19 Your father was killed by a tiger!
◎I killed your father? It was obviously you...◎
Huang Sigou has been in a bad mood recently. In the past, he could occasionally win two or three cents and buy some vegetarian buns to eat, but he lost everything in the last few times.
He knew that Zhuang Xue often picked a basket of wild fruits and went to the city to sell them for money. It might not be much, but she should have at least three or five cents in her private stash. Naturally, Huang Sigou had his eyes on the money.
But every time he saw Zhuang Xue, he got angry. She was thin and withered, so unlucky that it wasn't an exaggeration to call her a jinx. Before he married Zhuang Xue, his father was one of the best hunters in Lingnan County. Their family wasn't wealthy, but it was far better off than it is now.
Just one year after marrying Zhuang Xue, Huang Sigou went into the mountains with his father to hunt wild boars when they accidentally encountered a mountain tiger. His father was killed by the tiger, and Huang Sigou was left with a limp.
Isn’t all this Zhuang Xue’s fault? If I hadn’t married this plague god, how could my Huang family have ended up like this? How could I, Huang Sigou, live like this?
Before she got married, Zhuang Xue was considered petite and lovely, otherwise she would never have married into a hunter's family. However, Huang Sigou did not inherit his father's job, and he had a shifty look, so good girls from respectable families were unwilling to associate with him. So Zhuang Xue's brother and sister-in-law promised her out for a betrothal gift of one or two taels of silver.
Huang Sigou felt for copper coins in the house and put three or five of them into his arms. He only thought about turning the tables with these copper coins and winning back the money he had lost before. However, he slowed down when he passed the kitchen.
Something is wrong.
Zhuang Xue has been acting so strange lately...
There was a small blue wild flower pinned next to the bun on her head!
You know, Zhuang Xue has never worn flowers in her hair before. Now this change shocked Huang Sigou and made him feel uneasy. Could it be that this bitch has a lover?
This thought suddenly came to his mind, causing his original desire to win money to sink...
Zhuang Xue knew nothing about his every move. She only knew what County Magistrate Ye had said to her a few days ago. Whether it was a divorce by peace or a marital separation, Zhuang Xue felt relieved at the thought of being able to leave this home. She even started to like that bastard Huang Sigou.
This morning, she went into the mountains with a basket on her back as usual. She was busy until noon when she finally filled the basket with wild grapes and red fruits.
But as soon as Zhuang Xue got home, a wooden stool was thrown out of the house and hit her.
"Ouch!" Zhuang Xue was frightened and dodged with her head in her hands. Although she was not hit by the wooden bench, the wild grapes in her basket were scattered all over the ground.
Although wild grapes are small, they are sweet and sour and delicious. Many wealthy people in Yuezhou are willing to spend two or three cents to try them. This is also Zhuang Xue's livelihood. However, this thing is extremely precious. Touching or holding it will affect its appearance, not to mention that it has fallen to the ground.
Zhuang Xue couldn't stand it any longer. Remembering what County Magistrate Ye had told her, that Huang Sigou's beating must be seen by others, she glared at him, "What are you doing at home going crazy again! These wild grapes are used to buy food for the children!"
"You only know how to gamble every day. Can you even think of giving your children a penny? You'd rather die out there!"
Zhuang Xue had rarely resisted before, firstly because she had no parents and no one to rely on, and secondly because she was afraid that Huang Sigou would get angry and beat her even harder. Huang Sigou knew all this and was always arrogant.
But what he hadn't expected was that Zhuang Xue would actually scold him like this today. Huang Sigou's previous doubts seemed to have been resolved. He rolled up his sleeves and walked out of the house angrily:
"You jinx! How dare you curse me to death! What?! You're not satisfied with killing my father! You want to kill me too?!"
Huang Sigou cursed and slapped Zhuang Xue in the face.
The burning pain seeped from her face into her heart. Zhuang Xue covered her face with her hands, but she was sneering in her heart: Huang Sigou never let her have any injuries on her face before, because he was afraid that others would see it and look down on him, but now she just provoked him slightly and he lost his mind.
"I killed your father? Huang Sigou, I think you are really not a human being! It was obviously you who was scared out of your wits by that mountain tiger, abandoned your father and ran back here by yourself! What does it have to do with me!"
As soon as these words came out, Huang Sigou seemed to be stripped naked. His face flushed red and he roared in anger: "Shut up! Bitch! Bitch!"
He yelled and hit her, "Bitch! I saw you had a lover, didn't I? How dare you say such nonsense? I'll beat you to death! How dare you cheat on me! Tell me, who is this wild man!"
Zhuang Xue knew that the flower she wore in her hairpin had worked. In the ten years since she had been married to Huang Sigou, she had long seen through him as nothing more than a petty-minded fool.
Before she got married, Xiao Zhuangxue also loved beauty. Any rag could be turned into a lifelike hair ornament in her mother's hands. However, her mother later died of illness and her father accidentally fell off a cliff, and Xiao Zhuangxue's happy life came to an abrupt end.
On the second day after her wedding, Zhuang Xue wore a hair flower made by her mother. At that time, Huang Sigou had not yet revealed his true face, but he also warned her: "My lady, please do not wear flowers in your hair in the future. Vulgar things will only obscure your beauty."
Zhuang Xue didn't know whether he was afraid she would spend money on a hairpin, or if he was afraid her flamboyant attire would attract others. But whatever the reason, Zhuang Xue naturally felt a little uneasy when she wore flowers in her hair again.
Now, everything is going according to her plan.
Zhuang Xue pretended to be uneasy after being accused of something wrong. She covered her face and whispered in a trembling voice, "I...how could I steal someone? You...don't accuse me!"
Huang Sigou was furious when he saw her like this, and kicked her to the ground. Zhuang Xue wailed, and Huang Sigou stopped. If someone died, who knows how much trouble it would cause.
So, he stomped on the wild grapes on the ground and said, "I told you to get out! I told you to get out! From today on, you stay home! If you dare to go out and steal someone else again, I'll beat you up every time I see you!"
Huang Sigou was about to curse again when someone suddenly knocked on the door: "Huang Sigou? Aren't you going out today?"
He then remembered that he had already made an appointment with someone to go to the gambling house, and he said with a smile, "Come quickly! You wait for me at the village entrance first."
When the noise outside the courtyard grew farther and farther away, he lowered his head and shouted angrily, "Did you hear what I just said?"
"Hear...I heard..."
After he left, Zhuang Xue picked up the wild grapes that were not too rotten on the ground.
not enough.
It’s far from enough.
She wanted to drive Huang Sigou crazy, force him to beat people in the street, and force him to break off all ties with her...
When she thought of this, Zhuang Xue laughed out loud, but in the eyes of Xiao Chunhua and Shitou, her expression looked like madness.
Xiao Chunhua's eyes were filled with worry: "Brother, he's not going to make Mom crazy, is he?"
The stone man being called brother was not very old, so he had to pretend to be calm: "No, don't say anything nonsense."
The two little kids hurriedly helped her up. Zhuang Xue looked at her children and couldn't tell them what she was planning. She could only hug them and laugh up to the sky.
However, this action made Xiao Chunhua even more frightened and uneasy.
The next day, her brother and Erdan went to the mountains. When she squatted at the foot of the mountain picking wild vegetables, her thoughts flew farther and farther away, and she was only thinking about what her mother looked like yesterday afternoon.
Could it be that my mother is really crazy?
If he wasn't crazy, why was he crying and laughing? And why was he even letting himself eat wild grapes?
You should know that Zhuang Xue used to treasure these wild grapes the most. The three of them, mother and daughter, all relied on exchanging these baskets of wild grapes for food.
The more Xiao Chunhua thought about it, the sadder she became. Her eyes turned red and her nose felt sore. She was about to cry, but was startled by someone by her side.
"Sister Chunhua, why are you throwing weeds into the backpack?"
Xiao Chunhua was startled by the sudden sound. She turned around and realized who was coming. She looked down at the basket in front of her and hurriedly picked up the weeds from the basket.
"Sister Erya, you scared me."
Chunhua and Erya are of similar age. Although they are not very big, it is not easy for children in the countryside. The little kids often help their family cut hemp and pick wild fruits. After a while, they became good friends.
After hearing her words, Erya was a little confused. Although she was two years older, she was more sensible and thought that only people who did bad things would be scared:
"Sister Chunhua, are you doing something bad? Otherwise, why would you be scared by me? I'm not a mountain tiger."
Speaking of this, Xiao Chunhua sighed and said quietly, "Sister Erya...my mother seems to have gone crazy..."
"Ah!" Erya screamed when she heard this. She suddenly remembered what Sister Ye had told her a few days ago. "Why is your mother crazy?!"
A few days ago, Sister Ye brought me a small bowl of something sweet and sticky. I just need to secretly observe Aunt Zhuang, and if Aunt Zhuang is injured, I must tell Sister Ye immediately.
Sister Ye said this is not betrayal, but protection.
This was naturally not difficult for Erya. She often stayed with Chunhua and could see the particularly gentle Aunt Zhuang from time to time. What's more, her grandmother said that Sister Ye was the best person in the world, and there would be nothing wrong with what she asked her to do.
I, Wang Erya, am not the kind of person who would betray my friends for a little food.
She secretly visited several times, but Aunt Zhuang remained the same as usual, so she thought about going back later. But why did the person Sister Ye had asked her to protect go crazy after not seeing her for so long?
Xiao Chunhua lowered her head, dug at the dirt on the ground with her skinny fingers, and murmured, "Shh, don't make a sound..."
"Oh, my dear sister, why are you still hiding something like this?" Arya shook her arm. "Tell me quickly, what's going on?"
Xiao Chunhua was dizzy from being shaken by her and asked foolishly, "Sister Erya, my mother is crazy, why are you so nervous? Are you crazy too..."
"Aunt Zhuang treats me so well, I'm just worried about her." Erya flicked her forehead, "How can you say I'm crazy?"
Xiao Chunhua lowered her head and whispered about her mother's situation at noon. She raised her head and looked at her sister Erya's dumbfounded face, then sighed deeply and lowered her head.
Before Erya could speak, a voice came from a distance:
"Erya! Chunhua! You two, come here quickly!"
“Woof woof woof——”
It’s Brother Erdan, Shitou, and Dahei.
Erya quickly responded and pulled Chunhua up. Seeing her little face full of sadness, Erya remembered that her grandmother said that the treasure in the wheat field was invented by Sister Ye. Sister Ye knew such a difficult thing, so she must know how to cure the little madness.
Erya thought about this and felt relieved. She leaned over to her ear and whispered, "Don't worry, Sister Chunhua. I will definitely find a miracle doctor to cure Aunt Zhuang."
"real?"
"real!"
Xiao Chunhua looked at her sister Erya who was nodding vigorously, and felt that she was much taller and much more powerful than her brother!
"Come quickly!" Shi Tou shouted at them again.
The two of them hurried over with baskets on their backs, not knowing why. Erdan was holding his clothes, in which were six or seven bird eggs. Erdan was a naughty boy, and he spent all day trying to catch birds and fish.
"Oh! Brother, you touched the bird eggs!" Erya exclaimed.
"Shh, keep your voice down." Erdan made a gesture to keep quiet.
Erya quickly covered her mouth. This thing could only satisfy the little ones' appetite, so she naturally couldn't say anything.
Erdan was not stingy and handed two bird eggs to Chunhua and Shitou. He knew that their families were in financial difficulty and said, "You two take them back and eat them."
The two children were obviously not experienced in being polite, so they quickly took the bird eggs and thanked Erdan: "Thank you, brother Erdan."
After hearing this, Erdan felt a sense of righteousness in his heart, as if he had become a hero helping the weak and the poor. He patted his chest with great momentum and said:
"With our relationship, why would you even bother thanking me? From now on, whenever I, Wang Erdan, eat, you guys will have a drink!"
Erya quickly took out a bird's egg and said to him, "Brother, eat one less. This is for Aunt Zhuang."
Without waiting for Erdan to speak, she grabbed Chunhua and ran, shouting, "Brother! I'm going to see Aunt Zhuang. You go home first."
"Just go, why run so fast?" Erdan was a little confused.
When the two little girls arrived at Chunhua's house panting, they found the yard so eerily quiet that they quietly went into the house.
Xiao Chunhua heard some noise in the kitchen and tugged at Erya's sleeve, motioning her to look inside. Erya leaned over the window and peeked in. Aunt Zhuang was cutting vegetables on the stove.
No, it's chopping vegetables...
The "clang, clang, clang..." sound of chopping vegetables seemed a little scary in the quiet courtyard. But the most frightening thing was not that. Aunt Zhuang had a huge red flower pinned on her hair, and a faint smile on her face as she chopped the vegetables...
It's over, it's over!
Aunt Zhuang is really crazy!
Erya didn’t know that Aunt Zhuang’s condition was so “serious” before. Did Sister Ye cure it?
She won’t be angry if she finds out, right?
The more Erya thought about it, the more frightened she became. She let go of Chunhua's hand and ran to the county government office. On the way, she kept thinking about Aunt Zhuang's crazy look. She was so scared that she was about to cry. She stumbled into the county government office and saw Sister Ye from a distance. She cried and said,
"Sister Ye is in trouble! Aunt Zhuang has gone crazy!"
At the same time, another voice sounded behind Erya:
"County Magistrate Ye! Someone is beating a drum to protest!"
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