Chapter 6: Encounter with the Wild Boar
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Gu Wenran and the others returned home to find Zhou Xi had already cooked the dumplings and was waiting at the door.
“How is it? Did Yubao get hurt?”
“Auntie, look, my face is all bruised,” Yubao said, touching his face and wincing in pain.
“Auntie’s kisses will make it better. Come inside quickly, dinner’s ready.”
Gu Wenran helped Zhou Jiayu wash up, then they all sat down at the table to eat.
“So delicious! It’s the first time I’ve ever had dumplings this tasty.”
Everyone ate eagerly, afraid of being slow, until they were full and sat on stools to digest.
“Sis-in-law, these dumplings are amazing, even better than during New Year,” Zhou Siyue said, licking his lips, which were smeared with oil.
“I’m going out for a walk to help digest,” he added.
Zhou’s mother, knowing her son’s habits, followed him out.
After tidying the house, the family sat in the courtyard to enjoy the cool evening air when shouting erupted from next door.
“I want meat, Grandma! I want that meaty flavor! I want to eat!”
“You’ll eat nothing! You blab so much—just wait until I beat you senseless today!”
“Mom, how can you hit a child? What if you hurt him? Besides, those words were yours to begin with,” the second daughter-in-law of the Wang family said, shielding Wang Xiaohu behind her.
“Get lost! What business is it of yours if I discipline my grandson? Useless woman!” The old Wang woman, still resentful that the second daughter-in-law never helped her in hard times, was furious.
“I’m useless? Your son’s even worse. He can’t do anything right but devour everything. The neighbors have no men and still get meat; look at your son—he can’t even afford a single piece. Huzi, come with me to your grandmother’s house.”
Seeing the daughter-in-law trying to take her grandson away, the old Wang woman panicked.
“You leave! Don’t take my grandson!”
“Huzi, come with me.”
After all the commotion, the second daughter-in-law finally took the child back to her maternal home.
Having finished watching the drama, Gu Wenran prepared to go to bed. Lately, with good rest, she had lost weight and her skin had lightened. She planned to go to the mountains tomorrow to gather herbs and make a whitening cream. Before arriving here, she had been well-versed in traditional Chinese medicinal cosmetics.
“Mom, I’m going to sleep now. I have to go to the mountains tomorrow.”
“Sleep well. Yubao and Grandma are going to bed too.”
After returning to her room and washing up, Gu Wenran lay on her bed and entered her spiritual space. She finished sorting the grain supply, then entered the villa, picked up a book on traditional Chinese medicine from the bookshelf, and began reading.
After nearly two hours, she stretched, took strawberries from the fridge, and made a strawberry milkshake.
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“I can take some strawberry runners out to pick more; summer has just begun, so they’ll keep bearing for a while.”
Gu Wenran went to the farm, dug up some strawberry runners, and stored them, planning to wake early the next day to harvest.
Back in her room, she turned off the light and prepared for sleep.
In the morning, Gu Wenran made breakfast, packed water and steamed buns into a basket, and set off for the mountains.
At this hour, no one else was working yet, but as she passed by the youth cadre camp, she saw that someone was already awake: the female lead, Shen Simin.
Seeing Gu Wenran passing by, Shen Simin grabbed a machete and followed her.
Gu Wenran noticed she was being followed as she reached the mountain foot and deliberately took a small path.
Shen Simin entered the mountain after her, intending to take advantage of a moment when Gu Wenran was distracted to kill her.
Gu Wenran weaved through the forest, shaking off Shen Simin, and headed to the other side of the mountain.
Looking around at the dense trees and realizing Gu Wenran had disappeared, Shen Simin grew anxious and wandered, soon losing her way in the mountain.
Gu Wenran paid no mind to who was following her and happily went on to collect herbs.
“Notoginseng, Bletilla, white peony... Indeed, the province is vast and rich; just a few steps and I can gather medicinal herbs.”
Gu Wenran quickly collected the ingredients she needed for the whitening cream and prepared to head back. Suddenly, a roar came from the bushes—a wild boar charged out.
“That’s huge; a collision like that could be deadly.”
Gu Wenran climbed a tree and watched the boar ram into it. Drawing her machete, she aimed for its neck, leapt down, and plunged the blade deep.
The boar thrashed twice, then collapsed.
“That’s dead already—not as fierce as a zombie.”
Looking at the boar, Gu Wenran realized that such a large beast could spoil if left out. Normally, hunted game was handed to the team leader for distribution, but no one in the village ever handed anything over. Instead, it was better to use it to regain favor.
She ran down the mountain to find the team leader.
“Uncle Chuan Gen, I encountered a wild boar up in the mountain.”
“What? A wild boar? Where did it go? Quickly gather the villagers for a meeting. No one should go to the mountain lately.”
“Uncle Chuan Gen, I killed the boar myself but can’t carry it down. Could you get some people to help bring it down and distribute it?”
Knowing Gu Wenran’s previous state, Zhou Chuan Gen couldn’t believe she could bring such a large boar back for the villagers.
“What are you waiting for? Go quickly before the beast spoils.”
“Jin Sheng, go call some young men. You, with Mrs. Si Nian, head up the mountain to bring the boar down.”
“Dad, is what she said true? Could she be tricking us into facing the boar?”
“Look at the blood on her; it’s not dry yet. It’s probably true. Take extra weapons, and if you can’t handle it, run, got it?”
“Got it, Dad.”
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Gu Wenran led them to the wild boar’s resting place—a four-hundred-plus-pound beast lay on the ground.
“That big? Sis-in-law, how did you kill it?”
“I used a machete. Hurry and carry it down; it’s hot, and it’ll spoil quickly.”
Zhou Jin Sheng gathered a few men to carry the boar down the mountain. Passing by the fields, the villagers excitedly dropped their tools and gathered to watch the butchering.
“Get back to work! We’ll share the pork tonight.”
“Meat!” A group of children circled the boar, thrilled.
That evening, the entire village gathered at the team’s wheat threshing ground.
Zhou Chuan Gen took a megaphone. “Quiet, everyone. This wild boar was killed by Mrs. Si Nian. Normally, the first share goes to her family. In addition, she gets ten extra pounds, plus the head and trotters. Any objections?”
“No objections.”
Having a bite of meat at this time was a blessing; no one argued with the team leader’s decision. Even the usually hostile old Mrs. Wang stayed silent; if she could kill a wild boar, Gu Wenran was not to be trifled with.
Gu Wenran took five pounds of fat and the rest was all leg meat.
“Let’s go home and eat meat!”
“Mom, so much meat! We can eat well for a while.”
“Sis-in-law is amazing. She could kill such a big wild boar—better than my brother.”
“With this much meat, Wenran, why not cure some into bacon so it lasts longer?”
Gu Wenran looked at the twenty-plus pounds of meat, the trotters, and the head. It couldn’t go bad by tomorrow.
“Go home and stew the trotters and head, cure the meat into bacon, and tonight we’ll make dumplings—meat and egg dumplings.”
“Wonderful! Dumplings tonight!”
That night, the air in the Toyota team was filled with the aroma of meat, and every household ate pork.
Next door, the Wang family didn’t come over with their usual sour remarks, despite the tempting smell.
Gu Wenran found the wild boar meat gamey and ate little; others, however, ate greedily with mouths dripping oil.
After a hot bath, Gu Wenran went to bed early, entered her spiritual space, drank a few sips of the elixir spring water, and felt all her aches vanish instantly. She spent the night studying medical books.
Meanwhile, outside, the team had been searching overnight for the youth cadre Shen, finally finding her in the mountain. The team leader held a serious grudge against her for this.