Chapter 116: Killing the Wild Boar Again

The next morning, Lizhan got up early. First, according to the habit he had developed during his years in the army, he did some physical training such as one-handed push-ups and pull-ups by climbing a branch of a tree in the yard, and then he went to make breakfast.

I made corn grits and sweet potato porridge. The sweet potatoes were sweet, fragrant and glutinous white-hearted sweet potatoes. I also made some cabbage, vermicelli and meat-filled buns that I had steamed two days ago during the hot summer. I soaked some dried radish in warm water, mixed it with sesame oil and made some pickled vegetables to go with the rice. I heated up the leftover chicken soup from last night, and it was ready for breakfast.

Li Zhan went into the room to take a look, and seeing that Xia Juanjuan had not woken up yet, he slowed down his pace.

The three kids woke up early, rubbed their eyes sleepily, and just as they were about to call "Mom", Li Zhan covered their mouths.

Li Zhan signaled them to stop arguing, dressed them quietly, carried them out of bed one by one, and told them to have breakfast first.

Xia Juanjuan had been tormented enough from yesterday afternoon to evening, so she slept very deeply. She vaguely heard some movement beside her but did not wake up. She just turned over and continued to sleep.

Lizhan saw that her hair was disheveled and the corners of her eyes were slightly red, still retaining the spring spirit of yesterday. His eyes darkened unconsciously and he couldn't help but lean over and peck her on the lips.

He tucked in the quilt for her, forced himself to go out for breakfast, and then began to collect the flour and bamboo shoots he had hunted in the mountains yesterday.

This time we hunted an adult deer, which weighed about 50 kilograms.

Lizhan first peeled off the bran skin completely, and then cleaned the dirt and offal. He washed the meat several times and then cut it into large pieces. He then smeared salt on it and smoked it into bacon, which he estimated was enough for the four of them to eat for several months.

He was about to rejoin the team, and he didn't know when he would be able to come back next time. Lizhan was thinking of going into the mountains again before leaving and catching a few more deer to give them some more.

After processing the yeast, we started drying the bamboo shoots. I peeled the winter bamboo shoots first, cut them in half, put them in boiling water to cook off the grassy smell, and then cut them into pieces and roasted them over the fire with the bacon.

The little brats didn't even bother to go out and play, but instead surrounded Lizhan with great excitement, watching him prepare the deer meat. They simply felt that their fourth uncle was simply too awesome.

After watching for a while, he ran into the inner room quietly and leaned over the kang to see if Xia Juanjuan was awake. Although she was very young, she was also very busy.

Xia Juanjuan was finally awakened by the noise and movement. Just as she was about to sit up, her body, which was about to fall apart, immediately clamored to complain about the inhuman treatment she had received yesterday!

Xia Juanjuan's face wrinkled into a ball, and she couldn't help but recall yesterday's scene. Her face once again turned red uncontrollably to the tips of her ears.

Who was the idiot who spread the rumor in the village? She was not prepared at all...

But thinking back, it seemed like even if she had prepared herself mentally for the fierce battle yesterday, it was useless. She begged for mercy and her voice became hoarse, but that bastard didn't show any mercy and stop...

Li Zhan heard the noise in the inner room and came in to see Xia Juanjuan holding her waist with a cute face wrinkled. He couldn't help but grin and said, "Are you awake? Can you get up? Do you want me to help you put on your clothes?"

Xia Juanjuan wanted to hit him with a pillow, but her arms were so sore that she had no strength left. She could only yell, "Get lost!"

After finally getting dressed and having breakfast, Xia Juanjuan looked at the fire in the yard where meat was being smoked and the white and tender bamboo shoots being dried on the rack. She was a little dumbfounded.

Aren't men of this era all very patriarchal, and have everything handed to them? How can they be so powerful that they can do everything?

After hearing her doubts, Li Zhan glanced at her with disdain and said, "Tsk! Do you think I've been a soldier for almost ten years in vain? This little job is nothing compared to our experience of actual survival in the wild!"

Seeing him showing off in front of her, Xia Juanjuan rolled her eyes at him and said, "That's enough! I told you you're fat and you're still panting!"

Li Zhan grinned and said, "I'll go back to Tangshan later and try to catch some more prey."

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment and said, "Isn't this dough freshly made? It's enough to last for a while. Why are you in such a hurry to go?"

Besides, there are so many supplies in her space that she has no shortage of food.

Li Zhan did not explain, but smiled and said, "A little more won't cause any trouble."

He glanced at her again, blinked, and smiled in a low voice, "Or... yesterday wasn't enough, and you want me to stay at home with you?"

Xia Juanjuan immediately felt like a kettle of boiling water, so embarrassed that smoke was coming out of her seven orifices.

"Not enough! Hurry up and leave! You're annoying!"

Li Zhan was not in a hurry to leave. He took her hand and took off the bandage that had been wrapped yesterday to check. The blisters caused by the burn were much better than yesterday, so he disinfected them with alcohol.

Li Zhan wanted to bandage her wound, but Xia Juanjuan refused.

Li Zhan had no choice but to give up and said, "Then you promise not to get your hands wet, do you hear me?"

Xia Juanjuan had no choice but to agree. Li Zhan then went back into the mountain.

Around noon, there was a commotion in the village. Secretary Zhao found a few strong young men and they all went into the mountains together.

The aunties and wives in the village gathered at the entrance of the village, waiting with excitement on their faces.

Secretary Zhao's daughter-in-law Wu Xiaoyun - because her three little boys played well with her brothers Chaoyang and Qiming, she also became familiar with Xia Juanjuan - passed by the gate of the courtyard and saw her knitting a sweater at home, so she poked her head in and said with a smile:

"Why are you still at home? Your man killed a big wild boar in a fierce battle. He said it weighed more than 200 pounds! It's heavier than the one you caught with the trap last time!"

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment. It had only been a few hours since they had fought their way up the mountain, and they had already killed a wild boar?

She asked, "Sister Yun, are you telling the truth?"

Wu Xiaoyun smiled and said, "Why not? My father-in-law has called a few strong men to carry the wild boars in the mountains! This winter, thanks to you and your wife, our village has eaten a lot of wild boar meat! All the young girls and wives in the village are waiting at the entrance of the village, let's go too."

Xia Juanjuan thought about it, shook her head, and said with a smile: "I won't go. It's embarrassing."

She doesn't like the feeling of being surrounded by everyone and being noticed by everyone.

Seeing this, Wu Xiaoyun went over by herself.

Ever since Uncle Song Xiu Yue stepped down, the newly appointed village officials no longer care about the villagers going into the mountains to hunt or pick wild mushrooms and vegetables.

Medium-sized prey like the silly deer were not required to be handed over for sharing. But for wild boars weighing more than 200 kilograms, the distribution was still the same as before, and every household, even the educated youth centers, could get some. The busy work lasted until the afternoon.

Lizhan came in carrying seven or eight kilograms of meat and four pig trotters.

"Juanjuan, do you have soybeans at home? Let's stew some pig's trotters tonight."

Xia Juanjuan looked at the four wild boar trotters in his hands and knew that these should be the offal or pig head.

The last time she killed a wild boar, she wanted its large intestine.

Lizhan is quite good at picking.

I haven’t eaten pig’s trotters stewed with soybeans for a long time. Seeing pig’s trotters really makes me want to eat it!

"Yes. I'll go and soak in it first." Xia Juanjuan stood up and said.

It takes quite a bit of time to stew the pig's trotters until they are soft and glutinous.

Li Zhan first processed the hair on the pig's trotters over the fire in the yard, then chopped it into medium-sized pieces, put it in a pot with cold water to boil away the blood foam and impurities, then stir-fried it with oil, onion, ginger, garlic, cinnamon and bay leaves, added water, soy sauce, etc. and simmered it, adding soaked soybeans and salt and sugar for seasoning halfway through, and stewed it until it was soft and glutinous.

After stewing the pig's trotters, Li Zhan said, "I'm going to the town."

Xia Juanjuan was still wondering why he was either going into the mountains or to the town and was not home all day long?

In the evening, she saw Lizhan coming back with a cart of coal briquettes, enough for her and her three kids to burn until the spring when it was not too cold.

Xia Juanjuan realized belatedly that Li Zhan was probably preparing for him to return to the team after his vacation.

"When will you return to the team?" Xia Juanjuan asked in a depressed tone.

Li Zhan was stunned for a moment, looked up at Xia Juanjuan, then looked away and replied, "We'll leave early the day after tomorrow."

The day after tomorrow morning, there is only one day left.

Although I knew he was definitely leaving, when I found out the exact deadline, I felt a little uncomfortable for some reason.

After unloading the coal briquettes, it was almost dark, and Li Zhan smiled and said, "I'm going out for a while."

Xia Juanjuan: “…”

We only have one day left to spend together... and you're still running out...

However, she was too embarrassed to say what she was thinking even if she was beaten to death.

Fortunately, he returned from this battle very quickly, with something black on his back.

After he entered the door, Xia Juanjuan saw clearly that what he was carrying was actually a small wild boar that weighed about 100 pounds!

Lizhan grinned and said, "We killed two wild boars in the mountains during the day. We divided the bigger one among the villagers to avoid jealousy. We kept the smaller one for ourselves."

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing.

"If you only killed a wild boar, would you give it to the villagers to share equally? Or would you give it back home and leave some for me and the kids to eat?" Xia Juanjuan asked deliberately making things difficult.

Li Zhan glanced at her and said without hesitation: "It's not like the villagers will starve to death without this wild boar. If there is only one, of course you and the kids will have to eat it all. Why do you need to ask such an obvious question?"

If it wasn't for feeding his wife and kids, he would have gone crazy and stayed away from home to hang out with his wife, running to the mountains to freeze...

This answer...Xia Juanjuan deserves full marks.

When she heard during the day that Lizhan had killed a wild boar and was going to share it equally among the villagers, she was still muttering in her heart that this man was a little... well... too selfless.

Selflessness is a noble quality. She admires people who possess such noble qualities, but she doesn't quite agree with them in her heart.

Asking a person to be selfless is actually asking him to sacrifice himself, or even his close family members, for the sake of the overall situation and others.

This is inherently anti-human and unfair. It is commonly known as bullying good people.

His powerful identity is there, and it is understandable that if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight.

But she is not without worries.

However, it now seems that Lizhan still has his own sense of propriety and decision-making in his heart, and is not unbridled and "selfless".

Xia Juanjuan was very surprised.

She suddenly stood on tiptoe and kissed Li Zhan on the face.

Li Zhan was stunned.

Why... why would you seduce him for no reason?