Chapter 110: That Water Ghost
"It’s you! The Water Ghost!"
Hearing such a piercing shout, everyone, including Yun Jiao, turned to look at the young man.
Yun Jiao’s family was not pleased.
"What are you talking about? ’Water Ghost’? Do you even know how to talk?"
The young man realized his slip of the tongue, covering his mouth and quickly apologizing.
"I’m sorry, but... but I really saw her force that wild boar underwater."
Given the scene, who wouldn’t have misunderstood?
"It wasn’t just me. These guys saw it too."
These were the ones who had been swimming after the boar and had witnessed firsthand how viciously Yun Jiao had grabbed the large boar by its tusks and dragged it underwater.
Yun Xiaowu retorted, dissatisfied, "You still can’t call her a Water Ghost! Have you ever seen a ghost as beautiful as my sister? She’s clearly a little fairy!"
Yun Jiao: ’Brother, keep it down, keep it down.’
Everyone glanced at Yun Jiao’s picturesque, pretty little face and thought that maybe he had a point.
"Ahem... so that wild boar was... you..."
An older person steered the conversation back on topic, but looking at Yun Jiao’s small frame, they couldn’t bring themselves to finish the sentence with "...killed by you."
’This... this child, how old is she?’
’It’s impossible.’
Yun Xiaojiu puffed out his chest proudly. "That’s right! My sister took it down!"
Just a moment ago, he was a little crybaby, but now he was as proud as a rooster.
Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought he was the one who’d hunted the boar.
"My sister may be young, but she’s really strong! We live by the sea. Forget this little boar—even massive fish weighing hundreds of pounds can’t escape her grasp."
Yun Jiao: "..."
She gently tugged on Brother Nine’s sleeve. "Brother, that’s an exaggeration."
She didn’t have that kind of strength or skill just yet.
"But she’s so tiny."
They stared at Yun Jiao’s small frame, her fair skin and delicate body. No matter how they looked at her, she didn’t seem like someone who could take down a wild boar.
Grandma Shen stepped forward. "However my granddaughter dealt with the boar is none of your business. The boar is ours now, any objections?"
There were no objections, just a lot of envy.
Such a huge wild boar! It looked like it had at least two hundred pounds of meat on it. That would last for ages!
Beaming with joy, Yun Jiao’s family carried the massive wild boar home, temporarily ignoring the corn in the fields. Getting the boar home was the priority.
Yun Xiaojiu followed for a few steps before suddenly remembering they had forgotten the basket.
"Wait for me, Mom, Dad! There’s also this big fish! My sister caught it too."
Everyone looked over and saw it was true—and the fish was not small.
The way they looked at Yun Jiao changed in an instant.
’How can someone so young be so capable?’
No wonder her family doted on her. If it were them, they’d dote on such a capable little girl too!
The curious onlookers followed them all the way.
"Daniu, are you selling any of this boar meat?"
Shen Daniu was Grandpa Shen’s name.
Grandpa Shen’s face was a mess of smiling wrinkles the entire way home; the corners of his mouth never once drooped.
"Not so fast, not so fast. I have to discuss it with my son-in-law. He has a big family, too."
No matter what, they had to give a portion of the meat to their son-in-law’s family.
This was how you maintained good relations with your in-laws. Her son-in-law’s family treated their daughter well, always bringing plenty of gifts whenever she visited her parents. This time, they had even brought a whole bucket of sea snake wine.
Never mind the medicinal herbs in the wine; that much alcohol alone wasn’t cheap.
Naturally, their family couldn’t be stingy in return, especially since Jiaojiao had been the one to get the boar. They had to give their son-in-law’s family a large share.
On the way back, villagers who had heard the news all came to see the commotion.
When they arrived home, the family next door had just finished dividing their property. Old Mrs. Li was fuming. Her old man must have lost his mind—he’d actually given Shen Jiang his entire rightful share of the land.
Now that the property was being divided, she was too resentful to accept it. She had tried to use her authority to snatch some land from her eldest son for her youngest, but she was scolded the moment she opened her mouth. On top of that, she was told she had to give them money.
Furthermore, her second son’s family was also being split off.
How was an old woman like her supposed to throw her weight around the house in the future? She was so angry her heart ached.
Just then, the commotion from next door reached her ears. Old Mrs. Li only vaguely heard something about a "wild boar."
She hurried outside to look. She learned that the family of that damned old woman she’d fought with just yesterday had somehow gotten a whole wild boar—and it wasn’t small, either, over two hundred pounds!
Her sworn enemy’s good fortune made her feel even more like a failure.
And so, in a fit of rage, Old Mrs. Li’s eyes rolled back and she fainted.
"Oh my, what’s happened to her!"
"She fainted! Old Mrs. Li fainted!"
"How did she faint?"
"Could she have fainted from anger after seeing Daniu’s family get such a big boar? I heard the two families almost got into a fight yesterday."
There are no secrets in a village. The story of how the two families nearly came to blows yesterday had already spread, and everyone knew what had happened.
All one could say was that everyone had seen Old Mrs. Li’s biased ways for themselves, and they felt she deserved it.
The neighbor was kind enough to bring your daughter-in-law some chicken soup, but instead of being grateful, the mother-in-law starts a fight.
So petty. Don’t you think she fainted today because she couldn’t stand seeing them get such a huge wild boar?
Old Mrs. Li was carried off by her family to find the barefoot doctor.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Shen and the others had come to an agreement with Yun Linhai.
They would sell one hundred pounds of the boar meat and split the rest between the two families to eat.
Only in the last couple of years had the families in their village started raising pigs, but a pig had to be carefully raised for a whole year before it could be eaten at the New Year.
Moreover, piglets weren’t cheap, and many people couldn’t even afford them.
Throughout the entire year, the only time they got to eat pork was around the New Year.
Right now was the busy farming season, a time of great physical exertion. The thought of wild boar meat was enough to make anyone’s mouth water.
But one hundred pounds was nowhere near enough to go around.
Even if they limited each family to buying just one pound of meat, there still wouldn’t be enough.
The wild boar meat was cheap and didn’t require ration tickets. The moment the news got out, their doorway was nearly mobbed.
Some people, desperate to be at the front of the line and fearing the meat would run out, nearly started a fight.
"It’s gone! The meat’s all sold out, so don’t push forward!"
"How can it be gone? It was such a big boar, why only sell a hundred pounds? You still have over a hundred pounds left, can you even eat all that? Sell some more, sell some more!"
"What do you mean, ’can we eat all that’? My son-in-law’s family has a lot of mouths to feed! He has nine growing boys at home. How long do you think this meat will last them?"
Growing boys can eat you out of house and home. A boy in his growth spurt will eat at least two big bowls of grain, not to mention the other dishes.
His in-law’s family had nine growing boys.
Grandpa Shen sighed and shook his head just thinking about it on his in-law’s behalf.
’No wonder they were so poor before, living such a hard life.’
They absolutely refused to sell any more pork. Grandpa Shen and Uncle Shen sent everyone away.
"Weren’t there a few others who got a boar? Go and ask them."
With that, they shut the door.