Someone timidly said, "If it's something that's free, everyone will be grateful when you give it away. Isn't that a good thing?"
Zhao glanced coldly around, hands on her hips, glaring angrily, "Anyone with such greedy thoughts, please leave! What the Mo family has earned through our own abilities, why should we give it away? Have you ever given us anything? Why should we be obligated to give it to you? Where's your shame!"
We've already given a discount of three copper coins to our fellow villagers. If you still think it's too expensive, then go buy it from the butcher! We appreciate the villagers who came to help, but we don't welcome greedy people who always want something for nothing!
The village chief also squeezed forward and said sternly, "Stop with your petty thoughts, don't corrupt the children, ruin the village's atmosphere, and jeopardize the marriage prospects of the younger generation!"
Everyone suddenly realized that if other villages knew that everyone in their village was like this, who would dare to marry their daughter into the village? It's very difficult to find a wife these days!
So everyone stopped having any ulterior motives and decided that it was better to pay for their own food.
The village chief didn't compete with the others; he bought it last.
In the end, there wasn't much left. Old Mo didn't want to give the meat to the village chief, so he went back to the kitchen, cut off a nice piece of meat, and even gave him a bone.
"Oh dear! You old man, isn't this meat perfectly fine? Why cut off new pieces?" Village Chief Liu scolded.
Old Mo chuckled and handed over the meat. "Hey, those leftovers aren't very good; they'll get stuck in your teeth. You're an old man now, and your teeth aren't so good, so this piece of meat is fine for you!"
Village Chief Liu scoffed, "Who are you calling old?"
"I'm old, I'm old!" Old Mo laughed heartily.
Those who helped each received a bone.
After everyone had left, the Mo family began to deal with their half of the pig.
"Auntie! What are you doing?" Mo Dongmei's voice came from the kitchen, and she suddenly shouted, "Grandma! Auntie is cutting up a pork knuckle!"
"It's just cutting a few points, what's all the fuss about!" Mo Yunmei said unhappily.
Everyone rushed into the kitchen and saw that Mo Yunmei had already cut two pieces of pork and put them in a basket. She was now cutting the pig's feet with a knife.
Mo Laoda stepped forward and snatched the knife from Mo Yunmei's hand with lightning speed. Then he grabbed the rope on the ground and tied her hands behind her back.
"Big brother, why are you tying me up?" Mo Yunmei cried out, unable to move.
Mo Laoda didn't reply to her; he and the others carried half a pig out.
Qin came in and took the two pieces of pork away. When she heard Old Lady Mo ask, "Who do you want to give the pork to?", she stopped in her tracks.
Mo Yunmei struggled to break free of the ropes, and when asked, she blurted out, "Take these to Sister Qiuxia. She said her family hasn't eaten meat in a long time and her stomach is very empty! Anyway, we have so much meat that we can't finish it all, so let's give her two pieces to try. She said pork knuckles are delicious, and she knows how to make them taste good, so I thought I'd make one for her too!"
After speaking and receiving no response, she looked up and saw that Old Madam Mo and Madam Qin were still there, but they wouldn't answer her. She was very unhappy and moved to a different spot. "Mother! This rope is hurting my hands so much. Please untie it for me. Look at my older brother, he's really outrageous. He tied me up without saying a word, it hurts so much!"
Seeing Qin holding the small basket, she exclaimed, "Hey! Sister-in-law, don't take that meat and mess it up, I won't be able to find it later. That meat is the best, you put it here, I can take it to Sister Qiuxia later."
Qin ignored her and turned to leave with the basket, no matter how much Mo Yunmei called after her.
Grandma Mo pulled Mo Yunmei into the house and closed the door. "You should stay in your room. The outside world is not suitable for you."
As per Su Nanxi's instructions, the half of the pig was prepared, and now it was Su Nanxi's turn to do the work.
She was too busy, so she asked Madam Qin and Madam Zhao to help her.
The two of them had no idea what she was planning, so they just did whatever she told them to do.
The two of them couldn't handle it all, so they pulled in other people, and as a result, the entire Mo family got busy.
Su Nanxi made dried pork jerky and braised pork, and the whole family was busy until dark.
Everyone was tired and hungry, so Su Nanxi asked Qin Shi to cook. She made sweet and sour pork ribs and braised pork, picked some greens from the vegetable garden in the corner of the house, stir-fried them, and added the pork bone soup she had made. It was a very sumptuous meal.
Su Nanxi scooped up a plate of braised pork, sliced it thinly, and tasted it.
They took the dried meat from Mo Qinghe's hand, fetched water for him to wash his hands, and then pushed him to the dining table.
"Wow! This is so delicious!"
Their eyes shone brightly, and then no one spoke; the only sound was the clinking of bowls and chopsticks.
Mo Yunmei smelled the aroma and knew that something delicious had been prepared at home. As the sounds outside gradually quieted down, she guessed that they should be eating and wanted to go out, but her hands were tied and she couldn't open the door.
She called out several times, but no one answered. She then banged on the door, hoping someone would hear her and come to open it for her. However, after waiting for a long time, no one came.
The Mo family was so engrossed in the delicious food they had never tasted before that they didn't hear any noise outside. They might have heard it, but they didn't pay any attention to it.
The Mo family's door was flimsy; it was knocked down after being bumped several times. Mo Yunmei also fell out, and with her hands tied behind her back, she couldn't get up for a long time.
In fact, Su Nanxi had heard Mo Yunmei shouting from the beginning, but she didn't want to pay attention. Seeing that the others were eating heartily, she was even less inclined to care.
Mo Qinghe kept a close eye on his wife, but pretended not to hear even though he knew.
Mo Dongcheng needed to urinate, so he ran outside to relieve himself. When he came back, he shouted, "Grandpa and Grandma! My aunt took the door apart and is sleeping outside on it."
Su Nanxi couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The others were still confused, they looked at each other, and then continued eating.
Su Nanxi was laughing so hard she could barely breathe, clutching her stomach and struggling to hold it in.
Mo Qinghe patted her head and said with concern, "Don't laugh, your stomach will hurt in a bit. Let's laugh together after we finish eating."
Su Nanxi could only take a deep breath and suppress her laughter.
Mo Yunmei outside started shouting, and the people eating inside finally heard her and ran out to see what was going on. They were all stunned to see someone lying on the door panel. What was going on?
Finally, they helped Mo Yunmei up. Mo Yunmei cried out that she wanted to be untied from the ropes and that she wanted to eat food and meat.
Mo Qinghe said coldly, "There's still food left, Mother. Get it for her in a bit."
Mo Yunmei was overjoyed, but after the rope was untied, she took the bowl and immediately became unhappy. "Mom, why is there only rice? Where's the meat? It smells so good, it must have been cooked. There's so much meat today, we definitely can't finish it all. It's too hot to keep it fresh. I'll take some to Sister Qiuxia later."
Upon hearing this, everyone present turned and left, quickly finishing their rice and meat, dumping any uneaten food into the pig feed bucket, cleaning the table, and washing the dishes.
Then they moved half of the braised meat and dried meat into Old Mo and his wife's house, and the other half into Mo Qinghe's house.
After finishing, everyone packed their clothes and prepared to wash up.
"Where's my meat? You've put it away, what am I going to eat?"
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