There is plenty of food in the mountains at this time of year. The six little wild boars are all fat and round. The big one weighs at least 70 or 80 kilograms, and the small ones weigh 50 or 60 kilograms.

Zhou Yiding thought about the time when he pulled the little wild boar and the red deer, and felt his shoulder still hurt. "Youngest brother, this time seems to be heavier than last time."

Zhou Huaian said with a smile: "What can we do? We can't just give up!"

"You've only had enough food for a few days, and you dare to throw away such a big fat pig!" Zhou Yiding patted him on the shoulder, "Brother, you will be punished by God."

"Nonsense!" Zhou Huaian took out a knife, "Let these ones bleed first, then bring up the big one and gut it."

"Okay!" Zhou Yiding stepped forward, grabbed a wild boar's ear, and slashed its neck with a knife. Warm blood flowed all over the ground.

Zhou Huaian raised his knife and looked at the pig blood flowing all over the floor. He said distressedly, "What a pity! If I were at home, I could make several pots of pig blood soup with this pig blood."

"That's right, scoop a bowl and add some cooked chili oil, pepper powder, and sprinkle a pinch of chopped green onions, and you won't put it there!"

"Don't even think about it. I'm drooling just thinking about it!"

The two men drained the blood of the little wild boar and walked to the edge of the mud pond. Looking at the wild boar covered in mud, they felt that there was nothing dirtier than this thing.

Zhou Yiding nudged him and said, "Get started, why are you still standing there?"

"You are young and strong, you hold the hind hooves and I will hold the front hooves."

"Climb farther away. You're only two days older than me, and you're already weak?"

Zhou Yiding insisted on going to the front hoof, carefully stood at the edge of the mud pond, and grabbed a hoof. "I'll yell one, two, come on! Let's pull it out together!"

"Wait until I stand firm and grab it before shouting!" Zhou Huaian found a place to land and grabbed the wild boar's hoof, "One, two, come on!"

"One, two, come on!"

The two men shouted and pulled hard at the same time, but the mud pond was so slippery because of the wild boar. After several attempts, not only did they fail to pull the wild boar out, Zhou Yiding also slipped into the mud pond, getting covered in mud.

"Hahaha!" Zhou Huaian looked at Zhou Yiding who was supporting himself on the wild boar with his hands, and laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. "Hurry up and get on top. If that old sow comes later and thinks you're her man, you'll be in trouble."

"Ugh!" Zhou Yiding climbed onto the shore and kept wiping the mud off his hands and rain boots on the weeds. "Fuck, the mud in the muddy pond stinks!"

Zhou Huaian was also wiping the mud off his hands on the ground, "You think it stinks, but the wild boar smells so good!"

Zhou Yiding grabbed a piece of rotten wood and hit him with it. "Stop talking nonsense and think of a solution quickly. There are still so many wild boars to get up the mountain!"

"I don't even need to think about this!" Zhou Huaian took out two ropes from his trouser pocket and handed them to Zhou Yiding, "Tie up the pig's trotters and let's pull it out."

"You should have tied it up with a rope earlier!" Zhou Yiding rolled his eyes at him and took the rope to tie the pig's trotters.

Zhou Huaian went to the bush to cut some vines, made a thick vine rope, and connected it to the hemp rope tied to the four hooves. The two of them shouted slogans and used all their strength to pull the wild boar out of the muddy pond and onto the shore.

The two men panted heavily and sat down on the ground. After catching their breath, they got up. One of them used a knife to drain the blood while the other chopped sticks to tie the raft. It took them a long time to finally tie it up.

They then lifted the big pig and several smaller ones onto the raft and tied them up, then pulled them towards the ditch.

The journey that should have taken more than half an hour took the two men two hours to reach. They took down the backpack hanging on a tree branch beside the ditch, took out the water bottle and drank a few sips before starting to cut open the belly.

Zhou Yiding looked at the pile of meat and thought of the mutton and wild boars in the forest farm. "Youngest brother, these wild boars plus the meat hidden in the cave and the tree stumps, I have to go back and drive the tractor over."

"The day after tomorrow I'll go down the mountain to drive a tractor." Zhou Huaian thought for a moment, "When we get back we'll bring some meat and watch Old Man Lin dig up tree stumps."

"Give him a piece of suet. He's old and looks really pitiful."

Zhou Huaian wiped his sweat and said, "Give him two more pieces and two more pig's trotters. It will be comfortable to eat the stewed pig's trotters."

After the two men finished their work and Gou Zi was full, they put the wild boar back on the raft. The two hungry men took out rice balls and ate their fill, then pulled the wild boar meat towards the forest farm like cows.

…

On the other side, Yang Chunyan had already arrived at Funiu. After distributing the things to Wan Xuejiao, she went home to comfort her unhappy son.

When the mother and son woke up from their sleep, they realized that the whole family had gone to the back mountain to harvest herbs. Yang Chunyan gave Xiao Jiuer to the old man to play, and she went to the herb field in the back mountain to help harvest herbs.

Zhou's mother, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law cut and planted chicken shit vine and Polygonum multiflorum vine under the fence. The lush vines covered the bamboo frame outside the fence.

Zhou's father and son used sickles tied to bamboo poles to cut the vines on the bamboo frame, cut them into short sections on a wooden board, put them in a backpack, cleaned them, and dried them before sending them to Ning An to sell.

Yang Chunyan carried a full basket of chicken shit vines and walked down the mountain. Before she reached the backyard door, she saw Ma Chunhua running towards her in a hurry, carrying a bottle of soy sauce.

"Chunyan, this is terrible. I don't know which evil-minded person went to the Agricultural Bureau to report your family for using mountain land to grow medicinal herbs and destroying food production. Someone from the higher-ups is here to investigate your family."

Yang Chunyan's heart sank after hearing this. "Sister-in-law, who told you that?"

"I went to have some fun and saw two people who looked like cadres following Secretary Zhou to the brigade headquarters. I listened for a while and I didn't know what I heard was this."

Ma Chunhua said anxiously, "Chunyan, go find someone to think of a solution. What if you are arrested as examples? I have to go back and pull out the mugwort in my house."

Yang Chunyan knew that people these days were frightened by the reports in previous years, so she hurriedly said, "Sister Ma, don't be afraid. We have already inquired before planting. As long as we don't occupy the basic farmland and the mountain land allocated by the village, and use the land we have reclaimed, it will be fine."

Ma Chunhua was not so panicked after hearing this. After thinking about it, she said, "No, I have to go and get some news. If it doesn't work, I'll just use some effort to pull out all the wormwood I've planted."

"You go first. I'll put the backpack away and then go to the brigade headquarters."

"Okay, follow me!"

"Hey!" Yang Chunyan saw her leaving in a hurry, frowned and went down the stairs. Just as she opened the gate, she heard a burst of hurried footsteps. She turned around and saw that it was He Hongxiu. "Auntie, what are you doing?"

"I came to your house for something!" He Hongxiu smiled, "No wonder no one answered the door after I called out for a long time. It turns out you were all in the back mountain."

"It's time to cut the herb vines in the back hill. We're all cutting herbs there." Yang Chunyan pushed open the gate. "Aunt, come in and sit for a while."

He Hongxiu followed her into the yard, helped her take down the backpack and put it away, then said, "I don't know who went to the town to manage agriculture and said that your family used the best mountain land to grow medicinal herbs.

They also encouraged other villagers to do the same as your family, and to grow herbs instead of crops. Two people came over there, and they are in the brigade now, and they will come to your house to check the land later.

The old secretary and Datian asked me to tell you something. When they come, you can tell them that you are responding to the country's call to grow cash crops without affecting the payment of public grain, and take the path of getting rich through science and hard work. "

Yang Chunyan said gratefully: "Thank you very much, Auntie."

"Why are you being so polite to me?" He Hongxiu glared at her in reproach. "I'm leaving first. It would be bad if someone comes and sees me later."

"Yeah!" Yang Chunyan sent her out from the back door, and Zhou's mother also came down with a basket on her back. The two exchanged a few words, and He Hongxiu left in a hurry.

After hearing what Yang Chunyan said, Zhou's mother was extremely anxious. "What should we do now? The mugwort in the field has grown out. It is so green and beautiful that it is half the height of a chopstick. It would be a pity to shovel it away!"

"Mom, don't worry. Aunt Datian said that those people will come to ask us later. Take them to see that we don't have the land allocated by the village."

"They won't reason with you." Mother Zhou thought for a moment and said, "No, I have to go and take a look."

Yang Chunyan hurriedly pulled her and comforted her, "Mom, don't panic. Even if we explain it clearly, they still think we are wrong. If they really want us to shovel it, then we can do it!"

She wished they could take back the land and not have to pay grain taxes and other miscellaneous taxes.

Zhou's mother was afraid when she thought of the cases of being reported and punished in the past. "I know the current situation at home. Even if we dig up all the herbs, we will only feel sad for two days. I'm afraid someone will be jealous of us and want to punish us."

"You see, it's all said on TV, things are different now than they were before." Yang Chunyan held her hand, "Our family is also different than it was before. As long as we are united as a family, no one can bring us down."

After hearing this, Zhou's mother thought for a moment and straightened her chest, "Yes, we are no longer the second branch of the Zhou family. Even if they take back all the land, we can still find food to eat."

Yang Chunyan comforted Zhou's mother, picked up the backpack and said to her, "Mom, Aunt Datian has been here too. Uncle Xu and Uncle Datian will not let anyone slander our family. We will do what we should do."

"Well! Let's go collect the herbs first. If we have to shovel them, we can bring back more."

Zhou's mother and Yang Chunyan returned to the medicinal field and told Zhou Huairong and others about the report.

Li Qiuyue was so angry that she started to curse, "It must have been done by those bastards in the village who were greedy and had no assholes when giving birth to sons. If I knew who it was, I would immediately pick up a load of manure and throw it all over him."

Zhao Huifang scowled, "It was probably done by that beast Xiong Laoya."

Zhou Huaishan shook his head, "I heard that Xiong Laoyao has been gone for a while, so it shouldn't be him."

Zhou Huairong frowned, "If not him, then who else?"

"Let's ask Secretary Xu later. He probably knows what's going on." Zhou's father said to the others, "Just do what needs to be done. It's just a few acres of mugwort. If we really need to dig it up, we won't have nowhere else to plant it."

Zhang Xiuxiang echoed, "That's right, plant a Hundred Flowers Forest. It's such a large forest, even if we add dozens of acres, it won't be enough to plant."

Li Qiuyue nodded, "That's right, a living person can be killed by holding his urine, it just takes more effort."

Mother Zhou looked at her son and daughter-in-law with satisfaction, "It's worth the effort. Our second branch doesn't have much else, but we have a large family!" (End of this chapter)