Chapter 147: The Villain Has Been Found-Transmigrated to the 1960s as a Respected Matriarch(Tenderness in the Rain)

The commune clerks could not help feeling proud of their own cleverness. Working at the commune was no easy task. The peasants they dealt with had limited education; some could hardly make themselves understood, forcing the clerks to guess and puzzle out what they meant. Some arrived cursing and swearing, while others threw tantrums, rolled on the ground, and refused to let the matter drop, leaving the clerks thoroughly exasperated.

They heard that the old veterinarian happened to be at the commune, so they hurriedly brought him over to learn what had happened.

Before long, a commune cadre led two clerks and the people from Ox Luo Village toward Xiaxin Village.

A cow disappearing from a village was a serious matter, certainly worthy of a cadre’s personal attention. The people who had first received Chen Daliu’s group saw that the matter was rather thorny and quickly reported it to the cadres. Thus, the three of them set out together with the people of Ox Luo Village.

They had originally intended to visit Ox Luo Village first to investigate, but when Chen Daliu and the others heard that Xiaxin Village was slaughtering a cow, how could they possibly sit still? In any case, after going to Xiaxin Village, they could stop at Ox Luo Village on the way back, so they hurried there first.

Along the road, seeing how anxious the people of Ox Luo Village were, the commune officials offered them some words of reassurance. They were afraid that once the men entered Xiaxin Village, they might lose control and start fighting with the villagers there.

Although Chen Daliu and the others nodded in response, there was no hiding the anxiety and fury on their faces. The commune officials knew without having to think about it that if these men had wings, they would have flown there already.

And it was no wonder. A cow was a country farmer’s livelihood. Plowing the fields and hauling goods into town all depended on it. How could anyone not panic after losing one?

At that moment, the people of Xiaxin Village were slaughtering a cow.

For the past few days, no one knew what was wrong with the village’s cattle. They had been listless, eating and drinking very little. To make matters worse, three of the other cows had become extremely agitated, repeatedly butting and kicking one particular cow.

At first, everyone thought the cow was in heat. But then they realized the timing was wrong—and besides, cows in heat did not behave like this.

Later, all four cows became dispirited. That was no small matter. What if they had contracted some contagious disease? The villagers immediately separated them and called in a veterinarian.

The veterinarian could not determine what was wrong either. He prescribed some medicine, which they forced down the cows’ throats, but the animals remained listless and continued to eat poorly.

The other three cows were at least showing a little more spirit, but the large bull was not so fortunate. The medicine had been administered, and it had been given plenty of fodder, yet over the past two days it had visibly grown thinner at an alarming rate.

After discussing the matter, the people of Xiaxin Village decided that they might as well slaughter it. That was better than letting it die of illness and ending up with meat that could not be eaten.

The cow itself had suffered in silence. Try being watched menacingly by a huge white tiger in the dead of night for several nights in a row. Would you still have any energy? After sleeping badly, would you still feel like eating?

Little Black had left just before dawn the previous day. When he saw someone sharpening a knife and heard that a cow was going to be slaughtered, he immediately returned and told Bai Xi.

Slaughtering a cow was a lively event, and everyone had gone over to watch.

Following the sound of the commotion was bound to lead them to the right place.

When Chen Daliu and the others arrived, they saw that Zhou Dahu had just finished speaking and was preparing to divide up the meat for the villagers.

Without needing any prompting from Chen Daliu, someone immediately rushed forward, seized the cow’s leg, and began wailing as though his heart were breaking.

“Ahhh… our cow! How could you do this? How could you slaughter our cow? You…”

“Mercy, is there no justice anymore? Just look at what Ox Luo Village has been reduced to—we’re being bullied by everyone…”

The people of Xiaxin Village stared blankly. Who were these people? Why had they suddenly come running into their village to steal their cow?

Someone quickly recognized them and said angrily, “What nonsense are you talking? When did this cow become yours? This is plainly our cow!”

“What do you mean, your cow? This is our cow! The cow from our village disappeared four days ago, and no matter where we looked, we couldn’t find it. So it turns out you stole it! And now you’ve even slaughtered our cow! You… We’ll report you to the authorities! We’ll sue you!”

“What kind of nonsense is this? This is a cow from Xiaxin Village. What does your missing cow have to do with us? Get lost, and stop causing trouble here!”

“What do you mean, causing trouble? You called our cow here!” Li Youcai and Chen Youfu shouted as they prepared to charge forward and hit someone.

The commune cadre and clerks saw what was happening and hurriedly restrained them, interrupting the quarrel.

“That’s enough, enough!”

“If there’s a problem, discuss it properly! We’re here to investigate and gather evidence. Rest assured, we won’t wrong an innocent person.”

“Zhou Dahu, what is the story behind this cow?” The veterinarian had only just been called to examine it, and it had been slaughtered within a couple of days. It was truly strange.

Seeing that the commune cadres had arrived while the people from Ox Luo Village continued shouting that their village should be compensated for the cow, Zhou Dahu was utterly baffled.

“Leader, I really don’t know. You arrived so suddenly, and you’re speaking so vaguely that I truly can’t make heads or tails of it. But this cow belongs to Xiaxin Village, not Ox Luo Village.”

“How can it not? How can it not?” Chen Daliu immediately jumped to his feet. “Our cow went missing, and you secretly slaughtered one here. If it isn’t our village’s cow, whose is it?”

Zhou Dajin stood among the crowd, looking completely bewildered.

Several days had passed since he had poisoned the cow, yet he had heard nothing about anything happening to the livestock in Ox Luo Village. When the people of Ox Luo Village arrived today with the commune cadres, he had assumed they had come to arrest him.

But he had never imagined that they would claim the sick cow slaughtered by the village that morning belonged to their village.

How had the cow suddenly become Ox Luo Village’s? It had plainly just been slaughtered by their own village, and the meat was still warm.

No one in Xiaxin Village knew what Zhou Dajin had done. He had never forgotten the humiliation he had suffered the last time and wanted to see the matter through so that the villagers could witness his ability. Before it was done, however, he had been afraid someone might let the secret slip. After all, this was no good deed; poisoning was a crime that could land a person in prison.

Could it be that the pigs in Ox Luo Village had died, and now they had come to extort Xiaxin Village?

Zhou Dajin was frantic. Since he had not admitted to going to Ox Luo Village to poison anything before, he certainly could not confess now. His guilty conscience was so strong that he did not even dare look directly at Chen Daliu and the others.

Although Chen Daliu was loudly cursing along with the villagers, his eyes continued sweeping over the people nearby. Before long, he spotted Zhou Dajin, who was guiltily turning sideways to avoid his gaze.

Could that bastard have poisoned the pigs in their village?

Chen Daliu knew that someone in Xiaxin Village had access to rat poison.

Zhou Dahu planted his hands on his hips. “I didn’t know your village had lost a cow. Even if you did lose one, it has nothing to do with us. We slaughtered a sick cow from our own village. We even had the old veterinarian examine it a couple of days ago. We had no choice but to slaughter it.”

Did these people have no shame? Did every cow in the world belong to Ox Luo Village?

They had extorted five hundred and eighty yuan the last time, and now they were trying to extort people again. This was outrageous.

(My dears, hehe…)