Eating Them Could Make Our Whole Family Crap Ourselves to Death

Zhou Wanwan had no time to sort through these things. She nodded and said, "Father, Mother, sorry to trouble you with the cellar, then. I still have to go into the mountains tomorrow to dig up more medicinal herbs."

Liu Su'e looked at her and said, "Don't wear yourself out. I keep feeling like our family already has plenty of grain."

Zhou Wanwan shook her head. "It's still nowhere near enough. Our family has enough grain, but Liu Family Village doesn't!"

"All right, do as you see fit, then. I'll go make dinner now."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. "Mother, how about we kill a chicken today?"

Liu Su'e smiled. "All right, we'll have chicken tonight. I saw a basket of mushrooms, so I'll make chicken stewed with mushrooms in a bit. Huh? What are these two?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at the two tiger cubs, torn over what to do. Should she raise them?

The disaster years were almost upon them. They might not even have enough to eat then, and these two tigers would surely need meat. How could she possibly keep them alive?

But with their eyes shut, whimpering like two little kittens, the little things were unbearably cute.

She sighed. "I'll go into the village and ask for some goat's milk in a bit! These two tiger cubs are pretty pitiful too."

"What? Th... these are tigers? Wanwan, our family can't raise creatures like these. Why don't we let them go?"

Zhou Wanwan shook her head. "Their mother was bitten to death by other tigers. If we put them back in the mountains now, they'll be as good as dead."

"Ah! Do as you see fit, then!"

The family went straight down the mountain, and Fourth Uncle took them all the way back to Wild Field Village.

Zhou Wanwan sighed. "I think our family still needs an ox cart. It's really inconvenient to borrow other people's every time."

Zhou Fusheng looked at her and said:

"Daughter, you're getting ahead of yourself. Do you know how much an ox cart costs?

Even a cheaper one costs three taels of silver. A more expensive one might cost five taels, and some draft oxen alone cost over ten taels.

To get an ox cart like the village chief's, you'd need ten taels of silver for the whole setup. How could an ordinary family like ours afford that?"

Zhou Wanwan thought about it. Their family really did need an ox cart, and it would be best to get it right the first time and buy a better one.

It was bound to be inconvenient to use someone else's ox cart every time, and there were things she didn't want everyone to know about.

She was exhausted after that day and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

Early the next morning, she had just gotten up when she heard someone talking outside.

Shen Dahai had come to their door with some pastries. He said:

"I only recently heard about the outrageous things my brothers have done. I've already told them to behave themselves from now on.

These are my apology gift. We're neighbors now, and we should help each other out in the future."

Liu Su'e sighed and said:

"I don't have any ill will toward them. I just want them to stop coming into our house and taking things.

Last time, they took our wild hare..."

Shen Dahai immediately took out a tael of silver. "Please accept this as compensation. I'll do my best to keep them in line from now on."

"All right, all right. Thank you, then." Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng saw him all the way to the door.

Zhou Wanwan came out and asked, "Father, Mother, what's going on?"

Liu Su'e handed the tael of silver to Zhou Wanwan and said:

"The youngest son of the Shen family next door really is a steward, all right. He's generous with his money.

That youngest son is nothing like Shen Dalu."

Zhou Wanwan looked at the pastries and gave them a sniff. Her expression changed. "Don't eat any of these pastries. Throw them all away."

Liu Su'e looked at the pastries. "Why shouldn't we eat them? They all look quite good to me."

"They've got croton seeds in them. Eating them could make our whole family crap ourselves to death.

"This Shen Dahai is really something. I understand now. Each of these brothers is more ruthless than the last." Zhou Wanwan narrowed her eyes, furious.

There was a huge amount of croton seed in them. One kind of pastry was practically half croton seed. Were they trying to kill her whole family?

Liu Su'e was just about to speak when Zhou Wanwan covered her mouth and said, "Mother, these pastries are really delicious."

She pointed next door, and Liu Su'e quickly nodded. "If you like them, eat some more."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. Next door, Shen Dahai and Shen Daze exchanged smiles and went inside.

Shen Dahai sighed. "Just a few country women and children, and they left our eldest brother in such a sorry state. Honestly, he really is..."

Shen Daze sighed. "This family was unlucky to run into us. Their courtyard is pretty nice, though. Once they're dead, we'll buy it."

Shen Dahai shook his head. "That would be so unlucky! I don't want it."

Zhou Wanwan threw the pastries straight into the river. Zhou Qingyan said, "These people are vicious! Aren't they trying to poison us to death?"

Zhou Wanwan snorted coldly. "If that's how it is, don't blame me for what I do."

She sat in the courtyard, eyes narrowed as she thought about how to deal with the two brothers, when she heard the mint beside her say, "Oh! Why does this family love hiding things in the courtyard so much? I wonder what that third son hid."

The lilac asked with a smile, "Brother Mint, where did he hide it?"

The mint said, "The third son likes hiding things in the cracks between the rocks in the rockery. He's never changed in all these years."

A door slammed shut next door. The two brothers were afraid someone would trace it back to them, so they had gone straight back to town.

Zhou Wanwan looked at Little Ginseng. "Go see if there's anything good in the rockery next to that mint."

Little Ginseng was very fast. In a few moves, they had climbed to the top of the wall. Quite a while later, they came back from the other side and took out a small blue cloth bag.

Zhou Wanwan opened it and smiled. Shen Dahai really was someone; he was doing quite well for himself in town.

Inside were several hundred copper coins, a five-tael silver ingot, and two gold rings. One look at the rings told her they were rewards from his employer.

There were also several small silver pieces, all shaped like ingots.

Zhou Wanwan smiled. "There must be nearly ten taels of silver here, right? Just enough for our family to buy an ox."

Zhou Wanwan took the whole family straight to Lin Shouyi. He looked at her and said, "Buy an ox? Your family wants to buy an ox? Oh my, an ox costs a pretty penny."

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said:

"We're sorry to keep troubling you. It doesn't feel right, and my father knows how to drive an ox cart.

"We dug up some medicinal herbs yesterday and sold them for a little silver. We're planning to buy an ox cart, mainly because it would be convenient for the family."

"That works. I'll take you to the livestock market in town for a look. But there's a knack to picking an ox, so I'll help you choose when we get there!" Lin Shouyi said no more.

Soon, they arrived at the livestock market in town. As soon as they entered, a wave of noise and the musky stench of animals hit them. Everywhere were families who had brought their livestock to sell.

The most conspicuous animals in the market were the cattle. Mooing sounded everywhere.

There were sturdy oxen, their owners' ropes tying them firmly to wooden stakes. Their coats gleamed, and their hooves thudded against the muddy ground.

There were also quite a few thinner old cattle, their ears drooping and their eyes listless. It looked as though their owners could no longer make ends meet and had brought them to sell with great reluctance.

There were also several calves that had only recently been weaned, peeking out timidly from beside the cows guarding them.