Chapter 613: How Come All the Brave Men Got Sick?

By the time Zhao Youcai and Wang Qiang were heading home, Zhao Jun had already returned to Yong’an Village in a truck.

Upon entering the village, the truck drove directly to the front of Zhao Jun’s house.

It wasn’t even five-thirty yet, so work at the Forest Farm hadn’t ended. The next-door neighbors, Li Dayong and Li Baoyu, weren’t back either. Zhao Jun first returned the eleven dogs to their respective houses, then called for Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei to come out and help butcher the wild boars.

Then, he, Zhang Yuanmin, and Jie Chen worked together to drag the sow down from the truck.

“Mom,” Zhao Jun said to Wang Meilan, “you and Auntie can start butchering it. Pick out some of the good meat and set it aside for Brother Zhang’s family. As for the rest, we’ll figure out how to divide it up.”

“Alright, you got it,” Wang Meilan replied. But when she saw four more small wild boars in the truck bed, she asked in surprise, “Son, you got this many?”

“Yep,” Zhao Jun said with a smile. “These are for the Village Chief, Uncle Zhao.”

“Oh.” Wang Meilan nodded, then said, “Then you’d better hurry up and deliver them.”

“Hurry back,” Jin Xiaomei chimed in. “When the three of you get back, you’re all eating at our place. I stewed a roe deer leg this afternoon.”

It was the roe deer leg that Li Ruhai had brought back, and Jin Xiaomei had stewed it today. This was the first time her younger son had brought home any game. But unlike her older son, he hadn’t fired a single shot; he’d gotten it purely through the gift of gab.

“Wow, Auntie,” Zhang Yuanmin said with a laugh. “Everyone should come eat at my place today. My wife and I brought back a bunch of fish this morning.”

“Oh, Yuanmin!” Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaomei gave Zhang Yuanmin a thumbs-up. “The fish you brought over to our house this morning were really good.”

Zhang Yuanmin laughed. “Auntie, when Baoyu gets home from work, tell him to come over to my place.”

Jin Xiaomei readily agreed. The families had grown closer and closer, so there was no need to be formal about eating at one another’s homes anymore.

Watching the three men drive away, Jin Xiaomei said to Wang Meilan, “Sister-in-law, you, my big brother, and the kids should all come eat at our place tonight.”

“Deal!” Wang Meilan didn’t stand on ceremony either. She smiled and said, “Sister, that old sow’s meat looks excellent. Let’s cut off a piece of the lower belly, and you can go back inside and make some red braised pork.”

“Great!” Jin Xiaomei agreed. “I’ll have Ruhai come out and help you butcher this boar.”

“That would be wonderful,” Wang Meilan said with a smile. “When Ruhai works with me, he always has something to talk about, and it makes the time fly by.”

…

The truck soon pulled up to the Village Office. Seeing the main gate was already closed, Zhao Jun gave Jie Chen directions to Zhao Guofeng’s house.

The truck pulled up to Zhao Guofeng’s house and honked, and Zhao Guofeng immediately came out.

Seeing it was Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin, Zhao Guofeng instantly knew what was up. He hurried over to the side of the truck, peered over the railing into the bed, and asked Zhao Jun, “Zhao Jun, why are they all Little Yellows? Isn’t there a sow?”

At this time of year, a sow’s meat was just as good as domestic pork. The meat from a Little Yellow was a slight step down from a sow’s, but still very good.

Zhao Jun quickly led Zhao Guofeng to the back of the truck and whispered, “Uncle Zhao, if you’re giving these as gifts, aren’t the Little Yellows perfect for it? You can give one to someone, and if they want to re-gift it, a whole Little Yellow is much more presentable.”

Zhao Guofeng considered this and had to agree. He could take these four Little Yellows to the township, give two to the township head and two to the secretary.

That way, each of the two leaders could keep one for his family and still have another to give as a gift to someone else.

The boars were small, but gifting a whole animal was much more presentable than gifting half of a large one.

“Zhao Jun,” Zhao Guofeng said, looking at him, “how much do I owe you for these four boars?”

“Let’s make it a round number,” Zhao Jun said with a smile. “One hundred yuan.”

The four small boars each weighed less than a hundred jin. After being butchered, you’d be lucky to get a combined total of two hundred jin of meat from them.

For Zhao Jun to ask Zhao Guofeng for one hundred yuan, it was equivalent to charging half a yuan per jin of wild boar meat.

That was by no means a low price.

At this, Zhao Guofeng frowned. “One hundred… that’s a bit much. It’s almost two months of my salary.”

“It’s not that much, Uncle Zhao,” Zhao Jun said with a knowing grin. “You’ve made a decent amount yourself this year.”

Zhao Guofeng blinked. He knew Zhao Jun was referring to the time he’d resold wild boars for a profit.

Thinking back on that incident, Zhao Guofeng had to admit that Zhao Jun had done him a huge favor.

That time Zhao Jun, the Hunting Pig God, had effortlessly brought in a whole pile of wild boars. Not only had it allowed Zhao Guofeng to meet the spring hunting quota, but it had also let him gain some prestige in the township. On top of that, he had even turned a small profit selling the boars.

At this thought, Zhao Guofeng nodded without the slightest hesitation. “Alright. I’ll bring you the money tomorrow morning.”

“Huh?” Zhao Jun was taken aback. He gestured casually toward the house. “Uncle Zhao, we’re right here at your door. Why wait until tomorrow?”

Zhao Guofeng jutted his chin toward the Jiefang truck and said to Zhao Jun, “In this weather, if you unload the boars and leave them overnight, they won’t be fresh anymore. Since you happen to have a truck here, why don’t you help me out and run them over to the township?”

“Alright,” Zhao Jun agreed instantly. It was only a thirty-li round trip. He then led Zhao Guofeng over to meet Jie Chen.

“Jie Chen,” Zhao Jun said, making the introduction, “this is our Village Chief, Uncle Zhao.”

“Uncle Zhao.” Jie Chen nodded at Zhao Guofeng.

“Ah.” Zhao Guofeng nodded in acknowledgment. Then he pointed at Jie Chen and said to Zhao Jun, “Isn’t this the kid… uh, the young man who beat up Zhang Laibao the other day?”

“That’s him.” Zhao Jun smiled faintly, then said to Jie Chen, “Brother, take Uncle Zhao for a quick trip. We’ll eat as soon as you get back.”

It wasn’t even six o’clock, and most people in the countryside hadn’t had dinner yet. Jie Chen readily agreed and gestured for Zhao Guofeng to get into the truck.