PCJ – Chapter 36 Zhang Benrui’s Determination

“Jinxiu, since it’s already like this, there’s no use crying. Where did your husband go?” Zhang Xianyi’s wife, Xia Cuiying, persuaded.

“He went to town. Took advantage of the market day to sell off a few yellow-skinned creatures.” Ma Jinxiu sobbed softly.

“Does your husband know about this big incident in your family?” Xia Cuiying asked again.

Ma Jinxiu nodded, “He knows. It’s because he knew about this that he went to the market at the last minute.”

“Your chickens and ducks are so big now, you should deal with them quickly, fry them in oil, and you can still eat them for a while. It’s much better than having pickled vegetables every day.” Xia Cuiying suggested.

As the saying goes, ‘a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor’. When one family encounters some trouble, everyone pitches in to help. Some people helped Ma Jinxiu boil water, cleaned up all the dead chickens and ducks, and after these tasks were done, they each went home. They didn’t expect to get anything from Ma Jinxiu’s house. Even though people might be tempted, they wouldn’t think of taking a chicken or duck from Ma Jinxiu’s house to eat.

Zhang Youping and his wife also helped out at Zhang Benrui’s house for a while before returning home.

“These yellow-skinned creatures are really vengeful. Benrui only killed a few yesterday, and today they came and killed all the poultry in Benrui’s house.” Liu Qiaoye returned home still somewhat frightened.

“Yeah, they are. You can’t provoke such things; whoever provokes them will be unlucky.” Zhang Youping shook his head helplessly.

“But I think Benrui might not be willing to let it go. I wonder what trouble he’ll stir up when he comes back from town.” Liu Qiaoye seemed to have inferred from Ma Jinxiu’s words that Zhang Benrui might buy something to deal with the yellow-skinned creatures when he went to the market this time.

“We can’t manage other people’s affairs. Let Benrui’s family do whatever they want.” Zhang Youping walked into the room. It was already bright out; he had to wake up the child.

On the market, Zhang Benrui sold all four yellow-skinned creatures and got enough money to buy many things. When he returned home, he carried two snake-skin bags on his shoulders.

Back in Meizi Village, Zhang Benrui remained grim-faced. When people in the village greeted him, he ignored them. When he got home, he picked up one of the snake-skin bags, took a hoe, and went to the back mountain.

No matter how cunning the yellow-skinned creatures were, they still had their instincts. Animals like to follow habitual routes. The group of yellow-skinned creatures that had caused trouble in Zhang Benrui’s house was a large family, and they came and went through a natural passage. It wasn’t difficult to find their nest along this passage. However, people in the countryside generally didn’t want to provoke yellow-skinned creatures, so they usually didn’t go looking for their nests. The yellow-skinned creatures were also alert; once their nest was discovered by humans, they would move immediately.

Zhang Benrui was determined to find the yellow-skinned creatures’ nest, so it wasn’t difficult for him to do so.

Although Zhang Genxin had been angered by his son and daughter-in-law, he was still worried and came over.

“Benrui, Benrui, tell me, what are you up to with all these antics? Isn’t the commotion this morning enough? These yellow-skinned creatures are so malicious; if you provoke them again, something big might happen, and only then will you be content?” Zhang Genxin walked over and grabbed Zhang Benrui’s hand.

“What have I done wrong? I don’t steal or rob, I don’t cheat or deceive. The chickens and ducks in my house were all wasted by a few yellow-skinned beasts. Shouldn’t I exterminate them? Should I put them in the hall as ancestors? Just watch. If I don’t exterminate these yellow-skinned beasts today, I’m not a human! Don’t interfere in my affairs!” Zhang Benrui was now furious.

Zhang Genxin sighed a few times and could only leave helplessly. His old figure seemed to be drifting in the autumn wind.

The villagers also had various discussions about Zhang Benrui’s strange behavior.

“I think Benrui is acting strange today; I’m afraid he encountered something unclean.”

“I heard that a few days ago, he provoked Youping’s child. As a result, Youping’s child somehow managed to knock him down, and Benrui was knocked into the field by Youping’s cow. Since that day, Benrui hasn’t been right.”

“Why would he go and provoke Youping’s child? Doesn’t he know how malicious Youping’s child is? I’ve told my child countless times not to play with Youping’s child. Look, isn’t this an example?”

“I’m clear on this matter. It’s also Benrui’s fault. You can let your cows graze on other people’s field edges every day, but when others’ cows graze on your field edge for a moment, it’s not okay? The key is that Benrui secretly used a hoe to hit Youping’s water buffalo from behind. If the buffalo had been startled and trampled on someone, what would have happened? Youping’s child is also malicious. That buffalo didn’t get startled; instead, it turned around on the field edge and knocked Benrui down. It’s entirely his own fault.”

“It seems that Youping’s child is really not to be messed with.”

The villagers chatted, not afraid of saying anything wrong. As a common saying in the village goes: “No one is imprisoned for boasting and bragging.”

Listeners had their own interpretations of what was said. Hearing what everyone said, Zhang Genxin quietly walked over to Zhang Jiaohua.

After Zhang Genxin left, Zhang Benrui continued searching in the woods. Sometimes he would cut through a patch of grass and bushes, checking to see if there was a cave inside. If he found a cave, he would also check to see if there were fresh footprints and feces inside. Through this method, he confirmed whether he had found the yellow-skinned creatures’ den.

As long as a person puts their heart into doing something, there are very few things they can’t accomplish. Zhang Benrui desperately searched for the group of yellow-skinned creatures in the mountains, digging and chopping everywhere, until he finally found a large cave. At the entrance of the cave, he even found a few remaining duck feathers. This further confirmed that he had found the nest of those yellow-skinned creatures.

He had already killed four of the yellow-skinned creatures, but the creatures that had caused trouble at his house last night were probably more.

Zhang Benrui opened the snake-skin bag, revealing a plastic bucket inside filled with gasoline. He gathered dry branches and leaves around the cave entrance with a hoe. Then he poured gasoline on top and lit a fire.

The flames surged up, and Zhang Benrui pressed down many wet branches on top. He then piled rocks on top of them.

The wet branches were naturally difficult to ignite, releasing thick smoke.

Zhang Benrui’s eyes scanned around, immediately running over to block the holes wherever thick smoke emerged. After blocking two or three caves, he didn’t find any new spots emitting smoke.

“Bang!”

The rocks pressed on the wet branches suddenly rolled off, and a small burning creature dashed out of the fire. It was a yellow-skinned creature. This yellow-skinned creature was completely on fire, squealing in pain.

Zhang Benrui had been waiting nearby for a long time, and he approached the yellow-skinned creature with the hoe.

The yellow-skinned creature immediately let out a miserable scream, falling to the ground, its body twitching slightly, emitting a sharp and miserable scream from its mouth.