Dividing and selling the meat

Though it was the dead of winter, the Li family's courtyard was bustling.

Not one of the people who had come to help stood idle. Everyone found something to do.

Li Long was a novice, so after the meal, the only job he managed to get was pouring boiling water over the wild boars-a task requiring no skill whatsoever, which he happily took on.

In the older men's eyes, Li Long certainly had a knack for getting hold of things, but skilled work like butchering pigs still called for an experienced hand.

With Mohé Tobacco clenched between their lips, they wielded knives to skin the boars. Others had already brought out large laundry basins, ready to catch and clean the innards.

"What a huge boar!"

"And so fat! That back fat must be a good three fingers thick!"

"Three fingers might not even cover it. These mountain boars eat well!"

"The Founding of the Nation family will have good lard this year. Once it's rendered, they can put it in a cold room, and it'll keep for over half a year."

"Look how much trouble this saves the Founding of the Nation. He won't even need to raise a pig next year. Just take a trip into the mountains in autumn and bring back two boars, and they'll have enough meat and lard for the whole year."

"You need skill for that, and good luck too! We ran into them when we went into the mountains with the Sideline Team to dig up Fritillaria. Seven or eight boars came charging at us. Who dared stand in their way?"

"You've got to admit, that stint at the factory really changed Xiao Long. Look at everything he's done since coming back. You have to respect him!"

"Ha! And what did Tao Dayong and Gu Ermao learn? They're neither one thing nor the other now."

"Why bring all that up? Didn't you see Gu Laoda came too...?"

Gu Laoda had indeed come, and had even taken the initiative to speak to Li Jianguo. Li Jianguo ignored him. Embarrassed but unwilling to leave, he stood there, unsure whether to sit or remain standing.

Li Long had already learned from his sister-in-law that Gu Ermao had reported him to the Joint Defense Team members. In truth, once he knew Gu Ermao was the one who had followed him, he wasn't particularly surprised.

That was just the sort of person Gu Ermao was. It would have been strange if he hadn't done it.

That didn't mean Li Long would forgive him, though. He hadn't intended to have any further dealings with the man anyway, and this was the perfect opportunity to cut ties.

Gu Laoda's eyes lit up when he saw Li Long. He came over and said with a smile:

"Xiao Long's back? You've really outdone yourself this time. Two wild boars! Nobody else on our production team could manage that!"

Li Long wouldn't hold Gu Ermao's actions against Gu Laoda. He smiled and said:

"I got lucky."

Gu Laoda wanted to say more, but Li Jianguo called from over by the boars:

"Xiao Long, come pour the water!"

Li Long smiled and hurried over.

Gu Laoda knew Li Jianguo was making his position clear. He felt bitter, but his side was in the wrong, and there was nothing he could do. He wanted to get friendly with them, but they wouldn't give him an opening. Originally, he had hoped to use this opportunity to bring Ermao over to help and ease the awkwardness. But Gu Ermao felt it would be too humiliating and refused to come. Now Gu Laoda had come himself, only to be snubbed.

Quite a few people in the courtyard watched his embarrassment with amusement. In all fairness, nobody would want a friend like Gu Ermao after something like this. Still, none of them could guarantee that, in Gu Ermao's shoes, they wouldn't have named Li Long.

But as a matter of course, everyone sided with the person who had been wronged. Li Long hadn't done anything to you, so what right did you have to give his name? Were you trying to drag someone down with you as you sank? Could you not bear to see anyone else doing well?

There might be plenty of people like that, but they were definitely the kind everyone hated most.

Li Long knew Gu Ermao's reputation on the production team was ruined for sure.

Once the boars had been skinned, they opened the carcasses, removed the innards, and divided up the meat. Someone carried the neck meat they had cut off earlier and the caul fat from the bellies into the kitchen.

Liang Yuemei and several other women were taking out the pickled vegetables. They cut up the fat and put it in a wok to render, then started stewing pork in a huge pot.

They even added the star anise the family usually couldn't bear to use. Liang Yuemei was determined to make up for what had happened when they slaughtered their own New Year pig.

They had invited a group over to help that time too. Everyone enjoyed this sort of thing; helping each other was commonplace. It was also a chance to get a little fat into their bellies.

But after the Li family's pig was slaughtered, it turned out to be a pig considered ill-omened under local superstition, so nothing else could be done. They buried it, and there was no Pork-Killing Feast. Although all the helpers understood, Liang Yuemei had been nursing her frustration.

People at the time cared deeply about saving face. There was none of that staging accidents or swindling people; they had a strong sense of self-respect. If they ate at your Pork-Killing Feast, their family would be sure to return the favor.

As things stood, the Li family owed everyone a meal. When Li Long brought back the two wild boars, Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei reached an unspoken agreement without needing to discuss it: they would put on a proper feast!

Everyone was happy to come help, too. This was a good thing!

"What a shame about the blood. We could've made such good steamed pig-blood buns!" someone cleaning the innards said regretfully, looking at the clotted black blood trapped inside the carcass.

Meat was scarce in those days, and under normal circumstances, not a scrap would go to waste. Even the odds and ends could be turned into all sorts of dishes.

The stoves in both rooms were put to work. Meat stewed in the big pot in the West Room, while the innards were stir-fried in the East Room. The Lu Family was helping steam buns in their pot too.

Li Long could smell the boar meat's rank odor, but nobody there minded. If having meat to eat wasn't enough to shut your mouth, what right did you have to keep finding fault?

Especially when they saw those huge slices of meat in the pot, nobody would complain. Whose Pork-Killing Feast used meat this generously these days? Were they giving up on making ends meet?

But the family had two boars. They could afford to be that lavish!

Once everything had been prepared, the men set up tables in both rooms to play cards, one table playing Shuai Erzi and another Zheng Shangyou. Those who couldn't get a seat watched from the sidelines.

Some were more interested in how Li Long had managed to shoot the boars, and asked:

"Xiao Long, how did you shoot these boars?"

"We set up an ambush beforehand." Li Long didn't keep it to himself. "My friend lives in the mountains. He knew a herd of boars often came down to the same spot to gnaw on grass roots, so we lay in wait and shot them."

Some families hadn't raised pigs, and wanted to get some pork from the Li family to take home.

But they had no money. Li Jianguo discussed it with Li Long:

"Xiao Long, they want some meat, but they haven't got any money. What do you think...?"

"Do they have ammunition?" An idea struck Li Long. "Rounds for the Type 56 semiautomatic rifle. Five rounds for a kilogram of meat would work. If they have money, it's one yuan a kilogram. If not, five rounds for a kilogram."

Li Jianguo was a little taken aback by the idea:

"Ammunition?"

"Yes. They're short of ammunition in the mountains."

"Every household has some." Li Jianguo smiled. "If you let anyone trade, they could take all the meat from both our boars."

"We can't have that. Just trade a little with people we're close to." Li Long smiled. "If it comes to it, I'll go back in a couple of days and see if I can shoot another one."

Having brought down a wild boar with his very first shot, Li Long had grown bolder, and his claims had grown with his confidence:

"Brother, we can't eat all this meat anyway. That big boar's meat smells really rank, so we might as well trade it. But we should tell people beforehand."

"Rank or not, it's still meat!" Li Jianguo's eyes widened. "At a price that cheap, anyone who complains about the smell can forget about trading!"

Li Long smiled. Now he could see his elder brother's true character. He usually seemed mild-mannered, but when something really came up, he was decisive, and the sort who dared to fight and take risks.

With nobody paying him any attention, Gu Laoda finally left in embarrassment.

A mouthwatering aroma spread through the courtyard. All the adults had gone indoors, leaving only Qiangqiang outside the yard with a group of children, kicking around the pig's bladder Li Long had inflated for him through a reed tube as though it were a soccer ball. Their joyful voices carried far.

Everyone nearby could tell: the Li family was on the rise.

(End of chapter)