On the way, Zhang Erlai had already given Zhao Youcai a rough summary of what happened. However, he didn’t ntion that he and Su Qing had run into the wild boar together. Instead, he claid he was being chased by the boar and had inadvertently involved Su Qing, who ultimately saved his life.
Zhang Erlai told the story this way mainly to protect Su Qing’s reputation, worried the villagers might get the wrong idea.
Seeing Zhao Youcai and the three villagers staring blankly at the boar, Zhang Erlai quickly spoke up again. "Captain Zhao, you see? It was this huge wild boar. It chased the whole way, and I was nearly trampled to death. When I ran into Su Qing, I thought, ’It’s all over. I’m going to get her into trouble, too.’ I never imagined she’d be the one to save my life in the end."
Zhang Erlai repeated his story, mainly as a reminder for Su Qing.
Su Qing understood imdiately. She gave Zhang Erlai a subtle nod to show she understood. Zhang Erlai had always been perceptive, and seeing her nod, he breathed an inward sigh of relief. ’Good, good. Our story will hold up.’
After a long mont, Zhao Youcai finally turned to Su Qing. "Su Qing," he asked, "did you... kill this wild boar?"
Su Qing smiled, a bit bashfully. "I just got lucky," she said. "When the boar was chasing , it tripped and fell. Its head hit that rock just right and... well, it killed itself."
"That’s right! I saw it with my own two eyes. The boar smashed its head right on that rock," Zhang Erlai quickly added, backing up her story.
Zhao Youcai nodded. "You two were certainly lucky."
Su Qing nodded. "Incredibly lucky. I was scared half to death. For a minute there, I thought I was a goner."
One of the villagers laughed and said, "Su Qing, I have to say, your luck is really sothing else."
Su Qing smiled and nodded.
Zhao Youcai then said, "By the way, you two know our village rules, right? For these three helping you carry this boar back, you’ll need to give each of them five pounds of pork as paynt."
Su Qing and Zhang Erlai quickly replied, "We understand."
Su Qing didn’t say anything, but she had already decided in her heart. ’I’ll give Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong a few pounds of pork each later to thank them for looking out for . After all, their words carry a lot of weight in this village. They’re powerful allies to have, and I should definitely get on their good side.’
"Alright," Seeing that Su Qing and Zhang Erlai understood, Zhao Youcai asked, "Have you two decided how you’re going to split the at? And whose house should we take it to?"
"Take it to Su Qing’s house," Zhang Erlai said quickly. "I’ll just take twenty pounds of at, that’s plenty. After all, Su Qing saved my life today. If it wasn’t for her, I’d have been a goner." He knew that if they took the boar to his house, his mother would definitely cause a scene and refuse to let Su Qing have any of the at.
"Whoa!" one of the villagers exclaid. ’Holy cow,’ the three of them thought, ’this boar has to be at least three hundred fifty pounds! After removing the head, hooves, and innards, you could probably get over two hundred and fifty pounds of at from it. If they give twenty pounds to Zhang Erlai and then subtract our paynt, Su Qing will end up with around two hundred and twenty pounds of pork! Plus all the ribs and everything else... Man, I’ve got to tell my wife to go buy so at from Su Qing right away.’
"Alright, then to Su Qing’s house it is," Zhao Youcai declared with a wave of his hand.
The three villagers tied the boar to the wooden fra they had brought, hoisted it onto their shoulders with ease, and started down the mountain. Su Qing, Zhao Youcai, and Zhang Erlai followed behind them.
Zhao Youcai took the opportunity to advise Su Qing. "Once you get this boar ho, you’ll have more at than you can eat. Villagers will definitely co asking to buy so. Now, pork from the market costs seventy-two cents a pound, and you need ration tickets for it. This is wild boar, so it’s a bit cheaper than farm-raised pork. And since we’re all neighbors here in the village, the price is always lower than the market rate. Usually, when soone has wild boar to sell, it goes for forty-five cents a pound. What do you think? Does that price work for you?"
Fearing Su Qing might not be aware, Zhao Youcai carefully explained all the details to her.
Su Qing understood Zhao Youcai’s kind intentions. She smiled and said, "I’ll listen to you. We’ll go with forty-five cents a pound. And the ribs can be even cheaper—let’s make them thirty cents a pound."
"Good." Zhao Youcai was pleased that Su Qing took his advice. "I’ll call Mr. Jin over in a bit to help you butcher the boar. For paynt, just give him the head and the innards, along with one of the trotters and five pounds of at. That Mr. Jin... he doesn’t care for much else, but he absolutely loves pig’s head and organ at."
Su Qing smiled, pressing her lips together. "No problem."
As they spoke, the group was already nearing the foot of the mountain. From a distance, they could see a large crowd gathered. Even though it was the busy farming season, soone killing a wild boar was a major event—it ant at on the table. So, one by one, people had dropped what they were doing and run to the foot of the mountain to wait.
When they saw such a large wild boar being carried down the mountain, the villagers imdiately erupted in excitent. They could have at to eat again, and the elderly and children at ho could get so much-needed nutrients.
Although Lihua Village was right next to Baihua Mountain, getting at from the mountains was incredibly difficult. Villagers used to form hunting parties to go into the mountains, but a few years ago, soone was killed on a hunt. Since then, very few were willing to venture into the deep woods. Life, after all, was more important.
Besides, most people didn’t know how to hunt. Forget wild boars—even wild rabbits and pheasants were hard to catch. Of course, there were so who managed to catch a pheasant or a rabbit in the mountains, but they would always take it ho and eat it secretly with their family, never telling anyone.
The villagers’ eyes lit up as they stared at the massive boar.
mbers of the Old Su Family were also in the crowd. When they saw Su Qing walking behind the boar, their eyes went red with jealousy. ’That boar is huge,’ they thought. ’That damn girl is going to get her hands on so much at.’
The hateful thing was, that damn girl would never willingly give any of the at to the Old Su Family. Since Su Qing had split off from the family, they’d had a few run-ins, and the Old Su Family now understood one thing completely: Su Qing had changed. She was no longer the pushover they could easily manipulate.
In contrast to the Old Su Family, Er La Niang was beaming, her face flushed with delight as she gazed at the massive boar. ’So big! So much at!’ she thought gleefully. ’This is wonderful! Not only will our family have at to eat, but my two brothers can have so, too. We can sell what’s left over for a nice bit of extra inco. Then things will be a little easier for my big brother and second brother.’
With that thought, Er La Niang cheerfully ran over and said to the three villagers carrying the boar, "Co on, co on, I’ll lead you back."
With that, she started to lead the three villagers toward her ho.
But to her surprise, one of the villagers said, "Er Lai’s mother, this boar isn’t going to your house."
With that, they turned and headed in a different direction—toward Su Qing’s house.
Er La Niang’s expression changed. She hurried forward to stop them. "Wait a minute! That’s my family’s boar! Where are you taking it?"
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