Chapter 40: Where Are You Taking It?
On the way, Zhang Erlai had already given Zhao Youcai a rough summary of what happened. However, he didn’t mention that he and Su Qing had run into the wild boar together. Instead, he claimed 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 me 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 immediately. 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 moment, 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 me, 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 something 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 payment."
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 me. 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 meat? 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 meat, 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 meat.
"Whoa!" one of the villagers exclaimed. ’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 meat from it. If they give twenty pounds to Zhang Erlai and then subtract our payment, 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 some meat 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 frame 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 home, you’ll have more meat than you can eat. Villagers will definitely come asking to buy some. 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 someone 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 payment, just give him the head and the innards, along with one of the trotters and five pounds of meat. That Mr. Jin... he doesn’t care for much else, but he absolutely loves pig’s head and organ meat."
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, someone killing a wild boar was a major event—it meant meat 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 immediately erupted in excitement. They could have meat to eat again, and the elderly and children at home could get some much-needed nutrients.
Although Lihua Village was right next to Baihua Mountain, getting meat from the mountains was incredibly difficult. Villagers used to form hunting parties to go into the mountains, but a few years ago, someone 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 some who managed to catch a pheasant or a rabbit in the mountains, but they would always take it home and eat it secretly with their family, never telling anyone.
The villagers’ eyes lit up as they stared at the massive boar.
Members 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 meat.’
The hateful thing was, that damn girl would never willingly give any of the meat 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 meat!’ she thought gleefully. ’This is wonderful! Not only will our family have meat to eat, but my two brothers can have some, too. We can sell what’s left over for a nice bit of extra income. 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, "Come on, come on, I’ll lead you back."
With that, she started to lead the three villagers toward her home.
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?"