Chapter 14 Dividing the Pork
Lu Kai led a large group of villagers up the mountain.
Upon seeing the large, robust wild boar on the ground, the villagers erupted in excitement, their faces beaming with joy, making it even more lively than the Lunar New Year.
Most people were focused on the wild boar, but Lu Jianping, with a dark expression, quickly called a few people to help carry his precious son down the mountain.
When the wild boar was transported back to the village, it attracted the attention of the entire village.
"I heard that Lu Kai and the two soldiers he brought back hunted this wild boar."
"How did Lu Huaiyuan get injured?"
"I heard he was so scared when he saw a wild boar that his legs went weak! He was lively and energetic as soon as he got back to the village!"
Liu Zhixia mingled in the crowd and embellished the heroic deeds of the "Three Heroes Fighting the Wild Boar," especially describing in vivid detail how Lu Huaiyuan "cleverly" pushed Gu Mansheng out as a human shield while he ran away.
The villagers were initially skeptical of her words because she and Lu Huaiyuan had just broken off their engagement. But when they saw Gu Mansheng being helped back, looking distraught and pale, they believed her to some extent.
The wild boar was hung on the open ground of the brigade headquarters, and the village's best butcher cut up the meat.
According to the rules, every family gets a share.
Just then, Li Xuemei squeezed through the crowd in a shrill voice, pointed at a pile of pig offal, and shouted, "My son was injured and bled during this hunt! This head must be ours!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiuying spat out, "Pah! If it weren't for Lu Kai and the other two, your son would have been tossed to the sky by wild boars long ago! In terms of merit, the lion's share should belong to those three. My Zhixia also helped, but we're not as shameless as some people. We'll just share the profits with everyone else!"
Before she could finish speaking, Lu Huaiyuan had already walked out as if nothing had happened, glaring at Zhang Xiuying with a sinister look: "Auntie, speaking of your daughter, I saw her carrying a handful of herbs when she came down the mountain. Those are mountain herbs; she didn't hand them over to the authorities, was she planning to secretly take them to sell for money?"
Liu Zhixia knew this family would make a fuss about this, so she calmly stepped forward and showed them the bunch of Solomon's Seal in her hand: "Is it not allowed if I want to dig up this bunch of wild vegetables to stew with pork?"
Unexpectedly, Li Xuemei recognized the medicinal herbs and pointed at the herbs in her hand, shouting, "This is clearly Polygonatum! It replenishes qi and nourishes blood! Do you really think we country bumpkins are so easy to fool?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Huaiyuan couldn't help but smile.
Sure enough! This woman has been ignoring him lately; she's just playing hard to get!
Seeing that he was injured, she eagerly ran off to gather herbs and even planned how to stew the meat. Tsk, I have to admit, in terms of thoughtfulness, she's definitely much better than Xiaoman.
No wonder I chose her back then.
Li Xuemei stepped out: "Everything that grows in the mountains belongs to the brigade! Even a single blade of grass must be confiscated!"
Liu Zhixia looked at her in confusion: "Auntie, when we go up the mountain to dig up some wild vegetables to improve our meals, I've never seen anyone want to confiscate them?"
"How can that be the same? Wild vegetables are wild vegetables, and medicinal herbs are medicinal herbs! Every plant and tree in the mountains belongs to the collective!" Li Xuemei raised her voice even louder, thinking to herself that she had to keep the medicinal herbs today and give her precious son a good boost.
Looking at Liu Zhixia's desperate attempt to protect the herbs, Lu Huaiyuan's smile deepened.
He knew exactly what his mother was thinking. In the end, the baby would all end up in his belly. All these two women were fighting over was for him.
He cleared his throat and adopted a fair-minded demeanor: "Liu Zhixia, let me be fair. If you're digging up wild vegetables, no one will stop you. But these are medicinal herbs. Who knows if you're going to eat them yourself or sell them for money? So, they must be confiscated! As for your kind intentions... I appreciate them."
When Liu Zhixia heard that last nonsensical sentence, she almost rolled her eyes.
She knew all too well what kind of people this bizarre mother and son were. It wasn't the first or second time they'd used the guise of "confiscation" to line their own pockets.
She had anticipated this, so Da Tou had entered the space long ago.
Zhang Xiuying trembled with anger: "You talk a good game! It's confiscated, but in the end, it still ends up in your family's pot! I don't care what kind of grass it is, my daughter dug up wild vegetables!"
She grew angrier as she spoke: "Besides, my daughter also contributed to the hunt of wild boar! We weren't greedy for an extra piece of meat, but you guys are trying to snatch what's in her hands. Does your Lu family have no shame?"
Everyone around was eagerly waiting to get their share of the meat; no one wanted to get involved in this mess.
Just as Shen Yi was about to step forward, Xu Zhigang grabbed her and whispered, "Don't go. If you open your mouth, things will get even more complicated. According to the brigade's rules, things from the mountains should indeed be handed over. Sigh, this family got off easy."
Seeing that Zhang Xiuying and Li Xuemei were arguing so fiercely that they were almost about to fight.
Liu Zhixia grabbed her mother's clothes.
"Mom, don't argue with them, the meat hasn't been divided yet."
One sentence was a wake-up call for Zhang Xiuying. There are many tricks to dividing meat; if Lu Jianping were to play dirty tricks, they would definitely get scraps with more bones than meat!
Seeing this, Li Xuemei snorted smugly, "You've figured it out? Too late! My family's meat has already been divided up!"
Enraged, Zhang Xiuying pointed at Lu Jianping and roared, "Lu Jianping! How dare you abuse your power? My daughter risked her life to catch pigs, and if you dare to give our family rotten meat, I'll report you to the commune today!"
Lu Jianping, his face dark, picked up a piece of fatty and lean pork belly from the cutting board: "Take this! All you do all day is tattle!"
Just as Zhang Xiuying was about to reach out, Lu Jianping raised his hand and pointed at Liu Zhixia with his other hand, the meaning of which was self-evident: hand over the medicine with one hand and the meat with the other.
"You son of a bitch..." Zhang Xiuying was so angry that she rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight.
Liu Zhixia grabbed her again, took a step forward, and wore a cold smile on her face.
"Captain, it seems you're determined to 'confiscate' these 'wild vegetables' today?" She paused, then changed the subject, "Alright, but don't feed public property to the wrong animals. I think it's best used to feed pigs."
After saying that, she twisted the polygonatum she had dug up, then walked to the pigsty not far away and threw it directly into the feeding trough.
"You brat!" Li Xuemei jumped up and down in anger. "What are you doing? You're feeding perfectly good stuff to the pigs! You're damaging collective property!"
Lu Huaiyuan was dumbfounded: "Liu Zhixia, what's wrong with you? That thing was originally meant for me, why are you pretending to be so high and mighty?"
"For you?" A cold voice interrupted. Shen Yi had somehow appeared beside Liu Zhixia, his gaze sharp as a knife. "The 'wild vegetables' that Comrade Liu and I picked were forced to be confiscated by your parents, and you say they were originally for you? We are here to serve the people, not to serve your brigade leader's family."
Xu Zhigang immediately followed suit, speaking righteously: "Captain, we all saw you abusing your power to openly engage in threatening transactions. If you don't give us an explanation today, don't blame us for reporting this truthfully when we get back. We are not part of your brigade, and your tricks of making things difficult for us won't work."
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