All the educated youth were given meat. The five male educated youth, who participated in carrying the wild boar, each received seven pounds of meat and a piece of meat bone. They were all very happy.

At the dinner in the evening, the three female educated youth did not need to provide wild boar meat. Those who got more meat would treat each other. First, the five pieces of meat bones and the big bone that Meng Tao got were stewed together. The five male educated youth and Meng Tao each cut out six or seven taels of wild boar meat. They did not stir-fry it to produce oil, but cut it directly into palm-sized pieces. When the pork bones were almost stewed, the pork was put in and stewed for a while. Then the chopped radish and potato were added and stewed together.

Meng Tao moved out her own small stove and placed it in the middle of the main room. An iron pot of meat and bones were boiling on the stove, and the whole room was filled with the aroma of meat. Nine people sat around the stove, and a basket of washed cabbage and celery was placed on the side to eat. Meng Tao took out the homemade chili sauce and tomato sauce, and cut some chopped green onion and coriander to make the dipping dish. Due to limited conditions, each person could not have his own dipping dish, so the three of them shared one. In order to eat meat, no one was picky. The group of people ate until they were sweating and said it was so satisfying.

By the end of the meal, he not only ate up several pounds of meat, radishes, potatoes, and a basket of vegetables, but also ate up all the bones and even drank up all the soup.

Qian Liang leaned against the door with his hands on his stomach and exclaimed: "This is the most luxurious, delicious and comfortable meal I have had since I came to the countryside!"

"Me too, me too!" others responded.

Sun Yutang said: "I had a good meal of meat, all thanks to Taohua. Thank you, Taohua!"

Meng Tao waved her hands and said, "This is everyone's luck. It's God's gift of meat."

"Hahaha what!" Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Zhao Ming smiled and said, "God has given us meat to eat, that's a good thing. Now that you've had enough, Taohua, shouldn't you go do your homework?"

Meng Tao was speechless. Teacher Zhao, you are very dedicated, but you are really ruining the mood. Why are you asking for homework at this time? She said, "Teacher Zhao, everyone is nervous and tired today, so why don't we do homework? Can we reduce the homework for a few days?"

Zhao Ming was actually just teasing her. He was indeed tired today. "You don't have to write today. You can make it up tomorrow."

Meng Tao sighed, "I regret it now. Why should I follow you to learn culture? I want to go into the mountains and live with wild boars. Wild boars don't need to learn culture."

Xu Guoliang was taking the last sip of soup in his bowl when he heard this and spit it out. Everyone laughed so hard that they fell backwards. He Huijuan patted Meng Tao's arm and knocked her chopsticks off her arms: "Fool! If you go with wild boars, you will be cooked and eaten!"

"If I were a wild boar, I would run as far as I could. You want to eat me? No way!" Meng Tao said.

Everyone drank Coke again. Meng Tao lowered her head to pick up the chopsticks, but someone helped her pick them up. It was Jiang Xiaodong. He smiled and took the bowl in front of Meng Tao away, saying, "I'll wash the dishes."

Meng Tao quickly reached out to grab it back: "No, don't be polite, I'll wash the dishes myself!"

"You're welcome, Taohua. It was originally Zhao Ming and I's turn to cook tonight, but you were busy cooking just now. Now it's my turn to wash the dishes."

He Huijuan put her bowl over: "I also cooked just now."

Jiang Xiaodong: "Okay, put them all on the table, I'll clean them up and wash them together."

No need to wash dishes, Xu Guoliang and Qian Liang were the happiest: "Comrade Lao Jiang, you did a good job today, you must be praised and encouraged, come on!"

"Stop being poor, it will be your turn tomorrow."

"Sure, sure!"

Aunt Yang smiled and said, "I came here after eating. Teacher Zhao, have you eaten?"

"Just finished eating, please come in and sit down."

"well."

Meng Tao also came out. Zhou Cuiling grabbed her arm as a greeting, then went into the house to talk to He Huijuan and the others. Aunt Yang took Meng Tao's hand and said, "Although the weather is cold now, there is sunshine during the day and it is still warm. I am afraid that the meat you got will go bad. Let me come over and take a look. Can I salt the meat and make bacon?"

"I was just thinking about it. I'm tired today, so I'll do it tomorrow." Meng Tao said.

"You must be tired from climbing the mountain these past two days, so give me the meat and I'll cook it for you. Cut off two pounds of meat and fry it to extract the oil. The meat slices soaked in oil can be kept for ten days to half a month. You can eat them slowly, and the rest can be used to make bacon. What do you think?"

"That's fine, but Aunt Yang, you have a lot of work to do, and I won't let you get tired."

"Why are you so tired? There's no work these days. Hurry up and get a basket with some meat. I'm going back."

"Why don't you sit down and talk for a while if you are in such a hurry?"

"I can't sit still. There are three troublemakers at home. They just fought over a snail. I'm afraid they will tear down the house. I have to go back and watch."

Meng Tao went to get the basket of wild boar meat. When several male educated youth heard Zhou Cuiling say that her mother was going to help Meng Tao make smoked meat, and that her mother had a secret recipe, and that the smoked meat was fragrant and delicious, they all went to get their own wild boar meat and asked Aunt Yang to help make it. Anyway, they were helping people carry wood these days and the host family provided them with meals, so they could not eat their own wild boar meat for the time being.

Aunt Yang agreed with a smile.

Aunt Yang definitely couldn't be allowed to carry dozens of kilograms of meat back by herself, so Jiang Xiaodong and Sun Yutang went to see Aunt Yang off. Zhou Cuiling didn't want to go home, she wanted to sleep with Meng Tao, and the two of them chatted.

The next morning, Yu Xiaomin and Zhou Cuimei did not go to carry wood. Bao Shunfeng sympathized with the girls for being frightened in the mountain yesterday, and asked Meng Tao to rest as well. Meng Tao took the opportunity to ask Bao Shunfeng for a certificate, saying that she would go to the district city for a few days during the slack season, as her uncle Chen in Pingjiang City had asked her to visit a relative on his behalf.

Bao Shunfeng was skeptical, but he still gave her a certificate. Maybe he was in a hurry to go up the mountain, so there was no limit on the time she could stay outside. Meng Tao was secretly happy because she could run farther away and sell the 1,000 kilograms of tangerines, navel oranges, pears and peaches in the space.

After those who were carrying wood and cutting grass had gone up the mountain, Meng Tao returned home and saw Qian Xiaoyun cleaning the yard. She accidentally twisted her ankle while cutting grass yesterday and was taking a rest today.

The two of them planned to go to the river to wash clothes, bed sheets, and brush shoes after cleaning the yard. Qian Xiaoyun also had to feed the chickens. The educated youth raised five chickens together, two hens and four chicks. Meng Tao felt that the hens they raised were very delicate. They would not lay eggs when the weather was hot or cold. They would only lay one egg every three to five days. After laying an egg, they would jump up and down and cluck for a long time, making a lot of noise. Meng Tao lost confidence in raising chickens. If she wanted to eat fresh eggs, she had to wait until next spring.

After feeding the chickens and tying up the chicken coop, Meng Tao and Qian Xiaoyun each carried a basket of dirty clothes and went to the river. The Linshui River is deep and shallow during the dry season, and the water is clear and flows slowly. In summer, the water is very turbulent. A civil bridge was built in the relatively narrow place on both sides. It is a simple bridge made of wood and mixed soil that can accommodate tractors and ox carts. Every summer when there is a flood, the wooden bridge will basically be flooded. If the flood comes too fast, the bridge will be washed away, and then it will be rebuilt. Now this wooden bridge has been built for several years and it looks quite solid.

No one was washing clothes by the river today, so Meng Tao and Qian Xiaoyun each found a big rock, squatted on it and started washing.

(End of this chapter)