Chapter 17 A Thief Broke the Village
The air was filled with the aroma of chestnuts.
Mudfish swallowed hard and followed behind Zhao Sidan: "Sidan, can I have another one?"
Zhao Sidan had only two chestnuts left. He hesitated for a moment, then picked up a chestnut, took a bite, handed over the remaining half, and turned to run home, afraid of being caught and having to take the last one with him.
Mudskipper took half a chestnut, reluctant to eat it, and brought it home to his mother, Aunt Wang: "These are chestnuts made by Fourth Egg's mother. Mother, can you make them like this?"
Aunt Wang inhaled the sweet, cloying aroma. She picked up the chestnut, took a small bite, and immediately began to curse, "What a spendthrift woman! She puts oil and sugar in roasted chestnuts! The few coins we have aren't enough for her to squander! She only cares about enjoying a good meal now, without thinking about what we'll eat tomorrow! Bah, no wonder Old Mrs. Zhao looks down on this daughter-in-law..."
The cursing reached Cheng Wanwan's ears next door.
She was chopping bok choy, planning to make a cold dish later, but when she heard Aunt Wang scolding her, she didn't stop working.
The original owner of this body was not well-liked in the village, and there were too many people talking badly about her behind her back. If she had to scold them one by one, she would be too busy to keep up.
She didn't react, but Zhao Sanniu got angry and rushed out with the wood-chopping axe in his hand: "Aunt Wang, what did you just say?"
Aunt Wang was startled: "What's wrong with you, you silly boy? I've never treated you badly. It's your mother who's always thinking about how to fill her own stomach. When has she ever cared about you kids..."
She really treated the four children of the Zhao family well. In the past few years, when the harvest was good, she would occasionally stuff them with buckwheat buns. In the last two years, when the crops were not good, she would secretly stuff them with dried wild vegetables or small steamed buns. Otherwise, Zhao San Niu would have chopped the firewood at Aunt Wang's feet with his axe long ago.
He said, carrying an axe, "My mother is very good to us. She roasts chestnuts especially for us. Otherwise, how would Si Dan have extra loaches to give to your family!"
"San Niu, take some firewood to the kitchen!"
Cheng Wanwan called out, and Zhao Sanniu immediately ran in and carried the chopped firewood to the kitchen.
Aunt Wang stood at the door, her face full of suspicion. In the past, these children had a very bad relationship with Sister-in-law Zhao. She would curse that woman in front of the children, and the children would never react. But today, that bastard Zhao Sanniu actually wanted to chop her up with an axe!
Mudfish chimed in, "Four Eggs had over a dozen chestnuts in his pockets, more than I did..."
Aunt Wang slapped him on the back of the head: "You're already being generous by giving us food, and you still complain it's not enough? Get inside and chop some firewood!"
She glanced at the neighboring yard in disbelief. Cheng Wanwan was squatting on the ground cleaning the baby goose vegetables, while Dashan's wife was sitting on a chair sewing clothes... Ever since Dashan's wife entered the family, Zhao Chengshi had never done any work. It was truly as if the sun had risen in the west.
Wu Huiniang quickly sewed up Zhao Sidan's tattered clothes, bit off the loose thread, and then went into the kitchen to cook dinner.
She felt that a few chestnuts would suffice for a meal each evening, but her mother-in-law insisted that they must eat staple foods so they would have the energy to work.
For dinner, they ate wheat flour. Wu Huiniang kneaded and cooked the dough, while Cheng Wanwan cooked two dishes: a cold salad of bitter lettuce and a cold salad of mushrooms.
Villagers usually eat buckwheat noodles, which are dark in color and mixed with various grains. When made into noodles, they can be rough on the throat. Wheat flour, on the other hand, is not only visually appealing but also soft and fragrant. With each sip, the mouth is filled with a refreshing aroma. Paired with cold dishes, it is delicious and refreshing, and even the broth is drunk clean.
Wu Huiniang was surprised to learn that the goose vegetable, which she had always thought was bitter and tough, could be so refreshing, though it was a bit too oily and fuely.
After the meal, Cheng Wanwan brought out the washed wild fruits, which Zhao Sidan had found during the day.
The green and red fruits, I don't know if they are plums or wild apples, taste sweet and sour, and are crisp and refreshing.
The whole family ate until their bellies were round.
Zhao Sidan said with a satisfied look, "I wish I could eat this much every day."
Zhao Ergou did the math in his head. He had bought twenty catties of rice and twenty catties of flour this morning. At three catties per meal and six catties per day, it would only last for six or seven days.
Zhao Sanniu asked directly, "What should we do after we finish eating the grain we got from exchanging the silver hairpin?"
Zhao Dashan said, "The crops in the field will be harvested in more than twenty days, so we won't go hungry forever."
After he said that, the room fell silent.
It hadn't rained for over a month, and the river in Dahe Village had dried up, not to mention the rice paddies. Without water, the crops in the fields simply couldn't produce ears of grain.
Everyone in the village was hoping for a good harvest, but after that day, the nightmare was probably just beginning.
Cheng Wanwan waved her hand: "Things will work themselves out. This is none of your business. Go wash up and go to sleep."
The night was quiet.
The three calves fell asleep as soon as they climbed onto the bed.
After sleeping in the same bed with her sons for several days in a row, Cheng Wanwan had gotten used to it and gradually drifted off to sleep.
A sharp scream pierced the silent night sky. She sat up abruptly in bed, and heard a wail in her ear.
Zhao Dashan stood at the doorway and said, "Mom, a thief has broken into the village!"
Cheng Wanwan instinctively looked at the cabinet where the grains were kept. She took out the key and opened the cabinet. The rice and flour were still there, and she felt relieved.
“All the grain from Aunt Wang’s house next door has been stolen,” Zhao Dashan said. “Grandpa Village Head has already sent people to chase the thief, but I don’t know if they can catch him.”
Cheng Wanwan got up, put on her shoes and went outside. Most of the men in the village had gone to chase the thief, while the woman stayed behind to comfort Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang sat on the ground, wiping away tears: "What sins has our Wang family committed? Why did they steal our grain... They're thieves who deserve divine punishment, may God strike them dead with lightning..."
Cheng Wanwan and the Wang family lived at the end of the village, near the foot of the mountain. When thieves came in, their two families were the first to be robbed.
The Wang family is an outsider; their ancestors fled famine and settled in Zhao Village, where they were allocated land on the outskirts of the village.
The place where Cheng Wanwan lives used to be inhabited by people from outside Dahe Village. However, that person only had two daughters. After his daughters got married, he became childless and the house was left empty after his death.
After successfully separating from the family, the original owner was arranged to live here by the village head. Although the house was dilapidated, it was still better than having no house to live in.
Aunt Wang slapped her thigh and wailed, "The crops in the fields are gone, and all the grain in the house has been stolen. How are we going to live from now on... All six of us might as well die... Fifty or sixty pounds of grain, the grain we painstakingly saved from our own mouths, and it's all gone just like that... And the two big baskets of chestnuts we collected yesterday, they're gone too..."
The women watching were astonished; they hadn't expected the Wang family to still have fifty or sixty catties of grain stored up at a time like this. If they ate only one meal a day and were careful with their food, it could feed the family of six for one or two months...
The village head sighed and said, "There are still more than twenty days until the rice harvest. Everyone, please lend us a little so we can get through this difficult time!"
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