Chapter 43

Suniang took Chu Huan's clothes into the house to mend them. Chu Huan smiled inwardly. Although Suniang sometimes spoke harshly, she had a very kind heart, just as people often say, "sharp tongue, soft heart."

Outside the house, the rain was drizzling. Chu Huan walked to the corner of the room, picked up his gray package, and left without saying a word to Suniang. In the drizzle, he walked out of the door.

By this time, it was already dark and very dim. Chu Huan carried the package and headed west, keeping his eyes and ears open to ensure no one had noticed his movements. He left the village, crossed the river at the western end, and continued westward. In the darkness, he moved like a ghost, very quickly, covering more than ten miles. In the vast emptiness, Chu Huan finally stopped, spotted a small hill, and quickly walked over. He walked back and forth on the hill, found a spot, squatted down, and took out the dagger given to him by Wei Tianqing. He dug a deep hole in the ground, placed the gray package in it, and was about to bury it when he suddenly remembered something and took out the red stone from his waist.

The stone was warm and even emitted a faint red glow. Unfortunately, Chu Huan knew nothing about this peculiar stone. He examined it closely, and the black lines on it were still very clear.

After some thought, Chu Huan finally put the red stone into the gray package and then filled the hole. The new soil on top was easily noticeable. Although the place was desolate and rarely visited, Chu Huan still found a large stone and placed it on the new soil as a marker.

It was raining, and the new soil would soon mix with the old soil, making it seamless and hard to detect within a day or two.

Squatting by the stone, Chu Huan pondered for a long time and finally said in a very low voice, "Rest well, the rest... I will take care of it!" After saying this, he did not linger and returned to the village like a ghost in the night rain.

The door was slightly ajar. Chu Huan gently pushed it open and saw bowls and chopsticks on the table in the main hall. There were two bowls of rice porridge, a dish of green vegetables, and a small half-bowl of dog meat, with only five or six pieces of dog meat.

Suniang was resting her chin on her hands, her arms on the table, seemingly asleep. The lamp on the table flickered, casting a soft light on her fair face, making her look very beautiful and charming. The food on the table had already cooled.

Chu Huan turned to close the door, which woke Suniang. She opened her eyes and instinctively reached for the scissors at her waist. Seeing it was Chu Huan, she sighed in relief and then frowned, asking, "What time is it? Where have you been?"

"Nothing, just went for a walk!" Chu Huan smiled and sat down at the table, picking up a bowl of porridge. Suniang quickly said, "I'll heat it up...!"

"No need!" Chu Huan shook his head and said, "Cold porridge is more refreshing!" He drank half a bowl.

Suniang picked up a bowl of porridge and said, "Mother is not well. I served her dinner early, and she has already gone to bed...!" She blushed, remembering that Chu Huan had seen her eating dog meat earlier, and her face turned red. "Mother... likes... dog meat, so... I kept the extra meat...!"

Chu Huan pushed the dog meat to Suniang and said, "Suniang, I can't eat dog meat; it gives me red spots... Well, you can have it all!"

Suniang blinked, surprised, "Is that so?" But she quickly realized that Chu Huan was probably lying, just to let her have the dog meat.

Chu Huan didn't say anything, just chuckled and finished the porridge in two sips. This small amount of food was far from enough to satisfy him, but he knew the family's difficulties and didn't say more.

After eating the porridge, Chu Huan lay down on his plank bed in the corner of the room. He thought about the situation. Although Mr. Li had already gone to find him a job, he couldn't rely solely on that. Winter was approaching, and with him as an additional adult in the family, they couldn't survive on the small amount of food Suniang could earn from knitting and embroidery.

Suniang saw Chu Huan lying down and pouted. She ate the porridge very politely, only picking a few pieces of green vegetables and not touching the dog meat. After finishing the porridge, the smell of the dog meat tempted her. She glanced at Chu Huan, who seemed to be asleep, and then picked up a small piece of dog meat. She chewed it slowly, put the dishes away, and carefully stored the remaining dog meat before going to her room to savor the taste.

...

...

The next day, until dusk, Liu Tianfu and the others had not returned. Chu Huan visited the injured villagers and finally went to Shi Tou's house. Yesterday, Shi Tou had fought with Lao San from Baling Hall. Although he was strong, he was no match for Lao San and was injured, with a broken left arm. Fortunately, after Xu Langzhong's treatment, his arm was saved, but he needed to rest for ten to fifteen days.

Shi Tou was very happy to see Chu Huan. His family was poor, and his wife brought a chair for Chu Huan to sit on. Shi Tou smiled and said, "Erlang, you are truly amazing. Your skills... wow!" He raised his uninjured hand and gave a thumbs up.

Chu Huan waved his hand and smiled, "It's not worth mentioning." He changed the subject and asked, "Shi Tou, you have been exploited by Feng Ergou for the past two years, and you only get two-tenths of the harvest. How can your family survive?"

"Of course, we can't survive!" Shi Tou smiled bitterly. "If we only relied on that two-tenths, we would have starved to death long ago."

Chu Huan nodded and asked, "You know, our family's two acres of land have no harvest, and winter is coming. We can't plant in time. This winter, if we don't have any income, we won't be able to survive!"

Shi Tou said, "Erlang, I understand what you mean. You want to find a job?"

"Exactly."

"Actually, besides farming, we often go to the county town when we have free time. We wait outside the city gate, and when the rich people in the city need temporary workers, they come out to find us. We can get some work every year, helping people carry things, and although we don't earn much, it helps to make ends meet." Shi Tou sighed, "Especially in winter, there is more work... Unfortunately, Dr. Xu said I can't do heavy work for two months, or my arm won't heal properly. This winter will be tough." He then smiled, "But now that we have the land deed back, we can plant in the spring and support our family with our few acres of land. If we have any surplus, we can buy some cloth and make new clothes for the family, hahaha...!"

Although he was injured, Shi Tou was very happy to have the land deed back and looked forward to the future.

Chu Huan was also moved. These people at the bottom of society had no great expectations. For them, being able to eat and stay warm was enough to make them content.

He decided that if Mr. Li couldn't find him a job, he would follow Shi Tou's advice and wait for work outside the county town to get through the winter.

While they were talking, they heard someone shouting outside, "The headman is back, the headman is back!"

The news quickly spread throughout the village, and the villagers gathered at Liu Tianfu's house. Although Shi Tou was injured, he was very concerned about the matter and insisted on going with Chu Huan to Liu Tianfu's house.

Liu Tianfu's house was already crowded. It was dark, and Liu Tianfu was standing at the door, raising his hand and calling out, "Everyone, listen! The magistrate has made a decision. The one who killed Feng Ergou is Zhao Bao, and the notice has been posted, and Zhao Bao is being wanted."

The villagers became tense, and someone asked loudly, "Uncle Liu, what will the magistrate do?"

"The magistrate said that Feng Ergou was a bully, but he is still dead, and if this is handled lightly, he fears that the higher authorities will blame him." Liu Tianfu took a drink of water from someone and continued, "He will go to the county to smooth things over, but it will cost money. The magistrate estimates that it will cost at least two to three hundred taels of silver...!"

The villagers were shocked. For people who struggled to make ends meet, this was a huge sum.

"Headman, he can't expect us to pay this money, right?" A villager immediately reacted, sneering, "Even if we tear down our houses and sell our children, we can't raise this much money!"

Liu Tianfu said, "I told the magistrate the same thing. After much deliberation, he decided that our village should raise one hundred taels of silver, and he will pay the rest himself!"

Shi Tou immediately shouted, "What a load of rubbish! He's just trying to squeeze money out of us. What smoothing things over? It's all nonsense!"

The villagers shouted in anger.

Liu Tianfu raised his hand to calm them down and sighed, "We all know what he's up to. But Feng Ergou died in our village, and we can't fight the officials. If we don't pay the money, he will continue to cause trouble, and we will never have peace...!" He coughed and said, "I will take responsibility for this. We will pay the money to avoid trouble. The amount will be divided according to each family's land. Now that we have our land deeds back, we can bear the cost. I know you don't have the money, so I will find a way to borrow or do something else to get the money. You can pay me back later!"

He suddenly remembered something and called out, "Erlang, is Erlang here?"

Chu Huan stepped forward from the crowd and said, "Uncle Liu, I'm here!"

"This time, we were able to get rid of Feng Ergou thanks to you. Your family won't have to contribute to the silver." Liu Tianfu stroked his beard and then asked the villagers, "Does anyone have any objections?"

"No, that's fair!"

"Erlang is a hero to our village, and we have no complaints!"

Chu Huan bowed to the villagers in gratitude but felt angry at the officials' shameless exploitation of the people.

A few days later, the weather became colder, and the family started using charcoal for warmth. Seeing that Mr. Li had not yet found him a job, Chu Huan prepared to go to the county town with a few other able-bodied men to look for work.

However, before he could leave, Mr. Li arrived in the same carriage as before. As soon as he got out, he excitedly called out, "Erlang, Erlang, get ready, come with me to the county town!"