“I can’t even get a meal in peace! You bastard, you come running over first thing in the morning to report a death. What’s that supposed to mean?” Zaosheng cursed.
“Village chief!” yelled Chuncao. “That bastard Tusheng stole my piglet. I went to reason with him, and he tried to hit me!”
“Village chief, you have to stand up for us!” shouted Hesheng.
“How do you know it was your piglet?” Zaosheng asked, bristling with anger and craning his neck.
“When it was little, a rat bit off a piece of its left ear. I’d recognize it even if it were burned to ashes!” Chuncao yelled.
Zaosheng said nothing. He scooped up a few bites of rice, chewed half a piece of pickled vegetable, then said, “Hesheng, get Fugui. We’re holding an on-site meeting!”
Fugui was the village public safety director.
The on-site meeting was an invention of Village Chief Zaosheng. Whenever villagers had a dispute, he would bring village officials to the scene and settle it there, delivering justice on the spot.
