Pig Killer

Chapter 178

"Go!" Father Huang looked at his eldest grandson kindly and said, "Look, don't come too close. If you're drunk, you might hit me too hard. Don't be too harsh."

"I got it." Huang Yuanji said with a smile and walked out of the house.

"I don't know what happened?" asked the big tiger curiously.

"My eldest brother-in-law beat up my brother-in-law!" Huang Zhaoye said unhappily, "His brother-in-law is not a human being. He always beats his wife."

"Thirty getting together?" Shen Hui'e raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard that.

"It's close, from the next village. My eldest brother-in-law's family is doing better now, so I came here to eat." Huang Que'er said in a low voice, "Even though he can't beat them, he always likes to start first."

What's going on? Shen Hui'e looked at them inexplicably.

"I didn't notice it before, Second Aunt, but this is too common in the village, especially during the winter, when there are endless fights. They start fighting over a disagreement, husband and wife fight, brothers fight, and they fight with outsiders..." Huang Que'er said incessantly with his eyes shining.

Before Huang Que'er finished her words, Huang's mother looked at her and said, "You are so young, and you are learning to gossip."

"No more talking, no more talking." Huang Que'er said to them with a red face and embarrassed look.

Li Nu reached out and took Huang Que'er's hand and smiled at her.

Huang Queer stuck out her tongue playfully, held her hand and told her that she was fine.

"Life was not easy in the past few years." Huang's mother said with deep emotion, "Fortunately this year... otherwise our family would have been in a mess." Her eyes fell on Huang Que'er and said, "Don't talk about others."

"Oh!" Huang Que'er nodded, "I won't gossip anymore."

"Life is not easy!" Huang's mother sighed, "I hope it will be better next year."

Huang Yuanji ran back and told what happened.

Just like what Huang's mother and the others said.

"Is your father back?" Huang's mother said after hearing what he said, "If the family can persuade him, persuade him. If not, come back quickly."

"They went to another place again." Huang Yuanji said with a twitch of his mouth, "The brothers drank and quarreled, got angry, and started fighting."

"Why are you so angry? It's New Year's Day." Huang's mother said in confusion.

Life is hard and people are at a loss about the future. Chinese people always have a particularly keen sixth sense about the impermanence of the world.

Alas... I have been through so many hardships that I tend to react instinctively.

The first day of the new year was once again spent in the Huang family with quarrels, and the Huang brothers kept trying to stop the fight.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, I went to the Shen family to get together and eat and drink.

The year passed in this strange atmosphere.

&*&

On the seventh day of the lunar calendar, rivers open; on the eighth day of the lunar calendar, wild geese come; on the ninth day of the lunar calendar, oxen are everywhere!

The New Year is over and the weather is getting warmer. Shen Hui'e's pig-slaughtering business has become much quieter, as if all the pigs had been slaughtered before the New Year.

Shen Hui'e is back to her old job, catching fish!

"Mrs. Pig-killer, you always get something no matter how you fish."

"We both set up the fishing baskets, but why are there so many fewer fish than you?"

"I don't know either!" Shen Hui'e said, looking at them innocently.

“It seems like the fish aren’t that big this year.”

Shen Hui'e looked at the fish in her fish basket and found no major changes. This must be because God was favoring her, otherwise it was inexplicable.

Shen Hui'e took a large knife, squatted by the river and started slaughtering the fish.

It is true that there are fewer fish. Last year, Shen Hui'e could catch three or four baskets, but this year a full basket is considered very good.

It seems that times are getting tough, and more and more people are catching fish.

Shen Hui'e washed the slaughtered fish, threw it into the fish basket, and placed it on the wheelbarrow.

"I'm back." Shen Hui'e pushed a wheelbarrow into the house.

"Mother, how is it? Did you get anything?" Da Chong ran from the backyard to the gate with sweat all over his forehead.

"Yes!" Shen Hui'e patted the fish basket and said, "It's full, enough for us to eat."

"You should send more to Fourth Aunt. She needs fish soup to breastfeed her baby." Shen Hui'e took a straw rope, passed it through the fish gills, and directly took out three fish.

The remaining fish were given to each family, and there were only three fish left in Shen Hui'e's fish basket.

How to do this? Just add some 2-coated noodles to the fish soup.

In the lean season, the number of fish in the river decreased sharply, making the already poor days even worse.

To make matters worse, it rained. "Dangdangdang..." The sound of gongs came from outside the door again.

The big tiger and the raccoon slave shuddered when they heard the sound.

"I'm a little afraid of the sound of the gong now." The big tiger swallowed and said.

"Let's go! Let's see what's going on. If you stick your head out, you'll get cut. If you hide your head, you'll still get cut." Shen Hui'e picked up the bowl and drank the last of the fish soup in one gulp.

"Hurry up and finish eating the last of the noodles." Shen Hui'e urged them with her deep black eyes.

"Oh!" After a snoring sound, Da Chong and his friends finished eating and put down their bowls and chopsticks.

"Let's go to the county government office and come back to wash the dishes." Shen Hui'e stood up and said to them.

"Okay!" Li Nu nodded when he heard that.

Shen Hui'e and the others locked the door and went to the county government office, where quite a few people had gathered in front of the gate.

The official posted the imperial edict and read the contents of the edict aloud.

“We need to collect grain again!”

"Let no one live anymore."

"Come here, what crime should you be punished for discussing the imperial court irresponsibly?" The officer looked at the two of them with a ferocious expression.

Both of them were pinned to the ground and beaten with thirty boards.

Shen Hui'e pulled Da Chong and his brother and sister and said, "Let's go."

"Mother." Li Nu looked at her with a pale face.

"Let's talk when we get home." Shen Hui'e pulled them home.

"what……"

A shrill cry pierced the sky, and the cat slave was frightened and turned his head to look over.

"Don't look!" Shen Hui'e looked at her coldly and said, "Don't look, it's not pretty."

"But they..." Li Nu looked at her fearfully and said.

"Let's talk about it when we get home." Shen Hui'e pulled them away quickly.

The miserable screams were endless, echoing over the county government office and hitting people's hearts heavily.

Shen Hui'e and the others sat on the bed, looking at them who were still in shock, "Remember, the mouth can cause trouble, don't talk nonsense."

"They are not wrong!" Li Nu looked at her unconvinced.

"I know, but what about the result!" Shen Hui'e looked at them with deep and bottomless eyes and said, "Some things cannot be said. They are from the court,"

"They raised the levy last autumn, and they raised it at the beginning of this year," said the tiger with a cold look in his eyes. "Even if you have mountains of gold and silver, you can't stop them from raising the levy again and again!"

"Complaining is useless. Let's think about what to do with the increased taxes." Shen Hui'e looked at them calmly and said.

"Do we have enough food?" asked the tiger, scratching his ear.

"After paying the tax on grain, our food rations become a problem." Shen Hui'e told the truth.

"What should we do then?" Da Chong stood up from the bed and looked at her worriedly.

"I was wondering if I could make it..." Before Shen Hui'e could finish her words, she heard a voice from the courtyard saying, "Second sister."

"It's my uncle." Da Chong jumped off the bed, put on his straw sandals, walked to the door and opened the curtain, "My uncle."

"Is your mother in the room?" Shen Changsheng asked him anxiously.

"I'm in the house!" Shen Hui'e said in a raised voice.

Shen Changsheng opened the curtain and walked in. Looking at her sitting on the bed, he said, "I'm here to collect grain again."

"Sit down, sit down and talk." Shen Hui'e looked at him calmly and said.

Shen Changsheng walked over, lifted up the hem of his clothes and sat down, "I came here to tell you not to worry about the grain collection."

"I'm not in a hurry. What do you plan to do, brother?" Shen Hui'e looked at him gently.

"It's paid, we can buy it later." Shen Changsheng said immediately after hearing this, and comforted her, "Don't worry."

"I'm not in a hurry." Shen Hui'e looked at him deeply and said, "I think instead of paying for food, we should just pay directly. With the intensity of this grain collection, the price of grain will continue to rise."

Shen Changsheng's dark eyes turned when he heard this and said, "We need to talk to someone about this."

"Looking for the chief clerk of the county government." Shen Hui'e narrowed her eyes and looked at him and said, "Apart from the relationship between Da Chong's father and the chief clerk, in the past year or so, I asked Da Chong to deliver any delicious food I made. The relationship has never been lost."

"Okay, I'll talk to the chief clerk and we'll pay the money." Shen Changsheng made a prompt decision upon hearing this.

"Given the current situation, I'm afraid that even if I have money, I won't be able to sell food." Shen Hui'e looked at him with deep and bottomless eyes and said, "It is important to preserve food."

"You're right." Shen Changsheng clenched his fist and said, "I wonder how high the grain price will rise?"

"Mother of the big tiger, mother of the big tiger." Huang's mother walked hurriedly into the yard and said.

"It's grandma." Hearing this, the big tiger turned around and walked out, "Grandma!"

"Where is your mother?" Huang's mother looked at him anxiously and said.

"In the room!" Da Chong lifted the curtain and looked at her.

Huang's mother stepped over the threshold and entered the house. She looked at Shen Changsheng standing in front of the window and said, "His uncle is here too!"

"Mother-in-law." Shen Changsheng bowed and saluted.

"Sit down, let's sit down and talk." Shen Hui'e walked towards the bed, sat down and said.

Huang's mother leaned forward and sat on the edge of the bed, and said straight to the point, "I came here to collect grain. Can you give me money instead of grain?"

Shen Hui'e smiled slightly when she heard this and said, "That's what I just said. I've asked my eldest brother to find the chief clerk to try."

"Okay, okay! Food is in short supply and the price has skyrocketed. You can’t buy it no matter how much money you spend. You might as well pay for it!" Huang's mother let out a sigh of relief.

"Aren't you afraid that grain prices will drop after the summer harvest?" Shen Hui'e looked at her with dark eyes.

"Once the grain price goes up, it's hard to lower it. It's been only a short time since the grain collection started, and now they're collecting grain again. This is too scary. Money can be earned again, but if grain is gone, there's nowhere to buy it." Huang's mother snorted and said, "Building a palace is not like building a pigpen in our house, which can be built in a day or two. It took ten years to build this palace, even eight years is too short."

"Since you have decided to pay the money, I will go find the chief clerk now." Shen Changsheng stood up and said to them.

"Do I need to ask my third brother and fourth sister?" Shen Hui'e straightened up and looked up at him and said.