Chapter 41: Cooperation
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Shi caught a lot of prey, but he could not bring them all to the county. Instead, he left a quarter for his daughter to bring to town. “If you can’t sell them all, bring the remainder back and make them into jerky outside where it’s well-ventilated, lest the smell gets to your mother.”
Mu Yangling responded and sent the items to the restaurants and eateries for them to choose from. After which, she carried the remaining four rabbits home.
Looking at the dried meat drying in the courtyard, Mu Yangling felt that instead of spending a lot of effort to turn these four rabbits into jerky, they might as well just eat them.
After some thought, Mu Yangling used a knife to skin the rabbits and left with two rabbits. When Shu Wanniang saw this, she shouted, “What are you going to do with them? Don’t send them to your great-uncle and the rest.” Knowing what had happened back then, Shu Wanniang didn’t want to break the current peace.
Mu Yangling waved her hand and said, “I’ll go exchange for some soybeans since there’s none left at home.”
Only then did Shu Wanniang feel relieved.
Mu Yangling ran to look for Widow Liu, whose son, Goudan, was chummy with Little Bowen. At this moment, the two kids were playing together. When he saw Mu Yangling carrying two rabbits over, the little fellow drooled and called out sweetly, “Hello, Sister Mu!”
“Hello, Goudan. Is your mother here?”
“Yes, she’s in the house.” As he spoke, he abandoned his little friend and ran back to the house to call his mother. “Mother, Sister Mu is here!”
Little Bowen carried his rabbit and ran to his sister’s side. Looking up, he asked, “Is this for Goudan’s family?”
“I’m making an exchange with Goudan’s family.”
Eager to eat rabbit meat, Little Bowen drooled and said, “Sister, I want to eat it too.”
“No problem. I’ll bring you to the cave to roast rabbit meat later.”
Little Bowen cheered.
Widow Liu quickly came out and smiled. “Ah Ling, why are you looking for me?”
“Auntie, do you have any soybeans at home? I want to exchange for two catties of soybeans with you, to make soy milk and tofu later.”
“Yes, I’ll go weigh them for you. Give me a moment.” Although Widow Liu was shrewd, she would not take advantage of Mu Yangling, since her son and Little Bowen were good friends. Hence, she weighed ten catties of soybeans for her.
After giving her the largest rabbit, Mu Yangling winked at the two little fellows. Little Bowen went forward to pull Goudan and said to Widow Liu, “Auntie, Goudan and I are going to play with my cousins.”
Widow Liu glanced at Mu Yangling and nodded with a smile. “Go ahead. Don’t run too quickly and be careful not to fall.”
The two brats responded and ran off.
Mu Yangling carried the other rabbit to Liu Erqian’s house. Having finished harvesting their grains, his sons and daughters-in-law were now threshing and drying the grains in the grain fields. Thus, only he and his two grandsons were at home. Seeing Mu Yangling carrying a rabbit over, he frowned and waved his hands. “Why did you bring this over? Hurry up and leave. Our Liu family doesn’t want your things.”
“Second Great-uncle, I have something to ask of you.” As she spoke, she looked at Liu Zhi and Liu Zheng.
Only then did Liu Erqian open his eyes and look at Mu Yangling. He said to his two grandsons, “What are you waiting for? Go next door and play with your cousins.”
Right away, the six-year-old Liu Zhi dragged his four-year-old brother next door to play with his cousins.
Mu Yangling placed the rabbit in the kitchen and squatted beside Liu Erqian. “Second Great-uncle, have you heard of that witch from Four Village?”
Liu Erqian’s face immediately turned dark as a black pot. He snapped fiercely, “It’s difficult not to have heard of her. Child, of all things, why must you believe in such superstitious stuff?”
“Who said I believe in that?” Mu Yangling leaned closer to Liu Erqian and lowered her voice. “Second Great-uncle, to tell you the truth, I don’t believe in such superstitious stuff the most. That’s why I didn’t at all buy her claim that Eldest Great-aunt jinxed her husband and children. In this world, money makes the mare go. She’s leading a difficult life right now largely because of this reputation.”
Liu Erqian chuckled. “I knew you’re a quick-witted girl. Tell me, what good idea did you come up with? Tell me and I’ll help you. I won’t even ask you to thank me. Just treat it as me being filial to your great-aunt.”
His words were incongruous, but Mu Yangling did not care and whispered into his ear.
Liu Erqian frowned. “You came up with this? It’s not very righteous.”
Mu Yangling snorted coldly and said, “This is called giving her a taste of her own medicine. How did Eldest Great-aunt’s reputation spread back then? Although I was young at the time, I can easily guess what happened then. After his son caused the deaths of my uncle, aunt, and cousin, he feared that he would have to support Eldest Great-aunt’s family in the future. Plus, he coveted her family’s farmland, so he came up with that vicious idea. We’re just doing the same now. I don’t want to fight for those farmlands back. I just hope that Eldest Great-aunt and my two cousins will have an easier time in West Mountain Village. That way, with some help from us, they’ll do just fine.”
Liu Erqian was still hesitating. Although he was aimless, he had never done anything wrong, let alone such a treacherous thing.
Mu Yangling said, “Then forget it. Let’s just let Eldest Great-aunt live like this. At most, I’ll visit her every few days.”
Liu Erqian slammed the table and said, “Let’s do it, but we can’t do it personally. Although it might not occur to the Ma family that it’s done by us, people might spread rumors about us. I’ll find an old woman in town to do it later. However, this will cost a lot of money.”
Liu Erqian was worried. The last time he went to see his eldest sister, he had already given her all his private savings. Now, he really did not have a single cent on him.
Mu Yangling patted her chest and said, “Second Great-uncle, leave this to me.”
Just as Liu Erqian was about to heave a sigh of relief, he heard Mu Yangling say, “Tomorrow, I’ll go into the mountains to hunt more prey. You take some and sell it in town. It won’t take more than ten days to save up enough money. If all else fails, I’ll steal some of the money from home first, and make up for it after you sell the prey.”
Liu Erqian jumped up and smacked Mu Yangling. “So you came to me because you needed manual labor? I was wondering why you brought me a rabbit…”
Jumping up, Mu Yangling ran out and shouted, “I’ll take it that you’ve agreed. See you tomorrow!”
Liu Erqian was so angry that he leaned back, but he could not do anything to her. Touching his old face, he said, “To think you’re doing such things at this age…”
Mu Yangling ran next door to look for Liu Ting and the rest. She winked at them, then ran home to get the remaining two rabbits. “Mother, we won’t be eating at home for lunch.”
Shu Wanniang rushed out of the kitchen and called out to Mu Yangling, who had already run away, “Your brother has a delicate stomach. Don’t feed him those things…”
However, Mu Yangling had disappeared like a wisp of smoke. Shu Wanniang stomped her feet angrily. “You’re getting more and more mischievous. When your father comes back, I’ll ask him to teach you a lesson.”
At Mu Yangling’s invitation, Liu Ting said to his mother, “Mother, I’m bringing my younger siblings out to play. We won’t be back for lunch.”
Madam Liu-Zhao knew that Mu Yangling must be giving them a treat, so she nodded and said, “Go on. Just don’t fight and play in the water.”
Liu Ting carried Little Bowen on his back while Liu Lun held Goudan’s hand and ran away. Meanwhile, Liu Rong pulled Liu Yun along while Liu Yang walked together with his cousins, Liu Zhi and Liu Zheng.
When the children in the village saw them go to the cave, their eyes darted around before following them.
Although Liu Ting did not like people snatching food from them, Mu Yangling had never stopped them, so he could not make the decision to stop them. By the time they arrived at the cave, almost all the children under the age of ten in the village had arrived.
Mu Yangling placed the two rabbits by the water and handed them to Liu Ting. Liu Ting stood on the rock and said, “Today, we’ll eat rabbit meat, but we can’t just eat meat. As usual, each of us will contribute a bunch of vegetables. I’ll be in charge of distributing them. Liu Rong, bring them to pluck some vegetables. Liu Lun, you’re in charge of collecting firewood. Hurry up! Hurry up before we faint from hunger.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the children immediately scattered and ran towards their own vegetable garden.