Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

第 245

Zhao Da'e rolled her eyes at Zhou Chunwen: "Don't look so aggrieved. Big sister, you only got a scrape, but your dad had a nail pierce through the top of his foot."

“Hmm, that makes sense. My dad has a hard life.” Zhou Chunwen chuckled. “I reckon it was Accountant Yao’s family who did it. We’ve offended them. That bastard is really cunning.”

Zhao Da'e also thought it was Yao, the accountant from the Juren Cane, who did it, since the two families were now at odds and couldn't get along at all.

Such incidents often occur when two families in a rural area are at odds.

It's not a big deal yet, they're just targeting you behind your back, playing dirty tricks on you.

Today I'll put a few nails in front of your house, tomorrow I'll set your woodpile on fire, and the day after tomorrow I'll secretly smash a window.

You still can't find anyone.

And there is no evidence.

Where can we find evidence? Even if the Zhou family knows they have a grudge against Accountant Yao and suspects it was her, what can they do?!

A few days ago, Zhao Da'e and Zhou Tianfu went to Accountant Yao's house in the middle of the night to set off firecrackers, almost blowing their house up. The police came, and people from the village also went. Accountant Yao insisted that Zhou Yuren did it, but there was no evidence.

There was no surveillance in this era. If the other party denied it and no one caught them in the act, there was nothing that could be done.

This is a particularly troublesome matter right now.

Zhao Da'e wanted to get revenge on Accountant Yao, but he heard that Yao's house no longer had windows installed; they had simply bricked them up...

It has essentially achieved the goal of eliminating any future troubles.

Accountant Yao's windows have been broken twice already, so he no longer uses glass and simply doesn't have the heart to break them again.

We can't exactly smash the windows of Accountant Yao's father's house, can we...?

Anything else would be illegal.

Breaking glass falls under the category of moral condemnation. Even putting a nail in their hair, which pierced Zhou Yuren and Zhou Chunwen but didn't cause serious injury, is just disgusting.

If you beat up Accountant Yao, you'll be in big trouble; it'll turn into a fight. If you don't, he's already armed himself; he's blocked all the windows in his house with bricks, leaving Zhao Da'e with nowhere to smash.

"Alright, let's ask my uncle what to do."

Zhou Chunwen shook his head: "What's the use of asking him? My dad would just grab a kitchen knife and hack Accountant Yao to pieces, and then someone in my family would be killed!"

Zhao Da'e wasn't really sure what to do either; the matter was a bit complicated.

It's really frustrating when your opponents get smarter...

However, I still need to mention this to Zhou Yuren, just to avoid him running into more nails. Zhao Da'e and Zhou Chunwen did clean up the boards with nails today, but who knows, someone might secretly bury a couple more tomorrow…

If you're not careful and step on it again, it will be embarrassing.

Once inside the courtyard, Zhao Da'e pulled Zhou Chunwen into the east room and told Zhou Yuren and Cheng Jinxi about how someone had buried a wooden plank with nails in the soil next to the woodpile.

He then showed the wooden plank to Zhou Yuren.

There was a nail on a wooden board above, still stained with blood, probably the one Zhou Yuren stepped on.

Zhou Yuren's face immediately turned extremely pale. He cursed, "It must be that son of a bitch, Accountant Yao, who's up to no good with our family. That bastard is too cunning."

Cheng Jinxi was also furious and cursed, "We didn't break his windows, so how could he do such a despicable thing?"

Cheng Jinxi had no idea that the broken windows and collapsed kang (a heated brick bed) of Accountant Yao's entire family were caused by her son and Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Da'e looked embarrassed. The saying goes, "An eye for an eye only leads to another," and how much of the past is known... In the past, Accountant Yao would openly cause trouble, but now this guy has started to play dirty tricks, which makes him harder to deal with.

As the saying goes, if you are not afraid of thieves stealing, you are afraid of thieves missing you.

“He’s playing dirty tricks. Tonight I’ll sneak up on him, put a sack over his head, and beat him up,” Zhou Yuren said angrily, his beard bristling and eyes wide.

Cheng Jinxi also muttered her agreement with Zhou Yuren's approach.

Zhou Chunwen, however, maintained an indifferent attitude, as she had always been too lazy to get involved in family squabbles. Zhou Chunwen's life was relatively simple and uncomplicated.

Of course, Zhou Chunwen didn't take this seriously. After all, Zhao Da'e and his older brother had already collapsed the kang (a heated brick bed) in Accountant Yao's house, so putting in a few broken nails was a trivial matter.

Zhao Da'e has a bit of a headache.

"Stop arguing about this, hitting someone is illegal. He's playing dirty, you can turn the tables on him, dig a pit for him and let him jump in."

Zhou Yuren's brain wasn't working properly. He was just a farmer and didn't know anything about complicated matters, so he asked, "Then how do we dig a pit for him?"

Zhao Da'e scratched his head and thought slowly.

"We simply dug a hole next to your woodpile and buried some iron skewers inside, about half a stroke long."

The half-stroke is the distance between the middle finger and the thumb when a person's palm is stretched out to its longest length.

“If you go and fight with someone, it will be just like last time. The police station will come and take you all away. They'll detain you for ten or eight days. My older brother is about to get married in China. If something like this happens, it won't be good for him.”

No matter what, it can't affect Zhou Tianfu's future marriage plans.

Getting a wife has always been a calamity for the poor. Especially in rural areas these days, it's truly a case of "one family getting a wife, ten families fighting tooth and nail."

("Breaking through someone's head" is a dictionary adjective used because no similar word could be found to replace it. It originally refers to the behavior of other families who, seeing that their husbands are not getting married, spread rumors and cause trouble, ultimately ruining the marriage.)

Just as Zhou Tianfu was getting married, if Zhou Yuren acted impulsively and went out to beat up Accountant Yao, word would get out and he'd be arrested, giving people something to talk about. People would say, "So-and-so is even introducing a daughter-in-law to his family? Sigh, his father was already married into a family."

That might cause a marriage that could have gone through to fall through. Reputation is still incredibly important in this day and age. Even bad people are bound by morality. This morality might not work at first, but it will eventually come back to haunt you.

Zhao Da'e knew this well. In his previous life, many families in the village were well-off and their sons were good-looking, but there were other issues, such as: fathers and sons not getting along, mothers-in-law not being filial, many family troubles, bad tempers, and questionable character.

In the end, they all remained single.

The current generation's preference for sons will inevitably lead to a future where there are more men than women. It's not particularly serious yet, or rather, we haven't seen it coming.

However, in reality, at Zhou Tianfu's age, there's already a significant gender imbalance with more men than women. The soaring bride price is a prime example. Of course, on the other hand, women's increased protection of their rights, coupled with the rise in women's status, is also a tangible reality.

In this era, the city's economy is getting better and better, and many young girls are working as waitresses. However, many young men in the countryside are too proud to do so and prefer to stay in the fields. This will inevitably lead to a situation in the next few years where it will be difficult and strenuous for them to find wives.

Zhou Yuren also felt that Zhao Da'e's words made sense, but he couldn't swallow his anger.

This accountant Yao is going too far.

"Then what should I do? I'll plant nails in front of their house and then go out and stab him to death. Or..."

Zhou Yuren's eyes were extremely cold: "I'll go and plant nails in their ancestral graves..."

Zhao Da'e was stunned: "This..."

This issue has suddenly escalated to a higher level. The idea of ​​burying nails in ancestral graves actually exists.

Zhao Da'e felt dejected whenever he thought about it. In his past life, due to Zhang Cuilan's meddling and Zhao Tiegang's excessive drinking, the couple was completely unpopular within a hundred miles of Dongtaizi Village. Zhao Yongbo couldn't find a wife; every blind date he went on ended in heartbreak. Later, Zhang Cuilan went to the ancestral graves, presumably guided by incense or some kind of spirit, and buried eighteen copper nails in Zhao Tingxu's grave to lock the corpse… It was discovered later by someone accidentally digging up medicinal herbs…

Therefore, it's not too surprising that Zhao Da'e would bury nails in someone else's ancestral grave.

Cheng Jinxi stared coldly at Zhou Yuren: "Are you poisonous? Huh? You're burying nails in someone's ancestral grave? Won't they bury them for you?"

Zhou Chunwen didn't care. Anyway, if she was lucky enough to get married in the future, her family's ancestral graves would be none of her business.

Besides, Zhou Chunwen couldn't be bothered with such things. Zhou Chunwen knew Zhou Yuren's capabilities; he talked about illegal things every day, but the moment he saw someone wearing a hat, he immediately cowered.

cut.

"What should we do? Just let him bully our family like this? I have to think of a way to get back at him." Zhou Yuren looked terrible, but he wasn't quite thinking clearly. He had the desire for revenge, but he couldn't come up with any ideas on how to retaliate against Accountant Yao.

“Uncle, you can dig a hole next to the woodpile by the door and put nails in it. We all know where it is. When my cousin comes back later, tell him too,” Zhao Da’e said.

“Normally, no kids come over to play at your house, so it's impossible for someone to be so bored as to go and mess around near your woodpile. Other adults, even normal people, wouldn't go there. Who goes to visit someone's woodpile? Right? After that, we just wait. I reckon he buried those five planks last night, secretly. If he doesn't dare come during the day, we'll all pretend nothing's wrong today, and he won't notice anyone got pricked. If he doesn't see you suffering, he'll definitely come back and bury more. If he steps in the hole, we'll stab him to death.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuren's eyes lit up and he smiled: "Yes, yes, I think the goose is right."

Cheng Jinxi frowned: "You're nothing, not even as good as a child."

Zhou Yuren was extremely embarrassed: "Well, who told the goose to be so smart? Hahaha..."

Zhao Da'e chuckled, "After that, Uncle, you and my older brother, don't sleep or smoke. Hide in the woodpile in the middle of the night. When you hear someone step on a nail, go out and beat them to death with sticks. Remember, hit their legs. Break their legs if possible, then they'll never care again. Remember, don't say a word. After you're done, run away, then go around in a circle and go home through the back wall. No matter who it is, don't say a word. It'll be dark, they won't see who hit them, and if their legs are broken, they won't have anyone to complain to."

As soon as Zhao Da'e finished speaking, Zhou Chunwen gasped: "Hiss... Da'e, your idea is a bit unethical. Besides, if we break someone's leg, won't they try to extort money from our family?"

Zhao Da'e shrugged: "I don't admit it. Why did you break your leg at home and then come to my doorstep to extort money from me? Right..."

After Zhao Da'e said that, the others understood what he meant.

It's so dark, no one can see who it is.

Even if someone is beaten and then says, "Zhou Yuren beat me."

Can others believe it?

The question is, why would the person who was beaten appear at someone else's door in the middle of the night? Isn't that strange?

Do you have designs on Old Zhou's eldest daughter? If so, you deserve a beating.

Then Zhou Yuren asked, "How big of a pit would we have to dig?"

Zhao Da'e thought for a moment: "A depth of about half a meter will do. It's cold, so we'll have to use a pickaxe to dig it, otherwise we won't be able to dig it. If it's too deep, someone could fall and die. By the way, Uncle, what I just said was, when you two get down to business, try to beat them until they're in pain and subdued, but don't actually kill them or cripple them. Otherwise, things will get complicated."

Zhou Yuren nodded: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Cheng Jinxi wanted to say something more, but ultimately didn't.

Then Zhao Dage acted as lookout, Zhou Chunwen provided support, and Zhou Yuren, next to the woodpile, began digging a pit with a pickaxe and shovel.

Winters are cold, and the soil is mostly frozen.

Fortunately, the area near the woodpile was sheltered from the wind, and the temperature wasn't too low, so they were still able to dig.

Otherwise, it would truly be a case of one blow from a pickaxe and an innocent person is gone.

The extreme cold in Northeast China causes rivers to freeze and the land to freeze, forming permafrost. The permafrost layer is generally 30 to 50 centimeters deep. In areas where the sun is not visible, the permafrost layer can be more than one meter deep.

This is what permafrost looks like. Once it's frozen solid, trying to work with tools is a bit like cutting cork. So you have to use a pickaxe.

A pickaxe is a pickaxe; basically, anything of even a slightly technological nature used in this era was labeled "foreign." Pickaxes are sturdier than regular pickaxes; if you used a regular pickaxe, it would be very easy to break it.

After digging for almost an hour, Zhou Yuren finally dug a pit that was half a meter deep and one meter square. Then he carefully repaired the wooden plank with nails that Zhao Da'e and Zhou Chunwen had picked up and put it in the pit.

Then, it was simply covered with some sparse firewood and leaves, and a little water was placed around the edge.

I estimate that in about ten minutes, the water will freeze and become even more slippery.

Then the group went back inside.

When it was completely dark, Zhou Tianfu returned. Cheng Jinxi immediately told Zhou Tianfu about it and said, "Make sure your eyes are better. Don't be as blind as your father. You didn't let the bad guys step on you, but you cut your own foot instead."

Zhou Tianfu quickly replied that he understood.

Then, around 9 p.m., Zhou Yuren and his son Zhou Tianfu went outside to hide.

Zhou Chunwen watched as the father and son, shivering from the cold but determined to go out to use the toilet, left. She lay on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), frowning, and asked Zhao Da'e, "Da'e, I feel like your idea is a bit of a waste of my dad's time. What if no one comes tonight? Won't my dad have spent the whole night squatting for nothing?"