Chapter 296: Chapter 296: The Wild Boars Attack, and Meeting Chen Ershu Again

Afterwards, a group of people carried the wild boars out of the courtyard. Xu Huaian followed them to discuss how to prevent wild animals from coming down the mountain and hurting people.

Gu Qinghuan, disliking the bloody smell in the yard, simply took out some water from her space and washed the courtyard thoroughly, clearing away the snow as well.

By the time everything was tidied up, the sky was already turning pale.

Xu Huaian came back in just as dawn was breaking. He hadn’t been idle all night—together with Xu Huaianian, Xu Mingshan, and other village committee members, they’d worked out a patrol plan, assigning responsibilities to specific people.

None of the young and able-bodied men in the village had slept.

A total of twenty-one wild boars lay on the ground, waiting to be dealt with.

No one in their lifetime had ever seen so much wild boar meat.

By the time they finished, it was already noon.

The story of Xu Huaian single-handedly killing twenty-one wild boars spread throughout the entire Xu family village.

Everyone who saw him couldn’t help but look at him with admiration.

To the children, this story was as legendary as Wu Song fighting a tiger—almost magical.

A new debate began: which was more impressive, a tiger or twenty-one wild boars?

In any case, Xu Huaian instantly became the talk of the village, with both adults and children discussing his deeds.

Those who had once had ideas about Gu Qinghuan couldn’t help but tremble with fear.

Liu Guifang and Xu Mingshan, as a couple, once again became the envy of everyone in the village, and people talked about them with great relish.

After all, all four of their children had turned out so well.

The eldest had a secure government job, the second was as strong as Wu Song, the third was in college, and the fourth had given birth to a ten-pound baby girl.

While Liu Guifang enjoyed everyone’s praise and envy, she also felt a bit sour inside.

Why did all the credit go to the second son?

When it came time to divide the wild boar meat, the village decided that Xu Huaian’s family would get a whole wild boar to themselves.

After all, he’d killed twenty-one by himself—he deserved some special treatment, otherwise who would risk their life next time?

Of the remaining twenty boars, five were handed over to the commune, and the rest were divided among all the villagers by headcount. This way, families with more people would get a bigger share.

On average, each person could get a few jin of meat. Large families could take home dozens of jin at once, happily carrying it home for a prosperous New Year.

All the offal from the boars was collected together to make traditional “pig-killing dishes.”

After the meat was divided, in the afternoon, the village women gathered to prepare these dishes.

They cleaned the offal thoroughly until there was no smell.

Each family contributed some vegetables.

Several large pots were set up to stew the pig-killing dishes. The simple seasoning brought out the best flavors of the ingredients.

Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng brought their children to help—mainly because the kids wanted to watch the process.

The aroma of food filled the air above the entire Xu family village.

Just then, another unexpected event occurred.

The patrols arranged that morning suddenly came running back, shouting, “Wild boars are coming down the mountain!” The wild boars were hot on their heels, charging aggressively.

Maybe it was the irresistible smell of food.

Everyone grabbed whatever tools were at hand and rushed forward.

When the twenty-one wild boars were lying dead, no one felt afraid. But now, with so many live wild boars charging at them, many people’s legs turned to jelly and they could barely move.

The women and children could only scream.

Xu Huaian once again drew his short knife from his waist.

“All able-bodied men, grab your weapons and follow me! Women and children, evacuate immediately!”

Xu Huaian’s short knife was unstoppable. He charged into the herd and, with a single strike to a vital spot, took down a wild boar.

His bravery inspired the others, who also rushed in with their tools.

Gu Qinghuan reacted quickly, organizing the evacuation of the elderly and children to safety. The aunties were reluctant to leave the freshly cooked pig-killing dishes, so she simply dragged the pots away herself.

In this battle, Xu Huaian led the young men of the village to drive off the wild boars again, killing fifteen more. No one was seriously injured, though minor bumps and scrapes were inevitable.

But the delicious pig-killing dishes soothed everyone’s nerves.

Every household received a big bowl of the dish.

The fifteen freshly killed wild boars were also butchered and redistributed.

This year, the Xu family village became famous throughout the commune. They had set up their own collective factory, with work points valued at ten cents each—the highest in the commune.

They had also provided three teachers for the commune’s primary school.

Now, they’d managed to get so much meat and even contributed a large portion to the commune.

These were solid political achievements. Xu Mingshan received praise from the leadership, but instead of feeling happy, he was anxious, afraid his “fig leaf” would be torn away—he knew very well that these achievements had nothing to do with his leadership as party secretary, but were thanks to others’ efforts.

What would next year bring?

He really was getting old!

Gu Qinghuan’s family received a total of one and a half wild boars.

Xu Huaian carried the extra half to his mother-in-law’s house.

Zhong Zijun was now thoroughly satisfied with her son-in-law.

This year was much quieter than last. Gu Lanting had just started his job, and his boss had scheduled him to work over the New Year, so he couldn’t come back to the village, though he kept up correspondence.

Ming Ruxue, under her parents’ arrangement, had become an assistant at a research institute and was so busy she barely touched the ground.

Zhong Luoning was earning money during winter and summer breaks, and wouldn’t come to the village this year either.

Now, students were lining up for her lessons, and she was busy every day. Luckily, Wang Xiaowei was there to take care of things at home, allowing her to focus on her work.

So, people with real skills will never be left behind.

Although they couldn’t come in person, Gu Qinghuan didn’t forget to send them New Year’s gifts—various dried goods, surplus items from her space, dried fish, pork jerky, and so on.

Before the New Year, she sent out all the gifts, delivered some to Lu Jianye’s family, and even brought back four bottles of Maotai.

Gu Qinghuan had basically finished all her New Year preparations and focused on making delicious food for the children at home.

Xu Huaian led the young men of the village on patrols around the forest, operating like a regular army, always on alert, and several times drove off animals coming down the mountain to cause trouble.

After realizing they couldn’t get the better of them, the animals stopped coming, and things were peaceful for a while.

As the New Year approached, on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Huaian pulled a sled with Gu Qinghuan and the two kids sitting on it.

They were heading to the big market.

She remembered that last year, she’d traded a bolt of coat fabric for a sheep at the market.

This year, Gu Qinghuan planned to go again.

Lin Xiaomeng and Xu Huaizhi and his wife went along as well.

Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng discussed what to give Jiang Xue as a wedding present.

Yes, Jiang Xue was getting married.

Her fiancé was someone they knew—Hao Zhigao.

He was the young man who’d joined them in the batch that took the exam for the commune primary school.

Now, he taught math to grades five and six, while Jiang Xue taught Chinese to the same grades.

Maybe it was working together, and both being single, that gradually brought them together.

After two or three months of flirting, they decided to get married—after all, neither of them was young anymore.

Hao Zhigao’s family lived in a nearby village. His parents were very satisfied with Jiang Xue, since she was good-looking, had a proper job—a secure “iron rice bowl”—and worked in the same unit as their son. It couldn’t be better.

Having survived a brush with death, Jiang Xue had learned to take things lightly. She didn’t hide her family situation, but told Hao Zhigao everything.

Hao Zhigao didn’t mind, saying that their life together was their own business and had nothing to do with anyone else—as long as they were happy.

This time, Jiang Xue had truly found a good man to spend her life with.

She really was blessed after surviving disaster.

“I’m planning to give her a pair of pillowcases. What about you?” Lin Xiaomeng asked.

“You’re giving pillowcases? Then I’ll give two pillows,” Gu Qinghuan replied, unable to think of anything else.

After all, their relationship wasn’t especially close, but now they saw each other all the time. Jiang Xue was no longer as prickly as before, so it was only right to show some courtesy.

“Jiang Xue has really changed a lot. I almost forgot how arrogant she used to be,” Lin Xiaomeng sighed.

Gu Qinghuan knew about the hardships Jiang Xue’s family had gone through, and the pain she’d experienced.

“People only grow after going through trials and setbacks—sooner or later, it happens.”

Lin Xiaomeng thought of her own life, and realized it was much the same.

At the market, the two families split up to trade for what they needed, agreeing to meet at the entrance when they were done.

Gu Qinghuan had brought some fabric she didn’t need, as well as a dozen or so ration coupons that hadn’t expired.

The school regularly issued all kinds of coupons, but she rarely had time to shop, so most of them were traded away. These were the leftovers, and she wanted to exchange them today before they expired.

Each woman held a child’s hand as they wandered through the market.

Suddenly, a small stall caught her eye—the stall owner looked very familiar.

Gu Qinghuan and the stall owner made eye contact, and she couldn’t help but call out, “Chen Ershu? Did you get married?”

Last year, he’d traded a sheep for wedding clothes for his beloved. She wondered if he’d married her in the end.

Chen Ershu immediately stood up and pulled the shy young woman next to him over to introduce her.

“Comrade, thank you for the wool fabric you traded me last year. My wife wore it when we got married, and our baby is due any day now,” Chen Ershu said, introducing the bashful young woman beside him.

She had delicate features, clear eyes, and a rounded belly.

The two of them were clearly very much in love, the way they looked at each other was full of affection.

Gu Qinghuan smiled with satisfaction—she’d finally done something right.

It felt wonderful to see a couple in love finally get together.

“You’re welcome. We each got what we needed. Are these pastries on your stall homemade?” Gu Qinghuan asked, pointing at the goods on the table."