Selling even an ounce more would be a loss.

"That's right, rest assured, this isn't your fault either."

Chen Dali shook his head even harder, refusing to agree no matter what.

However, the commune officials kept persuading them with great enthusiasm.

Finally, with no other choice, Chen Dali and his men conferred right in front of the three commune officials. They cut off a piece of meat for each of them, refusing to take any money. They framed it as a token of appreciation for the trouble of accompanying them and making the executive decision.

After saying goodbye to the commune personnel, the ox-cart turned onto the road leading back to Niuluo Village.

Once they were some distance away, Li Youcai asked with puzzlement, "Village Chief, why didn't we take their money?"

Earlier, when the other party tried to force the money into his hands, the Village Chief adamantly refused, even chasing after them to return it, only to be called stubborn by Officer Zhao from the commune.

"Take their damn money?" Chen Dali retorted bitterly. "What good are those few dimes?"

Hearing this, the others were instantly stunned. Since when had the Village Chief become so wealthy that he looked down on mere dimes?

Seeing the looks on their faces, Chen Dali was speechless.

"Can you guys use your brains? If we just give them a catty or half a catty as a gift, they'd be too embarrassed to ask for more. But if we agreed to sell it to them, what if they asked for three or five catties? Wouldn't we be taking a loss?"

"And what if buying it themselves wasn't enough? What if they went back, told their relatives and friends, and those people asked them to help buy three or five catties? Should we sell it or not?"

Li Youcai remained unconvinced. "They were paying for it, too!" There's nothing wrong with having more buyers!

"If I called you a fool, you'd really be one!" Chen Dali almost poked Li Youcai's forehead as he scolded him.

"How much did we sell pork for last time? We would be selling this beef to the three of them at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's flat rate, and without any ration coupons. If we sold even a single tael more, we'd be the ones losing out."

As soon as Chen Dali explained it this way, everyone immediately understood.

They all praised Chen Dali for thinking so far ahead.

And weren't they right? Last time, the pork had been sold at a high price precisely because it didn't require ration coupons. With Chen Weiguo around, they didn't have to worry about the meat not selling. Besides, the village probably wouldn't sell the rest of this meat anyway; they intended to keep it so every family could add a dish to their New Year table.

"Of course. Otherwise, why would I be the village chief?" Chen Dali hummed, a somewhat haughty expression on his face.

It made the others feel that his tone and expression were inexplicably familiar. *Wait a minute*, the Village Chief was copying Great-Aunt! Great-Aunt often said things like, 'Otherwise, why would I be your Great-Aunt?'

After reveling in his triumph for a moment, Chen Dali's expression shifted to something more composed and steady. "Those three catties of meat can be considered an investment in goodwill. In the future, when our village goes to the commune on business, receiving even two points better treatment will be worth it."

Hearing this, the men nodded in agreement.

***

"You two. Really. I told you not to drop the ball, and yet you still dropped the ball." Chen Dali pointed at the two men he had pinched earlier. "If I hadn't reacted in time, our cover would have been blown."

"Village Chief, we just didn't have any experience!"

"Right, right! We'll pay attention next time. Practice makes perfect!"

The two men apologized repeatedly.

There was no such thing as practice making perfect here—this kind of thing could only happen once. The people of Xiaxin Village weren't fools.

Besides, if the people of Xiaxin Village hadn't tried to poison them, Great-Aunt wouldn't have made them pull this stunt.

As soon as Chen Dali and the others entered the village, Little Black knew.

Hearing Little Black's report, Bai Xi put down the walnut kernels in her hand.

These walnut kernels had been picked up from under the walnut tree by Little Shunzi and the others, cleaned, and cracked open before being delivered to Bai Xi.

Even so, Chen Rui was afraid Bai Xi would hurt her hands shelling them, so she would come over to shell walnuts for Bai Xi whenever she had free time.

As Bai Xi descended halfway down the treehouse stairs with Little Black, the ox-cart arrived at the treehouse.

The moment they saw Bai Xi, Chen Dali and the others broke into wide, beaming grins.

"Great-Aunt, we're back," Chen Dali and the men called out, before all of them burst into silly, sheepish laughter: "Hehehe..."

"Great-Aunt, this is the money Xiaxin Village paid as compensation for killing our ox," Chen Dali said respectfully, handing the money to Bai Xi. "It comes to two hundred yuan in total."

Bai Xi accepted it casually, glanced at the beef on the ox-cart, a look of satisfaction dawning on her small face, and gently clapped her small hands. "Not bad!"

Having won Bai Xi's praise, Chen Dali puffed up his chest even more.

"Great-Aunt, originally we wanted Xiaxin Village to compensate us with a live ox. Who told them to slaughter an ox indiscriminately, and our ox at that?"

As soon as Chen Youfu finished speaking, Li Youcai chimed in, "But they claimed our ox had wandered off, and that they had to kindly lead it back and feed it for a few days. Then they claimed it was a diseased ox, and insisted with thick-skinned shamelessness on taking half the beef. They are completely shameless!"

Watching their indignant expressions, Bai Xi couldn't help but sigh inwardly at what exceptional actors they were. If she hadn't known the truth of the matter, she would have believed them completely.

"Forget it. After all, they're the neighboring village, and we'll see each other all the time. Let's just consider it our bad luck."

Once Bai Xi spoke, Chen Dali and the others nodded repeatedly, the angry expressions on their faces slowly fading away.

By this time, the villagers were arriving one after another.

***

"Great-Aunt, what should we do with this beef?"

"How much is there?"

"Reporting to Great-Aunt, there is a total of one thousand and seventy catties." It should have been one thousand and seventy-three catties, but three catties had been cut off for the commune officials.

Bai Xi said, "Then divide it up and give it to everyone."

After Chen Dali nodded, he asked another question, "Great-Aunt, should we distribute it to everyone, or should we sell some?"

"No need. It's a diseased ox; it wouldn't be good if people ate it and got sick. We'll just eat it ourselves." Bai Xi emphasized the words "diseased ox" rather heavily.

Hearing this, everyone grinned happily, and the children swallowed their saliva with delight—they were going to have meat again.

That night, the scent of stir-fried beef drifted from every single household in Niuluo Village.

Unlike the previous few days, this time everyone was eating beef openly and aboveboard, without fear of people from other villages smelling it.

Nobody worried about the claim that it was diseased beef.

Are you kidding? Great-Aunt would never harm them. If Great-Aunt, who was so precious, was eating it, and even Little Black—who was so picky—was eating it with such relish, then it was fine.

No one understood whether this ox was sick or not better than Bai Xi. The ox had simply been so frightened by Little Black that it couldn't eat or sleep well. As for why it was attacked by the other three oxen, it was merely because it carried a faint trace of Little Black's scent.

Seventy catties of the beef had been allotted to Bai Xi's household. Li Jia nimbly sliced it into thin pieces, curing fifty catties with coarse salt. Another fifteen catties went to Little Black, and the remaining five catties were used to stew a brimming pot of braised pork for Bai Xi—enough to last her two or three meals.

The next day, just as Bai Xi finished breakfast, Little Black reported that a stranger had entered the village, and obediently went into hiding.

The visitors were the three commune officials who had accompanied Chen Dali's group to Xiaxin Village yesterday.

They had left late yesterday afternoon as night was falling, so the commune personnel hadn't followed them back to Niuluo Village to investigate. Nothing could be discerned in the dark anyway, and they hadn't mentioned coming to Niuluo Village today.

Coming today without any prior notice was their way of checking out the true situation in Niuluo Village.

*(It seems I haven't rested a single day from the New Year until now. Please give my head a pat.)*