“Secretary, Secretary, come out quick, your nephew brought back a bunch of wild boars!”
It was already lunchtime.
Li Xue Wu packed up his things, preparing to take care of a certain bodily need.
A young man suddenly barged in, all flustered and excited.
Li Xue Wu couldn't help but frown.
But when he heard what the young man was saying.
He immediately stood up.
His voice tinged with joy, he asked, "What did you just say?"
“Secretary, Da Yu brought back several wild boars from the mountain. They’re huge, the sled is almost overflowing, and there’s a crowd outside watching!”
“Oh, that boy finally didn’t disappoint me.”
Li Xue Wu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Goodness knows how urgently the forestry station had been pushing him for this.
The hunters from the lower villages had been hunting for the past two days, but their haul had been disappointing.
Da Yu had shot a bear yesterday, but bear meat was far more expensive than pork.
The forestry station probably wouldn't pay such a high price for something to satisfy the workers’ cravings.
He had been worried sick.
But now Da Yu had brought him good news.
“Come, come, come, let’s go help bring it in.”
…
“Da Yu, you haven’t held back any of your skills, have you? You taught him everything?”
“Of course, he’s my grandson.”
The three of them struggled but finally managed to bring the sled full of meat back without any major incident.
They hadn’t even reached the team headquarters when they were surrounded by villagers.
They stared at the meat on the sled, their mouths practically watering.
“Da Yu, what are you going to do with all this meat?”
“Yeah, yeah, if you can’t finish it all, how about we trade some things for some of it?”
“No, no, no.”
Li Yu quickly waved his hands, smiling.
Even with all the courage in the world, he wouldn’t dare to trade meat with so many people watching.
There were bound to be a few people in the village who wouldn't want to see him succeed.
If they reported him, accusing him of profiteering and speculation, he wouldn’t even know where to go to argue his case.
“Everyone, this is actually for the workers at the forestry station. My uncle asked me to hunt some meat for them to improve their meals.”
“Oh, okay, then forget it.”
Everyone was visibly disappointed.
They had hoped to be able to trade for some meat today to improve their families’ meals.
After all, meat coupons were extremely hard to come by these days, especially in the countryside.
But they didn’t try to force the issue.
After all, it was his meat, and how he handled it wasn’t their concern.
Seeing this, Li Yu raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“But I, Li Yu, am not a stingy person. I’ll keep half of the pig, and each family can have a little bit. Take it home and let your children have a taste.”
“Oh, I’ll say, you, Da Yu, really are a good son.”
“That old Li family woman was blind. She treated a piece of old cotton as a treasure. She wouldn’t know a good son if he was standing right in front of her.”
Hearing that Li Yu was going to give them meat for free.
Everyone was delighted, and the compliments flowed like water, unbidden.
Seeing that there was nothing left to praise Li Yu for, some of the aunties started complimenting Xiu Xiu and Xiao Min, who were standing beside him.
This made the two girls blush fiercely.
“But I’m warning you, this meat isn’t free. From now on, everyone, please help take care of my wife and my sister-in-law. It’s not for nothing that I’m giving you meat.”
Initially, seeing Li Yu give away half a pig just like that.
That’s at least a few tens of yuan.
Xiu Xiu and Xiao Min had felt a pang of regret.
But who knew that Li Yu had given it away for them.
It truly touched both girls.
“Oh, what’s the big deal, that’s all? Leave it to me. If anyone dares to bully your wife, I’ll be the first one to scratch her face.”
“Hahaha, aren’t you afraid of that Li family woman lying on the ground and accusing you?”
“What am I afraid of? As if our Xu family is powerless.”
In an instant, everyone burst into laughter, making the scene lively.
Li Yu couldn’t help but laugh along.
To him, half a wild boar was nothing.
If it meant that his wife and sister-in-law could live a little better in the village, he’d give away half a pig, a whole pig, whatever.
He hadn’t seen either of the girls leave the house during the day. They were always inside.
They didn’t even have anyone to chat with in the village.
If things continued like this, they were going to become shut-ins.
Besides.
So many people were watching them haul the wild boars back.
They hadn’t even tried to ask for it outright, but instead offered to trade for it.
This was already a testament to the villagers’ simple and honest nature. Building a good relationship with them would make things easier in the future.
Li Xue Wu had just stepped out when he heard Li Yu saying that he was going to share the meat.
While he did feel a little bit of a pang of regret, he knew deep down that his nephew was doing the right thing.
People.
They really needed to find a good wife to marry. Just look at this boy. After he got married, he was a changed man.
His spirits were up, not to mention he was bolder and more talkative.
“Oh, Uncle, look at these pigs that my wife and my sister-in-law and I hunted. How do you like them?”
“You took them up the mountain together?”
Li Yu grinned proudly.
“Of course, one of these pigs was shot by my wife!”
“Oh, I didn’t know. Your wife is quite a skilled hunter.”
Li Yu’s boasting.
Really made Xiu Xiu feel a bit embarrassed.
Her husband had no filter. He praised her in front of everyone, not afraid of what people might think.
She had underestimated the thickness of this man from the future.
“There must be at least seven or eight hundred pounds of meat here?”
“More or less. After giving the team their share, there’ll still be quite a bit left. It’s enough for you to deal with the forestry station.”
“Good boy.”
Li Xue Wu patted Li Yu on the shoulder.
“I’ll have someone take it over to the forestry station. Once the money is paid, I’ll have your aunt send it over to your place. How does that sound?”
“Whatever you say. I’m not worried about you running off with it.”
“Hahaha, of course not.”
Next, they weighed the meat.
The big boar weighed 410 pounds. The remaining three young boars, after being cleaned and disemboweled, didn’t weigh much.
Together, they weighed only 412 pounds, three of them not even reaching the weight of a single big boar.
After taking out the team’s share of 30%, there were still more than 580 pounds left.
Li Yu didn’t hesitate to cut off 80 pounds of meat from one of the young boars in front of everyone.
He gave the remaining 500 pounds to his uncle to take to the forestry station.
The 80-pound piece was carefully cut into smaller portions.
He and Xiu Xiu, along with the little girl, distributed it to the aunties and wives who had surrounded them earlier.
By the end, they still had a few pounds of meat left.
It was enough to serve as both lunch and dinner for the day. They were happy as clams.