That one time, she'd seen an old ox weeping and had cried her heart out. But that night, she ate braised beef all the same.
That's why country folk were so strange. They didn't have much of a taste for things like old turtles, yellow eels, or frogs, and few people ate them. Yet, when it came to the oxen and dogs that had been with them for years, they could be ruthless.
Juhua had no food taboos and would eat almost anything, but in her past life, she had firmly refused to eat pet dogs. 'They're truly part of the family,' she thought. 'The bond they share with their owners is extraordinary. Some are so smart they can understand a great deal of human speech.' Yet there were always those damnable people who went around stealing dogs—they'd throw down some food, slip a rope around the dog's neck, and drag it off without a sound. Her family had lost several dogs this way, and each time, she'd been left teary-eyed.
