Soon, the two had cleaned all the wild boar's fur, leaving it clean and white. Wang Lun placed the boar on the ground, first cutting open its belly and removing the internal organs, then handing them to Li Ling to clean. Of course, the intestines and stomach were temporarily set aside to be washed later at the stream. Then, Wang Lun chopped off the head, cut off the ears, and then chopped off the four legs, placing them in a pot. Next, they processed the rest of the meat. Since it was a small wild boar, the meat and bones were kept together; separating them would result in less meat and not much meat on the bones, so it was better to leave them together. Of course, Wang Lun still separated the spine, as he preferred to eat it separately, as it contained marrow and was particularly delicious. After cutting the meat, Li Ling also cleaned the internal organs, leaving only the intestines and stomach unwashed. Wang Lun and Li Ling then carried the pork into the house, and Li Ling started cooking the boar's head in the camp for dinner.
Wang Lun, carrying a military shovel, went with Liu Ruoling to clean the intestines and stomach, burying the inedible parts. Along the way, Wang Lun told Liu Ruoling that they had agreed to team up, but he insisted on taking the initiative. Liu Ruoling agreed, saying she was fine with even splitting the future prize money in half. However, Wang Lun didn't say much about the prize money. No matter how well they negotiated now, if he didn't share it later, it wouldn't matter. There was nothing he could do about it; they had only met a few times and he didn't know anything about their character. For now, they could only rely on their character.
When Wang Lun reached the stream, he first dug a pit, threw in the inedible offal, then turned the intestines and stomach inside out, and finally filled the pit back up. Liu Ruoling also took the intestines and stomach to the stream to wash, starting with the large intestine. After filling the pit, Wang Lun took the small intestine and washed it. He washed it once to remove any residue, then added river sand and rubbed it carefully, repeating this three times until the intestine was basically clean. Then he rinsed it with clean water and carefully checked it again. If there was still dirt, he washed it a few more times, but usually there wouldn't be any left unless he hadn't washed it thoroughly with river sand. After cleaning the small intestine, Wang Lun cleaned the pig's stomach. Then the two of them took the intestines and pig's stomach back to the camp, of course, along with their shovels—they wouldn't forget them.
Back at camp, Liu Ruoling told Liu Ruoxi that Wang Lun was willing to team up with them, and that Wang Lun wanted to take the initiative. Liu Ruoxi was already prepared for this and agreed. Seeing that they both agreed, Wang Lun said, "We happen to have some fresh meat today, so let's cook some good food to celebrate." All three girls agreed. Actually, Li Ling had already told Liu Ruoxi when she came back to cook the pig's head, but she didn't mention that Wang Lun wanted to take the initiative, since Li Ling didn't know that either. However, Li Ling was still very supportive. After all, they had both established the camp, and now that they were joining, they couldn't expect them to listen to them.
Seeing that the three women had agreed, Wang Lun said, "Alright, you can decide what to cook. I'll go make two more stools and two more small bowls while I'm at it." So Wang Lun first crushed the small bowl that had broken earlier, then dug up some clay, mixed it together, and made two small bowls. Since there was still some left, he also made a long spoon. Then he placed them under the eaves to dry some of the moisture before they could be fired.
Meanwhile, the three women inside began preparing dinner. Li Ling was the head chef, in charge of cooking, while Liu Ruoling tended the stove and helped Li Ling with other tasks. Liu Ruoxi could only sit by and watch them work.
After finishing the pottery blank, Wang Lun thought of Liu Ruoxi, so he washed his hands and went inside to check on her. He first touched her forehead, then her pulse. After doing this, Wang Lun said, "You're much better, but you still need to pay attention to keeping warm and your diet. You can increase some exercise appropriately, but don't overdo it." Liu Ruoxi asked, "Can I weave straw sandals and straw mats?" Wang Lun said, "Yes, but don't weave for too long at once. It's best to rest for ten or twenty minutes every hour. After a while, you'll feel even better and be able to go out again." Hearing Wang Lun say this, Liu Ruoxi quickly got off the kang (heated brick bed) to get some dry grass to weave straw sandals. Wang Lun told her not to get off the kang and went to get her some dry grass. He also told her not to weave straw sandals but to weave a straw mat. Wang Lun planned to use a straw mat to partition the kang. Before, it was just Wang Lun and Li Ling, so there wasn't much to do. Now that there were more people, but the kang was only so big, and the others were all women, so there should be some privacy. So Wang Lun decided to use a straw mat, hanging it on the beam to create a small space. The end of the kang (heated brick bed) near the window was where Wang Lun would rest, while the other side, a larger space, was where the three women would rest.
After Wang Lun finished dealing with Liu Ruoxi's matter, he started making stools for the Liu sisters. After all, Liu Ruoxi couldn't stay on the kang forever; she would have to get off eventually, so stools were still needed.
Li Ling first simmered the pig's head in an earthenware pot, then cooked the various offal in an iron pot. After cooking, she placed the offal in a large bowl on tree leaves to cool, then sliced it and arranged it on top of wild vegetable leaves. She also set the vegetables aside on a low table. She then selected some fresh wild vegetables, placed them in a basket, and put them on the same low table. Since there were four people, including two sick individuals, one of whom couldn't eat too much meat, she also had to cook some kudzu root porridge separately for Liu Ruoxi. However, cooking for one person was quite easy, and she finished it quickly. Meanwhile, the pig's head had been stewing in the earthenware pot for a long time until the meat was falling off the bone.
As darkness fell, the sky outside began to darken. Li Ling had finished preparing the food, and they began to eat. Wang Lun first filled an iron pot with wood ash and placed it on the kang (heated brick bed), with a layer of dry straw underneath. He then brought over an earthenware pot and placed it inside the iron pot. The soup in the earthenware pot was still piping hot. He placed some charcoal from the hearth and stove around the earthenware pot to keep it warm. Li Ling brought over two earthenware bowls and a bamboo bowl, distributing them to the three of them. Liu Ruoxi carried a large bowl filled with her kudzu root paste, while Liu Ruoling carried the bamboo bowl—since the earthenware bowls belonged to Wang Lun and Li Ling, and theirs hadn't been fired yet, they would use the bamboo bowls for now. The four of them then sat cross-legged on the kang to eat. Wang Lun and Li Ling sat on one side, the Liu sisters on the other, and Liu Ruoxi sat opposite Wang Lun. Both women were looking towards the wall, as they only needed Li Ling and Liu Ruoling to fetch anything they needed.
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