"Mom, my pants are torn. Could you mend them for me when you have time?"
The fifth brother looked at his pants, which were already ripped open up to his thighs.
He took it off directly and threw it into a basin. Wearing only his shorts, he went to the hand pump in the backyard to fetch water for a bath.
"Me too, these clothes are practically tattered. Mom, can you buy me another one?"
The third brother also put in a lot of effort, but his short-sleeved shirt got snagged in two by a tree branch. He also had quite a few scrapes and cuts on his body.
Liu Juan had no time to care about their torn clothes. There was so much meat in the kitchen, and she had to cook the pork first so it would look better when she sold it.
Ye Xiaoxiao washed her hands and came over to find her mother-in-law squatting by the cutting board, counting the pieces of pork one by one, her brows furrowed like a bitter gourd: "Why do I feel like there's less?"
"Mom, how could there be less? It's only a few pieces, isn't it all here?" Ye Xiaoxiao said with a smile. "It's already dark, can you see clearly?"
"Doesn't it feel like there aren't enough?" Liu Juan counted again. "Why does this piece look smaller than before?"
"Mom, you're like that monkey picking corn—you can't count them all."
Ye Xiaoxiao joked, "Aren't they all laid out here? You can count them again, the number of pieces all matches up."
Ye Xiaoxiao started to fool her mother-in-law, saying it was dark and she couldn't see clearly. Besides, it was all in her own home; even if she remembered, what could she do? Where else could she possibly find it?
Li Jianguo was overjoyed. He was getting meat for free and even making some money. How could he not be happy?
"Alright, stop counting. What's the point? It's the middle of the night. Let's quickly figure out what to do with this meat."
"I think we should keep a large piece for ourselves and sell the rest quickly. It's hot in the summer, they'll spoil if left out."
Liu Juan stopped worrying about whether there was too little meat or not. Instead, she picked out the fattest piece of meat to render some lard.
As Li Chenhui, the third brother, washed the mud off his body, he said, "Then I'll go to town with my eldest brother to sell them tomorrow?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiaoxiao immediately perked up her ears. If they were allowed to sell these in town, it would be disastrous; anyone could recognize them.
Everyone knows about it when they get back. The main issue is that this is a rather awkward time. You can say the meat is private, but you can also say it's from a group, and if you insist on saying so, it's reasonable.
"You guys really have wild ideas."
She didn't want to give away the meat she had finally gotten her hands on to the villagers.
"Everyone in the village knows each other at the market in town. If you bump into just any random person, this matter won't be safe."
Li Chenyang scratched his head: "Then what should we do?"
"I think we should either sell them directly in the city or sell them to the supply and marketing cooperative."
As Ye Xiaoxiao spoke, she glanced at her father-in-law.
"If the village chief finds out, and everyone reports us, saying we should divide the meat and then split the money when there's no more meat, then we've wasted our time."
These words sent a shiver down everyone's spine. Li Jianguo even slapped his thigh:
"Yes, yes, Xiaoxiao is right. We need to be careful about this. Let's listen to Xiaoxiao and sell it in the city. The less trouble we cause, the better; avoiding problems is the most important thing."
"Then your dad and I will ride our bicycles to town. We'll leave before dawn and try to catch the early market."
Li Jianguo nodded: "It's settled then. If we can't sell them all, we'll just go to the supply and marketing cooperative."
Eldest brother, go borrow a bicycle from Old Wang across the street later. Tell him you're going to town tomorrow to buy a bicycle for Third Brother's wedding.
"Okay, Dad. I'll go right away."
Upon hearing about the bicycle issue, Ye Xiaoxiao immediately recalled the original plot: the third brother got married during the Chinese New Year.
However, in the original storyline, the parents-in-law did not buy a new bicycle for the third son. Instead, they discussed with Li Chenyang and borrowed their eldest son's bicycle for the third son to use for his wedding.
As a result, the third son's wife refused to accept it after entering the house, insisting that the bicycle belonged to them and that it was hers because it was the bicycle that brought her back when they got married.
Otherwise, the marriage wouldn't happen, so she and Zhang Xiuju, the wife of the third son, kept arguing about it.
We were always at odds, either you hurt me or I insulted you, and we didn't make up until we were over 60 years old.
Even after they reconcile, they are only superficially friendly.
Did catching a wild boar solve this problem?
[Host, you're overthinking it. Zhang Xiuju isn't someone you can easily deal with. She'll find a way to cause trouble even if there's nothing wrong with her. Otherwise, how could she live up to the original owner's nickname of "troublemaker"?]
"Hey, Tongzi, do you think it would be okay if I could sabotage their marriage? It would be so much better if that 'troublemaker' (a nickname for a woman) didn't get involved."
[Hehe, host, do you think you can do it?]
They're already engaged, and your aunt was the matchmaker for the marriage. If you ruin the wedding, will you compensate your aunt?
Where are you going to find another wife for Li Chenhui then? Wouldn't finding another one cause even more trouble?
"Uh, I think I'll pass then. I know more about Zhang Xiuju."
Just then, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
"Who is it?" Liu Juan asked cautiously.
"Mom, it's me," Li Yanni called from outside.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Ye Xiaoxiao pulled her sister-in-law aside: "You scared us all! Where did you go?"
After Li Yanni came in, she said excitedly:
"Sister-in-law, Second Uncle said he's going to roast that little wild boar and invites us over for roast suckling pig."
"This child." Liu Juan immediately put on a stern face.
"Eating so late?"
Ye Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up:
"Mom, don't worry about it. Everyone went up the mountain early this afternoon; hunting wild boar is tiring. Let's roast it together and eat it."
"This..." Liu Juan wanted to say something more.
"It's a rare treat to have something like this; let the children have some fun too."
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