The noise grew louder and louder, almost enough to lift the roof off.
At Tie Zhengzi's house next door, Zhang Jucai's lips twitched as he listened.
He cursed inwardly that Old Zhang's wife was really unreasonable. Er Gouzi was about to become successful, and she still went to cause trouble. Wasn't she just being a busybody?
Zhang Jucai looked at his wife, who was listening intently to the commotion, and said in a deep voice, "Go and talk to Lao Ming. It's almost the Lunar New Year, why make things so tense?"
"middle!"
Tie Zhengzi's mother had been unable to contain herself for a long time. Upon receiving her husband's words, she immediately rushed out of the courtyard like a general who had received an order.
Zhang Jucai listened intently.
Before long, his wife's familiar, loud, and forceful cursing voice joined the fray.
Well, is this supposed to be a peacemaker? It's clearly him joining the fray himself!
The idle women in the neighborhood couldn't miss such a lively scene, and they all craned their necks and crowded into Old Zhang's yard.
My mother is incredibly powerful; she stomps her feet, points to the sky and curses the earth, spitting everywhere, spewing out the most offensive words.
Aunt Hua and Tie Zhengzi's mother joined forces, not to be outdone, and went all out.
Zhang Cheng's head was throbbing from the noise of these women.
He turned and went back to the mud house.
The crazy woman was sitting on the bed, slowly putting on her cotton-padded coat.
Zhang Cheng looked at her and forced a wry smile: "I'm going out for a bit. You stay home and don't wander off."
The madwoman blinked her clear eyes and nodded gently.
Zhang Cheng felt a warmth in his heart; his wife seemed to be getting better every day.
"Then I'm leaving."
He casually grabbed a handful of roasted pine nuts, stuffed them into his pocket, lifted the curtain, and went outside.
The "battle" in the courtyard intensified, with several more older women joining in. The old woman was clearly at a disadvantage, flustered and unable to pay attention to Zhang Cheng, who had just come out.
It was freezing cold, and Zhang Cheng had nowhere to go.
He thought he'd go to Big Head's house for a visit and chat with him about his future plans.
When they arrived at Zhang Da Nao's house, they found the door locked and no one inside.
Zhang Cheng then went to Zhang Jianhao's house.
Sword Master's parents didn't know where their son had gone either, only that he had left early in the morning.
Zhang Cheng wondered where these kids had gone visiting in this freezing weather.
Just as he was about to try his luck at Tie Zhengzi's house, a figure blocked his way.
It's Li Qiming.
He was wearing an old cotton-padded coat covered in patches, rubbing his hands together, his face full of embarrassment and awkwardness.
"Er Gouzi... about what happened before, it was... I'm sorry." Li Qiming's voice was soft, but it carried a clear hint of flattery.
Zhang Cheng glanced at him and smiled faintly.
"It's all in the past, let's turn the page."
He casually asked, "Have you seen Big Head and the others?"
Li Qiming's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "I saw them! They left the village early this morning!"
Have we left the village?
Zhang Cheng frowned slightly, even more puzzled.
In such cold weather, with snow so deep that they can't even get into the mountains, where can they go after leaving the village?
Surely Zhang Da-nao couldn't have been so bold as to take them to the county town, could he? But there's nothing to do in the county town anyway!
"Er Gouzi," Li Qiming leaned closer and lowered his voice, "I think I saw Jianhao and the others carrying hammers, hoes and stuff... I reckon they went to the mountain stream behind the village to make pestles!"
Knocking on a stick?
Zhang Cheng was stunned for a moment.
Hammering sticks? Catching fish? These people must be incredibly bored.
That is the most primitive and least efficient method of fishing.
Use a large club or stone to smash the large rocks by the stream, and use the vibration to stun the fish hiding under the rocks.
But what time is it now? The dead of winter! The mountain streams are frozen solid, like rocks. Are they going to break the ice? They'd be lucky to knock anyone out!
"Let's go check it out!" Zhang Cheng became interested and wanted to see what these guys were up to.
"Okay!"
Li Qiming was overjoyed and quickly followed. Being able to follow Zhang Cheng was a tremendous stroke of luck for him. His father had said that Zhang Cheng was destined for great things, and if he curried favor with him now, he might actually get a job at the supply and marketing cooperative!
The two trudged through the snow, one step at a time, and soon reached the mountain stream behind the village.
Sure enough, from afar they could see Zhang Da Nao, Zhang Jianhao, and seven or eight other young men busy around the frozen stream.
"Big Head Bro! You guys are really banging on sticks?" Zhang Cheng ran up quickly and shouted.
Zhang Da Tou, who was swinging a hammer to smash the ice, straightened up when he heard the sound. When he saw that it was Zhang Cheng, his face immediately broke into a grin.
"Er Gouzi, you're here!" He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "Hey, what's all this nonsense! We had that braised turtle at the Guoyun Hotel a couple of days ago, right? I was thinking, this thing is precious, and we've caught some in the stream in our village before. Maybe we could catch a few and sell them to the Guoyun Hotel!"
Zhang Cheng's lips twitched involuntarily.
Well, this big-headed guy is really obsessed with money.
In the dead of winter, braving the freezing cold, they come out into the snow and ice to catch turtles? That's quite a strange thought process.
He was about to say something when he saw Zhang Da Tou mysteriously pick something up from the snowdrift next to him.
It was a turtle, quite large, weighing three or four pounds, but it was frozen solid and motionless.
"Hehe, look! We actually managed to catch one!" Zhang Da Tou proudly waved the frozen turtle in his hand. "The mountain stream was frozen too solid, it was hard to handle. We worked for most of the day and only caught this one."
Zhang Jianhao, who was holding an iron chisel and struggling to break the ice, also came over, looking excited.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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