Chapter 51: Punishment
Second Aunt Su blocked Zhang Zhaodi, not allowing her to break in.
"We haven’t seen any rabbits."
"I asked the people in the village, and they all said they haven’t seen the rabbits, but the two rabbits at our home are missing. This is so urgent. Those two rabbits are sick and can’t be eaten!"
Second Aunt Su’s eyes darted around. She glanced inside and saw Zhang Zhaodi preparing to leave. She grabbed her and pretended to ask casually, "You said those two rabbits are sick. What kind of illness? Tell me so that if I see them, I can help catch them for you."
"The reason we kept those two rabbits is because they are sick, eating them would cause problems. Forget it, since you haven’t seen them, there’s no point in telling you."
As Zhang Zhaodi spoke, she turned to leave.
Second Aunt Su, seeing how anxious Zhang Zhaodi was, believed her a bit and came out from the courtyard to stop her, "Then make it clear! If someone else catches them, I can at least give a heads up."
"Rabbits? I think I heard the sound of rabbits at your place." Zhang Zhaodi turned and ran into the courtyard.
Second Aunt Su, seeing this, shouted "Oh no" and hurriedly chased after Zhang Zhaodi.
Zhang Zhaodi ran into the kitchen and started rummaging through it.
Grandma Su came out and swung a chicken feather duster, "Get out! Didn’t you break off from us? Don’t ever set foot in our house again."
Of course, Zhang Zhaodi wouldn’t let Grandma Su hit her.
She backed out while saying, "I’m warning you, if you see those two rabbits, make sure to return them to me, don’t eat them."
"Scram, scram, don’t let me see you again." Grandma Su cursed, driving Zhang Zhaodi out and slammed the courtyard door shut with a bang.
Second Aunt Su looked through the crack in the door and saw Zhang Zhaodi leaving, then said to Grandma Su, "Mother, could she be telling the truth? If those two rabbits are sick, we can’t eat them."
"If she didn’t say that, who would return her the rabbits?" Grandma Su said, "Go and look at those two rabbits. They’re so fat, how could they be sick?"
"Mother is right." Uncle Su came out from inside, "How could that mother and daughter be so kind-hearted? To put it bluntly, they just want to trick the rabbits back."
"Exactly. If they were really sick, then let them be lost. Why bother looking for them? She’s deliberately scaring us, hoping we’ll return the rabbits we got! It’s just wishful thinking."
Grandma Su waved her hand, "Old Two, slaughter the rabbits, today the whole family will have meat."
Su Dabao clapped and laughed, "Great, great, we get to eat rabbit!"
"Hush, hush!" Grandpa Su made a shushing gesture. "Those two shrews are so fierce. We’ll just eat secretly, don’t let them find out."
Grandma Su looked disdainful, "What a coward."
That night, the two rabbits ended up in the Su Family’s stomachs. Their bellies were bulging as they relaxed in the courtyard, feeling like the gloom of the past few days had lifted.
"My stomach hurts so much..." Su Dabao clutched his stomach, groaning, "Stomach... my stomach..."
"Oh... my stomach... could those two rabbits really be sick? Oh God, it hurts so much... help, help..."
First, it was Su Dabao who cried out in pain, then Grandma Su. The other members of the Su Family looked terrified, and under such fright, they quickly showed symptoms too.
The five members of the family cried out pitifully.
Uncle Su, being a grown man, barely managed to stand and crawled to the door. He just opened the door and saw Su Yaoguang passing by, shouting, "Yao Guang, help."
Su Yaoguang pretended to be passing by and, seeing Uncle Su in this state, exclaimed in surprise, "Uncle Su, what’s happened to you?"
"I... I’m feeling a bit unwell, can you call a doctor for me?" Now in need of help, he didn’t dare put on airs, just had to lower his stance.
Su Yaoguang scrutinized Uncle Su, "Your symptoms look like you’ve been poisoned. Our two sick rabbits are missing. You didn’t catch and eat them, did you?"
"No, I didn’t eat the rabbits, just suddenly got a stomach ache. Surely, it’s just a cold." Uncle Su forced himself to deny it.
"Oh, just a cold, then there’s no rush. Take your time getting a doctor. I have more urgent matters. My lost rabbits are seriously ill, and if someone eats them, they could die. I need to find them quickly. If it’s late, if they’re eaten, we’ll be in big trouble. But it wouldn’t be our fault. Our courtyard was locked, the cage was locked, too. I wonder which naughty kid sneaked in and took them. Kids these days, don’t know how high the sky is."
"Niece, niece, please help us. If it’s too late, we’ll die." Uncle Su wholeheartedly believed Su Yaoguang’s words.
"A cold isn’t deadly, I’d better go find the rabbits!"
"We ate the rabbits!" Second Aunt Su shouted, "Don’t look for them, we ate the rabbits."
"Please save us. If you don’t, I’ll accuse you of murder." Grandma Su cursed.
"My mother asked you before, and you said you didn’t eat them! Now, just to trick me into getting a doctor, you’re telling such a lie." Su Yaoguang said discontentedly.
"We really ate them. Dabao was naughty and went to your house to catch them." Grandpa Su, lying on the ground, reached out a hand to Su Yaoguang, "Yaoguang, please save us."
Su Dabao cried loudly, crying and screaming that it hurt.
"It was mother who told me to catch them, saying your house has rabbits, and if I catch them, I get to eat meat. Boohoo... my stomach hurts so bad... I don’t want to die..."
"If you still don’t believe me, you can check the corner of the courtyard, we threw the bones there." Uncle Su said, "Please save us, we’re going to die."
"Two rabbits, two taels of silver." Su Yaoguang extended her palm, "Pay this amount, and I’ll get a doctor for you."
"Are you crazy? Even if the rabbits aren’t worth two taels of silver, they were sick rabbits, and we should be seeking compensation from you, why are you demanding money from us?"
"The rabbits were sick, but we were trying to treat their illness, and they could have been cured. You took our rabbits and ate them, shouldn’t you compensate? Besides, you just admitted that you ordered Su Dabao to sneak in and catch our rabbits. Does that mean you could sneak in and steal other things from our house too? I suggest you think carefully about whether you want to save your lives or hold onto the silver. If you don’t pay, I’ll leave you be. You stole our rabbits, you deserve it if you die." Su Yaoguang made a motion to leave.
"Give her the silver, save our lives." Grandpa Su screamed, "Old lady, if we die, she can still come in and search for silver. Give her the silver quickly!"
Grandma Su, in terrible pain and having no other choice, struggled to go inside and fetch the silver. When she handed the silver to Su Yaoguang, her eyes were as fierce as if she wanted to eat someone.
"Give me another hundred cents, and I’ll give you the medicine directly." Su Yaoguang extended her hand, "Of course, if you don’t trust me, I can run for you to get a doctor, but it’ll cost you twenty cents for the trouble."