CHAPTER 141: 141 FEROCIOUS RAM

"What a letdown."

As soon as Du Heng left Du Fei’s house, he muttered softly, then looked apologetically at Wang Shuqiu. "I’m sorry. I wanted to bring you here to see the excitement, but who would’ve thought we’d run into such an awful person."

Wang Shuqiu still felt a lingering fear. Thinking of that man made her skin crawl. "What’s wrong with him? He looked terrifying. Could it be some infectious disease?"

Du Heng saw Wang Shuqiu was genuinely frightened and comforted her, "No, it’s not an infectious disease. If it were, our Health Clinic would have been notified. He probably has hyperthyroidism."

"Oh, that’s good."

Du Heng said it was hyperthyroidism, but he was ninety percent sure that bastard was on drugs, and the kind that got you really high. He should tell Gong Daoyang about this later and have him investigate thoroughly. This sort of thing was rare in the village, and in Central Lake. If it was true, it had to be dealt with. In rural areas, everyone knew each other; people often shared cigarettes when they met. If that bastard laced cigarettes with that stuff, in less than three months, no smoker around here would be safe. One couldn’t expect someone like that to have any humanity or to refrain from harming his own people. Once addiction took hold, they wouldn’t even recognize their own family. With Du Huang arrested, and Du Da in his current pathetic state, he surely had no income. For a fix, he’d do anything. The word ’humanity’ just didn’t apply to people like that. If discovered, they had to be dealt with—decisively. It would be better for their relatives, for society, and for themselves.

Du Ping hadn’t noticed anything amiss, nor had he heard any rumors. He just felt a bit frustrated because he’d spent 1,000 yuan and hadn’t even gotten a single bite of food.

"Xiao Heng, you and Qiuqiu go on home. Have your sister-in-law cook something for you when you get back."

"Where are you going, Big Brother?"

Du Ping pointed to a distant hamlet. "I’m going to Majiagou. I’ve arranged to meet someone; they have three ewes to sell, and I want to take a look."

"Then I’ll give you a ride."

"No need. Qiuqiu and Du Yi haven’t eaten either. You take them home."

Seeing his big brother was set on it, Du Heng took Wang Shuqiu and Du Yi home. However, when they arrived, they found his sister-in-law hadn’t cooked either.

She was home alone and had just eaten a couple of pieces of bread herself.

Hearing that Du Heng and the others hadn’t eaten, Zhang Sumei, his sister-in-law, started tying on her apron. "Then just wait a moment, it’ll be quick."

Du Heng thought for a second, then stopped her. "It’s alright, Sister-in-law, don’t bother."

"If I don’t cook, what will you eat?"

"We’re taking some things to Tingting. We can treat her to a good meal at noon. That girl has been working hard lately; she deserves a reward."

His sister-in-law hesitated. "Then you all go ahead. I won’t. There’s a pile of things to do at home."

Wang Shuqiu smiled, took her sister-in-law’s arm, and gently pulled her towards the inner room. "Come on, Sister-in-law, the work will always be there. Give yourself a day off today. Besides, you haven’t seen Tingting for two weeks, and she happens to have a day off. Let’s go visit her."

Du Yi also pushed Zhang Sumei from behind. "Mom, hurry up! I want to get hamburgers!"

Zhang Sumei couldn’t refuse them and went inside to change her clothes.

「That afternoon.」

Du Ping had found an agricultural tricycle somewhere. CHUG-CHUG-CHUGGING and puffing black smoke, it arrived carrying five sheep.

He glanced at the locked main gate, then drove the tricycle straight towards the sheep pen.

After herding all the sheep into the pen, Du Ping invited the driver into his house for a drink of water.

The driver waved his hand. "No need. Three ewes, one ram, and a lamb—I’ve brought them all. Just figure out the payment for me. I need to go find some mountain goats to buy."

Du Ping didn’t have that much cash on him, and his wife and Du Heng weren’t around. He asked, "Ma, can I transfer the money to you via WhatsApp? I don’t have enough cash on hand."

"Sure. Money’s money, what’s the issue?"

Since Ma had no problem, Du Ping promptly transferred the money. "Ma, these sheep are well-raised. Why the sudden interest in mountain goats?"

"Sheep eat a lot, especially these ewes and the ram—they eat even more. Besides, sheep get sick easily and are hard to care for. Enough talk, I need to find some mountain goats."

"Don’t be in such a hurry. We have someone in our village who raises mountain goats. How about I take you to ask?"

"That’d be great. Lead the way."

Village shepherds take their flocks out early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Sheep don’t graze much at noon when it’s too hot. If the shepherd didn’t return then, they’d suffer from the heat too.

Checking the time, Du Ping figured they should still be at home, so he led Ma to the house.

The house they went to belonged to the nephew of the Liang family’s "Old Secretary." The shepherd’s name was Liang Limin.

With one willing to buy and the other to sell, they struck a deal in just a few words.

Then, the group went to the sheep pen to pick out the goats.

Ma was buying goats to raise and sell for profit, so he wasn’t interested in larger ones. He focused on picking out small ones, catching four before he stopped, satisfied.

Mountain goats are active and irritable, especially the lead buck, which tends to be aggressive. Uncastrated bucks, in particular, grow taller and have larger bodies.

There was one such buck in Liang Limin’s goat pen. Perhaps it took offense at Ma barging about in the enclosure. Just as Ma was about to leave, it accelerated from behind and rammed him hard on the butt, sending him sprawling.

However, the lead buck wasn’t done. Seeing the pen gate open and Ma getting back on his feet, it backed up a few steps and charged again.

The buck’s size, combined with its momentum, was too much for Ma to handle. Du Ping and Liang Limin grabbed sticks and tried to drive it off.

But the buck was fixated on Ma, attacking him again and again.

In front of Liang Limin’s house was a raised platform, with the ground sloping down below it. The drop from the platform to the ground below was about five or six meters.

The buck kept butting Ma, forcing him backward. He wasn’t paying attention, stumbled, let out a yelp, and his foot found empty air as he toppled off the edge.

This terrified Liang Limin and Du Ping. They dropped their sticks and scrambled down to the lower ground, no longer caring about the buck.

Running down, they saw Ma lying flat on his back. His face was deathly pale, his eyes and mouth were tightly shut, and only his nostrils twitched with shallow, intermittent breaths. They knew at a glance that the fall had knocked the wind out of him.

The priority now was to rouse him.

They slapped his face, pinched his philtrum, and shouted his name into his ear, but Ma remained unresponsive.

Du Ping was starting to panic. "Limin, we need to get him to the Hospital, quickly!"

Liang Limin, also panicking, nodded. Together, he and Du Ping carefully lifted Ma from the lower ground.

"Du Ping, you watch him. I’ll go get the tricycle."

"Okay, hurry!"