Ji Youran felt helpless. Listening to Wang Dongxue and Zhu Xiuxiu, he finally said, "I was wrong!"
Old Lady Ji finally let out a sigh of relief. Looking at Huo Xing’Er, she asked, "Second Daughter-in-law, now that Second Son admits his mistake, have you calmed down?"
Ji Youran was stunned by her words, and his expression turned exceedingly grim. So, in all the years he had been away from home, this woman had been badmouthing him to Mother!
Huo Xing’Er blinked. She suddenly had a lot on her mind. Her mother-in-law was a good one; she even remembered to seek justice for her. However, to her, apologies, even ten or eight times over, were meaningless.
"As long as you’ve calmed down, Mother, that’s all that matters. Then let’s begin!" Huo Xing’Er declared. She punctuated her words with a swing of the knife, this declaration aimed at Zhu Xiuxiu and, by implication, herself.
Seeing her movement, Old Lady Ji’s vision darkened. This meant she hadn’t forgiven her disobedient son yet!
"Suisui, come! Go with Second Aunt to slaughter the pig!" Huo Xing’Er beckoned to Suisui, intending to take her to the spot Zhu Xiuxiu had prepared for the pig slaughter.
Old Lady Ji’s mind blanked for a moment.
"Second Daughter-in-law, what did you say?"
Wang Dongxue quickly explained, "Third Sister-in-law found a pig today. I thought, since no one in our family knows how to raise it, and anyway, Second Brother, Third Brother, and also Fifth and Seventh Brother should all be returning gradually these days."
Old Lady Ji: "..."
She took a deep breath. After a long moment, she asked in a low voice, "So, Second Daughter-in-law was sharpening her knife all this time just to slaughter a pig?"
"Exactly!" Wang Dongxue and Zhu Xiuxiu nodded hastily.
Old Lady Ji patted her chest. Thank goodness, thank goodness! Her second daughter-in-law wasn’t planning to chop off her son’s dog head!
"Let’s go, Suisui. We’re going to the backyard to slaughter the pig," Zhu Xiuxiu said, quickly running over. She took the little Girl from Ji Youran’s arms and held her tightly.
Ji Youran: "..."
Looking at his empty hands, he couldn’t help but feel that his third sister-in-law was snatching the child away.
"What are you standing there gaping for? Put down that useless medicine box of yours and go help! You’re lucky today; your dog head is safe for now!" Old Lady Ji glared fiercely at Ji Youran, then also headed to the backyard.
Ji Youran was left standing alone, stunned. What did Mother mean just now? If I hadn’t admitted my mistake, would she really have wanted to personally chop off my dog head? He touched his neck, breaking out in a cold sweat.
「In the open space of the Ji family’s backyard, two large cauldrons of boiling water had been prepared for slaughtering the pig!」
The pig Zhu Xiuxiu had found earlier in the day was now tied up by its four limbs, its head lolling as it lay on a makeshift platform Zhu Xiuxiu had set up.
Huo Xing’Er approached with her knife, placed a large wooden basin beneath the platform, then grabbed the pig’s ear with one hand and, with a light flick of the knife in the other, severed its head, which she then held in her hand.
Li Suisui stared, dumbfounded!
"Second... Second Aunt, you’re amazing!" The little Girl’s eyes sparkled. Second Aunt was so cool! Chopping off a pig’s head was like dicing melons or chopping vegetables for her. Thinking back to when Li Laosan slaughtered pigs, he always needed so many people to help hold the pig down; he had no skill at all. Not like her Second Aunt, who, all by herself with a single knife, had sliced off the pig’s head just like that.
"It was nothing special!" Second Aunt (Huo Xing’Er) said, looking a bit sheepish. It was her first time slaughtering a pig, so she had no experience. Directly chopping off the head seemed like it should be fine, though.
Old Lady Ji: "..."
She knew it. Her second daughter-in-law was no simple woman. That pig’s head was likely severed so dramatically as a warning to that reckless son of hers!
She silently patted her son’s shoulder. Kid, you’d better watch out from now on.