“Ah—no good, no good! Eldest daughter-in-law! Second daughter-in-law! Old man! The pig is gone! The pig is gone! We can’t survive anymore! We can’t survive anymore! Our family’s pig is gone!”
After shouting this, Old Madam Liu ran to the doorway, sat down heavily on the ground, and slapped her thigh while cursing:
“You damned bastard! Have you never eaten pork in your life? You had to steal our pig! Are you too poor to live, or too stubborn to die? You filthy, thousand-times-damned beast! You pig-stealing thief! I curse you to have children with no…” (she continued spewing filthy curses)
“Drink cold water and choke to death! When you go to a grave, your ancestral tomb will explode! What kind of disgusting greed is this? You shameless pig thief! May your whole family die a horrible death! Your uncle, your father, your maternal grandfather, your second uncle—all of them turn into turtles! Your mother, your aunt, your sisters, your daughters—your whole family are all shameless women who keep men!”
Her cursing drew all the neighbors and villagers outside to watch the commotion. Upon hearing that the Liu family’s pig was missing, everyone began discussing it, saying no one had seen a pig leave the yard.
The Liu family members rushed out upon hearing the commotion. Old Master Liu, in his panic, didn’t even put on his shoes and ran barefoot to the pigpen. When he saw that the pig was truly gone, his head buzzed and his temples throbbed. He trembled all over with rage.
That pig was the only valuable thing their family owned—they were counting on selling it for silver to buy grain.
Eldest son Liu, second son Liu, Liu Wangshi, second son’s wife (Second Aunt Liu), all leaned over the pigpen to look. When they confirmed the pig was gone, their faces turned pale and their legs weakened in shock.
Liu Ya, Liu Qing, the second uncle’s sons Liu Baozhu and Liu Baotian, and the daughter Liu Xiangxiang all stood at the doorway, afraid to step forward in case the elders took out their anger on them.
As the saying goes, “the older the ginger, the spicier it is.” Old Master Liu stomped his foot and shouted:
“Stop standing there! Hurry up and find the pig! A couple of days ago it already jumped out of the pen and went into the mountains—go search the mountain!”
Hearing this, Eldest Brother Liu said, “Second brother, come with me to the mountain. Second sister-in-law and your wife, you go search the village. Baozhu, take your younger siblings to the next village.”
Just like that, the entire Liu family scattered to search for the pig. Old Master Liu also dragged the still-cursing Old Madam Liu, and they went door to door in the village, afraid someone might have hidden the pig.
Meanwhile, Liu Ye, who was lying by the river sunbathing, had unknowingly fallen asleep. She slept all the way until midday.
She stretched lazily and climbed down from the rock.
“Ah… that sleep felt amazing. Not being a wage slave is really good.”
She looked up at the sun. It was noon, probably. She had no phone or watch, so she could only guess the time.
Her stomach growled loudly.
She rubbed it. So hungry.
Normally at this time, the village should be empty. In the foolish girl’s memory, people in the village—including the Liu family—never ate lunch, only two meals a day. But she couldn’t go without eating. She needed to go back and find food.
Not long after leaving the river, she suddenly saw Liu Baozhu and his brother searching the mountain for the pig. Alarmed, she quickly hid in the bushes.
“Grunt grunt… grunt grunt…”
After the brothers walked away, Liu Ye slipped out of the bushes and ran down the mountain.
The pig was gone—so the Liu family must all be out searching. Perfect. The house would definitely be empty.
Sneaking and hiding along the way, Liu Ye returned to the Liu household.
She went straight to Liu Ya and Liu Qing’s room.
In truth, the foolish girl didn’t even have a proper room in the Liu family. Her “room” was the pigpen. In winter, she slept in the woodshed, and when the weather warmed up after New Year, Liu Wangshi would drive her back to the pigpen, disgusted by her smell.
Honestly, Liu Wangshi was beyond harsh. The girl was still her daughter—her own flesh and blood. No matter what, she shouldn’t treat her like this.
But the sisters’ room wasn’t much better either. The window paper was torn, the walls had straw sticking out, and the bed was covered with a broken straw mat. There were two cabinets with bricks under one leg each. On top were two tattered quilts.
Liu Ye climbed onto the kang bed and opened the cabinet, pulling out two bundles of clothes. She unfolded them and checked—both were full of patches upon patches. Not a single decent piece.
This Liu family is really poor…
Fine then. She picked two sets from Liu Qing and two from Liu Ya and stored them in her space. Then she put one set on.
After dressing, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
She put the torn outer clothes back on over it. That made more sense—if Liu Ya saw her wearing her clothes, she would definitely make her take them off. If she wore them inside, no one would notice. A little hot was fine—better than going around with open crotch pants.
She tossed the bundles back into the cabinet and headed to the kitchen.
Inside the cupboard, she found five or six corn cakes and stored them all in her space. The pig was already gone anyway—missing a few cakes wouldn’t matter.
Then she found some seeds: corn, soybeans, though only a small handful of each. She also took bowls, basins, jars, spoons, knives, and even a small iron pot.
Looking at the situation, she figured she would leave sooner or later, so she might as well take some farming tools and supplies. From the storage room, she also took two baskets, a large and a small, along with a stack of grain sacks, hoes, shovels, rakes, and a sickle.
She was very satisfied.
Before the Liu family returned, she had to hide in the mountains again and come back at night—otherwise, if they caught her, they would take their anger out on her over the missing pig.
As night fell, she quietly returned to the Liu household.
As soon as she stepped inside, she heard crying from inside the house.
It sounded like Old Madam Liu.
Liu Ye curled her lips.
That old hag is definitely crying over the pig. Serves her right.
That old woman had always bullied the foolish girl. She was also extremely biased—she constantly mistreated Liu Wangshi, favored her second son’s family, and adored the two grandsons from that side. Anything good was secretly given to them.
The family finances were controlled by the old couple. There were probably still ten taels of silver or so…
And she was already planning to take it…