Chapter 139:
Luo Zhi’er hooked the corner of her lip.
Got it! This must not feel good, right?
Luo Zhi’er set down the bamboo basket and calmly went to the doorway of the pen where she kept the mule. There was a pit in the ground; the animal trap she’d buried was gone, and there was a pool of blood on the ground.
The dry straw she’d covered it with was trampled like wild chickens had stomped all over it, making a total mess!
The two dung buckets leaning against the wall nearby had both been knocked over.
“Mother, did someone get hurt? There’s so much blood on the ground!”
“Or did wild game get into the home?”
Miaomiao was startled and scared!
“It’s nothing, Miaomiao, don’t be afraid. It was a thief who got hurt!”
“A thief?”
“Yeah.”
After comforting Miaomiao, she went over to the bread kiln. Heh, the animal trap was still there, but there was also a lot of blood on the ground.
Now this was getting interesting.
Hmm? What’s this?
A suspicious piece of cloth. She poked at it with branches. Damn, how was it a man’s underpants full of holes?
Disgusting!
She was sure there hadn’t been anything like this on her ground before. It probably wasn’t Li Sanmao’s.
She shivered and quickly hooked it with branches and tossed it into the big river!
Luo Zhi’er contemplated. She looked at the small fish in the fish pond, and a wicked smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
She turned and went into the room.
While cooking, she quickly ran to the river and fished out the holey underpants to burn them!
That night, while everyone was eating dinner, Luo Zhi’er put her hands on her hips and started cursing loudly at the door.
“TMD, which shameless bastard with a heart as black as their guts poisoned my fish pond and killed all my fish!”
“And my mule too—oh, luckily I discovered it in time, or it would’ve croaked too!”
She sat in the most conspicuous spot in the yard, slapped her thigh, and began wailing like a ghost or wolf!
She remembered that Li Erdan’s room had been done up just like this last time!
Miaomiao was scared and stunned.
Soon, people came outside the yard to watch the excitement!
Aunt Xie: “San Mao’s Wife, what’s wrong with you?”
“Auntie, someone poisoned my mule!”
“Ah, that’s outrageous?”
Everyone immediately exploded. Who had such a wicked mind? No one doubted if it was true—they were jealous themselves of Luo Zhi’er buying the mule cart, let alone others!
Before, whenever someone’s crops in the field were good, some wicked-minded villager would poison them!
“Is the mule okay?”
“Oh, luckily I discovered it in time. I was prepared and set up San Mao’s hunting animal trap in front of the mule pen ahead of time. That person didn’t succeed and ran away!”
“Ah?”
Animal trap? The crowd shuddered!
Didn’t catch the person, and they ran away?
Seeing her like this, they thought the mule was poisoned to death, and they felt a little secretly pleased. Why didn’t it succeed? Did that person get caught in the animal trap?
They’d seen Li Sanmao’s animal trap before—it was specially made at the blacksmith shop. If it clamped a leg, it’d be a bloody mess. That was too terrifying!
“How do you know that person came to poison you?”
Zheng Da Niang asked too.
“Because all the fish in my fish pond were poisoned to death. Go take a look and you’ll know!”
“That took me and Miaomiao two whole days of fishing to catch!”
“This thousand-knife killer, thunder-struck, get-hit-by-a-horse-carriage-and-flattened evil-minded scum!”
She slapped her thigh! Using all the tricks Zhou Shi used to use.
The crowd collectively shuddered!
This cursing was too vicious. What if it came true? That would be too miserable!
Everyone rushed to the fish pond and sure enough, some small fish were floating in the fish pond, all with white bellies up!
Zhao Zuzu’s second daughter-in-law Tian Shen said,
“Ahem, San Mao’s Wife, just forget about these small fish. It’s no big loss!”
“What? Absolutely not! I’m so fat—it’s hard for me to do work. I busted my butt for two days for nothing, and she poisoned it! What if next time I’m not home and she poisons our grain or food at home?”
Everyone thought, yeah, that’s right!
“Think about it— if it were you, and you had a conflict with her, what if she poisoned you?”
“Huh, San Mao’s Wife, why is there also a pool of blood next to this weird stove?”
Ma Shenzi was originally curious and saw this strange and kinda cute stove, so she wanted to go over and take a look.
She discovered a pool of blood on the ground too.
“Oh, Auntie, speaking of this makes me even madder. Yesterday Miaomiao and I went to the mountain to gather firewood. When we got back, guess what?”
“What happened?”
“Some wicked-minded stinking woman destroyed the stove I built with so much hard work for Miaomiao’s food. She pushed it right over, and knocked the stove cavity full of holes!”
“I plastered mud and stacked stones like a big man, working a full two days!”
Luo Zhi’er wailed like a ghost or wolf.
“It forced me to start over and repair it for a whole day. My arms hurt, and my legs hurt too!”
“Isn’t this bullying? Seeing no man at home these past few days, she deliberately sabotaged it!”
Everyone was a bit confused, half understanding. “Did you set an animal trap here too?”
“Exactly!”
Hiss!
They unconsciously touched their own legs!
This person was pretty pathetic!
“This suicidal evil-minded one deserves it. I want to see who she is. Uncles, aunts, oldest brothers, big sisters— if we don’t catch this bad person this time, it’ll be a huge hidden danger to the village!”
“Think about it—if you have something good at home, or good crops in your field, and she’s jealous and poisons you, what then?”
“I had no choice but to set the animal trap!”
This village was a mix of Zhao and Li surnames, plus some outsider families, with quite a few people.
It was impossible to make a big fuss and search the whole village over this!
“This person’s easy to catch—just look for who has trouble walking lately!”
Zhao Hu said.
“Hu Zi is right!”
“But, San Mao’s Wife, we’re all from the same village, seeing each other all the time. Isn’t setting animal traps going too far?”
Li Zheng Sen said after a while.
Damn, relatives are like this—you’re at a loss and they don’t help at all, but now they’re stirring the pot.
Luo Zhi’er said coldly: “Then can I never go out to do anything? Miaomiao and I still have to live—should we just let people bully us?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Heh, Second Uncle, you’re really San Mao’s good second uncle!”
“Ahem.” Li Zheng Sen fake-coughed, embarrassed. He was shocked—he’d intended to sneak a peek too, but got held up helping villagers lift a pig.
“San Mao’s Wife did the right thing. Should our village allow stealing and trickery, poisoning and mischief? Would she have gotten hurt if she didn’t come?”
Li Zuzu arrived, scanned the crowd, and said seriously.
No one made a sound!
“Ahem, our Zheng Sen means—what if the person wasn’t poisoning or stealing, but a neighbor coming to find you for something? What if you trap an innocent person?”
Zhao Xiaomei quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Heh, strange? She doesn’t come when I’m home, but comes when I’m gone. What’s the reason? Plus, my front door was tightly shut—you could tell at a glance no one was home. So why go to my mule pen, poison my fish, and deliberately destroy my stove?”
“Can’t you see she did it on purpose?”
Luo Zhi’er said flatly.
“San Mao’s Wife is absolutely right. For this kind of rotten person, you can’t hold back. Our village always has a few mouse droppings—stealing and trickery today, poisoning tomorrow. If it goes on like this, what happens to the village’s reputation?”
“Where does it lead the village’s future? What if they cause trouble outside and drag the villagers into it?”
Li Zuzu said.
“Not only do I think her method is good, I think every household in the village should bury one. Save them from wandering around pointlessly, gossiping, making trouble. Look at what manners you’ve all got!”
Everyone hung their heads as Li Zuzu scolded! Li Zuzu said ruthlessly,
“If we catch this person, no mercy—drive them out of Zhao Li Village!”
