawing of lots method.

Daya went to draw lots for her family and drew twenty-three.

It's a very forward position.

But when everyone in front had finished choosing, Lu Qiniang pointed at the beef leg and said, "Our family wants this beef shank. Five people, three pounds. I'll come and slaughter the beef this morning, and then..."

"Where did you get these five people?" Zhao jumped out.

It’s Hutou Niang, Xiao Dashan’s wife.

She was still upset about the previous broken engagement.

Although she took the twenty taels of betrothal money and did not give back a penny, she still felt that she had been cheated.

Because when she planned to let Hutou marry into the Zhang family, she thought that the Zhang family must have at least a hundred taels of silver in assets.

Her son has married into her family, so everything will belong to him from now on.

In the end, she got nothing. Wouldn’t she be angry?

So even before anyone else spoke, she was already unhappy.

"My husband paid the silver for the head, so he is now part of my family. Otherwise, if you don't want the beef, go and get the silver back for me?" Lu Qiniang said.

Zhao didn't care about that. "If you two haven't had a clear path, it doesn't count! Did the Zhang family head agree to your marriage? If you haven't had a clear path, why should I give you a share of the meat?"

Everyone remained silent.

Although it was six taels of meat, Lu Qi's family got less, so could the others get a bigger share?

Beef is a precious commodity...

Lu Qiniang looked at the village head.

The village head cleared his throat and said, "How can I put it? It all makes sense..."

Arya got angry when she heard this. "Didn't you say this when you asked us to pay the head tax? If you don't share the meat, then how much meat can we buy with the silver we got for the heads?"

So when you pay the money, you are counted as an individual, but when you divide the things, you are not counted?

This is clearly bullying.

The head of the village had a gloomy face.

Lu Qiniang took a deep breath and said, "Well, I don't want the six ounces of meat."

"Mom!" Erya was furious.

"Mom, I want to eat meat!" San Ya also shouted.

Even Daya, who is usually calm, now has an aggrieved look on her face.

These people are clearly bullies.

"Stop arguing." Lu Qiniang pointed at the clean skeleton and said, "I don't want the six ounces of flesh. Give me this skeleton to replace the six ounces of flesh."

Someone couldn't bear to see it and said to her, "There's not even six ounces of flesh on the skeleton, even three ounces is enough."

"How could it be missing? It has such a big skeleton!" Zhao continued, "I think it has three pounds of flesh!"

"Since you think so, I'll give you the skeleton, which is worth three pounds of meat from your family. No, six ounces of meat will do." Lu Qiniang said with a sneer.

Zhao turned her head away without answering, obviously unwilling.

The village head probably felt that the commotion was too ugly, so he said, "Since the abandoned mother has admitted it, the skeleton will be given to her in exchange for six ounces of meat. Anyone who is not convinced can take out six ounces of meat and give him the skeleton."

No one answered.

Lu Qiniang put the skeleton on the other side of the flatbed and asked Xiao Yan to hold on to it.

She also threw the oxtail into the car.

No one said anything.

She went to ask for the blood again. "I'm the butcher, so give me some of the blood. I don't want more, just give me two pieces."

According to the rules, the cow's blood is indeed distributed to those who help kill the cow.

Although one piece weighed more than half a pound, no one could find fault with her taking two pieces.

Lu Qin's mother "suffered a loss" and didn't want to care about how the meat would be divided later. She took her own two pounds and four ounces of beef, two pieces of ox blood and a cow skeleton, pushed Xiao Yan, and returned home with her three daughters whose eyes were red with grievance.

After returning home, Lu Qiniang immediately closed the door and smiled.

Erya asked, "Mom, are you so angry that you've gone crazy?"

What happened today really made the little girl angry.

She secretly swore in her heart that she would marry the most powerful man in the future and beat up all these bad guys!

"Silly Erya, we've got a great advantage today!" Lu Qin's mother rubbed her red, frozen hands excitedly, "I call you a mother who is both wise and courageous!"

She used the words she learned from watching plays on herself.

"Mom, there's no meat on the bones," Daya said. "You picked it too clean. If you had known earlier, you should have left some meat. Then we wouldn't have suffered any loss."

"I picked it out on purpose so no one would snatch it from us."

If there really was meat, would it be the turn of these orphans and widows?

Oh, even though Xiao Yan is here now, it’s almost the same as not having him.

Anyway, no one sees him.

"Mom, did you ask for beef bones on purpose? But there is no meat!" Erya pouted.

"You don't understand, you'll understand later. Come, help me fetch water, and don't touch the rest. I'll do it myself!"

Lu Qinniang was moving the beef bones off the cart, but the flatbed cart lost its balance and Xiao Yan rolled off from the other end.

Fortunately, he was wrapped in a blanket.

Lu Qi Niang laughed out loud, "Wait a minute, I'll wash my hands with soap nuts before I come back to hug you."

She washed her greasy hands, took off her bloodstained clothes, and came over to pick up the man and the blanket and walked inside. "You must be frozen. I'll ask San Ya to boil some water."

"No, I'm not cold. I just want to see you clean the beef bones." Xiao Yan said.

Lu Qinniang's skills today amazed him.

Until now, what emerged in Xiao Yan's mind was still the image of Lu Qiniang holding the cow and cutting it with the knife.

Clean and neat.

The bright red blood spilled on the snow, like red plum blossoms blooming.

She raised her hand to wipe her face, but she wiped away the scattered blood spots, like a wounded but still brave wolf.

Just with her hearty smile, it was like the warm sun that melted the glaciers.

In short, Xiao Yan saw a kind of beauty he had never seen before.

He wanted to see how the "wise and brave" Lu Qiniang could turn such a decayed cow skeleton into something magical.

Lu Qin's mother put Xiao Yan on the chair, and fearing that he would not be able to sit still and would slide down, she "thoughtfully" tied him and his quilt to the chair with a hemp rope.

Xiao Yan: "..."

There is always something new to be speechless about every day.

Lu Qiniang found the axe for chopping wood and sharpened it on the grindstone until it was shiny.

Then she took out a roll of tattered mat.

Xiao Yan said that it was the roll that Erya used to cheat him out of money yesterday.

The scene before him looked like Lu Qiniang was sharpening her knife and ready to kill him and then destroy the body.

Lu Qiniang started scrubbing the mat with water again.

In the coldest days of winter, water poured on the mat quickly solidified into a thin layer of ice.

Lu Qiniang didn't care. She took a brush and brushed off the ice in a few strokes, then washed it over and over again.

She seemed to have endless energy.

She had almost used up the entire tank of water, so Daya and Erya brought back more water.

Lu Qiniang placed the cow skeleton on a clean mat, picked up the well water she had just brought back, and washed the skeleton as well.

"Now there's not even a trace of blood left. It's even cleaner. Even a dog would shake its head if it saw it." Erya said aggrievedly.

She felt sad when she thought about exchanging six taels of meat for this.

That’s six taels of meat!