Late at night, Cao Zhongchun had fallen asleep and snored.

Cao's wife sat under the lamp to collect the soles of her shoes, she was already sleepy, and she continued to accept a row of stitches.

She said in her heart: This is the task given to me by her husband Cao Zhongchun, to make a pair of cloth shoes for his unmarried brother Cao Mengchun in the New Year.

Cao's wife filled the stitches of one sole, and the lamp seemed to be out of oil, although there were huge lamps on the wick, but I was about to thank you, and the light was dimmed at this time.

Cao's wife simply blew it out and went to bed. She had just fallen into a light slumber when she was woken up by the sound of ping-pong and shouting, which made her sleepy at all.

She immediately sat up and listened carefully, only to hear the cry of "oh oh", as if someone was gagged with a cloth and couldn't scream, which made her realize that something must have happened to Cao Mengchun, who was sleeping in the next room, because this sound came from the next room. Cao's wife immediately woke up her husband Cao Zhongchun, who was sleeping soundly.

Cao Zhongchun was sleepy-eyed and asked unhappily, what is the matter?

Cao's wife said, Do you hear the voice? The next room.

Cao Zhongchun woke up completely all of a sudden, he listened with his ears stunned, the sound of rustling was sometimes loud and sometimes small, but the noisy footsteps were heard very clearly.

At this time, Cao's wife lit the oil lamp, refueled the oil lamp, and carried the lamp.

Cao Zhongchun got up with the light and clothes, quickly grabbed a wooden stick from the door, and opened the latch to go out. Cao's wife carried a lamp to light the way, and before he reached the next door, he saw several masked men of different heights holding sharp knives to block him.

The tall masked man shoved a man with a cloth ball in his mouth and pushed it in front of him, and he quickly recognized it as his brother Cao Mengchun.

Cao Zhongchun pretended to have a smile on his face and said "sigh", why did you green forest heroes kidnap my brother? He was so poor that he couldn't even find a daughter-in-law. Let him go! As he spoke, he knelt down.

Cao's wife also knelt down to help, begging you to let my brother go.

A masked man didn't eat this set, shook his hand, and said in a foreign accent that it was not so easy to let him go. Don't talk about it unless your family pays us 2,000 silver dollars.

Cao Mengchun, who was tied up and held hostage by two people, kept stomping his feet and shaking his head constantly, meaning to tell his younger brother not to fall into their trap.

Cao's wife threatened, if you don't let my brother go, I will sue the official.

The tall masked man let out a sneer, or don't say in a foreign tone, you go and sue! Do you see who I am? Who are we? Tell you that within a week, we will come to the door of your earthen house in the middle of the night and knock on the door, and if we have collected enough 2,000 silver dollars to give us, we will release them immediately, otherwise after a week, we will tear up the ticket, and your brother will not want to live. Speaking of this, he waved his hand, and several masked people pushed and shoved Cao Mengchun into the deep night.

Cao Zhongchun shouted while chasing, brother, within a few days, I will find a way to scrape together 2,000 silver dollars to redeem you, you have to hold on!

One evening a few days later, Kan Nenglai came from nowhere, carrying a bunch of dog meat in his hand, and walked straight to Xiong Zhengnan's door. Before he got closer, the fat white dog was grinning at him in the field, with a fierce light flashing in his eyes, but after all, he didn't dare to bite him, and of course Kan was not afraid to come.

Kan Neng glanced at the dog and said lightly: If it weren't for the master, especially Fangfei protecting you, I would really want to slaughter you and eat meat!

His voice was low, and the dog was still barking, Xiong Zhengnan, who was squatting at the door and smoking a hookah, didn't hear it, and when he looked up, Kan Nenglai had already walked in front of him and handed him the dog meat in his hand. Xiong Zhengnan shook his hand and declined. He said, Tax Officer Kan, thank you, we don't want dog meat in our family, you can take it!

Kan Nenglai was stunned for a moment, and said sneeringly, did your daughter Fangfei tell you?

Xiong Zhengnan understood what he meant, so he said, "Yes, that's impossible." You signed the agreement, don't be untrustworthy!

Kan can say, isn't your daughter planning to withdraw from the marriage contract?

At this time, Kan Nenglai's wife You Meizhen came out of the room and said with a straight face that she couldn't help her. The man Fang Fei was engaged to was a hunter, and he once told the matchmaker that he had a crush on Fang Fei, and if someone dared to snatch love with a knife, he would fight hard, and even beat people with a shotgun, which would cause chaos. Tax Officer Kan, I advise you to let it go!

Kan Nenglai handed her the dog meat in his hand and said, Fangfei's mother, you can take this mention of dog meat!

You Meizhen also shook her hand again and again and said, don't, don't. Do you know? I have a white dog at home, and when I see someone eating dog meat, I bark at it. It's not unclear to you that dogs love to gnaw bones, but if you drop a dog bone, it won't gnaw.

Kan Neng came to say sadly, I know. Then he turned around and returned with the dog meat, and as soon as he walked out of the front yard, the white dog chased after him and barked.

Kan Nenglai, who had hit a gray nose, wanted to vent, he turned his head, bent down on the ground and picked up a stone and threw it, the white dog slipped away smartly, of course it didn't hit. He took a few more steps towards the white dog, and when he reached the fourth step, he stumbled, slipped his left leg, and knelt down, and there happened to be a cone-shaped stone on the ground, which touched the kneecap, and he blinked in pain.

He gritted his teeth and got up, his head slightly bowed, and staggered away to the barking of the dogs.

One morning, the atmosphere in Puqi County was as solemn as ever.

The guard saw a middle-aged man kneeling in front of the yamen and shouting grievances, carrying a cloth bag in his hand.

The gatekeeper asked, "What is your name and where are you from?" What are the grievances? I'll hear it.

The middle-aged man replied, My name is Cao Zhongchun, and I am from the north of this county. As for any grievances, I would like to ask the guard officer to allow me to go in and tell the prefectural magistrate in detail.

The gatekeeper reached out and pressed his two fingers to the part of his mouth, and when he blew, he let out a sharp whistle. Immediately out of the yamen came a servant with long braids, and with a gesture of his hand, Cao Zhongchun got up and walked into the yamen where a pair of stone lions were squatting on both sides, and followed the yamen through several round doors and winding aisles, and arrived at the county yagong. I saw a man in a seven-grade official uniform with a wide face and big ears, looking down and frowning to read an official document.

The official deliberately stomped his foot to attract the attention of the county magistrate, and then said with his right hand and forehead in a proper manner, report to the magistrate that there is a man named Cao Zhongchun in the northern suburbs of this county who is shouting grievances at the gate of the yamen, and has been brought by the lower officials to prepare to complain to you.

Cao Zhongchun knelt on his knees in front of the court, carrying the cloth bag in his hand, and said in a trembling voice, the county master, Cao Zhongchun, a grass citizen, shouted grievances on behalf of his brother and begged for permission to sue.

The county magistrate did not answer Cao Zhongchun, but beckoned the official to come over and handed him a copy of the official document he had read on the table. Take a look. Now that the Eight-Nation Coalition has entered the capital, the country is in a period of war. If we don't get it right, our Puqi will fall into a foreigner's concession.

The officer nodded as he watched.

Cao Zhongchun saw that Zhixian didn't talk about his business, so he simply stood up, shook the cloth bag in his hand and said, County Master, do you ignore civil affairs?

The county decree said that civil affairs are of course reasonable, but there is a priority. Tell me! Why did your brother shout grievances, why didn't your brother come by himself?

Cao Zhongchun did not rush to answer, but untied the cloth bag in his hand, revealing a pair of bloody human ears, and he burst into tears when he looked at it.

The county magistrate was horrified and asked, whose ear is this?