Chapter 13 The Return of Li Rong
Jiang Nuanzhi naturally knew that people might not believe him. Not to mention them, even in modern times, he was often doubted and questioned.
Everyone thought that she was a fair-skinned young girl who had absolutely nothing to do with being a veterinarian.
"If you don't believe me, I can go with you and collect payment after the pig is castrated. If you don't like it, I won't charge you a penny. Fortunately, you won't be able to find another pig castrator in a short time, so you won't suffer any losses. Isn't that right?"
Upon hearing her words, the two Qian brothers exchanged a glance, both somewhat tempted.
Finally, the eldest son of the Qian family clapped his hands and gritted his teeth, saying, "Wife, then we'll trust you this time. We'll trouble you to come with us."
Jiang Nuanzhi patted her chest with a smile: "No problem, let's make it clear first, how about two taels of silver?"
"Of course, if my wife does a good job, my brother and I will pay an extra half string of cash to give her a meal with meat."
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded in satisfaction, then followed the two Qian brothers out the door.
Seeing this, Physician Lü felt uneasy and immediately said to A Yong beside him, "A Yong, go and follow them. If things really don't work out, you can help out as well."
Even after everyone had walked away, Physician Lü was still feeling very uneasy.
What kind of situation is this? How could he be fooled by a young woman's few words?
He slapped his forehead and immediately buried himself in his book.
"It's neither this nor that. I remember there was a book called 'Court Secretary' that talked about eunuchs."
Jiang Nuanzhi and her group of five headed towards the Wang family in a grand procession.
As for why there were five people, it was because the young master of the Lü family had somehow appeared and insisted on going along to take a look.
However, Jiang Nuanzhi was too lazy to pay attention to him. On the way, she negotiated with the two brothers of the Qian family and learned that a total of twenty-two pigs needed to be castrated.
She figured that if all went well, she should be back in two hours.
Even if she managed to get back to town in two hours, she wouldn't be able to catch Uncle Niu's donkey cart back to the village. The children wouldn't be able to wait for her, and she wondered if they would be disappointed.
But then she thought about how she could earn two and a half taels of silver. Even after paying back Liu Ma's money, she wouldn't be so short of cash. She could then buy more rice, flour, cooking oil, and some meat to improve the family's meals.
Thinking of how they ate steamed buns in the morning, Jiang Nuanzhi secretly thought that she would make some delicious big meat buns for them when she got back.
Xinghua Village.
Beside the stream at the entrance of the village.
The man, covered in blood, lay prostrate on the ground, his body filthy and his face unrecognizable.
He had a knife blade between his teeth, and his bloodied hands gripped the hilt of a broken sword. Using the broken sword as leverage, he struggled to crawl forward, finally managing to take a small step. Exhausted, he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Behind him was a trail of blood, carved by his flesh and blood against the ground, stretching all the way up the mountain with no end in sight.
The man took a few breaths, seemingly regaining some strength, and then reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of bloody, gooey flesh of unknown origin.
He tore off a piece of flesh with his bare hands and swallowed it with great difficulty. His eyes remained devoid of any emotion as he continued to crawl forward, using the broken sword as a crutch.
Li Rong didn't know how much time had passed; he only knew that he had now arrived at the familiar Xinghua Village.
Just a little bit more, just a little bit more, and I'll be able to see the children.
Before the incident, he met Brother Wu, who was also a hunter, and heard Brother Wu talk about how the children were being humiliated and abused at home.
At that moment, he was filled with remorse. He had never imagined that the convicted wife he had bought for ten taels of silver, whom he had only hoped would help take care of his children and allow them to eat ordinary meals like other children, would become the source of his troubles.
At that time, he was hunting wild boar, waiting to catch his prey so he could go home and quickly capture and kill the man. Unexpectedly, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
As if by divine intervention, he looked up again, and his vision blurred as if he could see his second son.
He was overjoyed, but his parched throat from the past few days meant he could only manage a muffled, hoarse sound. He could only desperately try to get the child's attention by stabbing the ground with his sword.
But the next second, a woman was seen tightly gripping his child.
The once lively and energetic Xiao Er seems to have injured his leg and can no longer run fast.
He couldn't see clearly at all, but he could hear the child's soft sobs and his little daughter's heart-wrenching cries.
Li Rong almost bit his teeth until they bled. He wanted to move forward, but his body seemed unable to withstand such a huge emotional upheaval. He was overcome with fainting spells and could not even hold onto his broken sword.
He ultimately lacked the strength to get up. Even with all his might, he could only move half a step, and that half step exhausted all his strength, causing him to collapse to the ground. A wave of dizziness washed over him.
Even though he bit his tongue in an attempt to regain consciousness, he ultimately lost consciousness.
His last thought was
Kill them, kill them all.
Jiang Nuan was completely unaware of what was happening at home; she was busy as a bee.
The two Qian brothers helped her catch the piglet and pinned it to the ground. Jiang Nuanzhi knelt on the pig with her left foot and supported herself on the ground with her right foot. She disinfected the piglet with a cloth soaked in strong liquor, then reached out and pinched the root of the piglet. She took a knife and made a cut about the length of a finger joint. She then used a hook to neatly pull out the two roots of the piglet and cut them off with a swipe of the knife.
With two loud thuds, the two troublemakers were thrown into the iron basin that had been prepared in advance.
Sheathed the knife, sprinkled some medicine powder on the pig's wound, stood up, and finished in one swift motion.
The little pig broke free of its restraints, its heart-wrenching screams ceasing, and it dashed away in a flash, snorting and grunting in protest.
The four men around them exchanged glances, understanding each other's emotions through their eyes. Almost instinctively, they squeezed their legs together.
This scene truly sent chills down one's spine.
Without exception, all four of them looked at Jiang Nuanzhi with a hint of fear in their eyes.
"What are you waiting for? There's only one left, press it down."
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned as she washed her hands, looking at the Qian brothers beside her.
There was nowhere to find gloves at that point, so she had to wash her hands after each glove was made, then disinfect them with strong liquor before making the next one.
The two Qian brothers snapped out of their daze and immediately set out to catch the piglet.
Even though everyone was already drenched in cold sweat, they couldn't help but continue watching Jiang Nuanzhi's actions.
To be honest, the two Qian brothers were镖师 (bodyguards/escorts), so they had seen their fair share of these kinds of things. Many were even more bloody.
The woman performed this task with a subtle air of composure. She was plump, yet her hands were surprisingly nimble. Despite performing such a lowly job as castrating pigs, her movements somehow exuded a calm and unhurried quality, creating a fluid and graceful beauty. It was truly bizarre.
After finishing the last step and applying the medicine powder, Jiang Nuanzhi breathed a sigh of relief and said while washing her hands, "Done!"
"Note that you should not eat or drink anything from tonight until tomorrow morning. You can start feeding normally tomorrow."
(End of this chapter)
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