Chapter 5: Fierce and Fierce

"We live in a thatched house too. Why doesn't the village head allow us to live in an adobe house?"

"This is the house where the scholar used to live. It has a refined atmosphere. It should be given to the students in the village. Wouldn't it be a waste to let these orphans and widows live there?"

There are also kind-hearted people who refute them.

"Some people's red-eye disease has come back. They just can't stand seeing others doing well. This is the house that others got by killing wolves."

"You're so short-sighted! You're addicted to bullying orphans and widows. You're so unvirtuous! You'll be reborn as an animal in your next life..."

Today is the day of moving into a new house. Jiang Lianzhu and her son are going to clean the adobe house. At this time, Dabao found a centipede in the house and winked at Erbao.

Erbao picked up the centipede with a branch and went out to throw it at Zhao Po and the other gossipers!

Mrs. Zhao and the others were so frightened that they cursed the little bastard and wished him a miserable death. They were also afraid of the centipede, so they didn't dare to bother him any more and scattered like birds and beasts.

Erbao only scares those who gossip, not others.

Everyone laughed.

Jiang Lianzhu also found it funny. These two brothers, one was scheming and the other was daring, and they cooperated well with each other.

This house used to belong to a wealthy family in the village. The son passed the imperial examination and became successful. He found a job and settled down in the county town. He then brought his parents to the county town to enjoy a better life. The house became empty and has been so for several years.

This kind of adobe house will deteriorate quickly if no one lives in it. It is common for insects to infest the wooden beams, mice to dig holes in the adobe walls, and large spider webs to form.

Needs serious cleaning.

Jiang Lianzhu is an adult and tall. She cleans the cobwebs on the walls and beams. The three cubs don't rest either. Erbao's task is to block all the holes in the house to prevent anything from crawling out.

"Mom! A big rat ran out of the hole!" Erbao shouted.

Jiang Lianzhu turned around. Wow! It's half a chopstick long! Rat meat is inedible because it's full of bacteria. If it were edible, this rat could be enough for a meal.

"Kill it! Or drive it out."

As soon as he finished speaking, the mouse ran past the little girl's feet. The little girl raised her foot and stepped on the tail of the big mouse.

Jiang Lianzhu was shocked. Don’t look at the little girl’s small size, this little girl is quite fierce!

The mouse was not a lazy mouse. When its tail was stepped on, it reacted by biting. Fortunately, Jiang Lianzhu was quick-witted and picked up the little girl.

The big rat was killed with one stick.

Dabao and Erbao were also frightened by what they saw.

Dabao asked his sister to sit next to him and play, and didn't let her help with the chores.

Next, Erbao discovered another nest of centipede holes. When he smoked them, more than a dozen centipedes crawled out.

Jiang Lianzhu was delighted when she saw it.

"Catch them all. Centipedes can be sold as medicinal herbs. They are good things."

"Okay!" Erbao was very active. He caught all the fish without missing a single one and put them in a bag.

We had almost finished cleaning up and it was already evening.

"Dabao's mother!" Someone outside called Jiang.

It turned out that some of the kind neighbors next door would occasionally help them with food, small items and so on.

"Aunt Lu, Aunt Hua, Grandma Liu... Is there anything wrong?" Jiang Lianzhu matched the names according to her memory.

Aunt Lu took out a piece of coarse cloth and said, "You are moving into a new house. I don't have anything good to give you, so I will give you a piece of coarse cloth as a housewarming gift."

Several other people also took out some things. "My wife is good at carpentry. This house is big and empty, so I got you four small wooden stools and a small table. They are not worth much. The good ones have been sold. These are just inferior ones. Don't despise them. They can still be used..."

"The old wooden basins and barrels I have at home are still usable. Moving into a new house is a great occasion, and it's not easy for you, a young wife, to take care of a child. After all the hardships, there will be sweet rewards. I hope you will have a good and prosperous life in the future."

…

Jiang Lianzhu was flattered. There are still good people out there.

Of course, she knew that these people were definitely not giving gifts for her sake. Like the village head, most of them gave gifts for the sake of these cute kids.

These things were what Jiang Lianzhu urgently needed at the moment, so she accepted them all without hesitation.

"Thank you, everyone. Thank you, aunts, for your care. I don't have any other gifts in return. So, I just killed a wolf. I'll bring back two pounds of wolf meat for each of you aunts."

The aunts hurriedly said, "No, no, that's not possible. The meat is precious! You orphans and widows have finally killed a wolf. You can take it to town and sell it for money. We don't want it."

Jiang Lianzhu insisted on giving it to me. "No, if the aunts don't accept it, I won't be able to keep it."

You can't always take other people's things for free. It's one thing not to be able to repay them, but now that you have the ability, it's your duty to return the favor.

In the end, Aunt Lu and the others could not refuse and each took two pounds of wolf meat back home.

After Aunt Lu returned home, she talked to her head of the household about it. The head of the household said that wolf meat was precious, even more expensive than pork, and that two pounds of wolf meat was equivalent to the price of three or four pounds of pork. She also asked Aunt Lu to take an old quilt, two pounds of sweet potato flour, a pound of oil, and some seasonings such as ginger, onion, and garlic, and send them to Jiang Lianzhu and the others.

Now that's good.

With oil, salt and seasonings, Jiang Lianzhu made braised wolf meat for the children in the evening!

At noon we had wolf meat in clear soup with its original flavor, and at night we had braised wolf meat with a unique flavor.

The three cubs ate until their mouths were full of oil and looked extremely satisfied.

When the little girl was eating, as long as Jiang Lianzhu got close to her, she would still protect her food and roar at her fiercely.

It's okay as long as you don't get close to her.

There is sweet potato flour, and Jiang Lianzhu also made a sweet potato flour porridge. If you feel too greasy after eating too much meat, you can drink some porridge to relieve the greasiness.

After the mother and her children had eaten and drunk their fill, Jiang Lianzhu went to make the bed.

This adobe house has three rooms: one for the kitchen, one for sleeping, and one for storing miscellaneous items.

The sleeping room was the cleanest. The kang was covered with straw. Jiang Lianzhu spread some old cotton quilts on the straw and then a piece of cloth, and managed to make a bed suitable for sleeping.

The biggest advantage of this house is that there is a well in the yard. You can draw water directly from it without having to go to the river to fetch water for drinking.

Jiang Lianzhu boiled a large pot of hot water and gave the cubs a bath. She didn't need to bathe the two older ones, so she helped the little girl bathe.

Let the kids go to bed first, and then she will take a good bath. The original owner must have not taken a bath for several months, and she smells so bad. I really don’t know what man can be interested in her and elope with her!

He definitely has no good intentions.

The kids hadn't slept in a bed for a long time, and even if it was covered with coarse sheets and old cotton quilts, it still felt very soft.