Chapter 152: Eating Meat

Chapter 152: Chapter 152: Eating Meat

THUMP!

A potato the size of a grown man’s fist smashed into the burlap sack holding Lu Tingting.

"Ah! Who hit me?"

Lu Tingting shrieked, wriggling like a maggot as she tried to squirm out of the sack.

The sudden turn of events stunned both Jiang Moli and Feng Meihua.

Before Jiang Moli could even think of how to react, a hulking figure rushed onto the stage and slung the sack over his shoulder.

"Sis, let’s go! What are you standing there for? Someone’s going to show up!"

With that, he slapped the sack and added viciously, "Be quiet, or I’ll beat you senseless!"

Only then did Jiang Moli recognize "Black Coal" as her own rascally little brother.

’How did that little brat get to town?’ she wondered, but she reacted quickly. She shot Feng Meihua a meaningful look, and the two of them followed Jiang Peng, pretending to flee as they circled the stage.

Soon, Jiang Wenjuan led the anti-trafficking mob onto the stage, catching the three of them red-handed.

"Get them!"

"Damn human traffickers! Drag them out and shoot them!"

Freed from the sack, Lu Tingting was stunned for a moment to see Jiang Peng among the traffickers. Then she pounced on him, punching and kicking.

’That’s for hitting me!’

’And for slapping my butt!’

Jiang Peng, a natural-born actor himself, clutched his head and howled, "OW! OW! OW!"

He was playing a human trafficker, so the villagers felt a deep sense of satisfaction watching him get beaten up.

"Beat him to death!"

"These traffickers are so hateful!"

After the first act, while Jiang Moli and the others prepared for the second, a cadre from the commune’s propaganda department took the stage. He sternly condemned the villager who had thrown the potato.

"The performers on stage today are all teachers from the military school! They came all this way to our town to bring us warmth with a free charity performance! Every one of them is a good comrade. Anyone who throws anything else will not be let off lightly!"

After the cadre’s warning, the rest of the performance proceeded without anyone throwing things.

To convince Lu Tingting to cooperate, Jiang Moli adapted their next play from their real-life encounter with Aunt Shi and her son on the train, turning it into a "handsome-man honey trap."

Back on the train, Lu Tingting had snubbed Lü Mingguo because he was ugly and pathetic.

This time, Jiang Moli had Shen Yanzhi play a version of himself: a handsome, eligible young man from a good family with a good job.

Under the guise of starting a relationship, he would lure Lu Tingting to meet his parents, thereby trafficking her.

While watching the play with great relish, Jiang Peng recounted the amusing story to Lu Cheng about how Aunt Shi and her son had taken a fancy to Lu Tingting on the train.

Lu Cheng had heard the story from Jiang Moli before.

But Jiang Moli’s telling had been brief and to the point, nowhere near as detailed or vivid as Jiang Peng’s.

Hearing how his wife had kicked her little brother back into his bunk, Lu Cheng was reminded of the day they went to the city and she had kicked him.

Outsiders might see his wife as spoiled and fiery, but in his eyes, she was especially adorable when she lost her temper.

Aside from the small disruption in the first act, the performance went smoothly overall.

Jiang Moli earned over 200 Disdain Points.

Combined with the last performance, she had earned nearly 500 Disdain Points in total, which meant almost 5 million credited to her account. She was raking it in!

The villagers were also delighted. Most of them had never set foot outside of town in their entire lives and had no idea what the outside world was like.

It was their first time hearing about a performance style like skits, and their first time watching one. Even after the show was over, they lingered, reluctant to leave and still wanting more.

"That was such a good play."

"Those traffickers are so cunning. We need to go home and have a good talk with our children so they don’t fall for their tricks."

"That’s right."

Listening to the villagers’ endless praise for the performance, Jiang Qing felt a mix of jealousy and frustration.

In her subconscious, she believed all the praise and honor Jiang Moli received was simply due to Lu Cheng paving the way for her behind the scenes.

A generous bride price, a respectable wedding, and now he was even using his position to elevate his wife, guiding her to advance with him.

’Such a perfect man, a true one-in-a-million, and of all people, Jiang Moli had the dumb luck to snag him.’

’If I had known, it would have been better to let her marry Zhang Jia Ming.’

After glaring resentfully for a long moment at Jiang Moli, who was surrounded by an adoring crowd, Jiang Qing turned and headed toward the post office, her heart full of bitterness.

...

Although the performance was for charity, the commune gave them a snakeskin bag full of potatoes and a hen as a token of gratitude.

The potatoes were easy to divide, but how were they supposed to split a single hen?

Lu Tingting offered an idea. "Let’s just kill it, stew it in a pot, and all have some meat!"

Feng Meihua looked to Jiang Moli for her opinion.

After all, Jiang Moli deserved the most credit for the performance’s success.

Jiang Moli tsked. "Why don’t we raise it? We can treat it as school property. The eggs it lays can be used to supplement our—the teachers’—nutrition."

It was a nice idea, but raising a chicken wasn’t so simple.

It would need to be fed at least twice a day. Where would they get the chicken feed?

Hearing Feng Meihua’s concerns, Jiang Moli said, "The school has so many students. If each one takes a turn feeding it for a day, we’ll be covered for a whole semester. As for the feed, we can trade its eggs for some coarse grains. Between that, our leftover vegetable scraps, and insects from the garden, you really think we can’t afford to raise it?"

Feng Meihua and the others had no objections.

There was only one chicken, and split among so many people, it wouldn’t have even been enough for a mouthful each.

Only Lu Tingting objected. "I was in the performance too, and I got hit with a potato! I have a right to that hen, and I want to eat it!"

Jiang Moli pinched her cheek. "You little glutton. How about I treat you to something tasty later, hmm?"

Lu Tingting puffed out her cheeks and slapped her hand away, but she didn’t have the nerve to refuse the offer.

’I haven’t had meat in so long!’

’The other day when I came to town, I was planning to get something nice to eat, but then I ran into those traffickers and lost all the delicious food I’d bought.’

Feng Meihua and Jiang Wenjuan took the potatoes and the hen and headed back first.

Jiang Moli led Jiang Peng and Lu Tingting to finally have a proper look around town.

’I’ve been here so long, but I’ve never actually explored the town properly.’

Shen Yanzhi joined them as well.

The school had assigned him a new dorm, so he needed to pick up some daily necessities. Since Lu Cheng had driven his car, Shen Yanzhi could conveniently catch a ride back.

As they strolled, Jiang Moli shot Jiang Peng a disdainful look. "How did you get tanned as dark as a lump of charcoal?"

Jiang Peng was unfazed. "Everyone in my class is this tan. Sis, I want a potato pancake!"

Jiang Moli bought five, one for each of them, and they continued to walk around as they ate.

Passing by an ironmonger’s shop, Jiang Peng stopped in his tracks.

Lu Cheng, who happened to be beside him, stopped as well.

"Brother-in-law, what do you think of this chain?"

Lu Cheng looked at the thin iron chain, puzzled. "What would you need this for?"

Jiang Peng glanced toward Jiang Moli up ahead and gave Lu Cheng a conspiratorial wink. *If we chain up my sister, she won’t be able to run away.*

Lu Cheng, reading his mind perfectly: ...

As if sensing something, Jiang Moli turned to see the two of them stopped in front of the ironmonger’s. Munching on her potato pancake, she walked back over.

"What are you looking at? A dog leash? You guys getting a dog?"

Lu Cheng guiltily rubbed his nose. "No, just looking."

Jiang Peng didn’t dare continue the joke either.

If his sister found out he was trying to convince his brother-in-law to buy a dog leash to chain her up—even as a joke—she would beat his butt raw.

They wandered around until lunchtime, when Jiang Moli treated the group to rice noodles at the town’s only restaurant. She also ordered lemongrass grilled fish and bamboo-tube chicken.

Never mind Jiang Peng, who wolfed down his food; even Lu Tingting abandoned all pretense of being a lady, her face shining with grease.

’This meat is so fragrant!’

After lunch, it was time to head back.

Lu Cheng was driving the Jeep. Jiang Moli, without a second thought, took the passenger seat. Shen Yanzhi, Lu Tingting, and Jiang Peng were left with the back row.

"Get in! Are you waiting for a formal invitation?"

Seeing Lu Tingting frozen in place by the rear door, Jiang Peng hurried her along.

"What’s your damn hurry? In a rush to get reincarnated?"

Lu Tingting shot back at Jiang Peng, but her eyes were darting toward Shen Yanzhi opposite her.

When she saw Shen Yanzhi get into the car, she moved to follow, hoping to sit in the middle seat next to him.

However, Jiang Peng was faster. He dove into the car and plopped down securely in the spot right next to Shen Yanzhi.