I sat under the shade of a tree with my book in hand, reviewing at my usual pace.

Er Ya is the same way; although the two are not together, they are doing the same things.

The pillars had it much harder than the others, as there were many pits in this section. Fearing the pipes would burst, they had to keep moving.

At noon, Er Ya brought the food to Zhang Hongmei.

"Hongmei, hurry up and eat. We have steamed buns made from three kinds of flour, and stewed dried radish and dried fish."

Zhang Hongmei looked at the three large steamed buns, picked up only one, and handed the rest to Er Ya.

After the two finished eating, Er Ya took the remaining steamed bun and went downstairs.

My eyes were a little sore, and I had just finished eating. I got up and walked around for a while, but I didn't find anything unusual, so I went into the pool. Actually, I had been thinking about it for a long time, wondering whether I should take out another wild boar. After all, I already had one, and I didn't feel at ease keeping it in the ring all the time.

I only picked up a few pine cones, then sat down to peel and eat them.

Finally, I gritted my teeth and decided to take out a wild boar. After all, the villagers always thought I was incredibly lucky, so I thought I'd have one more stroke of luck.

They released the wild boar that tried to damage the pipes last year.

Zhang Hongmei stood next to the pipe, stomped on it a few times, and tried to camouflage the area, but she couldn't make it look like it was being gored by a wild boar. So she had to put the wild boar into the trap.

The wooden spikes stuck in the trap were quite sharp; Zhang Hongmei released a wild boar to smash them, and the boar pierced through them instantly.

He made some more repairs to the trap and then sat down in the shade of the tree again.

A moment later, Er Ya ran up and saw Zhang Hongmei sitting under the tree. She then bent over, put her hands on her knees, and gasped for breath.

Once they caught their breath, Zhu Zi also climbed up.

"Hongmei, how are you? What happened just now?"

Zhang Hongmei laughed, "We've got meat to eat! A big wild boar has fallen into a trap. Brother Zhu, hurry up and go call Dashan and the others."

Zhu Zi heard there were wild boars in the trap, ran over to check, and sure enough, there were some! He excitedly ran down the mountain.

Er Ya also went over to take a look and said, "Hongmei, what kind of luck do you have? Other people go up the mountain and never see a wild boar, but you always seem to run into one."

"Hehe." There was no answer.

"I'm going downstairs first. Brother Zhu has left. I need to take a walk around."

When Da Shan's father and Wang Hongxi brought a few young men up, they marveled at the trap, saying, "This girl, she's got all the good things in the world."

Da Shan's father picked up Zhang Hongmei's machete and led four people to the woods to cut poles, which they would need to carry down in a while.

"Village Chief, there aren't many of you here. Can you carry them downstairs?"

"Hehe, why not? With meat to eat, you'll be full of energy. Hongmei, you have to be extra careful. Don't run away if things don't look good!"

I don't think the wild boar fell straight into the trap, did it?

"Yes, it came to drink water. I was sitting under the tree and didn't intend to pay attention to it, but it tried to bite the pipe, so I circled around and lured it into the trap."

"You silly girl, don't do that again next time. What if you get hurt?"

"Hehe, I'll be more careful next time."

"Uncle Village Chief, will we be able to eat meat today?"

"Haha, are you craving something? You've worked hard today, but you'll definitely be able to eat it tomorrow at noon. Nobody will take advantage of you. We'll save 20 jin of meat for you after we slaughter the pig. You're in a time when you need to use your brain, so you should eat more good food."

"That's great, I won't eat it then, I still have to repay the favor." Zhang Hongmei then told Wang Hongxi about taking the newspaper from the post office for free.

"It's alright, I'll save you ten extra pounds. You need to take good care of yourself. I'm still waiting for another college student from our village to come from the capital."

You have no idea how much face I made at the township meetings! Jingze, that college student, made me stand tall and proud every time I went to a meeting. If you go back to college after the New Year, hehe, I'll be walking around with my head held high and my hands behind my back!

Zhang Hongmei was amused by Wang Hongxi. "Uncle Village Chief, I will definitely try my best to make sure you can really walk like that."

"You're the one who will save face for your uncle this time."

The father and son chatted and laughed, and Zhu Zi's father and the other four also returned carrying their loads.

It took the six men quite a bit of effort to bring the wild boar back.

Everyone was especially happy at dinner. They hadn't eaten meat during the Spring Festival, and now it was the lean season with no food available. Everyone had been working hard for a month, so of course they were happy to have pork to eat.

Looking at everyone's genuine smiles, Zhang Hongmei felt particularly pleased.

A group of women surrounded Zhang Hongmei, saying, "Hongmei, you're so lucky. If you want to eat meat, we'll let you go for a stroll in the mountains next time."

“Our Hongmei is the best. Others would be eager to exchange her for money, but this child is honest and thinks of everyone.”

"That's for sure! We've eaten wild boar from Hongmei several times in the past few years, so everyone should remember how good she is."

Everyone chimed in with their own words, expressing their gratitude to Zhang Hongmei.

Zhang Hongmei smiled shyly to the side without saying a word. She knew everyone was grateful, and she was willing to do something for them.

After finishing my meal, I went home and turned over two more ridges. Tomorrow morning, I'll ask Li Cuihua for eggplant seedlings and cucumber seedlings to plant.

The next day, before dawn, Da Shan skinned the pig and brought over 30 jin (approximately 15 kg) of ribs to Zhang Hongmei.

Li Cuihua also rushed over to help her marinate the meat and smoke it when she came back that evening.

At noon, they served steamed buns made with a mixture of wheat, water, and soybean paste, and also gave Zhang Hongmei a large bowl of braised pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

Zhang Hongmei couldn't resist and bought several extra pieces, leaving the rest for Er Ya to take back to Shi Tou and San Ya.

Er Ya didn't even eat her own portion. She poured the two bowls of meat together, covered the bowls, and put them in the cage to take home after get off work that evening.

"We're so lucky to still have meat to eat, while others can't even afford rice. I heard from my classmates that some villages are even eating livestock fodder. It's terrifying to think about!"

"Yes, we are happy. At least we are happier than many people."

"Yes, we should cherish what we have. I always make the most of every meal. Hongmei, do you think we can make it through this year?"

"Yes, we definitely can. I believe we can do it."

"Sigh! I hope so. I'm worried that everyone will give up."

Both of them fell silent.

Twenty days later, all the sweet potatoes in the field were planted. The remaining land was used to plant sorghum, and this year they also planned to plant millet, so Liu Maocai only set aside ten mu of land.

All that's left is to plant sweet potatoes and potatoes on the mountain.

Da Shan and his three companions often went up the mountain to maintain the traps, partly to get some meat to eat, and partly to protect the sweet potato fields from being destroyed by animals.

Zhang Hongmei's yard was also full of vegetables, but Li Cuihua refused to take them, saying that she would take care of them for Zhang Hongmei and let her take them back to the city to eat when she came back.

Of the three, only Zhu Zi got a really dark tan, Er Ya was a little better, and Zhang Hongmei was just a bit tanned.