Li Jin's table didn't eat much food, but they did finish five jin of loose vegetables!

This traditional, homemade baijiu has an exceptionally high alcohol content and a very spicy taste.

Li Xiangdong choked and coughed after taking a sip, which made everyone else at the table burst into laughter.

"Squad Leader Li, your son didn't inherit your drinking capacity!"

Old Hai joked with Li Xiangdong.

Li Jin's cheeks were flushed from drinking. "Kids don't drink much at home, but the guys from Northeast China have such strong liquor, he couldn't control them!"

"Hahahaha... That's right! Our loose-leaf liquor is just as good as Moutai! Come on, let's have another one!"

Old Cui picked up the wine pot and filled Li Jin's empty cup again. The white wine poured out of the pot was clear and bright, with dense bubbles, and a spicy aroma hit his nose!

If you ask Li Xiangdong, Moutai still tastes better!

The old village chief placed a piece of wild boar meat in Li Xiangdong's bowl with his chopsticks. "Dongzi, come on, have some wild boar meat! You don't have any where you live, do you?"

Li Xiangdong smiled, put the wild boar meat in his mouth, and chewed it carefully. It was indeed very fragrant.

Wild boar from Northeast China has a richer flavor and the lean meat is less dry compared to wild boar from western Sichuan.

Li Jin also picked up a piece of meat and ate it, saying, "Uncle Village Chief, we have wild boars in our village now!"

"What? You don't even have any mountains or forests where you live, how come you have wild boars?"

Li Jin recounted how Li Xiangdong transported wild boars from western Sichuan, mated them with domestic pigs, and established a pig breeding base.

When he mentioned that the current number of live pigs had reached 5,000, everyone in the room was stunned.

Old Hai'er slurred, "My God! Five thousand! That's a huge herd!"

"This little Dongzi is so capable!"

Old Cui nudged Li Jin with his elbow, "Hey, squad leader, why don't you send your kid to buy wild boar from us?"

"That's right! The wild boars in Northeast China are big and heavy, and the meat doesn't have a gamey smell!"

Everyone was talking at once, and Li Jin couldn't get a word in edgewise. Finally, when they stopped talking, Li Jin asked, "I remember when we were here, didn't we wipe out all the wild boars in this area? From what you're saying, there are still so many left?"

The old village chief slowly began, “After you left, only a few people hunted wild boars. They couldn’t keep up with the number of dead ones, and now a large herd has multiplied. Every autumn harvest, they come to the fields and start rooting up the crops!”

It turns out that the production team in Zahatun had been disbanded a year ago, and now each family works independently. Lao Hai'er and Lao Cui go to the mountains or hunt wild boars during the off-season to supplement their income.

However, there are too few hunters who can go up the mountain now, and the scattered wild boars they hunt do not contribute to the expansion of the wild boar population.

Considering that the pig breeding base in Lijiapo is now in its fifth generation of wild boars, and they are exhibiting fewer and fewer wild boar traits, it's time to get another batch of wild boars.

Li Xiangdong asked, "Uncle Hai'er, if I'm here to buy wild boar, how many live wild boars can you catch here?"

Old Hai'er was startled and quickly put down his chopsticks, calculating on his fingers, "When do you want it?"

"No rush, let's do it in two months!"

"Then Lao Cui and I can probably get about ten or eight heads, and Xiao Liuxing and San Tiao have the same idea."

Li Xiangdong was a little disappointed, "Is that all..."

It's not worth making that trip, because the freight cost is more expensive than that for wild boar!

Seeing Li Xiangdong's expression, Lao Hai'er, fearing the business might be disrupted, immediately added, "Our in-laws live in the mountains; their village can also raise twenty or thirty head of cattle!"

That would bring us to forty or fifty head, which is about right. We can also transport some other local specialties from Northeast China later, so it won't be a wasted trip!

"Alright, then it's settled. Uncle Hai, Uncle Cui, how much do you sell wild boars here?"

The two men exchanged a glance, and Old Hai'er said, "Pork is usually three cents a pound, but you'll have to add the shipping cost. I'll give you a price of fifteen cents a pound, is that alright?"

After he finished speaking, everyone in the room fell silent, watching Li Xiangdong's reaction intently.

Although the price was 50% off, the 30 cents per pound was for pure lean pork, while the 15 cents sold to Li Xiangdong was the price of a live pig including skin, hair, internal organs, and bones!

Li Xiangdong pondered for a moment, then said, "Fifteen cents won't do!"

Disappointment inevitably appeared on the faces of those present, but they could understand it; Li Xiangdong also needed to make money!

Old Cui gritted his teeth, "One cent a pound?"

They're just idling around anyway, so what's the big deal about wasting some bullets and their own strength?

Li Xiangdong shook his head again.

Everyone was dumbfounded again.

Old Cui and Old Hai glanced at Li Jin, who was calmly sipping his liquor, and thought to themselves, "Why is Li Xiangdong so different from our squad leader? He's so stingy!"

"That nine cents?"

Money picked up for free in the mountains, so let's just earn less if we can!

"no!"

"...Fine, forget it then, I'm not doing it!"

"I mean, this price is too low, no way!"

"What did you say?"

The people inside the room picked at their ears, all thinking they might have misheard.

Li Xiangdong said seriously, "Let's say the live pigs are 25 cents a pound, but they have to be alive!"

He's not losing money at that price.

After a moment of silence, the room instantly became lively, boiling like water at the bottom of a pot.

Old Hai slammed his hand on the table. "I knew it! The squad leader's son is so straightforward and generous! Just like the people around here!"

Old Cui was also delighted. He personally picked up a piece of stewed wild boar meat, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and placed it in Li Xiangdong's bowl. "Dongzi, eat this piece! We didn't know you were coming. If we had given us a heads-up, we would have definitely served you pheasant, grouse, roe deer, deer, forest frogs, fine-scaled salmon, and all sorts of fish!"

The people at the table under the kang (heated brick bed) chuckled, "Old Cui, didn't your girl already get engaged? What, you've taken a fancy to Dongzi now?"

"Get out!"

Old Cui cursed at that man, but his future son-in-law, Niu Santiao, was sitting right at the table!

Zhou Hongsong asked the people next to him, "How did they figure out that Dongzi was going to be their son-in-law?"

"In our area, the 'Three Flowers, Five Luos, Eighteen Seeds, and Seventy-Two Mixed Fish' dish is used to entertain a new son-in-law on his first visit to his father-in-law's house for the New Year!"

"Oh—there's such a saying!"

"Absolutely! It has to be a grand affair!"

Just then, Xinni, the old maid of the Cui family, brought in a pot of willow and potato soup. She slammed the pot on the table with a "bang" and said, "Uncle Ergou, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll have Aunt Ergou sew your mouth shut with a needle!"

"Hey, you little brat, how can you be so disrespectful!"

Uncle Er Gou wasn't in a hurry. After muttering those words, he went to use a spoon to scoop up the willow and potato soup and drink it.

Take a bite of the bright green willow shoots, and your mouth will be filled with a refreshing fragrance!