When Chuntao saw Big Yellow charge to the gate, barking nonstop, her heart clenched. She hugged Nuannuan and started to rise.
“Stay seated. I’ll go take a look!”
Zhou Xiaowei turned and headed into the courtyard, calling out, “Who is it?”
The gate was only half-closed. Big Yellow blocked the narrow opening, throwing its head back and barking furiously, looking every bit the guard dog.
“What kind of stray dog is this?”
Zhou Dana’s voice came from outside, harsh and menacing. “Catch it and beat it to death! We’ll eat the meat!”
Where had this dog come from? It had been lying by the gate earlier and hadn’t even barked when he arrived. Zhou Xiaowei couldn’t help wondering.
Aunt Zhou had been chopping vegetables in the kitchen. When she heard Zhou Dana’s roar, she gripped the cleaver and rushed to the gate in three strides.
“This is our dog! Let me see who dares touch it!”
She yanked open the gate. Zhou Dana and Zhou Pandi stood outside.
Zhou Pandi was still wearing the same pair of trousers Big Yellow had torn.
Several militiamen and two team leaders stood behind them. Some carried clubs, while another held a fishing net. Clearly, they had come prepared.
“Big Yellow, stop barking!”
Aunt Zhou scolded it, and Big Yellow finally fell silent. It remained at the gate, eyes gleaming fiercely as it fixed its gaze on the visitors.
The moment Zhou Pandi remembered Big Yellow clamping onto her trousers, fear still gripped her. She hurried behind Zhou Dana and put on an aggrieved expression.
“This dog isn’t from our village. It must be rabid!”
She pointed to her torn trouser leg. “Look at this! It tore my pants to pieces! A vicious dog like this is too frightening to keep in the village!”
Zhou Dana gave a light cough and put on the air of the village Party secretary. “Sister-in-law, I’ve never seen you keep a dog before. Where did this one come from?”
Hearing Zhou Dana say they were going to kill Big Yellow, Chuntao hurried to the gate with Nuannuan in her arms and spoke first. “This dog belongs to my second aunt in East Mountain!”
The moment Zhou Pandi saw Chuntao, she immediately squeezed out some tears and complained to Zhou Dana in a tearful voice, “Dad, it’s Li Chuntao! She told the dog to bite me. If I hadn’t run fast, it would’ve bitten me! We have to kill this dog today, or no one in the village will be safe!”
“Zhou Pandi, stop lying through your teeth!”
Chuntao’s face flushed with anger. “I never told it to bite you! You were sneaking around outside my house. Big Yellow thought you were a thief, so it bit your trousers. It didn’t even scratch your skin!”
“You did tell it to bite me! Don’t deny it!” Zhou Pandi shouted, emboldened by the crowd behind her.
Zhou Xiaowei gave her a cold look. “Zhou Pandi, watch what you say. Chuntao—my second aunt—would never do something like that!”
“Enough!” Zhou Dana suddenly bellowed.
The arrest of Zhou Ergan, Zhou Pandi’s fall into the mud pit that had left her with lingering problems, and Zhou Zhijun’s repeated refusal to show him any respect—all these matters churned through Zhou Dana’s mind, making his teeth ache with resentment.
With Zhou Zhijun away repairing the reservoir, this was the perfect chance to reassert his authority as village Party secretary.
His gaze swept over Chuntao, and his tone hardened. “I don’t care whose dog it is. A dog that bites people is unacceptable! The children run all over the village. What if this vicious animal hurts one of them? This dog must be dealt with today!”
“Exactly! The village won’t be safe otherwise!” Zhou Pandi said smugly, stepping forward.
“Dealt with? First ask whether the cleaver in my hand agrees!” Aunt Zhou stepped over the threshold and raised the cleaver.
Zhou Dana knew Aunt Zhou had a fiery temper, but he also knew she was only trying to scare them and wouldn’t really strike anyone.
Ignoring her, he turned to the people behind him and ordered, “Get the net ready and catch the dog!”
The men knew perfectly well that Zhou Dana was using this as an excuse for revenge, but he was the village’s top leader. Who would dare disobey?
Two of them immediately spread out the fishing net while the others tightened their grips on their wooden clubs and prepared to advance.
“Let me see who dares!” Aunt Zhou took another step forward. Zhou Xiaowei quickly moved to her side. “This dog belongs to my second aunt. What right do you have to take it?”
Zhou Pandi stuck out her neck. “The right that it’s gone mad and bitten someone!”
Just then, Big Yellow let out a howl and sprang toward the father and daughter. Startled, they stumbled backward and slammed into the fishing net they had just spread open.
Zhou Dana lost his balance and landed hard on his backside.
“Dad!” Zhou Pandi hurried to help him up.
Zhou Dana scrambled to his feet, humiliated and furious. “This stray dog cannot be allowed to live!”
His lips trembled, but his feet kept retreating. Zhou Pandi quickly helped him hide behind the others.
Zhou Dana urged the militiamen and team leaders on as though their lives depended on it. “What are you waiting for? This mad dog has to be killed, or no one in the village will have peace!”
Big Yellow stood before them, baring its teeth, a low growl rumbling in its throat.
Though it was only a mongrel, it was a full size larger than ordinary dogs and built like a small calf. The men stared at it in fear, their palms slick with sweat.
In front of them stood a ferocious dog and Aunt Zhou with a cleaver; behind them, the village secretary kept shouting orders. The men were caught between a rock and a hard place.
“Secretary, why not have Xiaowei take the dog away? As long as it’s not in the village, that should settle the matter,” one team leader suggested.
Zhou Dana’s face turned livid. He had just fallen in front of everyone, and his dignity was in tatters.
More and more villagers had gathered to watch. He had to save face.
“Take it away? No!” Zhou Dana ground his teeth. “A vicious dog like this will hurt people wherever you take it. Better to kill it and be done with it!”
Chuntao walked out through the gate with Nuannuan in her arms and stood beside Big Yellow. Her voice was as hard as stone.
“My second aunt gave Big Yellow to me. It’s my dog now. I won’t send it away, and you’re not taking it. Anyone who harms Big Yellow will pay for it!”
Everyone had always thought of Chuntao as meek and useless. Now, seeing her stand so firmly for a dog, all the onlookers stared in shock.
Zhou Pandi stopped pretending to cry and shrieked, “Li Chuntao, what are you acting so tough for? If we’re talking about compensation, you still owe me for these trousers!”
She lifted the torn trouser leg and shouted at the crowd, “Everyone, look! This stray dog tore my pants. It’s her dog, so she has to compensate me!”
“Our dog knows people and never bites without reason.”
Chuntao’s voice was not loud, but every word carried clearly. “You were poking your head around outside my house, sneaking about. If Big Yellow didn’t bite you, who would it bite? Why hasn’t it bitten anyone else?”
The villagers’ eyes all fell on Zhou Pandi’s torn trousers, and they began whispering among themselves.
Everyone knew that the Zhou sisters were no angels and had always held a grudge against Zhou Zhijun and Chuntao. Their suspicions were confirmed: Zhou Pandi had most likely come looking for trouble again and brought this on herself.
Unable to answer Chuntao, and hearing the villagers’ murmurs, Zhou Pandi flushed red with rage. “Li Chuntao, you’re impossible! You’re twisting everything! I’m not wasting my breath on you!”
She turned back to the militiamen and team leaders and shouted, “What are you waiting for? Catch the dog!”
Zhou Dana also called out to the watching villagers, “Doesn’t every family have children? With a vicious dog like this in the village, it’s a ticking time bomb! Everyone, help catch it!”
But none of the villagers moved. Instead, they quietly took a few steps back.
The team leaders and militiamen looked even more troubled, frozen where they stood.
“Get moving! A bunch of grown men afraid of a stray dog—isn’t that embarrassing?” Zhou Dana issued a final order. “If you don’t kill this vicious dog today—”
Before he could finish, Big Yellow suddenly lunged forward, a savage growl rumbling in his throat.
Zhou Dana was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body. He staggered backward again and again, almost falling a second time.
Aunt Zhou stood in front with a knife, while Chuntao held Nuannuan behind Big Yellow. An old woman, a young woman, and a dog had somehow forced a whole group of grown men to retreat step by step.
More and more onlookers gathered, and the murmurs grew louder.
Zhou Dana found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, his face shifting from livid to pale.
He couldn’t catch the dog, couldn’t lay a hand on anyone, and couldn’t put on a show of authority. He had lost every bit of face.
He glared at Chuntao and Aunt Zhou, his eyes frighteningly cold and vicious.
He would never swallow this humiliation. He certainly wasn’t going to let the matter end here.
