Chapter 150: The Virtue within the Lack of Virtue

As soon as the words fell, someone immediately chimed in, "Right, and the money too!"
"That was clearly our ox."
"Exactly! Why should the people of Niuluo Village haul away more than half of it, and why on earth do we have to pay them two hundred yuan?"
"Niuluo Village is going entirely too far!"
"Let's fight them and show them what we're made of!"
Zhou Dahu glanced back at the person shouting and asked, "Fight? How? Have you forgotten that Niuluo Village has a giant white tiger?"
The person who had been shouting instantly fell silent.
Still, someone remained unconvinced. "We didn't steal anything, nor did we rob anyone. What does Niuluo Village losing an ox have to do with us?"
"We can't just let the people of Niuluo Village bully us like this just because of that giant white tiger, can we?"
"Don't you think I know that? But if this deadlock continues and the commune cadres bring in the public security comrades, who among you is willing to go to jail?" Zhou Dahu's voice suddenly rose as he roared, "Come on, who can tell me what you'll say if the public security comrades come to question you?"
"Speak up!"
At this, even more people fell silent.
"Well, we... we still shouldn't just let Niuluo Village bully us!" someone muttered weakly, filled with lingering resentment.
In the crowd, Zhou Dajin rubbed his nose. The villagers had suffered such a massive loss, but they mustn't find out what he had done; otherwise, the trouble would be enormous.
"If I had a giant white tiger, I'd definitely send it to cause trouble in Niuluo Village every single day."
"That's right!"
"Indeed!"
"Enough, what's the use of talking this nonsense? You'd need to have that kind of capability first," Zhou Dahu said, looking thoroughly exasperated.
However, the villagers' words also made many realize that Niuluo Village perhaps wasn't entirely unreasonable after all. Given that they didn't throw their weight around everywhere just because their village had a giant white tiger, claiming the ox as theirs this time was probably just due to the panic of losing their own.
Throughout the whole ordeal, the people of Niuluo Village hadn't even unleashed the giant white tiger against them. Considering that, wasn't that the utmost benevolence amidst a lack of it?!

"We are clearly in the wrong on this matter because we didn't register and report it in advance," Zhou Dahu said with a dark, gloomy face. "Besides, what's the point of talking about this now? If you aren't afraid of going to jail, I'll go right now, drag those people back, and report it to the public security to investigate. How about that?"
As soon as these words were uttered, those who had been burning with resentment instantly clamped their mouths shut.
No one wanted to go to jail—that was no place a human being could endure.
"This is so infuriating!" Zhou Dajin spat habitually. "What does the disappearance of Niuluo Village's ox have to do with us? Now our ox is gone, where are we supposed to look for it!?"
Only after he spoke did he realize that no one was echoing his sentiments. He looked around in confusion, first at one person, then another. "What, am I wrong?"
Immediately, someone retorted angrily, "You're only good at hindsight. You shouldn't be called Dajin; you should be called Hindsight. When those people were here, you shrank your neck, bowed your head, and said nothing at all. Now that they've left, you start jumping up and down. Since you're so good at making rat poison, why didn't you go poison their oxen?"
Zhou Dajin was left speechless. Could he possibly tell them that he had already gone to poison the pigs in Niuluo Village?!
He had already tried poisoning once, yet the ox from Xiapu Village had somehow turned into Niuluo Village's. If he went to poison them again, could Xiapu Village's remaining ox possibly be saved?
Zhou Dajin flicked his sleeve and let out a cold humph. "Hmph, I won't lower myself to argue with you. Is rat poison something you can just toss around casually? That stuff takes lives. If something goes wrong, are you going to go to jail and face a firing squad?"
It was all so bizarre. Niuluo Village's pigs were completely fine, but their ox was the one that went missing. No matter how hard Zhou Dajin thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Could it be that the rat poison had been kept too long and lost its potency?
"Alright, alright, stop arguing!" Zhou Dahu interrupted impatiently. The morning mood, which should have been filled with the prospect of eating beef, had been completely ruined just like that.
In the blink of an eye, more than half of a large ox had been partitioned and taken away. One can easily imagine the bitter taste left in Zhou Dahu's heart.
Putting aside how distressed and heavy-hearted the people of Xiapu Village felt, the three commune officials who had accompanied Chen Daliuliu and the others to investigate actually held a quite favorable impression of the people of Niuluo Village.
After all, during the mediation process, the people of Niuluo Village had given them a great deal of face, unlike the folks in Xiapu Village, who were ready to hurl curses or roll up their sleeves for a physical fight at the slightest provocation.
On the way back, seeing that Chen Daliuliu and the others were all silent, Officer Zhao spoke up to offer comfort. "Though the people of Xiapu Village went too far, you've already taken away more than half of the beef, plus two hundred yuan as compensation. Try not to feel too down."
Chen Daliuliu and the others nodded, but they still lacked the heart to speak.
After a good while, Chen Daliuliu looked toward the commune cadres, appearing as if he had something to say but hesitating.
"What is it? If you have something to say, just say it."
"Well, actually, it's like this." Chen Daliuliu paused after starting, thought for a moment, and then continued, "Our village originally had three oxen, as the commune leaders well know. Now..."

He glanced at the ox legs and the blood-dripping beef on the ox cart, a flash of grief and resentment crossing his eyes. He sniffed before continuing, "We only have two oxen left. That is definitely not going to be enough for plowing the fields in the future. I kindly ask the leaders that if you happen to hear of any village selling an ox, please let us know."
"This." The commune cadre looked somewhat troubled as well. "You know how it is—an ox is an expert helper for plowing in the village. No village is ever willing to sell an ox."
Unless an ox was injured, disabled, or too old to work, no village could bear to part with one. Though he didn't farm the land himself, he understood this logic perfectly.
Chen Daliuliu nodded. "I know. I don't mean to make things difficult for the leaders. I meant that even a calf would do; we can buy it and raise it ourselves."
Nearby, Chen Youfu caught the warning look Chen Daliuliu shot him and immediately understood, hastily tugging at his hem. "Village Chief, what are you talking about? How can a calf work? It takes a very long time to raise it, and it has to be trained for ages before it can be put to work. We have to buy a full-grown ox."
"As if I didn't know that!" Chen Daliuliu was far less polite to Chen Youfu than he was to the commune people, and he bellowed loudly, "Just use your head—which village would ever sell you a strong, hardworking ox?"
"Uh..." Scolded publicly, Chen Youfu finally grasped the reasoning behind it. He scratched his head and said no more.
Standing nearby, Li Youcai looked nervously at the commune cadres, swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and finally spoke up, "Well, Village Chief, even if we buy a calf, we don't have the money for it."
Those words instantly plunged Chen Daliuliu back into silence. After a short while, he spoke again, "We can sell this beef, save the money, and then we'll have it."
Realizing that this conversation was once again going to depress the people of Niuluo Village, the commune members quickly stepped in to interrupt. "How about this? I personally will buy two catties from you. Consider it my way of supporting you."
"Me too."
Officer Zhao hurriedly raised his hand as well. "Count me in."
"No, no, absolutely not!" Chen Daliuliu quickly waved his hands in refusal.
The commune cadre patted Chen Daliuliu on the shoulder. "It's fine, Comrade Old Chen, there's no need to decline. Who you sell it to doesn't matter. Rest assured, nobody is going to talk about this matter."