Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang stood on either side of the ox, heads held high and chests puffed out, guarding it as they all moved forward together, with the ox’s lead in Manbao’s hands.
Zhou Hu followed with his own ox, gently caressing its spine with one hand, clearly overjoyed.
As the group turned into the alley, Zhou Silang bellowed ahead, "Second Brother!"
This made Zhou Erlang, who was serving tofu, jerk his hand, nearly crushing the tofu. He glared up in anger, but upon seeing the ox led by Manbao, he froze, and with a slap, he actually ruined the tofu in his grasp.
From then on, all the way back to the village, Zhou Erlang was somewhat in a daze, so the cart was pushed by Zhou Silang, while he tightly gripped the lead, guarding the ox with cautious steps on the way home.
As for Manbao, she now sat on the ox’s back like a king on a tour, delightfully looking down at the group of children running up to her in the village.
Second Son was leading the pack.
He was playing with his friends under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village when he looked up to see an ox, and on it, a person who looked very much like his little aunt.
Then, with a slight shift of his eyes, he saw his father walking beside the ox, and upon seeing Fourth Uncle pushing the cart, he knew he wasn’t seeing things.
Second Son leapt up, rushing over, shouting, "Dad, whose ox is this?"
Zhou Erlang revealed a dreamlike smile, cheerfully saying, "It’s ours."
Second Son, having guessed as much, couldn’t help but let out a wail and scrambled at Zhou Erlang, "Dad, I want to sit on the ox’s back too, I want to ride it."
"Go on, off with you," Zhou Erlang shooed his son aside, saying, "You’re so heavy, what if you tire the ox out? Your little aunt is sitting on it."
The children who had rushed over were plenty, quickly surrounding them, causing the ox to shuffle its feet uneasily. Zhou Erlang quickly reached out to soothe it, urging everyone to disperse.
But this commotion quickly spread throughout the village, and even some adults came running to see what was happening.
Upon seeing both Zhou Erlang and Zhou Hu leading oxen, they were amazed.
And when they learned that the oxen were bought on credit from the County Governmental Office, their astonishment grew even greater. Who would have thought that someone would actually buy oxen on credit from the county office?
The entrance to the village suddenly buzzed with excitement.
By the time Old Zhou found out and rushed out, reversing his shoes as he went, Zhou Erlang and the others had nearly reached their front door through much difficulty.
Old Zhou rushed out and upon seeing the ox lead in Zhou Erlang’s hand and the daughter sitting on the ox’s back, his heart clenched with urgency, his eyes bulged, and he almost fainted with weakness in his knees.
Zhou Dalang, who had run out with him, was quick to support their father, hastily instructing others to carry Old Zhou back into the house.
Manbao, seeing her father about to faint with excitement, no longer sat on the ox’s back and began to shift her bottom to slide down.
Zhou Erlang quickly picked her up, rushing over to check on his father with concern.
Old Zhou had only felt faint for a moment, and with support from Zhou Dalang, he came to his senses, but at that moment he was too faint-hearted to speak or deal with anyone.
Manbao elbowed her way through her brothers and sisters to get to Old Zhou’s side, taking his hand with care, "Dad, didn’t I tell you? I wanted to give you a surprise; how come you’re so overwhelmed by joy that you fainted at just a glance?"
The villagers crowded around to watch the excitement couldn’t see the scene inside, but they heard Manbao’s words. Someone laughed loudly, "Manbao, that’s not joy your father’s feeling, that’s shock, you must have scared him! Hahaha..."
Old Zhou couldn’t lie still any longer, grasping the hands of Zhou Dalang and Zhou Sanlang, he stood up and yelled out, "Nonsense, who says I was scared? I clearly, I clearly was just happy..."
As he spoke these words, Old Zhou was on the verge of tears, but he still managed to put on a mournful face with a squeezed smile, "I, I am happy, my Zhou family can actually afford an ox now..."
But how to deal with the heartache, especially since the ox was bought on credit, that interest rate...
When Old Zhou thought about the interest, he was immediately invigorated, still unaware of how much money his daughter had borrowed for the ox.
Hence, he waved his hand grandly, "Our ox just got home, keep your distance, don’t scare it. Spring is starting, go mind your own business. Dalang, walk our uncles and brothers out."
Zhou Dalang promptly led his younger brothers forward to escort the visitors out.
The villagers understood and laughed as they walked away in good humor.
Just yesterday, Old Zhou was boasting at the entrance of the village about how only a fool would borrow an ox at such high interest rates.
No one had ever heard of buying such a big item on credit—they would be gambling away their very coffins in advance, wouldn’t they?
But now, in just one day’s time, their family had acquired an ox on credit, and judging by his reaction, it was clear he had no knowledge of it.
Everyone guessed that this must be their cherished daughter’s doing.
Zhou Erlang and his brothers certainly didn’t have the guts for it yet.
Therefore, there might be an impending storm of teaching the daughter a lesson in the Zhou household. Although everyone wanted to see the drama unfold, it wouldn’t be decent to insist on watching, so they had to leave.
The moment they stepped out, they turned toward Zhou Hu’s house.
They had all seen that Zhou Hu also led an ox home.
In Qili Village, aside from the Bai family, only the Chief’s family had oxen, so oxen were quite a rarity, especially those bought on credit from the county office.
Although nobody wanted to buy on credit, they were eager to hear how Zhou Hu got his ox.
Once the crowd had left and the door closed, only the Zhou family remained in the yard.
Old Zhou looked at his daughter, feeling unable to take action, so he turned to Ms. Feng, "Go, call your mother back from the vegetable garden."
He needed his wife to give Manbao a beating; the pain in his heart was too great.
Manbao, oblivious to her father’s thoughts, nodded enthusiastically, "We do need to tell Mom."
Manbao took out the household registration booklet wrapped in cloth from her bag and handed it to Old Zhou, "Dad, keep this safe."
Old Zhou took it blankly and asked, "How come you have this?"
"Dad, you forgot, you need the household registration to buy the ox on credit."
Yes, it seemed the Chief mentioned something like that yesterday.
Old Zhou racked his not-so-large brain, "Where did you get it?"
Old Zhou exclaimed in shock, and as soon as Ms. Qian pushed the door to enter, she was met with his red, tear-filled eyes. With grief and anger, he said, "Wife, how could you let Manbao go get an ox on credit without telling me first?"
Ms. Qian frowned, "I didn’t know Manbao was going to get an ox on credit."
"If you didn’t know, then why did you give her the registration?"
"Manbao asked for it, so I gave it to her. She’s always sensible, she wouldn’t use it recklessly."
Old Zhou didn’t believe her, he was convinced his wife could have guessed but had deliberately kept it from him!
Ms. Qian continued, "Alright, what’s the big deal? It’s a good thing our household has acquired something substantial. Later, I’ll have Datou go to the market and bring back some meat, we’ll celebrate tonight."
"No eating," Old Zhou shouted, "We’re in debt, how can you eat at a time ?"