Mushroom Village is definitely not going to be peaceful today. The villagers would never have imagined that watching the excitement would lead to discovering a wild boar, and then everyone would be able to enjoy a good meal of meat.
Sister-in-law Ma carried her share of meat and stew home. There were only five people in her family, and she received less than nine pounds of meat. The days of food shortages were long, so she had to preserve the meat carefully.
The best way, of course, is to make cured meat. Ma Da Sao cut off a pound of pork, which would last for two or three days. She cured the rest of it, washed the earthenware jar, cut the meat, and started curing it by layering salt on each slice.
The children were all staring at Aunt Ma's cured meat, their eyes and hearts filled with longing. Seeing their greedy looks, Aunt Ma sighed and said, "How about I make dumplings for you today?" The children's eyes lit up at the suggestion.
Village Chief Ma smiled and pulled three cans of food out of his pocket, startling Sister-in-law Ma so much that she forgot about the cured meat and hurriedly asked where they came from. Village Chief Ma replied, "Where did they come from? Where else could they come from? Yan Xiaonan gave them to my older brother and sister."
"Yan Xiaonan, that pretty young girl from the Yan family, why would she give you this? And why would Grandma Yan be willing to part with it?" Ma Dasao was a little confused.
"I approved two acres of land for the Yan family, and the little girl took this out of the house and gave it to me. She's the eldest sister-in-law of the Yan family, and I could tell she was very happy about it. This little girl is still so young, yet she already knows how to win people's hearts with gifts. Is it a coincidence or is she just a clever person?"
Aunt Ma's eyes flickered, and she was about to say something when she saw three small faces and six eyes staring intently at the can of food in her hand, so she stopped talking.
She took four small bowls from the cupboard, opened a can, and divided it into four equal portions. The three children cheered and picked up their bowls to start tasting. Mrs. Ma handed the last bowl to her husband.
Village Chief Ma was a little embarrassed, but he really wanted to eat it. He took a bite without waiting and found it sweet. Suddenly, he saw his wife swallow hard and scolded himself for forgetting her.
He picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful, and brought it to Ma Dasao's lips. Ma Dasao felt a warmth in her heart. This man was really good to her. The canned fruit was sweet, but Ma Dasao's heart was even sweeter.
Seeing that the meat was not yet fully marinated, Ma Da Sao quickly got to work again, carefully sealing the mouth of the earthenware jar, and took it to her house to hide it. She also hid the two cans of fruit very well.
In fact, it wasn't just Ma Da Sao's family that did this; every household in the village did it, including Wang Gou Dan's family, where his mother and wife were also curing meat in the kitchen.
Wang Sanniu was very wary as she fed the chickens and swept the yard. She even washed the beggar clothes that Wang Daniu and Wang Gou Dan had changed out of in the water, moving slowly and reluctantly, unwilling to go inside.
Sure enough, Wang Erniu was slapped hard across the face by Wang Gou Dan. He was disgusted that Wang Erniu couldn't even open the door of the Yan family, so what use was she? Then, Wang Gou Dan pushed Wang Erniu out of the main room and threw her into the yard, her face scraping against the rough ground, leaving streaks of blood.
Wang Erniu was in so much pain that she curled up, but dared not cry out. Wang Gou Dan's vile curses still echoed in the room. San Niu clenched her little fists, but hid by the chicken coop, not even having the courage to help Wang Erniu up.
Si Niu crouched in the corner of the room, trembling with fear. Her small body wished she could disappear into the wall. Wang Erniu, who was in pain from being beaten by Bei Nan, couldn't take it anymore. He picked up the teacup on the table and threw it on the ground. He said angrily to Wang Gou Dan, "It's all your fault. I told you not to go, but you insisted on going. Now look what happened, are you satisfied?"
Wang Gou Dan raised his fist, ready to teach this unfilial son a lesson, but Wang Er Niu puffed out his chest, patted his heart and shouted, "Come on, hit me here, just kill me, I don't want to live anymore."
Wang Gou Dan, after all, only had Er Niu as his son. He slowly lowered his fist, but unexpectedly, his wife rushed out of the kitchen, shouting, "Don't hit my son!" Wang Gou Dan's anger was directed at his wife, and he punched her, making her spit out a mouthful of blood.
The entire room fell silent. Apart from his grandmother, Wang Erniu usually looked down on his parents and sisters, but when his mother was beaten and vomited blood because of him, Wang Erniu's eyes began to redden.
Wang Gou Dan was just venting his anger, and that was all he wanted to do. He didn't expect that his punch would make his wife vomit blood. He was also quite frightened, and all the anger in his body disappeared. He rushed over to check on her, and the woman who had vomited blood had fainted.
Wang Gou Dan was so frightened that his legs went weak and he fell to the ground, staring blankly at his wife, his mind completely blank. Wang Er Niu picked up a carrying pole from the door and struck Wang Gou Dan hard on the head. Wang Gou Dan covered his head, looked at Wang Er Niu in disbelief, and then fell to the ground as well.
Grandma Wang, who had just reached the kitchen door, witnessed this series of events. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground. In the Wang family, only a young boy holding a carrying pole remained, standing there with red eyes.
Wang Sanniu shrank even further inside. The whole family was crazy. This whole family was crazy. Wang Erniu was so scared that she got up and ran outside. She fell several times in the short distance of a dozen meters. Fortunately, Erniu did not chase after her.
Wang Erniu ran all the way to Village Chief Ma's house, shouting loudly, "Uncle Village Chief, help me!"
Mrs. Ma asked her husband to pick some chives from the backyard. She was kneading dough and cutting meat to make dumplings when a shrill scream came from the doorway. Mrs. Ma was so frightened that she almost cut off her own finger. She slammed the cleaver into the cutting board, wiped her hands, and asked as she walked away, "Who is it?"
The sounds outside subsided slightly, but then an even more piercing scream entered her ears. Ma's wife frowned, opened the courtyard gate, and a little girl with a face covered in blood immediately knelt down: "Aunt Ma, help me!"
This terrified Sister-in-law Ma. Who was this? Why was her face covered in blood? From behind came Village Chief Ma's voice: "Erniu, what happened to you? Who hit you?"
"Er Niu, from the Wang family," Ma Da Sao was quite surprised. "Who did this? Could it be Bei Nan? Impossible. If Bei Nan were to hit anyone, he would only hit Er Niu." Ma's three children also came out. The youngest son was only three or four years old. When he saw Er Niu's bloody face, he was so frightened that he burst into tears.
Mrs. Ma quickly picked up her youngest son and gently coaxed him, "Don't cry, sweetie, it's Erniu, the Wang family's Erniu."
Village Chief Ma frowned deeply, stepped out of his own yard, and told his wife to close the door and cook while he went to check on the Wang family. His wife was a little worried, so she handed the child in her arms to her eldest son and asked him to keep an eye on his younger siblings and close the door, while she went to check on them as well.
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