Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 207: Chapter 200: Son of a Dog

Second Aunt and Shen Fuzhen, one in front of the other, were running toward the village. Since Shen Fuzhen had started out early, she was in the lead, which gave her the chance to glance behind during the run.

Shen Fuzhen saw that the dog from Shen Yunfang’s family wasn’t chasing after them but had stopped in front of Shen Yunfang’s house. Feeling relieved, she suddenly became aware that both of her legs were numb and she couldn’t run anymore. So, she plopped down on the side of the road.

"Stop running, the dog didn’t follow us," Shen Fuzhen called out to Second Aunt, who was still sprinting forward.

All Second Aunt cared about was running ahead. Without anyone supporting her from behind, she wanted to run faster than Shen Fuzhen, thinking that even if the dog caught up, it wouldn’t bite her.

It wasn’t until Shen Fuzhen called her that she felt like a deflated balloon, her legs as soft as noodles, and she too plunked onto the ground.

"Ow..."

But the moment her rear touched the ground, she bounced up like there was a spring attached to it.

"What happened, what happened?" Shen Fuzhen thought she had spotted some new threat and turned her head all over the place to check.

"That damn dog, it actually bit me." Second Aunt was too embarrassed to admit she had been bitten on the butt.

"You really got bitten? I thought you were just scaring me. Come here, let me check and see how bad it is. Where did it bite you?" Shen Fuzhen was only then realizing that Second Aunt had truly been bitten by a dog. Given the angle before, it could only have been in the area from her thigh to her waist.

Second Aunt reached her hand back to touch her butt and found no blood. Thinking about the embarrassing location of the bite, she didn’t want to show it to others. Besides, how could she take off her pants for her to see, in broad daylight?

"It’s nothing serious, just a little scratch. When I plopped down suddenly, it just hurt for a bit," Second Aunt dared not sit on the ground anymore, and instead, she hiked up her pants and slowly squatted down next to Shen Fuzhen.

"That Yunfang, I swear she’s not human. If you’re not at home, then don’t be at home, why lock the door? And if you lock the door, at least lock the dog inside too. But no, she had to let the dog out to run around. Oh my goodness, I was scared to death." It had been many years since she had experienced such a ferocious dog chase, which was indeed quite a heart-stopping ordeal.

"Indeed, I just saw something black rushing toward me and I nearly fell apart," Shen Fuzhen remembered how her heart was still pounding.

She had been bested by a big dog back in the day, and of course, she knew that the dog Yunfang kept now was the son of the military division’s police dog. She despised it so much, but usually, she took great pains to avoid it. People have a knack for seeking benefits and avoiding harm; having been defeated by the dog’s father in the past, she was filled with dread at the sight of that dog, let alone provoking its son.

Second Aunt pursed her lips, thinking you nearly fell apart, yet you were running faster than anyone when it happened.

"Hey, I saw just now that Yunfang’s chicken coop isn’t small, but it was completely empty inside; I didn’t even see a single feather." This was problematic; just looking at the chicken coop really didn’t indicate how many chickens were inside.

"Perhaps she let the chickens run loose, just like her ducks and geese," Shen Fuzhen analyzed.

"What do you mean ’may not be certain’? I’m sure it’s true, and definitely not just a few," Second Aunt now firmly believed that the incident was real.

"It’s also quite strange. I haven’t seen any noticeable increase in the number of chicks in our village. Once Shen Fuzhen lets her chickens scatter, where do they scatter to?" Shen Fuzhen couldn’t figure it out.

If only we knew where she scattered her chickens, a quick look would reveal how many she was raising. Although we wouldn’t have an exact number, we could still make a rough estimate of the hens, right?

Second Aunt also reexamined every nook and cranny of the village in her mind, confirming that indeed, Shen Yunfang’s chickens were never seen. Wait, that’s not right. Just now, when the two of them went to Yunfang’s backyard, what was her dog hiding there for?

"Do you think that Yunfang girl could have scattered the chickens behind her house, in that area? Her place is out of the way, and right behind it is a big mountain. The weeds there are tall and dense; a few chickens hidden inside would be hard to spot unless looked at closely. Besides, her dog was there too; it must have been watching the chickens." Second Aunt initially wasn’t too sure, it was just a hypothesis, but the more she talked, the more convinced she became that she was right.

Shen Fuzhen listened and nodded, "Mmm, her backyard even has a gate. I reckon the chickens usually go through there."

"We have to go back for another look," Second Aunt stood up, ready to return for another inspection. Even if they didn’t get right up close, they had to sneak a peek from the side to see if there really were any chickens in the thicket.

Shen Fuzhen also stood up but didn’t follow Second Aunt’s lead.

"You know, Second Aunt, with noon approaching, I’d better not go with you. I need to get home and make lunch for Xiaopeng’s dad." She was scared. So what if she knew Shen Yunfang was raising a lot of chickens? At that moment, she realized she shouldn’t have provoked Shen Yunfang; nothing good ever came from dealing with that girl.

"Hey, wait a minute, wait! Why are you running off?" Second Aunt quickly grabbed Shen Fuzhen, who was trying to escape, "You’re not angry about how she treated you? If it were me, I couldn’t tolerate it." Second Aunt continued to incite.

"What can I do about being angry? They have connections in the county office, and we’re just ordinary folks. No matter how strong my arm is, it can’t twist a leg."

Therefore, once she came to her senses, she absolutely did not want to provoke Shen Yunfang.

"Humph!" Second Aunt snorted through her nose and raised her head high, "She has connections in the county, my elder daughter married into a county official’s family, you know. My girl now knows lots of leaders. Haven’t you seen? Shen Dafu’s daughter, Shen Yingxue’s fiancé was introduced by my daughter. He is the son of the vice-chairman of the Revolutionary Committee."

Hearing this, Shen Fuzhen felt a stirring inside, but then, recalling what her Second Aunt was like, she swallowed the words she had on the tip of her tongue, "You have the capability, Second Aunt, so you go. I’m not going anymore. It’s getting late, and if I don’t go back now, Zhao Fusheng, that scoundrel, will start causing trouble again." She finished speaking and, without waiting for Second Aunt’s reply, turned and headed home, as if being chased by a dog.

"Useless creature." Second Aunt spat behind Shen Fuzhen, who was rushing home, and then turned her head back to Shen Yunfang’s house and snorted again, "Already married and still so disorderly, roaming around instead of staying quietly at home in broad daylight. Sooner or later, someone will divorce her."

Second Aunt was also afraid of that dog; after thinking it over, she decided it would be better to wait for Yunfang to come back in the evening before she went to have another look.

Thus, she followed in Shen Fuzhen’s footsteps, limping toward her own home.