"Oh my god, Huahua, did you bring back a pig?"

Around the winter solstice, the nights are very long, and it's only just getting light outside at around five in the morning.

Against the backdrop of the white snow, Zhang Shuzhen could vaguely see a dark shape on the ground, which looked a bit bigger than Huahua.

Looking down for a closer look, it was a pig, a wild boar weighing about 100 pounds.

When Hua Hua saw Zhang Shuzhen, it went up to her and rubbed its big head against her leg, making a purring sound as it did so.

Zhang Shuzhen raised her hand and touched Hua Hua's belly, which was bulging and clearly full.

So Zhang Shuzhen affectionately rubbed Huahua's head, stepped aside to let Huahua into the house, and then bent down to drag the pig outside into the house.

As soon as Hua Hua entered the house, she lay down in her nest and fell fast asleep. Zhang Shuzhen checked the time and decided not to sleep anymore. She got dressed, went out to fetch firewood, and came back to start a fire and cook.

Breakfast is simple: one pot is used to cook corn porridge, and another pot is filled with water, a steamer rack is placed on top, and dry food and leftovers from last night are stir-fried on top. A few chopped pickled vegetables and such are enough to make a meal.

After the corn porridge boils, add a little baking soda, stir it with a spoon, and then leave a small gap in the lid.

After that, Zhang Shuzhen had a free hand and began to clean up the pig on the ground.

Sheng Xiping usually takes care of the tidying up, so Zhang Shuzhen doesn't need to.

With all three able-bodied men in the family now living on the mountain and Sheng Xikang still sleeping inside, Zhang Shuzhen has to do everything herself.

The blond-haired boy had a bloody hole in his throat; it was obvious that Hua Hua had bitten him with her teeth.

The wild boar's stomach had been ripped open, all its internal organs were gone, and a lot of the meat under its belly had been torn apart.

Zhang Shuzhen took a knife and cut off the parts that Huahua had bitten, setting them aside to give to Zhaocai and Wangfu.

The rest were skinned, deboned, chopped into pieces, and frozen.

These need to be kept. If Hua Hua goes out one day and goes hungry without finding anything, we can bring them back, dissolve them, and feed them to her.

Actually, since Sheng Xiping left, Hua Hua has gone out hunting two or three times without success, and when she came back, she would surround Zhang Shuzhen asking for food.

At other times, even if he doesn't bring anything back, he can still manage to get by with a full belly.

Zhang Shuzhen planned to save the pig's trotters and pig's head, and cook them for Zhou Qinglan when she gave birth and was in postpartum confinement. So she put them in the storeroom to freeze.

After tidying up, I called the children to get up, wash up, and then prepare for dinner.

After breakfast, Sheng Xikang, Sheng Yunfang, and Sheng Yunfei still had to go to school before their holiday started.

Zhou Qinglan also had to go to the school to grade papers and record students' scores.

So Zhang Shuzhen instructed her two daughters to take good care of Zhou Qinglan on the way, and to make sure she didn't slip or fall.

"Don't rush back after you finish grading the papers. Wait until your fourth and fifth brothers get out of school at noon to pick you up, and you can come back together."

Before leaving, Zhang Shuzhen reminded Zhou Qinglan to be careful.

Zhou Qinglan and the other two responded simultaneously and then left. Only Zhang Shuzhen, Sheng Xitai, and Chen remained at home.

"No running around today, stay home and help me pick red beans. I'll cook the filling later and we'll make sticky rice cakes."

Upon hearing that there was something delicious to eat, Sheng Xitai's eyes immediately lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. "Mom, we won't go out; we'll stay home and do chores."