Not only wild boars, but also wolves, tigers, bears, and stuff like that, you know?

"knew"

"Just knowing isn't enough; you also have to remember it. And if you really want to go, an adult needs to accompany you, okay?"

"Know."

When I couldn't sleep at night while lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), I thought that, according to my mother, we should be able to protect ourselves in case of special circumstances. The only thing I was worried about was that someone might have something on our hands. That was the only thing I could do. Also, it's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person.

Everyone knows that during that period, a large portion of those who were originally without problems were actually offended by petty people they hadn't been careful about.

Before they knew it, it was August 1957. A month earlier, Dad's transfer orders had come down. The good news was that Dad and Uncle Shen were in the same military region, but they were in different army groups and responsible for different areas. The only thing they had in common was that they could live in the same military compound, which made both families very happy. Aunt Zhou even discussed with Mom about the two families becoming neighbors.

The only inconvenience is that it's quite far from the military hospital, about 20 kilometers away, so you have to buy a bicycle to get there. Another inconvenience is that there are many people around, which can lead to a lot of gossip and disputes.

Upon hearing this, the younger ones of us secretly held a little meeting. The reason was simple: last time we were eating meat at home after a hunting trip, the neighbors from the next alley caused a ruckus. Then we heard Fourth Brother ask:

"What are we going to do? If we eat some meat, won't there be an uproar?"

"Who can argue with that?" Sister Nan said.

"But I want to go myself, so I can practice with Uncle Fang anytime," the third brother said.

"That's a problem too," Fourth Brother said.

"Mianmian, what about you?" my older brother asked, seeing me sitting there without saying a word.

"I'm wondering if there's a way to make the meat less fragrant."

"How could that be? What meat doesn't taste good?" Fourth Brother said.

"The fourth brother is right," said the third brother.

"But don't you guys think that cured meat tastes a little milder than fresh meat?" Seeing that no one believed me, I quickly gave an example.

Everyone sat there thinking for a while, and then they heard Sister Nan Nan say, "Mian Mian is right, when you stir-fry salted pork, it really doesn't smell as good as fresh pork."

"That's true," the older brother also said.

"Is there anything with a milder flavor than salted meat?"

"We can make it into meat sauce!" I said.

"Meat Sauce" Brother asked

"What's meat sauce?" Fourth Brother asked.

"Are you stupid? Meat sauce is just minced meat," Third Brother said.

Upon hearing this, the fourth brother thought for a moment and said, "That's right."

"Will that work?" Nan Nan asked, unsure, since she had never done it before.

"There shouldn't be any problem," the older brother said.

"How about we meet this afternoon?" I said.

"We can give it a try," the older brother said.

So, before dinner, we took out a piece of cured rabbit and made a rabbit sauce. Everyone tasted it and gave it rave reviews. Aunt Zhou said there:

"There's a bit too much meat; it's such a waste to eat it like this. We could add some mushrooms or something."

After hearing what Aunt Zhou said, we soaked a bunch of shiitake mushrooms early the next morning, and at noon we made a shiitake mushroom and meat sauce with the leftovers from the previous night. After tasting it, we felt it was even tastier than the one from the previous night.

Third Brother said, "Second Sister, just make it like this, it tastes good."

"Yes, yes, second sister, listen to third brother," fourth brother said.

Sister Nan looked at my older brother and then at me, and said, "It's possible, but we don't have enough shiitake mushrooms at home, and we don't have enough jars either."

"That's easy. Make some more sauce tonight, and then tell Mom and Aunt Zhou," I said.

"That's the only way," Sister Nan said after thinking for a moment.

When Mom and Aunt Zhou tasted the mushroom and meat sauce that evening, they both thought it tasted better than the one from the night before. When they heard us say that we were short of a few jars and mushrooms, they quickly gave us the money and asked my older brother to take us to buy them.

When it was time to make it the next day, I quickly said, "How many days can this be kept?"

"Yes," everyone said in unison after thinking for a moment.

The older brother thought for a moment and then said, "Since the weather is so hot, we have to eat it as soon as we make it. In winter, it can be kept for ten days to half a month."

"What should we do then?" Fourth Brother asked anxiously.

"Mianmian, do you have any ideas?" My older brother never thought I was young and always respected everyone.

"I have no other choice. How about we try some other ways of eating it today?"

"How do you eat it?" Third Brother asked.

"Nan Nan, when you're cooking later, try steaming a piece of cured pork. We can try it from different distances now," I said.

"Okay, we'll listen to Mianmian," Sister Nan said.

For several days in a row, we tried every possible method we could think of, but no matter what we did, everyone could still smell it.

This is assuming you live in a flat building; if you lived upstairs, the whole building would smell the odor. Imagine eating meat at home while someone else is watching from their doorstep—would you give it to them or not?

Not to mention that time, even in the last few days, haven't the neighborhood kids been coming over to warm up their food every mealtime? In the end, when there was really no other way, they went to the martial arts training ground to cook it.

"If all else fails, we can make it here and take it home later," I said.

After thinking about it, everyone said, "This is the only way to do it."

"When it gets cold, I'll make these here after school and take them home?" the older brother said.

"Well? We can just eat less meat and more meat then," Fourth Brother said.

"That's the only way," Third Brother said, turning around.

"We could actually do this in the summer?" I said.

"Mianmian, just tell me if you have any ideas, don't keep me in suspense," Fourth Brother said anxiously.

"What's the rush? Listen to Mianmian," the older brother said from the side.

"I don't believe you're not anxious," Fourth Brother muttered under his breath.

My older brother wasn't sitting far away, so he heard everything he said, but he didn't pay any attention. Instead, he looked at me and asked:

"Mianmian, you tell us."

"There are two ways. The first is that when the weather is not too hot, my older brother can come over and cook some cured meat and sausages whenever he has a holiday. After they cool down, we can take them back to eat and have them for three to five meals."

The others, sitting there listening, all seemed to agree and nodded in approval. Then they asked, "What's the second method?"

"The second method is somewhat harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself."

"Ah, what's harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself?" Fourth Brother asked.

"There are a lot of mosquitoes in summer, so we can use some mugwort to repel them while cooking meat. That way, the meat won't have a strong smell."

"That's definitely a solution," the older brother said.

"But what if the neighbors complain?" Sister Nan asked worriedly.

"No, when we're fumigating the mosquitoes, we'll definitely close the windows tightly. We'll only open them after a while, leaving a tiny crack so the smell of meat can escape," the older brother explained.

"What if the neighbors smell the meat then?" Fourth Brother asked.

"Are you stupid? We can just deny it later. We'll just smoke out mosquitoes at home; who's going to know who's cooking meat?" Third Brother said, looking at his clueless Fourth Brother.