It was late at night, and Cao Zhongchun had fallen asleep soundly and snored.
Cao's wife sat under the lamp to pick up the soles of her shoes. She was already sleepy, so she mustered up the energy to continue picking up a row of stitches.
She said in her heart: This is the task assigned to me by my husband Cao Zhongchun. During the Chinese New Year, I want to make a pair of cloth shoes for his unmarried brother Cao Mengchun. The two brothers are very harmonious. It is my duty as a sister-in-law to fulfill my obligations. .
Cao's wife filled up the stitches in one shoe sole, and the lamp seemed to be out of oil. Although there were huge flowers on the wick, it was about to die, and the light was dimmed now.
Cao's wife simply blew it out and went to bed. She had just entered a light sleep state when she was awakened by a burst of banging and shouting, which made her sleepy at all.
She immediately sat up and listened carefully, only to hear a cry of "oh oh", as if someone had been gagged with a piece of cloth and couldn't scream. This made her realize that something must have happened to Cao Mengchun who was sleeping in the next room, because this The sound came from the next room. Cao's wife immediately woke up her husband, Cao Zhongchun, who was sleeping soundly.
Cao Zhongchun looked sleepy and asked unhappily, "What's going on?"
Cao's wife said, did you hear the sound? Next room.
Cao Zhongchun woke up completely all of a sudden. He listened with open ears. The rustling sounds were louder and quieter, but the noisy footsteps were heard very clearly.
At this time, Cao's wife lit the oil lamp, refueled the oil lamp, and carried the lamp.
Cao Zhongchun got up under the light and put on his clothes, quickly grabbed a wooden stick from the nook of the door, opened the bolt and went out. Cao's wife held up a lamp to light the way. Before he could reach the next door, he saw several masked men of different heights holding sharp knives blocking him.
The tall masked man pushed a man whose mouth was bound and stuffed with cloth and could not speak, towards him. He quickly recognized it as his brother Cao Mengchun.
Cao Zhongchun forced a smile on his face and said, "Alas", why did you guys kidnap my brother? He was so poor that he couldn't even find a wife at such an old age. Please let him go! As he spoke, he knelt down.
Cao's wife also knelt down to help, begging you to let my brother go.
A masked man refused to accept this trick. He shook his hand and said in a foreign accent that it would not be so easy to let him go. Unless your family pays us 2,000 silver dollars, don't talk about it.
Cao Mengchun, who was tied up and held hostage by two men, kept stamping his feet and shaking his head, in order to tell his brother not to fall into their trap.
Cao's wife threatened that if you don't let my brother go, I will file a lawsuit.
The tall masked man sneered, and said in a foreign accent, "Go ahead and sue!" Can you see clearly who I am? Who are we? Let me tell you that within a week, we will come to the door of your earthen house every midnight and knock on the door. If you can collect 2,000 silver dollars for us, we will release you immediately. Otherwise, after a week, we will break up the vote. You Don't even think about living for your brother. Having said this, he waved his hand, and several masked men pushed Cao Mengchun into the dark night.
Cao Zhongchun shouted while chasing, brother, within a few days, I will find a way to collect 2,000 silver dollars to redeem you, you have to hold on!
One evening a few days later, Kan Nenglai came from nowhere, carrying a hanging bag of dog meat in his hand, and walked straight to the door of Xiong Zhengnan's house. Before he even got close, the fat white dog bared his teeth and barked at him, with a fierce glint in his eyes, but he didn't dare to bite him after all, and Kan Nenglai certainly wasn't afraid either.
Kan Nenglai glanced at the dog and said calmly: If the master, especially Fangfei, hadn't been protecting you, I would have killed you for meat!
His voice was low, and the dog was still barking. Xiong Zhengnan, who was squatting at the door and smoking a hookah, didn't hear him. When he looked up, Kan Nenglai had already walked up to him and handed him the dog meat in his hand. Xiong Zhengnan waved his hand and declined. He said, Tax Officer Kan, thank you, our family doesn’t want dog meat, you can take it away!
Kan Nenglai was stunned for a moment and said nonchalantly, has your daughter Fang Fei told you?
Xiong Zhengnan understood what he meant and said, "Sure, that's impossible." You signed the agreement, don’t break your promise!
Kan Neng said, isn't your daughter planning to cancel the engagement?
At this time, Kan Nenglai's wife You Meizhen came out of the room and said with a straight face that she could not help herself. The man Fang Fei was engaged to was a hunter. He once told the matchmaker that he was attracted to Fang Fei. If someone dared to take her love with him, he would fight with all his strength and even hit them with a shotgun. That would cause trouble. Tax collector Kan, I advise you to let it go!
Kan Nenglai handed her the dog meat in his hand again and said, Fang Fei's mother, just take this piece of dog meat!
You Meizhen also waved her hands repeatedly and said, "No, no." do you know? My family has a white dog that barks when it sees people eating dog meat. It’s not that you don’t know, dogs love to chew bones, but if you throw a dog bone at them, they won’t chew it.
Kan Nenglai said sadly, I understand. Then he turned around and returned with the dog meat. As soon as he walked out of the front door, the white dog chased after him and started barking.
Kan Nenglai was so frustrated that he wanted to vent his anger. He turned his head, bent down, picked up a stone on the ground and threw it at it. The white dog nimbly slipped away, but of course it didn't hit him. He chased the white dog a few more steps, and when he reached the fourth step, he staggered, his left leg slipped, and he knelt down. There happened to be a cone-shaped stone on the ground that touched the kneecap, causing him to blink in pain. .
He gritted his teeth and stood up, with his head slightly lowered, and staggered away amidst the barking of the dog.
One morning, the Puqi County Government Office was as tense as usual.
The gatekeeper saw a middle-aged man kneeling in front of the yamen and crying out for injustice, holding a cloth bag in his hand.
The gatekeeper asked, what is your name and where are you from? What's the grievance? Let me hear it.
The middle-aged man replied, My name is Cao Zhongchun, and I am from the north of this county. As for any grievances that are hard to explain in words, I would like to ask the gatekeeper to allow me to go in and tell the county magistrate in detail.
The gatekeeper put his hand to his mouth with two fingers and blew, making a sharp whistle. A yamen servant with long braids immediately walked out of the yamen. With a knowing gesture of his hand, Cao Zhongchun stood up and walked into the yamen with a pair of stone lions squatting on both sides. He followed the yamen servant through several round doors and winding Along the winding corridor, you arrive at the county government hall. I saw a man wearing a seventh-grade official uniform with a broad face and big ears, lowering his head and frowning while reading an official document.
The yamen servant deliberately stamped his foot to attract the attention of the county magistrate. Then he spoke in a formal voice with his right hand to his forehead and reported to the county magistrate that there was a man named Cao Zhongchun from the northern suburbs of the county who was complaining about injustice at the yamen gate and had been taken away by his subordinates. Come and prepare to complain to you.
Cao Zhongchun knelt on his knees in front of the court, holding the cloth bag in his hand, and said in a trembling voice, "The county magistrate, Cao Zhongchun, a grassroots citizen, is complaining on behalf of his brother and begging for permission to file a lawsuit."
The county magistrate did not answer Cao Zhongchun, but waved to the yamen servant and handed him an official document he had read on the table. I told you to take a look. Now the Eight-Nation Allied Forces have entered the capital, and the country is in a period of war. If not done well, we in Puqi will become a foreign concession.
The yamen officer nodded while looking at it.
When Cao Zhongchun saw that the county magistrate did not talk about his affairs, he simply stood up, waved the cloth bag in his hand and said, "Master, do you care about civil affairs?"
The county magistrate said that of course civil matters need to be dealt with, but there are priorities. You tell me! Why are you calling for injustice on behalf of your brother? Why doesn't your brother do it himself?
Cao Zhongchun did not rush to answer, but opened the cloth bag in his hand, revealing a pair of bloody human ears. He burst into tears after just one look.
The county magistrate asked in horror, whose ears are these?
