Granny Zhuzi’s face stiffened as she said, “You’re Silang’s brother. If Silang can do it, why can’t you?”
Zhao Sanlang grimaced and said, “I’m afraid of blood. The moment I see blood, my vision blurs and my heart races!”
“…” Granny Zhuzi was dumbfounded. She rubbed her hands anxiously and said, “What are we going to do now? Besides your brother Silang, there’s no one else in the village who knows how to slaughter a cow.”
Slaughter a cow?
Shen Yulou heard this from a distance, and her heart stirred.
From the original owner’s memories, Zhao Silang not only knew how to hunt, but also knew how to do butchering work. Whenever anyone in the village needed a cow or pig slaughtered, they would ask Zhao Silang to help.
After the job was done, the host family would give him two or three catties of meat as payment.
Now that Zhao Silang had gone off as a laborer, there was no one to do this butchering work.
But she could do it.
And she didn’t even want the meat—she only wanted the cow bones.
The bones of an entire cow! They could be used to make soup and render oil. Those were all good things!
Shen Yulou’s heart raced with excitement. She quickly said to Zhao Baozhu, “Baozhu, I’ve thought of ingredients for the soup, and they won’t cost us a single coin… But I can’t do this alone—I need your help.”
She knew how to slaughter a cow.
But she didn’t have enough strength.
Zhao Baozhu, however, was incredibly strong—she could lift a water vat weighing two or three hundred catties with her bare hands.
She shared her plan with Zhao Baozhu.
How could Zhao Baozhu possibly disagree? Without a second thought, she agreed, saying, “Leave it to me!”
With that, she strode forward and said to the worried Granny Zhuzi, “It’s just slaughtering a cow—how hard can it be? I’ll do it!”
“You? Are you sure you can?” Granny Zhuzi looked at Zhao Baozhu with suspicion.
Zhao Baozhu straightened her back and said, “Who are you looking down on? Why wouldn’t I be able to do it? I’m my fourth brother’s own sister—I’ve inherited his skills, and I’ve got plenty of strength to boot!”
Whether Zhao Baozhu had truly inherited Zhao Silang’s skills, Granny Zhuzi didn’t know.
But that Zhao Baozhu was strong—that was something everyone in Dayawan Village knew.
And thinking about the old yellow cow at home that had been wounded in the belly—unable to live but also unable to die, moaning in agony all night—Granny Zhuzi could only agree to it.
Zhao Baozhu then shot a triumphant look at Shen Yulou.
The latter secretly gave her a thumbs up, ran into the courtyard to set down her bamboo basket, found the basket Zhao Silang usually used to store his tools, then ran to her own room to grab a piece of cloth and tuck it into her bosom. She then followed Zhao Baozhu toward the Zhuzi family’s home.
Quite a few villagers had already gathered at the Zhuzi family’s doorstep to watch the excitement. The injured old yellow cow lay in the middle of everyone’s gaze, mooing.
Its cries were mournful and pitiful, tugging at the heartstrings of all who heard them.
Granny Zhuzi explained the situation to her husband. Although Grandpa Zhuzi didn’t quite believe in Zhao Baozhu’s skills, he couldn’t find anyone else willing to take on the job.
With no other choice, he could only nod in agreement, deciding to give it a try.
Zhao Baozhu then pulled Shen Yulou toward the old yellow cow.
The cow had a fist-sized bloody hole in its belly. Though the bleeding had stopped, the wound still looked terrifying.
Having been in pain all night, the old yellow cow lay on its side in the open space, its entire body radiating weakness. Even when a playful puppy tugged at its tail, it didn’t have the strength to swish it away.
Only when the two of them approached did the old yellow cow lift its eyelids to look at them. Its pinkish nose twitched a couple of times, and then it let out a few “moo moo moo” sounds.
Shen Yulou didn’t possess any magical ability to understand the voices of animals.
But somehow, she could tell that the old yellow cow was saying to them: Save me, save me.
Looking at the black mole on the cow’s nose, Shen Yulou felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
She stroked the old yellow cow’s head and said, “It’ll be over soon… Just bear with it a little longer, okay?”
As if understanding her words, the old yellow cow slowly closed its bell-sized eyes.
The next moment, two large teardrops rolled out from its eyes.
Zhao Baozhu turned her head away.
Shen Yulou’s heart grew even heavier.
Times were hard. When people fell ill or got injured, they couldn’t necessarily afford to see a doctor—let alone a cow?
All she could do to redeem the old yellow cow was to spare it further suffering.
She took out the piece of cloth she’d brought from home and covered the cow’s eyes with it.
Zhao Baozhu saw this and vaguely guessed the reason. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
In a hoarse voice, she asked, “Can we start now?”
“Mhm, let’s begin.” Shen Yulou nodded and pulled a sharp knife from Zhao Silang’s tool basket.
The blade was deathly white, glinting coldly in the sunlight—clearly razor-sharp.
Zhao Baozhu went over and straddled the cow, wrapping her arms around its neck.
Though it couldn’t see, the old yellow cow still instinctively panicked. Feeling its head being held, it struggled restlessly.
But Zhao Baozhu’s strength was immense, and she pinned it down so it couldn’t move. Shen Yulou’s coordination was seamless—her blade came out swiftly, plunging into the junction between the cow’s head and neck, then she gripped the handle and gave it a vicious half-turn.
Clean, decisive, without a hint of hesitation.
When slaughtering livestock, the usual choice was the neck—severing the main blood vessels and windpipe to hasten the animal’s death without wasting the blood.
But Shen Yulou felt that this process of bleeding out and dying still took too long.
So she chose to sever the central nervous system directly, causing the old ox to lose consciousness within seconds.
The entire process happened so quickly that the surrounding villagers watched with mouths agape. Before they could even process their shock, the old ox had already stopped moving.
Only after confirming that the old ox had breathed its last did Shen Yulou pull out the knife and stab it once more in the neck.
The ox had just died, and its blood hadn’t yet stopped flowing completely.
Ox blood was also edible—it couldn’t be wasted.
Shen Yulou kept her grip on the knife without pulling it out right away, and said to Granny Zhuzi and Grandpa Zhuzi, “Quick, bring a basin over to catch the blood.”
The old couple snapped out of their daze.
Granny Zhuzi hurriedly brought over a large basin.
Only then did Shen Yulou pull out the knife.
Steaming ox blood gushed out, flowing in torrents into the large wooden basin.
It was only at this moment that the villagers snapped out of their shock and burst into applause and cheers.
“This butchering technique is even more impressive than Zhao Silang’s!”
“Compared to her, Zhao Silang’s skill is that of an apprentice who hasn’t even finished his training! Now this—this is what a true master looks like!”
“Who would’ve thought it—that girl from the Shen family has such skill!”
“What ‘girl from the Shen family’? Yulou is part of the Zhao family now—she’s Zhao Silang’s wife!”
“That’s right, that’s right! Yulou is Zhao Silang’s wife!”
Hearing the villagers’ teasing, Shen Yulou’s cheeks flushed hot, and she thought to herself that it was a good thing Zhao Silang wasn’t here, or she’d be mortified.
“Uncle, Auntie, I also know how to butcher and portion the meat. Would you like me to help you cut it up?” Shen Yulou asked Grandpa Zhuzi and Granny Zhuzi.
Don’t underestimate the butchering—it was also a skilled craft.
If the meat was portioned beautifully, not only would it fetch a better price, but it would also sell more easily.
Otherwise, with random cuts here and there, hacked up all messy, people wouldn’t even feel the urge to buy it, and the price would take a hit too.
The old couple was already utterly impressed by Shen Yulou’s butchering skills.
Hearing this, Grandpa Zhuzi and Granny Zhuzi nodded eagerly.
“Yes, yes, yes!”
“We’ve put you through so much today, girl!”
“It’s no trouble. It’s the least I could do.”
Shen Yulou rolled up her sleeves and switched to a thinner, smaller knife.
Because she was about to start skinning the ox and extracting the tendons.
Ox hide and tendons could be made into armor, reins, bowstrings, and other military equipment. They were important strategic materials that had to be handed over to the imperial court without question.
This was the law of the dynasty—an ironclad rule that no one could violate, on pain of severe punishment.
Only after removing the hide and tendons did Shen Yulou begin portioning the meat.
She was a chef by trade, after all, so she knew exactly how each part of the ox tasted and how to cut it without wasting any of it. Her knife skills were also superb—every piece of meat she cut out was not only pleasing to the eye but also had clean, even edges.
It took Shen Yulou nearly half an hour to finish butchering the entire ox.
Grandpa Zhuzi and Granny Zhuzi looked at the several large basins of meat, then at the skeleton that had been stripped so clean that barely a trace of meat remained, and they couldn’t have been more satisfied.
The old couple beamed with joy, expressing their gratitude over and over.
Granny Zhuzi then called out to Shen Yulou, “You must be exhausted, girl! Come, go wash your hands in some hot water first!”
She wasn’t really all that tired, since Zhao Baozhu had been helping on the side, saving Shen Yulou a lot of effort.
Still, both of them had sticky ox blood all over their hands and really did need a good wash.
So Shen Yulou and Zhao Baozhu went to wash their hands together.
But just as they returned from washing up, they heard a shrill female voice shouting:
“Why won’t you give me any of the beef? Your family’s ox was killed by my daughter! By custom, your family owes me three catties of beef!”