Chapter 28: Either a Thief or a Bandit

Zhang Yang understood in an instant. Zhao Dong was also craving that meat soup.

Knowing he couldn't hide it, Zhao Dong simply admitted, "Yangzi! Don't be mad at me! I split my share of the wild boar into two pieces; I gave the larger one to Auntie, and the smaller one to sister-in-law Cuilan’s family... I’m only having a bowl of soup! The meat is all for the little sisters!"

Zhang Yang felt bad for his sincerity. "You could have just taken it home to cook. Why leave it at my place? Mother, give his meat back to him. That’s his share; we have plenty of our own, we don’t need it!"

"Yangzi! I’m not even married yet, can you stop with the 'your house' and 'my house' talk? Once I actually find a wife, I’ll definitely move back on my own! It’s not like anyone is desperate to squeeze into your woodshed..." Zhao Dong said, looking aggrieved.

Li Huifang pulled Zhao Dong over. "We’re all one family here, no need to divide it into yours and mine! Auntie cut that meat into small slices, picked out the fatty bits, and rendered them in the pot—it smells so good! You can't just drink the soup; you’re a growing lad and you have to go hunting in the mountains, you need to eat more!"

After scolding Zhao Dong, Li Huifang urged Zhang Yang. "Stop standing at the door like a fool, hurry inside. You’ve been up all night, you must be exhausted from all the worrying?"

Zhang Yang opened the half-closed door a bit wider, signaling Lin Qiushui to enter first. "You’re in luck; there’s meat to eat as soon as you arrive. Come on in."

Lin Qiushui hesitated. "Maybe I shouldn't go in. Could you please just do me a favor and bring the grass seeds out? I’ll leave as soon as I get them."

Meat was so precious these days! Lin Qiushui knew how hard it was for people in the village to get a taste of it. Although she really wanted to sample some of that oily broth, she knew her manners. It was her first time visiting, and she hadn't even brought a gift for the hosts—how could she just sponge off them? "I’ll just wait for you at the door!" she added, stepping back two paces.

"If I tell you to come in, then come in! Do you think my family is so short of a little meat?" Zhang Yang joked toward Li Huifang, who was peering out from under the eaves. "Didn't you hear what my mother said? She’s even willing to use fatty meat just to grease the bottom of the pot; it shows our life is getting much better!"

Li Huifang felt a bit shy, but with a guest present, she didn't mind her son. She walked to the door to invite Lin Qiushui in. "Young lady, come on in. There's no one else here, don't be afraid."

Lin Qiushui politely addressed her as Auntie, but she still didn't move, explaining her purpose. "Auntie, last night our group of educated youth caught a wild rabbit, but it's too small to eat grass directly. I figured it might need some tender grass seeds to survive..."

"I heard from Zhang Yang that you have some stored tender grass seeds, so I thought I’d borrow some to keep the rabbit alive!"

"Once the weather warms up, I’ll go into the mountains and dig up bamboo shoots to pay you back!"

Li Huifang looked at her kindly. "Raising a rabbit? Do you know how? Even though those tender seeds are good for feeding rabbits, I sun-dried them a bit to store them better, so you can't feed them directly when you take them back. You’ll need to soak them in water first." When it came to the details of farm work, Li Huifang had plenty to say.

Zhang Yang stepped out and pushed both of them toward the courtyard. "The wind is so strong out here, aren't you cold? Why can't you talk about this inside?"

This time, he didn't give Lin Qiushui a chance to refuse. Li Huifang, who clearly liked the young girl, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the house. Zhang Yang then dragged Zhao Dong into the woodshed. "Help me serve the soup!"

Zhao Dong was eager, bustling about while chuckling slyly. "Yangzi! I can see it now! Between the two of us brothers, you’re definitely going to be the one to get married first!"

Zhang Yang counted the firewood without replying. Zhao Dong continued to fantasize to himself. "This young lady is pretty! I’ve seen her before! But Du Shujun always says she has a weird personality and isn't a team player, wondering what she’s so proud of... I believed her at the time and really thought she was hard to get along with."

Zhao Dong poked his head toward the next room. "What’s her name? I think the more I look at her, the prettier she gets... the more she looks like my future sister-in-law!"

"Can you put a lock on your mouth?" Zhang Yang threw a piece of kindling at him. "The girl is decent and innocent; she’s only known me for a day and is already supposed to be my wife? How would that make me any different from the bandits who used to block the roads?"

"There’s a difference! A huge difference!" Zhao Dong immediately puffed out his chest and praised him sincerely. "Bandits only care about forcibly taking women and looting, but you are leading our entire Zhang Family Village to become stronger! Today, seven more households have meat to eat, and in the future, there will be more!"

That was true. Thinking of the bright future, a wave of warmth flowed through Zhang Yang's heart.

Just then, a noisy commotion broke out in the courtyard. "Where is Zhang Yang? Come out and speak!"

Who was it? Zhang Yang immediately rushed out, his first instinct to block the door of the main house. The door behind him remained ajar, and Zhang Yan asked from inside, "What’s going on now?"

Zhang Yang stared at the group from Wulipu and sneered, "Broad daylight, and thieves have arrived!"

"Who are you calling names, you brat! Who is a thief!" The people from Wulipu began to clamor.

Zhang Yang replied, "If you aren't thieves, then you must be bandits." His gaze was as sharp as a blade. "In any case, barging in uninvited, a whole crowd of you, crowding the fence until it's crooked—you certainly aren't guests!"

The people from Wulipu turned red with anger and jumped up to retort. "You’re the thief! You stole our pig from Wulipu!"

"That’s right!" "You’re the thief!" They chirped and shouted like field mice poking their heads out one by one.

Zhang Yang wanted to laugh. He asked calmly, "I hunted wild game in the mountains, and I caught it near Jiazigou. How did it become a pig from Wulipu?"

The group flew into a rage again. "Bullshit! There’s nothing over at Jiazigou, where would a wild boar come from!"

From inside the house, Lin Qiushui’s voice rang out: "Even if it wasn't hunted at Jiazigou, it's still something from the mountains! No matter how you look at it, it should belong to the public, to everyone, not just one village!"

"Where did this little girl come from? When men are talking, is it your place to interrupt?" Qian Weiguo spat. Before coming, he knew that in Zhang Yang's household, he was the only male. The rest were useless women! Even with Zhao Dong standing by Zhang Yang’s side, in Qian Weiguo’s eyes, they were just two wet-behind-the-ears brats who weren't worth looking at together! He didn't take them seriously at all, let alone Lin Qiushui’s reasoned argument.

Qian Weiguo pointed at the hunting rifle on Zhang Yang’s back, which he hadn't had a chance to set down yet, and smiled with disdain. "I know you’ve just become the captain of the militia squad and you're feeling on top of the world! But you need to get this straight: your Zhang Family Village hasn't had a militia squad for half a year. If it weren't for our Wulipu squad covering for you all this time, do you think you could have lived so peacefully?"