The Wild Boar Sold for Two Taels of Silver

Zhou Qingyan and Zhou Qinghe scrambled to their feet and ran off, while Zhou Wanwan and Zhou Qingchen waited there.

Quite a while later, Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng finally came hurrying over.

Liu Su'e said softly, "What on earth happened? Is Wanwan all right? You two unlucky children didn't explain yourselves..."

"Oh, we couldn't explain it. Wouldn't you know once you saw it?" Zhou Qinghe pointed.

They looked in the direction he was pointing and got a tremendous fright. Zhou Fusheng covered his mouth and said, "A w-wild boar? One this big? Has our family struck it lucky?"

Zhou Qingyan said in a low voice, "What luck? If it weren't for our little sister, we couldn't possibly have found the boar. Let's hurry and take it back."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. "The smell of blood is too strong. Before long, wild beasts will catch the scent and come over."

The family bustled about and carried the boar down. It wasn't dark yet, so they hid it in the grass not far from home.

When evening came, Zhou Fusheng went to fetch Lin Shouyi. Lin Shouyi rubbed his eyes and asked, "What's happened? Has the drought come?"

Zhou Fusheng said softly, "No, we caught some game up in the mountains. Come with us and give us a hand."

Lin Shouyi sighed. "All right. Did you catch a rabbit or a pheasant?"

"I'd better take you to see it. Bring the ox cart along too."

Lin Shouyi thought Zhou Fusheng was making a fuss over nothing, but there was nothing he could do. He hitched up the ox cart and followed him to the field, where he saw a wild boar lying quietly on the ground.

Lin Shouyi rubbed his eyes and looked at Zhou Fusheng. "Brother Zhou, you're incredible! You actually brought down a wild boar. That makes you one of the best in our village!"

"No... it wasn't me..."

"Don't be so modest. I'll take you into town right now. It's still early, and the boar looks fresh. It might fetch a good price," Lin Shouyi said.

Zhou Wanwan took the chance to climb onto the cart, and Lin Shouyi took them straight to the restaurant.

The restaurant's steward had just opened the door when he saw the boar. "Oh! Where did you get this thing? Not bad!"

Lin Shouyi grinned. "Steward Feng, not bad, right? This boar was killed just this morning. How much can you give us for it?"

Steward Feng walked around the boar and sniffed its blood. Smiling, he said, "It really is quite fresh, but it's dead. If it were alive, I could offer more. The most I can give you for this is two taels of silver."

Lin Shouyi coughed. "That's... that's far too cheap, isn't it?"

Steward Feng smiled. "How should I put it? We can only sell something like this if a distinguished guest comes along. Tell you what, we've known each other a long time, so the most I can offer is two taels and two hundred wen."

Lin Shouyi looked at Zhou Wanwan, who nodded. "All right, it's a deal."

Once the steward brought out the two taels and two hundred wen, Zhou Wanwan turned and pressed the two hundred wen into Lin Shouyi's hand. "Uncle Lin, this is for you."

Lin Shouyi quickly waved his hands. "What are you doing?"

Zhou Wanwan stuffed it into his arms.

"You've helped my family so much before. It's only right. I'm planning to buy some more grain now.

"I'm also going to buy wooden basins and earthenware jars. Would you like to come along?"

"Sure. I brought a tael of silver with me today, and I'm planning to buy more grain and earthenware jars too. Then we can store more water at home."

Zhou Wanwan was thinking the same thing. In a disaster year, grain and water were the most important things. She had to make sure there was enough of both for her family of six.

Zhou Wanwan bought a tael of silver's worth of refined grain before going to buy wooden basins and earthenware jars.

The larger wooden basins cost fifty wen each, and Zhou Wanwan ordered ten.

The large earthenware jars cost twenty wen each, and Zhou Wanwan bought twenty-five.

She had spent every last bit of money she had on her again. Once they finished shopping, they headed straight home.

Some people watched them and said, "Oh! You must be rich, buying so many earthenware jars."

"Exactly! And there are so many wooden basins too!"

"There's something wrong with the heads of those people from Zhou Family Village, every last one of them. We'd better not copy them.

"Don't you know? Their family even eats pig offal. Give that stuff to a dog, and even the dog wouldn't eat it!" Old Madam Shen said loudly.

Old Madam Wang couldn't resist complaining.

"The other day, I saw them go up the mountain and gather a handful of wild vegetables, so I just asked about it. You wouldn't believe how far away their family kept from me.

"That family is really stingy."

Although they were some distance away, Zhou Wanwan heard every word. She couldn't help frowning as she looked at Old Madam Shen and Old Madam Wang.

Neither of those families was easy to deal with. Now she felt that buying this house hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Especially in a disaster year, what if those two families couldn't survive and set their sights on her family?

That was certainly a hidden danger, but buying another house now wasn't realistic either.

When they reached the Zhou home, Lin Shouyi helped them unload all the basins and jars. He said,

"Those people in the village are all wagging tongues, with no breadth of vision. Don't take it to heart.

"Actually, there was a reason the schoolmaster moved out of our village back then.

"It was because he didn't get along with those two families. They sent their children to the schoolmaster's home but wouldn't pay the tuition.

"When the schoolmaster refused to teach them anymore, they insulted his whole family as if they were worthless. In the end, the schoolmaster had no choice but to move away.

"Otherwise, this house wouldn't have been so cheap."

So that was what had happened. Zhou Wanwan sighed. "It's all right, Uncle Lin. You meant well, and besides, we have a place to shelter from the wind and rain now."

Lin Shouyi nodded. "This house is quite good. Besides, with me here in the village to help you, you don't need to be afraid of those two families."

Only after Lin Shouyi left did Zhou Wanwan speak.

"Father, Mother, let's find a way to carry more water back tonight and put it all in the cellar.

"Then we'll dig out that cellar on the mountain tonight and fill it with water and grain too.

"Put all this grain in the cellar on the mountain. My brothers and I will go into the mountains again and see if we can find anything."

Liu Su'e frowned. "Wanwan, there's no need for us to be in such a hurry, is there?"

Zhou Wanwan shook her head. "I don't think we have much time left. Let's prepare as much as we can. Once the disaster year comes, it'll be too late to get anything."

Liu Su'e sighed. "All right, I understand. Your father and I won't sleep tonight either. We'll dig that cellar out."

With that, she went straight into the kitchen and started making dinner. She took out the wild vegetables from the mountain and some mushrooms and began stir-frying them.

It had to be said, Liu Su'e was a good cook.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, they went straight up the mountain again. The sky was dark now, and Liu Su'e and Lin Shouyi began digging the cellar.

Zhou Wanwan took her brothers farther into the mountains to continue searching for treasure. They weren't so lucky every time.