PCJ – Chapter 143 Reopening

“Dad, our house is so sturdy. Why do we still need to nail wooden boards?” Zhang Jiaohua asked, puzzled.

“You don’t know how terrifying starving wolves can be. With the mountains sealed by snow for so long, the wolves are starving. They’ve recently started breaking into the village to steal livestock as proof. The elders say that in the past, there were hundreds or even thousands of wolves in Meishan. When the mountains were snowed in, the starving wolves would charge into the village. They would try desperately to get into the houses. Some houses had decayed walls, and the wolves managed to break in. That was disastrous. Fortunately, at that time, the militia had guns. The militia leader organized the militia, and they shot and killed hundreds of wolves in one night, driving them away. But several households in Meizi’ou were invaded by wolves. The lucky ones climbed to the attic to escape. The unlucky ones were bitten to death by the wolves.” Zhang Youping forcefully nailed a thick wooden board to the wall, reinforcing the already sturdy wall.

“Dad, did you see it?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“I was just a little kid then. Even if I saw it, I don’t remember. Your grandfather was a militiaman back then. He alone killed more than ten wolves,” Zhang Youping shook his head.

“Actually, we don’t need to reinforce our house at all. Even if the wolves come to our village, they wouldn’t dare come to our house,” Zhang Jiaohua thought it was a waste of effort. Nailing the wooden boards made the house look really ugly.

“Why?” Zhang Youping stopped and looked up.

“We have household gods protecting us. How would they dare to come?” Zhang Jiaohua glanced seriously at the ancestral deity statue on the shrine.

Zhang Youping smiled and didn’t dare to say anything against it. “It’s just an extra layer of insurance.”

“Oh,” Zhang Jiaohua could only continue handing over nails.

The entire Meizi’ou resounded with the sound of hammering all day. With the New Year approaching, nobody wanted any accidents. In the countryside, people had enough food, and plenty of cured meat. Being locked inside for ten days or half a month wouldn’t worry anyone about hunger. Besides, no matter how bold the wolves were, they wouldn’t attack the village during the day. It was mainly at night. Because the houses in Meizi’ou were scattered, if a single house was surrounded by wolves, it would be dangerous. People would be fine as long as they locked their doors, but the concern was for the livestock.

Every household in the countryside raised one or two pigs to consume leftover food. Pigsties were generally simple and kept at a distance from the house to avoid the smell. Most were open. If wolves came, the pigs would indeed be in danger.

The pigsty at Zhang Jiaohua’s home was also open. It was impossible to enclose it suddenly. If wolves came, there was no solution. Bringing the pigs into the house wasn’t feasible, as pigs don’t bathe and have a strong manure smell. Keeping one in the house would make it impossible for people to sleep.

After reinforcing the house, Zhang Youping came to the pigsty and looked around but couldn’t find a good solution. He could only cut some bamboo from the mountains and surround the pigsty with it. Whether this could withstand a wolf attack was up to fate.

As he finished, night fell, but the snowy sky was bright, providing good visibility even at night.

“You think this can stop wolves?” Zhang Jiwang walked over, looked at the fence, and shook his head.

“Whether it can or not, this is the best I can do. I can’t just haul bricks and build a wall around the pigsty,” Zhang Youping said helplessly.

“True, but this fence won’t stop wolves. You’ve never seen how terrifying they are when they’re crazy,” Zhang Jiwang said.

“Uncle Jiwang, what did you do?” Zhang Youping asked curiously.

“I’m a carpenter, so I used my skills. But I came to ask for a protection talisman. Last time I got one, no snakes dared come near. This time, I’ll see if it can scare off the wolves,” Zhang Jiwang said.

“Jiaohua, Jiaohua, I need your help,” Zhang Jiwang called out.

Zhang Jiaohua walked over, “Grandpa Jiwang, what do you need?”

When Zhang Jiwang mentioned the protection talisman, Zhang Jiaohua’s eyes lit up, “I have a few ready. I’ll get them for you.” It had been a while since Zhang Jiaohua had any business. Now that he had a customer, his service was impeccable.

Zhang Jiwang wanted to ensure he got through this crisis safely. Zhang Jiaohua even went to Zhang Jiwang’s house to set up the talisman himself.

He placed one in the house and one in the pigsty. As a craftsman, Zhang Jiwang knew the rules and had prepared a red envelope with ten yuan and some change.

Seeing Zhang Jiwang setting up a talisman, other villagers also wanted Zhang Jiaohua to set up protection talismans. In one afternoon, Zhang Jiaohua made dozens of yuan. Of course, some believed and some didn’t. Not everyone wanted to spend five yuan on a talisman. Whether the wolves would come wasn’t certain. Though Meizi’ou wasn’t densely populated, the village covered a large area. If the wolves came, only a few would cause trouble for every household. Many held onto luck, not taking the wolves seriously. They weren’t willing to spend five yuan on a talisman or even reinforce their houses, as good wood was needed. Reinforcing meant nailing holes, making the wood unusable for furniture later. Though they weren’t short of wood, they didn’t want to use their good, carpenter-cut wood boards for reinforcement.

Zhang Enzhong didn’t want to use the boards from his attic, so he used some rough wooden stakes to reinforce the walls. It wasn’t as solid as Zhang Jiaohua’s house. As for the five-yuan talisman, he was unwilling to spend that money.

“Wolves aren’t like snakes, they can’t just squeeze into the house. I’ve reinforced it. If needed, we’ll climb to the attic,” Zhang Enzhong said indifferently.