The Pigs Have Escaped
Mrs. Liu had to stay in bed for seven days. During these seven days, Zhou Lan Xiu continued to berate her with words but nobody laid a finger on Li Wei Yang. As a result, these seven days passed by with ease. Coupled with Mrs. Ma’s help, she was able to eat until her stomach was bloated.
Seeing that Li Wei Yang had finished with the laundry, Zhou Lan Xiu walked over and handed her a bucket filled with pig’s food. “Go feed the pigs!”
In the rural villages, feeding the pigs was considered an important responsibility. Normally Mrs. Liu wouldn’t let others perform this task, instead assigning it to Zhou Lan Xiu. Since Mrs. Liu wasn’t present at the moment, Zhou Lan Xiu immediately dumped the responsibility onto Wei Yang.
Li Wei Yang smiled happily and said, “Yes, Lan Xiu jiejie!”
With her delighted, smiling expression, Li Wei Yang received the bucket filled with pig’s food and carried it towards the pigsty.
The Zhous raised a total of eight pigs. With a grin, Li Wei Yang looked at the bunch of pigs. She pondered then scooped a bit of the feed and dumped it into the food bin. Instantly the pigs rushed over towards the food and fought each other for it. Li Wei Yang watched as they shoved and pushed each other, each wanting to have a bite, and immediately came up with an interesting idea. She surveyed the surrounding, set the food bucket on the pigsty, opened the gates and freed the pigs. The eight pigs that have been imprisoned in the small pigpen for so long suddenly had their freedom as they rushed out at the speed of light.
Li Wei Yang stepped to the side to avoid the stampede. Upon seeing all of the pigs have escaped, she slightly smirked. Afterwards, she picked up the bucket filled with pig’s food and silently exited the house from the back gates. She rounded the house towards the water well that the villagers used the most and dumped the entire bucket of pig’s food into it. Watching the water gently splashed up and about, Li Wei Yang gently smiled.
A few people passed by but Wei Yang didn’t talk to them. They looked at her strangely, pondered for a bit then left. Li Wei Yang briefly looked at the daylight. She decided to sit down on the ground, crossed her legs and stared at the entrance of the village in the distance.
After waiting for about half an hour, she saw Wang xiansheng [1] and the village head slowly walking towards her. She was happy.
If anyone wanted to return to the village, they would have to pass by this water well. Inititally she wanted to wait for the village head to pass by, but unexpectedly there was also Wang xiansheng. This Wang xiansheng was the village’s only scholar. Despite having failed many times at the exams, he was nevertheless the only one in the village who was literate and read books. Thus, the person who liked to reason the most, moderate other people’s affairs, demonstrate justice and build himself a good reputation was none other than this very Wang xiansheng.
Li Wei Yang immediately stood up. As she roughly wiped her eyes, she was also looking at the well with a nervous, terrified countenance.
The village head passed by and looked at Li Wei Yang with suspicions. “Li guniang [2], what are you doing here?”
The village head was merely asking out of convenience but suddenly, Li Wei Yang lifted her head, revealing her worries and sadness. She said, “Lan Xiu jiejie told me to feed the pigs. I was careless and clumsy and accidentally poured the pig’s feed into the well. What should I do, what should I do. . .Tonight I’m going to be beaten to death!”
The village head was horrified. “What? What did you do?”
Li Wei Yang displayed a confused and terrified expression. Then she promptly burst into tears. When outsiders saw, they would be sympathetic and conflicted. “What should I do, what should I do! I’m definitely going to be beaten to death. I’m going to be beaten to death! I don’t dare to go back, so I might as well just jump into this well!” With that said, she climbed onto the well, as if she was actually going to jump down.
The village head panicked, thinking that if someone really committed suicide in this well then all the other villagers would no longer be able to drink from it. He rushed over and held tightly onto her. “A million times, please don’t do it! Let’s carefully talk it out!”
Wang xiansheng observed for a long while. He stroked his beard and asked, “How can there be something like this? From what I heard, you stay at their house but they are given living expenses every month. How could they force you to feed the pigs?”
Li Wei Yang used her sleeves to wipe her face, looking very sorry. “Before my family sent 10 silvers every month for the past five years but now they have stopped. . .”
“What?! 10 silvers every month?!” Wang xiansheng jumped from shock. He taught for the village but each year, not a single student could donate 2 silvers for renovation! It was really unfair! He breathed heavily and looked at Li Wei Yang, thinking the Zhous were too greedy. 10 silvers for the past five years, which meant these past five years they had gotten 600 silvers. How much did it cost to raise a small girl? Even if they had to raise her for the rest of her life, it still wouldn’t cost 600 silvers! And yet, they treated her like a servant girl for them to order around as they please. How unreasonable! He glowered, filled with outrage for the injustice. “Let’s go! We need a clear explanation from the Zhous!”
The village head also thought the Zhous were out of line. Seeing the village’s highly regarded and educated scholar storming up front, he quickly chased after but didn’t forget about Li Wei Yang as he craned his neck and said, “Let’s go! Don’t cry!”
Li Wei Yang wiped away the fake tears and hurried after them.
Right at this moment, she heard a strange, sarcastic laughter. She stopped and craned her neck but couldn’t see a single person. Perhaps she had misheard? Li Wei Yang furrowed her eyebrows. She could hear the village head up front urging her to follow. Once again, she looked around her. Confirming that there was no one else, she started walking again.
She was probably hearing things.
The moment he stepped through the gates, Wang xiansheng yelled loudly, “Zhou Qing! Come out here quick! How could you guys let a lady in the Capital feed the pigs? She’s not a servant for you to slave around!”
Zhou Qing rushed out of his room. Witnessing this scene, he became stupefied.
The village head said, “That’s right. She stayed at your house but had given so many silvers. You guys shouldn’t take the money and bully her, forcing her to do strenuous chores!”
Right then, Mrs. Ma and Lan Xiu stepped out, staring at Li Wei Yang with shock.
Li Wei Yang said pitifully, “Village head uncle, it was me who wanted to help Lan Xiu jiejie. Don’t blame her. She didn’t force me to do it! It’s my fault. Initially I thought the bucket was too dirty and shouldn’t let the pigs eat dirty food, that’s why I went to clean it. In the end, I was careless and dropped all of the pig’s food into the well. It’s my fault! I’m so clumsy that I can’t even complete such a simple task!”
The village head glanced at Zhou Qing and said, “You are so. . . you suddenly told her to feed the pigs but she’s a lady from the Capital, she wouldn’t know how to do those things! Not to mention, she lives at your house but already gave you the money. Even though they have stopped sending you the money, the amount you have accepted over the years is more than enough to raise her for another 80 years! You shouldn’t treat her like a servant girl!”
To avoid people gossiping and tarnishing the Zhou’s honour, Mrs. Liu would usually berate and abuse people behind closed doors. As a result, Zhou Qing would turn his head the other way. Unfortunately, the village head and the village’s only scholar were both here at the moment, causing the neighbours to look over.
It was a blow to Zhou Qing’s dignity. He spun around and cruelly kicked Zhou Lan Xiu. “You lazy, I told you to feed the pigs. How would she know how to feed the pigs!”
Li Wei Yang lowered her head, looking genuinely apologetic. In other people’s eyes, she looked even more pitiful. Despite how much the villagers liked to gossip and be envious of Li Wei Yang’s beauty, they were still very simple-minded. In their opinion, the Zhous had received so much money from the Li’s then they should also treat their daughter kindly. How could they bully her instead?
Being pointed at by his close neighbours, Zhou Wing couldn’t control his temper. He meanly slapped Zhou Lan Xiu. “It’s all because of you causing me problems!”
Li Wei Young thought to herself: This is just the beginning.
True enough, shortly after, they heard Zhou Jiang racing forward with a pale face. Horror-stricken, he exclaimed, “Father! The pigs! The pigs have all escaped!”