Chapter 161: Chapter 90: Unlucky Little Black Dog

Juhua felt a wave of relief upon hearing that. ’Serves him right!’ she thought. ’If your son wasn’t so mischievous, he wouldn’t have fallen. Blaming the dog for a fall? That’s like blaming your pillow because you can’t sleep.’

After some questioning, it turned out that Laicai had been chasing Black Dog when he tripped on something and hit his head on the stone slab by the well. His forehead was cut open and bleeding. The Lin Family, being uncharacteristically diligent today, happened to be watching her son nearby. When she saw Laicai crying, she picked up a stick and started chasing the dog to beat it.

Poor little Black Dog. What an undeserved disaster. How could they blame it?

Juhua, indignant on Black Dog’s behalf, quickly nudged it with her foot and pointed toward the stove entrance. Little Black Dog obediently ran to the opening of the stove, lay down, and stayed silent. It knew that when Juhua gave silent signals with her hands or feet instead of speaking, it was not to make a sound.

Chaos erupted outside. Mrs. Wang, both heartbroken and angry, pulled Laicai over and gave his bottom a few hard smacks. However, her arm was raised high but came down gently, barely grazing his bottom when it landed. Even so, Laicai only cried louder.

The Yang Family quickly found a clean cloth strip to wrap his head.

The Lin Family was about to scoop some ash from the stove to sprinkle on the wound, but Juhua quickly stopped her when she heard. This method might seem like it could stop the bleeding, but it was a bad idea. How could anyone treat a head wound so casually?

She didn’t know how to explain, so she just told her that the method sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. She said she’d once heard about a child who also scraped their skin, and after putting ash on it, the wound rotted and left a huge hole. Only then did the Lin Family abandon the idea.

So many people were gathered around Laicai as he sobbed his heart out, a sight that annoyed Juhua to no end. ’It’s just a little scrape,’ she thought. ’Is all this really necessary?’ He hadn’t even been crying that loudly at first. His wails only grew louder when people came over to console him. It was a wonder he had so many tears—more than Lin. And he wasn’t faking it, either; those were real, genuine tears.

After the group spent a long time coaxing him, the little terror’s crying finally subsided a bit.

Just then, Qingmu and Laixi came down from the mountain, a rabbit in hand. Juhua went up to them, pleasantly surprised, and asked, “How’d you get so lucky? You caught a rabbit in such a short time?”

Laixi said regretfully, “Lucky? We hit several with the slingshot and chased them over half the mountain, but we only managed to catch this one. The others all got away.”

As soon as Laicai, his head wrapped in a thick cloth, saw the rabbit, he stopped crying and rushed to grab it for a look. Laishou also shouted, “Rabbit—a wabbit!”

Mrs. Wang slapped Laicai’s hand away. “It’s time to eat. Aren’t you going to wash those filthy paws of yours? Your eldest aunt cooked a lot of good food. Do you want any or not?”

Hearing this, Laicai scurried off to wash his hands.

With so many people eating—pushing and yielding, adults talking and children shouting—the scene was the very definition of chaos.

It took some effort to get everyone settled. Laicai was placed on a small stool, and only after they promised to put food on his plate whenever he wanted did everyone else finally sit down to eat.

Ms. Zhang, eating the pig’s blood with pickled vegetables, praised, “This pig’s blood is nice and spicy. It really makes you sweat.”

The Lin Family looked at Juhua, who was sitting on a small stool, and said with a grin, “Juhua’s cooking is delicious!”

Qingmu sat beside his sister. While eating, he smiled and whispered to her, “When you cook the rabbit tonight, add some pickled vegetables to it, too.”

Juhua nodded and said to him, “Rabbit meat has no fat. Last time, we didn’t have much sesame oil at home, so I didn’t dare add pickled vegetables. Now that we have lard, I’m not worried.”

Qingmu remembered he had long promised to take Juhua rabbit hunting but still hadn’t. He whispered to her again, “When I have time tomorrow, I’ll go dig a few traps, and then I’ll take you to collect the rabbits. It’s spring, so there’s more game active on the mountain. I saw today that the grass is already turning green.”

Just as he was speaking, the Lin Family came over from the kitchen with a bowl of rice and came across little Black Dog, who had finally given in to the aroma of the food and run out. She gave it a vicious kick, sending the little dog yelping and tumbling outside.

Juhua was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. She shrieked, “Second Aunt, why did you kick it?!” ’A kick like that…’ she thought in horror, ’will the little dog even survive? Its internal organs might be ruptured.’

Qingmu dropped his bowl and rushed out to check on Black Dog. Startled by Juhua’s shriek, the Lin Family said, somewhat angrily, “It made Laicai fall and cut his head. What’s wrong with kicking it? You child, it’s just a dog.”

Seeing Juhua’s eyes wide with fury, Mrs. Wang’s face darkened as she snapped at the Lin Family, “Laicai was the one who chased the dog and fell. Who’s to blame for that? He’s always chasing the chickens, too. Should we kill the chickens then? You know your own son’s temperament. A grown woman, arguing with a dog!” Then she called out loudly, “Qingmu, is the little dog all right?”

Qingmu carried the little dog back inside and placed it on the floor. It lay there listlessly, looking pitifully at Juhua and whimpering twice. All of its usual energy, its excited bounding toward Juhua at mealtimes, was gone. His face tight, he shot the Lin Family a fierce glare.

Juhua’s eyes blazed as she stared at the Lin Family. “Second Aunt, just keep spoiling Laicai! If he grows up to be a good-for-nothing, it’ll be all your fault. If he ends up a murderer and an arsonist, it’ll be on you.” With that, she angrily picked up the little dog and stormed into the kitchen.

The Yang Family knew Juhua adored the little dog, so she was also very unhappy to see the Lin Family kick it. But since Mrs. Wang had already spoken, she didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. Still, she never expected the usually gentle and quiet Juhua to get so furious. She quickly shot Qingmu a look, and he followed his sister into the kitchen.

The Lin Family saw everyone glaring at her with unfriendly expressions and became extremely annoyed. ’It’s just a dog, isn’t it? Could it possibly be more precious than her Laicai?’ So, furious, she started tapping her chopsticks against her bowl, making a DING DING sound.

Mrs. Wang said angrily, “You’re still not convinced? Juhua is right. If Laicai isn’t disciplined properly, who knows what he’ll turn into!”

The Lin Family retorted, just as annoyed, “Disciplining Laicai is one thing, and the little dog is another. I’m not saying I won’t discipline him. But to fly into such a rage over one kick to a dog… Juhua’s temper is really something else—she doesn’t even respect me, her aunt!”

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to its original platform to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep