Chapter 86: Wild Boar
Carrying a back basket full of firewood, the weight piled high like a small mountain bent his waist.
The broken spots on the cuffs and hem of his jacket had long turned into ragged strips, and his feet were stepping into a pair of straw sandals twisted from straw.
Seeing the bright and beautiful Luo Shuangshuang, Yuan Cheng was both pleasantly surprised and felt awkward and uneasy, which in an instant all turned into deep inferiority in his heart.
“Da Chengzi, why aren’t you speaking?”
“Ah, Shuangshuang, that, I still need to send the firewood back, so I’ll just…”
“Alright, I won’t delay your work, you go back first!”
Before he could finish finding an excuse, Luo Shuangshuang considerately waved her hand at him, indicating she didn’t mind.
Waiting until he had walked step by step far away, she turned her head to look at her friend watching the show beside her, “What kind of look is that on your face?”
“An ordinary look.”
Nodding her mouth toward the person’s back not far away, Su Ning asked softly, “What’s the situation?”
“I don’t know, he’s been this strange and awkward since the day I met him.”
Without turning back, she knew Yuan Cheng was definitely lingering, neither leaving nor staying, standing not far away stealing glances at her.
Luo Shuangshuang flung the braid on her chest behind her back and sighed helplessly.
When Yuan Cheng was very young, his dad went up the mountain to chop firewood and accidentally fell off a cliff, and the person was gone. Not long after, his mom ran off with someone else, leaving only his blind-from-crying grandmother to depend on each other.
After knowing his tragic family background, she did unconsciously pay more attention and give special care to this friend; the candy and pastries given to him were always one portion more than others.
But his personality really wasn’t to her taste, and she had always lacked patience. For such a blockhead and naturally awkward person, she was willing to ask and comfort once or twice, but every time like this would make the people interacting with him feel very tired.
To the point that later, seeing him made her unconsciously want to dodge and avoid him a bit.
“Never mind him, let’s hurry and catch more crabs. There’s only so few in the basket, not enough to fry one bowl!”
“Okay.”
Hearing her say that, Su Ning naturally paid no more attention. Just as she was about to withdraw her gaze, she saw that person suddenly throw down the back basket on his back and quickly run back toward the two of them.
“Xi You seems a bit off.”
“Hm?”
Having just picked up a slippery big stone with both hands and gently placed it aside, Luo Shuangshuang spotted one big and one small crab but hadn’t grabbed them yet. Hearing this, she immediately raised her head and turned to look.
Sure enough, Yuan Cheng was rushing toward the two of them with a panicked expression and urgent look.
“Quick, Shuangshuang, get up fast!”
“What’s wrong, Da Chengzi?”
“Gong sound! There’s a gong sound!”
Gong sound?
Suddenly remembering that she had heard it once before, that time the gong was because a wild boar had come down the mountain.
Her whole body shuddered. Luo Shuangshuang waded across the small stream, haphazardly put on her shoes, grabbed the baffled Su Ning, and followed behind Yuan Cheng running toward outside the mountain.
“Huff~ Huff~ Xi You… what’s… wrong?”
Being pulled along running quickly on the mountain path, Su Ning, panting heavily, looked at the two rushing ahead with heads down and was full of confusion.
“Gong sound, something must have happened in the brigade!”
What gong sound?
Why hadn’t she heard it?
Fortunately, the two of them hadn’t gone too far. Running like mad, they soon entered the end of the village.
Waves of gong and drum sounds came clearly, and faintly cheers and noises from the threshing ground could be heard.
It looked like something had happened, but it seemed like… good news?
Patting her chest, her face flushed from running and heart pounding wildly, Luo Shuangshuang who had stopped turned her head and saw men, women, old and young all hurrying toward the threshing ground. “Ning Bao Gai, let’s hurry and go see too!”
“Okay.”
……
On the wide flat ground of the threshing ground, there was prominently a big and two small wild boars piled up.
That big wild boar looked to weigh six or seven hundred jin, with two long and sharp tusks very frightening, and the bristles on its head standing sharp and erect.
A pair of eyes pierced through by arrows, and there was a hole on the neck gushing blood.
“Worthy of being the captain of the hunting team, Yan Xi’s archery is godly! Impressive!”
“Hahaha~ It’s been so long since we ate meat, just as the autumn harvest is coming, Grandfather Heaven really gives face!”
“What does it have to do with Grandfather Heaven, if thanks are due, it’s to Da Xi Zi!”
“Exactly! It’s also their bad luck running into the Yan family father and sons trio. You try with another family?”
The surrounding crowd gossiped noisily, their faces all showing uncontainable joy and excitement.
This was meat! One big and two small three wild boars added up to at least nearly a thousand jin!
The brigade had over sixty households in total. Calculated by household registration not per person, each family could get quite a bit.
Su Ning and Luo Shuangshuang who had finally squeezed into the crowd understood what was going on from the gossip around them.
Turns out Maternal Uncle Yan had quietly gone out earlier to hunt wild game up the mountain?
“Ning Bao Gai, my maternal uncle is there! Let’s hurry over!”
Yan Xi was standing not far away talking with the brigade leader, Yan Wen and Yan Wu also chattering excitedly among their little friends.
“Maternal Uncle!” “Maternal Uncle Yan.”
“It’s You You and Xiao Ning, you two come, quick, come over!”
Nodding to the brigade leader, Yan Xi beckoned to the two.
He had originally only wanted to catch a rabbit or wild chicken, who would have thought luck was so good, running into a big and two small wild boars out foraging.
He had just discussed with the brigade leader that their family could get one whole small wild boar. After deboning and bleeding, it would still be one or two hundred jin of meat?
This way, not only could they properly host the two girls, but also cure plenty for oil and water during the autumn harvest, even the big meat for the festival wouldn’t be a worry.
Right, they could also send more to the Yue family and younger sister’s family!
Thinking of this, the joy on Yan Xi’s face couldn’t be contained, and his expression looking at Luo Shuangshuang was even more affectionate.
“Maternal Uncle, why so much blood? Where are you hurt? How did you run into wild boars?”
“You You, don’t worry, Maternal Uncle isn’t hurt. This blood is all from the wild boar. With bow and arrow, how could I get hurt fighting it up close!”
“That’s good, that’s good! You scared me to death!”
Seeing Yan Xi’s entire T-shirt covered in dark red bloodstains, Luo Shuangshuang was really frightened to weak legs. She didn’t care about eating meat, as long as Maternal Uncle was fine.
Only after her heart settled back did she realize something off. “Maternal Uncle! How could you go up the mountain without calling us?”
“Ah?”
“Ning Bao Gai and I also want to go into the mountain, we were wandering at the foot of the mountain!”
“Hahaha, good good, next time next time, sure to bring you two, this time it’s settled, okay?”
Pouting proudly, Luo Shuangshuang knew deep down the chance of going up the mountain again this time was very very small, and looked apologetically at her friend.
Ning Bao Gai’s longed-for wild ginseng was probably going to fly away~
“Xiao Ning, wait for the slaughtering and meat distribution, the brigade will cook pig slaughter dish, you have to try it!”
“Right! Ning Bao Gai, this pig slaughter dish is super fragrant, you have to eat more later!”
“Okay…”
Before the words were finished, the brigade leader had already walked to the high platform, raised both hands, and pressed down toward the crowd.
“No need for much nonsense, follow the old rules. Among the big and two small, the smaller one goes entirely to Yan Xi, the rest by household twelve jin per household, and the remainder made into large pot pig slaughter dish!”
“Each household send one person, everyone line up properly, meat distribution!”
“Boom~”
Just waiting for the brigade leader’s words, the crowd clapped joyfully, and the person from each family getting meat hurried to line up at the scorer.
Each family’s children also howled and rushed home to get basins and bowls.
This meat distribution scene was like festival time, extremely lively.
The small wild boar Yan Xi got was the larger of the two small ones. No need to wait for the slaughterer, the father and sons three skillfully slaughtered it on the spot.
There were plenty of pigs raised in the Peach Blossom Spring Space, and several had been slaughtered, but Su Ning had never done the slaughtering herself; the underground storage room handled the processing, cutting, and neat stacking.
So watching Maternal Uncle Yan slaughter the wild boar piglet, she felt both novel and scared.
Especially when bleeding the wild boar, the bursts of wails were truly heart-pounding.
Yan Wen had early gone home to get plastic basin and hemp sack, and as soon as the blood came out, he immediately went forward to catch it with the basin.
After the blood was drained, add salt in the basin and let it sit a few minutes, and a whole basin of pig blood solidified.
“Ning Bao Gai, do you know what I thought of?”
Su Ning, watching intently, heard the person beside her constantly swallowing hard and nearly burst out laughing. “What did you think of? It’s always about food.”
“Hehe~ Wait till you eat Maternal Grandmother’s stuffed blood sausage, then you’ll know!”
Excitedly grasping her hand, Luo Shuangshuang felt coming back this time was really right; she could eat pig slaughter dish and taste Maternal Grandmother’s specialty dish!
