Chapter 50 Encouraging Agriculture and Sericulture (6)
Li Xiaoxiao helped the village chief's wife dig for a while with a stick before they finally found a few small sweet potatoes, each weighing only about half a pound. The village chief's wife was already pleasantly surprised: "Not bad, these are considered big..."
Li smiled and said, "I'll help you look again—"
She paused abruptly, then looked up and asked, "Did you hear anything?"
It was a rustling sound, like the leaves being plucked, and it was moving quite quickly.
The village chief's wife was terrified. She immediately dropped the sweet potato and grabbed Ah Sheng and Li Xiaoxiao, trying to run: "Run! Wild boars are coming!"
Li Xiaoxiao's eyes widened. No way! In broad daylight, wild boars dare to come down and eat grain at this hour?! This is simply outrageous.
The village chief's wife was quite strong, but to her surprise, Li Xiaoxiao didn't budge even when she used all her strength. She was extremely anxious: "Young lady, hurry up and run! These wild boars really bite!"
Li Xiaoxiao didn't even turn her head: "Asheng, you go back with the old lady and tell Officer Shi to bring a few men over. We're going to slaughter a pig for dinner today!"
The village chief's wife was almost in tears: "Young lady, these wild boars are really fierce. Run quickly, or we won't be able to outrun them if they catch up."
As the two were talking, a long snout emerged from the bushes, and in the blink of an eye, a huge black wild boar appeared on the sweet potato field.
The village chief's wife's heart pounded with fear, and she dared not speak loudly: "Young lady, we can't run now. Slowly retreat further away, further away. If we run, it will catch up with us."
The wild boar glanced at the three motionless people, seemingly ignoring them. It slowly sniffed around on the ground, making soft noises, and rooted around in the soil a few times before finally unearthing the yams that hadn't been dug up yet.
Upon hearing its voice, there was another rustling sound from the bushes. Three half-grown wild boars appeared behind it, surrounding the large wild boar and beginning to eat the sweet potatoes that the mother had dug out.
Asheng was covered in cold sweat. He imitated the village chief's wife's actions, carefully retreating step by step, anxiously calling out in a low voice, "Sister Xiaoxiao, hurry up! What if we anger these wild boars and they bite us?"
What to do? Of course, we'll have to break our fast! What else can we do?
Once Asheng and the village chief's wife had retreated a bit further away, Li Xiaoxiao reached out and picked up the stick she had used to dig sweet potatoes. With a snap, it broke in two, leaving one pointed end in her hand.
She didn't retreat, but slowly walked towards the wild boar step by step.
The village chief's wife was so anxious that tears were almost in her eyes: "Young lady, what are you doing? Don't go any further."
But Li Xiaoxiao had already walked up to the wild boars.
The wild boar raised its head and looked at her, seemingly not understanding why the human who usually ran away at the sight of it was suddenly no longer afraid of it. Li Xiaoxiao smiled at it with narrowed eyes, then suddenly sprang up, the stick in her hand flashing towards the wild boar's head.
The wild boar dodged, and the stick struck its hard skull, breaking it.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't expect the stick to be so weak. She had used so much force but failed to pierce the wild boar's skull, which clearly angered it.
Sure enough, the wild boar let out an angry roar and charged towards Li Xiaoxiao.
The most dangerous part of a wild boar is its snout. If an ordinary person were hit by this large wild boar, which weighs three or four hundred pounds, they would either die or be seriously injured.
Unfortunately, it encountered Li Xiaoxiao, and this wasn't her first time hunting wild boars.
When the wild boar attacked her, she leaped over its head and mounted it, her legs clamping tightly around its belly.
The wild boar frantically jumped around in the field, trying to shake her off.
Li Xiaoxiao gripped its ears tightly, forcing it to raise its head. No matter how much it struggled or turned around, it couldn't shake her off.
The wild boar struggled desperately, but the person riding on it was too strong. Its ears were pulled tightly, and slowly its head was raised higher and higher. Its eyes could almost see the person riding on it, but it just couldn't shake her off.
Li Xiaoxiao gripped the wild boar's ear tightly, then suddenly released one hand, bent down with lightning speed, and pulled a bamboo skewer from the ground.
These are skewers used to guide the vines of sweet potatoes; the ends are sharpened to a point.
With her right hand gripping the bamboo skewer, she used her left hand to pull up the wild boar's head in an instant, and the bamboo skewer pierced through like a sharp sword.
The bamboo skewer pierced the wild boar's eye, went through its brain, and came out through its other eye.
This is the most effective and fastest way to kill interstellar dolphins. Li Xiaoxiao has killed hundreds of them, so she is very skilled even without powerful weapons.
There was almost no scream. The three- or four-hundred-pound pig collapsed with a thud, its four legs struggling a few times before falling still.
Li Xiaoxiao jumped down the moment it fell, but without even glancing at the fallen wild boar, she ran straight towards the three half-grown wild boars.
The half-grown wild boars scattered and fled. She grabbed one by the ear and punched it on the head, causing it to fall to the ground on the spot. The remaining two fled back into the mountains in a panic.
She chased after him without saying a word.
In what seemed like an instant, she slaughtered two pigs. The village chief's wife and Asheng, who witnessed the scene, were completely stunned. Seeing Li Xiaoxiao chasing the pigs up the mountain, Asheng shouted and ran towards the village chief's house, yelling as he ran, "Officer Shi, Officer Shi, hurry, come quick!"
The people who were resting at the village chief's house were startled by Ah Sheng's shrill scream and immediately came out of the house.
Officer Shi stepped forward: "Ah Sheng, what happened?"
Ah Sheng, breathless from running, cried out, "Wild boar! Hurry! By the mountain! Wild boar—"
Officer Shi was shocked: "What? Wild boars are out in broad daylight?"
The two constables accompanying them lit up: "Boss, let's go take a look and see if we can catch one to bring back for a meal?"
Ah Sheng gasped, "No, no, Sister Xiaoxiao, Sister Xiaoxiao killed two pigs! Quick, quick, go to the mountainside and see, she chased two more into the mountains."
What?! The faces of everyone present changed drastically, and they immediately followed Ah Sheng and hurried towards the mountainside. On the way, they met the village chief's wife, who was panting heavily. She grabbed the village chief's hand excitedly: "Husband, that young lady killed two pigs! Quick, they're in the field, each weighing several hundred pounds!"
Officer Shi and two constables ran ahead and sure enough, they saw two pigs lying on the ground. One was a half-grown wild boar, weighing about 40 or 50 pounds, with its head already sunken in. The other was a sow weighing 300 or 400 pounds, lying in a clump of wild yam vines, with a bamboo skewer through its eye.
The village chief's eyes widened in disbelief. These were two wild boars, such ferocious beasts, killed just like that?
Meng Guanqi looked around: "Where's Xiaoxiao?"
Ah Sheng snapped out of his daze and shouted, "Sister Xiaoxiao chased the remaining two pigs into the mountains! Officer Shi, you must take some men to find her!"
Officer Shi immediately summoned two constables, Zhang Ting and Li Daliang, and they chased after them in the direction Ah Sheng had pointed out.
After walking less than a hundred steps, they immediately spotted another half-grown piglet, also with a dented head, blood in its mouth and nose, barely alive but not completely dead.
The three were shocked. Officer Shi told Zhang Ting to carry the piglet on his back and go out, while he and Li Daliang followed the trail of grass and trees.
After chasing for almost two miles, Officer Shi finally spotted Li Xiaoxiao and the little pig that was tied up tightly on her shoulders, even its mouth was bound shut.
She captured the last wild boar alive.
Her little face was dirty, her clothes were torn and tattered by tree branches, and there were two bloody marks on her face. When she saw Captain Shi and Li Daliang, she chuckled, her eyes bright and her spirits high.
On this day, all the villagers in Xiaoye Village ate wild boar meat.
Five large cauldrons were filled with chopped pork bones. The village chief's wife added wild ginger to remove the fishy smell, as well as sweet potatoes trampled by wild boars and dried wild mushrooms to stew. The aroma of meat filled the entire village.
There were 28 households, totaling just over 100 people, including many elderly people and children. The meat was stewed until very tender, and each person received a bowl of soup with a fist-sized piece of meat.
The village was even more lively than during the Spring Festival. Everyone ate meat and drank soup, thanking Magistrate Meng, and finished their most filling and satisfying meal of the year.
The village chief's wife and Ah Sheng vividly described to the villagers the scene of Li Xiaoxiao's heroic pig slaughter. They were the only two people in the whole village who were fortunate enough to witness that thrilling scene. Even the head constable Shi, Zhang Ting, and Li Daliang did not see Li Xiaoxiao make a move.
The villagers looked at her with boundless awe, yet they felt that the words spoken by the village chief's wife and Ah Sheng were too empty, and they regretted that they could not see it with their own eyes.
But Li Xiaoxiao acted as if nothing had happened, sitting alone in a corner of the yard drinking soup from a large bowl, as if the meal had nothing to do with her.
The piglet that was captured alive weighed about forty pounds. Li Xiaoxiao did not kill it, but handed it over to the village chief for disposal. Whether they wanted to keep it or kill it for food, she had no objection.
Meng Guanqi walked over, picked up a small wooden stake, sat down next to her, and handed her the bowl in his hand, which contained a piece of meat bone.
As guests, they each received two pieces, each weighing nearly half a pound. He could only eat one piece before he couldn't eat anymore, but Li Xiaoxiao always had a large appetite, so he specially saved some for her.
Li Xiaoxiao, as the biggest contributor to the pig slaughter, had already eaten four pieces, but she still took his bowl without eating. Instead, she waved to a little girl who looked about three or four years old. The little girl stared at the meat in her hand and ran over.
She tore the meat into strips and fed it to her.
The little girl smacked her lips, eating with great relish.
Knowing that she had killed wolves with her bare hands, Meng Guanqi didn't show much surprise when she saw her kill several wild boars. Instead, he asked her, "Aren't you happy that the whole village is eating meat because of you?"
Li Xiaoxiao said, "I didn't catch that boar. It will come back and wreak havoc on the crops in Xiaoye Village again." She searched all the way but couldn't find it.
These three half-grown piglets are clearly born this year. Only one sow couldn't give birth, so there must be a boar involved, perhaps more than one.
She lowered her head: "Sweet potatoes are their only food left. If they run out, what will they eat?"
Meng Guanqi couldn't answer this question either, and he lowered his head as well.
Li Xiaoxiao fed half of the meat in her hand, then touched the little girl's tummy, which was a bit bulging. Afraid that she might not be able to digest too much, she put the meat in a small bowl for her to hold: "You're full. Give this meat to your mother and save it for tomorrow, okay?"
The little girl said in her childish voice, "Okay." She carefully carried the bowl away.
Li Xiaoxiao watched as the little girl found her mother and handed her the bowl. The little girl's mother quickly hid the bowl in her sleeve and immediately took the little girl home.
It was as if she was afraid others would discover that she had an extra piece of flesh.
Seeing this scene, Li Xiaoxiao suddenly felt very sad.
She asked Meng Guanqi, "Young master, I've heard that there's an imperial envoy in the court, is that true?"
Meng Guanqi nodded.
Li Xiaoxiao sighed, "The Imperial Envoy must have never been to Biyang County, let alone Xiaoye Village. Otherwise, how could he bear to see the people here living like this?"
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