She had no choice but to give up and get up to do the accounting herself. Old Zhang had brought over two thousand duck eggs, which cost her more than four thousand eight hundred coins. Last time, Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou delivered goods and brought back seven thousand six hundred coins. Manager Cai paid a deposit of one thousand two hundred and sixty coins, and the wild boar was sold for one thousand two hundred and seventy-five coins.
After deducting the duck eggs she collected at home these past few days, the wages for Lin Dasao and the others, and other miscellaneous expenses such as buying salt, Song Anxin still had a little over eleven taels of silver left. She had made back her costs and even had some left over, so she was very satisfied.
In the afternoon, Song Anxin did not prepare the bacteria, but instead led a few children to process the pig offal and pig head.
Make a few cuts on the pig's head, marinate it with salt, let it sit for two or three days, and then smoke it over a wood fire. This will make a cured and smoked pig's head that is easy to store and delicious.
Washing pig offal with wood ash is a good way to clean it and remove odors. It's a dirty and tiring job, so the younger ones wouldn't let her do it and carried it to the river to wash it themselves.
After cleaning, Song Anxin started braising the food. During the braising process, she also got hungry, as she hadn't had braised food in a long time.
In the late afternoon, around 5 PM, Song Anxin took her sons to a meeting under the big ginkgo tree in the middle of the village, while Zhang Mei said she would stay home to oversee the cooking process.
As soon as we arrived under the ginkgo tree, most of the villagers came. Some villagers were guessing what was going on, as it was rare for the village to hold such a large meeting. For a while, it was bustling and lively.
The children, finding it all fascinating, kept running and playing among the crowd. Sometimes they bumped into an adult, who would then grumble and complain:
"Whose little brat doesn't even know how to discipline him?!"
Soon after, Lin Lizheng arrived. She stood on a large rock, cleared her throat, and said, "Everyone, be quiet, be quiet!"
The villagers immediately fell silent.
Lin Lizheng said, "Last night, wild boars came to our village, ruined the grain, and injured people. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt."
This morning I went to the county government to report this matter, but to my surprise, many village heads also came to the county government today. They all reported that a lot of their crops had been destroyed by wild boars, and several people had been injured. The county magistrate heard that our village suffered the least damage, so he came to our village today.”
The villagers below all said:
"That's all thanks to Aunt Lin. If it weren't for Aunt Lin, we would have been trampled by wild boars and either killed or seriously injured."
"Yes, yes, I heard from my family that someone in their village had half of their ear bitten off by a wild boar..."
\.......\"
Lin Lizheng: "Alright, everyone quiet down. Today, the county magistrate said that these wild boars have tasted the sweetness of rice and will definitely come down the mountain to eat grain again."
Upon hearing this, the villagers were immediately filled with fear:
"What? Those wild boars are coming again? This is such precious rice that people are reluctant to eat! What a waste!"
"Yes, what can we do? The grain yield is decreasing year by year, and if these beasts keep ruining it, how are we supposed to live...?"
"Oh no... I'm not going to survive, I'm not going to survive..."
"......."
Immediately, women and old women began to slap their thighs and wail in pain. The men also looked distressed; had all the food they had painstakingly cultivated been fed to wild boars?!
One of the men said angrily, "What should we do? Just do it! Didn't we drive those wild boars away last night? Let's do it again."
Lin Lizheng said, "Dog Egg's father is right. The magistrate came today to ask about this method."
Fengnian's mother said this remedy can be used indefinitely, and the county government has also instructed each village to send people to take turns patrolling. Today's meeting is to finalize this matter.
The villagers were immediately relieved and said, "Village head, just tell us what to do, and we will do everything in our power to protect our rice."
Lin Lizheng didn't speak, but looked at Song Anxin in the crowd and said:
"Fengnian's mother, this method was your idea. What do you think is the best way for our village to patrol?"
Song Anxin hadn't expected to be asked this question. Before she could even speak, Lin, reeking of alcohol, swayed and slurred, "..."
"Uncle, you...you're getting senile! You even let Sister-in-law Lin say that she probably just got lucky last night by stepping in dog poop and managing to chase that wild boar away. How can you listen to her..."
After he finished speaking, he let out a foul-smelling burp, and the villagers around him immediately scattered, covering their noses in disgust.
Sister-in-law Lin shouted in the crowd:
"Lin, you drunkard! Have you drunk so much that your tongue is swollen and your ears are deaf?"
"Didn't the village head say the county magistrate agreed? I shouldn't have made you go compensate Da Mao's father yesterday; let those wild boars trample you to death, you wretched thing!"
As Lin walked down into the woods, a pipe struck Lin the Drunkard on the head:
"You're drunk in broad daylight. If you're drunk, go home and stop making a fool of yourself here. Stone, hurry up and help your dad back home."
Lin Shitou hurriedly tried to pull his father away, but the drunkard Lin refused to leave, and the two of them walked away, pulling and tugging at each other.
Granny Han said, "The idea came from Fengnian's mother. Last night, those wild boars were indeed driven away by Fengnian's mother. Fengnian's mother, you can tell me, I have no objection."
"Yes, I have no objection..."
"We have no objections either..."
The villagers present all said that some of the men were particularly impressed by Lin's second aunt.
Lin Lizheng then asked Song Anxin, "Fengnian's mother, everyone trusts you, what do you think we should do?"
Song Anxin pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and looked at the villagers below, saying:
“Since everyone trusts me, I will now present my proposal. Our village has nearly two hundred households and about four or five hundred able-bodied men. These men can be divided into teams of six or seven people each.”
Each night, roughly four small teams patrol the rice paddies. Since there are only three nights, each person only needs to patrol for half an hour, so everyone gets tired, except for those who need to get up at night.
Finally, she instructed: "The patrolmen must be careful and not let the wild boars take advantage of any openings. Once they spot any movement from the wild boars, they should immediately beat the gong and drum and shout loudly. The other three teams should also respond when they hear this. This way, the wild boars will be afraid and dare not come down."
Lin Lizheng listened and praised, "This is a good idea. Does anyone have any objections?"
They certainly had no objections. Now, Aunt Lin's status was different. Not only had she saved the village head's son, but the county magistrate had also come to her door twice. They weren't like Lin the Drunkard who had lost his mind from drinking.
Moreover, Aunt Lin Er just stood there speaking so logically and reasonably that it was impossible not to be convinced. The allocation of resources was such that it wouldn't tire people out and would also keep wild boars away, leaving no room for complaint.
Lin Lizheng waved his hand and said, "Since everyone has no objections, let each household discuss who to send. The people you send should gather at the ancestral hall after dinner."
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