Pig Killer

Long before winter, every household had stored winter vegetables. Now there are only cabbage and radish, as well as dried vegetables and dehydrated vegetables dried in the summer, which are easy to store.

Ever since the children's father passed away, Shen Hui'e rented the pig-slaughtering stall to a vegetable seller. Now there are no vegetables to buy and it is very deserted.

It's hard to make ends meet.

From the memories of the natives, we learned that the father of my mother's Shen family is no longer with us, and only four brothers and sisters are left, and they have all started their own families.

The eldest brother is like a father. Shen Changsheng has been running around these days.

The four brothers of my husband's family, the Huang family, had the final say in the village in an era when strong labor was productivity, and no one dared to bully them.

The four big men standing there were as intimidating as a mountain!

"Woof woof..." The sound of a dog barking brought Shen Hui'e back to her senses. She looked over and saw a local dog barking at her.

He leaned over and bared his hands, making threatening sounds at her!

"Tsk tsk... dogs are still more sensitive." Shen Hui'e raised her eyebrows slightly as she looked at the big yellow dog that was roaring at her. Her sharp eyes flashed with a cold light as she looked at the big yellow dog and said, "Yellow ears."

"Woo woo..." Huang Er suddenly softened and looked at her aggrievedly.

Shen Hui'e squatted down, her dark eyes looking into Huang Er's misty eyes, she sighed heavily and said softly, "Now that she's gone, I will be her from now on."

Tears welled up in the yellow-eared dog's eyes as it looked into the house.

Shen Hui'e could see worry in Huang Er's eyes, "Don't worry, I will take good care of them." She reached out and patted its furry head.

"Mother, mother!" A hurried cry came from inside the house.

"I'm in the yard." Shen Hui'e stood up, turned around and looked inside the house.

The brother and sister ran out happily, "Mom!"

Shen Hui'e's eyes, like glass beads, looked at them, their clothes were not properly arranged, their necks were hunched due to the cold, and she said, "Hurry up and put on your clothes, it's cold outside."

"Oh, oh, oh!" The brother and sister lowered their heads to adjust their clothes, then suddenly raised their heads, looked at their mother with surprise and said, "Mother, your eyes are healed."

"Okay! Look at you two, I can see everything clearly." Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with her gentle eyes emitting a jade-like light.

"That's great, that's great." The brother and sister grabbed her arms happily.

The brother and sister were shouting and jumping, tears falling from their eyes.

"I'm fine now, why are you crying?" Shen Hui'e looked at them anxiously and said.

If you have never raised children, you really don’t know how to get along with them.

"No, no, I'm happy. I was always worried that Mom wouldn't get better." Li Nu said as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his frozen red hands.

"Okay, okay, don't cry, don't cry." Shen Hui'e looked at them both tenderly and said, "I can see it clearly." She changed the subject and said, "Come on, come on, go inside. It's cold outside."

"The sun is out." Li Nu looked at the thousands of golden rays shooting towards the earth in the east.

"It's not okay even if the sun comes out. It's cold." Shen Hui'e pushed them into the house.

When the door was closed, the light in the room suddenly dimmed.

The lighting is really bad because the house has a gable roof and is higher in the middle.

At the base of the wall, Shen Hui'e stretched out her arms and could touch the roof with a light jump.

There are three pillars in the middle of the house supporting the roof. The room looks weird without a ceiling.

"Mom, what are you looking at?" Li Nu pulled her hand and looked at the roof. There was nothing to see!

"I'm afraid the snow will melt. What if our roof leaks?" Shen Hui'e said casually, pulling her to sit on the bed.

"No, my father repaired the roof before he left." Hearing this, Da Chong sat down and said.

"I totally forgot about it." Shen Hui'e slapped her forehead and pretended to cover it up.

The sky has completely cleared up, but it is early spring and it is not time for spring ploughing yet, so everyone is wintering at home!

The winery was quite lively, with men gathering together drinking and bragging.

The women gathered together to do needlework, or spin yarn and weave cloth at home.

The half-grown boys who are idle in winter are always teasing cats and dogs and causing trouble.

Shen Hui'e just felt that time was passing so slowly!

"Gurgle..." Shen Hui'e blinked and looked at the brother and sister in surprise, "Whose stomach is growling?"

"Uh..." The brother and sister blushed and looked at their mother embarrassedly.

"What's there to be ashamed of?" Shen Hui'e looked at them with amusement and said, "I'm hungry too!"

There's not much food these days, not to mention meat, there's not even a steamed bun.

If you move your body slightly while drinking porridge, you can hear the sound of water sloshing in your stomach.

"Let's go! Let's go outside the city and look for it." Shen Hui'e pulled them both up and said.

"What are you looking for?" the big tiger looked at her eagerly and said.

"Game." Shen Hui'e said while looking at them with a smile.

"Okay! Okay!" Li Nu said with a bright smile on his innocent face.

"Can we catch it?" the big insect muttered in a low voice, "We can't even do it!"

"Uh..." Shen Hui'e blinked her dark eyes and looked at them and said, "Looking for it? What if a blind cat stumbles upon a dead mouse, or that blind person runs in front of us and gets killed? Just sit back and wait."

"Mother, you are so lucky!" Da Chong looked at her with a helpless look.

"Go and give it a try. You've been stuck at home for so many days. While the weather is good, the snow has been swept away so you won't get your feet covered in mud." Shen Hui'e looked at them with a smile in her watery eyes and said, "You've been stuck at home for so many days. Go out and get some fresh air."

"Okay!" The brother and sister nodded in unison.

"Let's go!" Shen Hui'e pulled them both and walked out.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Da Chong pulled her hand and said.

"What's wrong?" Shen Hui'e stopped and looked back at him.

"How can you come here empty-handed!" said the big tiger, looking at her empty hands with eyes like black grapes.

"Do you need anything?" Shen Hui'e said, scratching her head.

"We have to carry the backpack and take the hemp rope." The big tiger stepped out of the door and ran to the utility room.

When he came out again, he was carrying a wicker basket on his back, with a hemp rope as thick as an index finger inside.

Leaving Huang Er at home to look after the house, the mother and her two children left the house.

Pingyang County is an ordinary small county located on a plain.

There are only two main streets that cross each other and divide the county into four parts.

The county government office is on East Street, and officials’ residences are all in this area.

To the west is where the rich families in the county live, and there are also restaurants, teahouses, inns, pawnshops, silk shops, and shops selling rouge and powder.

To the south is where Shen Hui'e and the others live, a vegetable market selling all kinds of groceries and lined with small shops.

There are inns in the north, where most of the poor people live.

It is true that the east is rich and the west is wealthy, the south is poor and the north is humble!