1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately perked up, pulled on the raft, and quickened their pace. Before long, they arrived at the hut in the woods to settle down.

By this time, it was completely dark.

Upon arrival, everyone immediately divided the work and got busy. The young men picked up axes and chopped firewood, carrying a large pile in front of the shack.

The two men carried iron pots and headed towards the stream not far away. One held a torch to light the way, while the other scooped up spring water and washed the wooden bowls clean.

Before long, a bonfire was lit in front of the hut, and an iron pot was placed on the fire, waiting for the water to boil so that everyone could finally take a break after a long day.

Everyone sat down around the fire, took out their own dry rations, cornbread, and pickled vegetables, and laid them out on the ground.

Hunting means eating whatever you catch.

Liu Chunlei picked up a wild boar cub, quickly skinned it, rinsed it with spring water, chopped it into large pieces with a wood-chopping knife, and threw it directly into the iron pot on the fire.

The water was boiling, and soon a layer of blood foam appeared. Skim off the blood foam clean.

Although this is an uncastrated male wild boar, the smaller the piglet, the less fishy or pungent it is, so it doesn't have a strong fishy or pungent smell when eaten at this size.

The female wild boar didn't have a fishy smell; it only had an earthy smell.

If it grows into a large boar, then it won't be edible.

Uncastrated boars have a lot of foul-smelling fat. When heated, the pungent smell of urine and feces can hit you right in the head. This is why pigs, especially boars, are castrated when they are still young.

Wang Changfa broke the salt he carried with him into pieces and threw it into the pot. He then took out star anise, ginger, and a handful of wild scallions and garlic that he had just picked from the forest, and threw them all in to stew.

Before the stew was even fully cooked, everyone was so hungry that they broke off two tree branches, whittled them into simple chopsticks, scooped up a large bowl of wild boar meat each, and squatted down by the fire to start eating.

Chen Gaoshan took out the cornbread that Xinghua had brought him, and with the wild boar meat, he wolfed down two bowls of meat and two cornbreads. He ate until his forehead was sweating, and most of his fatigue dissipated.

The hunting dogs had just finished their hunt and had shared a lot of wild boar offal. Now, their bellies were round and full as they lay resting at their owner's feet. Big Yellow and Little Yellow nestled obediently beside Chen Gaoshan, their tails sweeping the ground, their heads drooping on their paws, occasionally glancing at their owner. They were very well-behaved, a stark contrast to how they were when they were hunting the wild boar.

Chen Gaoshan broke off a cornbread and soaked it in some meat broth, giving the two of them an extra meal.

That night, no one dared to sleep soundly. They agreed to take turns keeping watch: two people for the first half of the night, two for the middle, and two for the second half. Everyone held a gun in their hands, always on guard against wild animals from the mountains coming to their door.

The night passed peacefully without incident. Just as dawn broke, Wang Changfa instructed Wang Si to extinguish the campfire, and everyone packed up and headed back to the village.

The nights in the mountains are cool, but as soon as the sun comes out, the temperature immediately soars. The wild boar meat we hunted has been sitting out all night, and if we delay any longer, it will definitely spoil in the hot and humid weather. We must hurry down the mountain.

On the way back, the pack of hunting dogs were not idle either. They sniffed around with their noses close to the ground and, with their keen sense of smell, caught four large gray rabbits in succession, which they carried to their owner to show off their achievements.

After rushing along for about two hours, they finally appeared on the mountain path behind Nangou Village.

Pulling a raft and carrying prey on their backs, a pack of hunting dogs ran ahead.

After finishing breakfast at home, Sha Qiangzi was feeling restless and was wandering around the village. In the distance, he saw a large group of people coming down from the back mountain, along with several hunting dogs. His eyes lit up, and he ran over in a flash.

When they got closer, they saw the large wild boar tied to the raft, and the small wild boars and rabbits piled on the ground. They were immediately stunned and their mouths were wide open.

"Pig, pig, meat! Brother Shanzi, you're back from hunting!"

Strangely enough, most of the village's guard dogs barked at strangers, but they were different when they saw Sha Qiangzi. They would all gather around him, wagging their tails, rubbing against his legs, and whimpering.

After shouting, Sha Qiangzi didn't wait for anyone to reply. He turned around and ran into the village, shouting loudly as he ran.

"Pig! Pork! Brother Shanzi is back from hunting!"

Liu Chunlei couldn't help but laugh out loud as he watched Sha Qiangzi run off into the distance.

"Hehe, you know what, this silly Qiangzi is closest to Shanzi. There's a whole bunch of us standing right in front of him, but he didn't even see us. His eyes were only on Shanzi. And that kid runs really fast!"

Wang Changfa laughed heartily and waved his hand.

"Alright, this kid's perfect for going to the village to deliver the message. It'll save us the trouble of going door-to-door calling for people!"

Upon reaching the village entrance, Wang Changfa, as the village head, immediately made arrangements.

"These past two days, everyone, young and old, has put in a lot of effort and sweated a lot, no complaints! These piglets, pick the biggest ones, one for each of us who participated in the hunt! As for the rabbits, the kids who just came into the mountains don't need to share, just me, Chunlei, Shanzi, and Wanzhong, we'll divide them up!"

"This wild boar has ravaged many cornfields in the village. Some families have suffered more damage than others. We'll divide the remaining boar meat equally among everyone, except for infants who are still breastfeeding. Nobody will be left out. What do you all think?"

Everyone who heard it agreed.

"Alright! We'll do whatever the village chief says! Whatever the village chief decides, we'll do!"

After receiving his share of wild boar meat, Ma Wanzhong hurriedly carried the meat and his pack of dogs home.

Yesterday during the hunt, the spotted swallow died, and the four-clawed whitebait was also injured while blocking a wild boar. The wound on its leg was heartbreaking to see; it must have suffered terribly.

He had to hurry home, find two flat wooden boards, clamp and immobilize the dog's injured leg, and then grind a handful of cucumber seeds into powder to feed it every day.

Dogs are naturally tough and resilient. With proper care, they'll be back to their energetic selves in less than a month, ready to go hunting in the mountains with him.

No sooner had Ma Wanzhong left than the entire village of men, women, and children rushed out, surrounding the open space where the meat was to be distributed in layers.

Those brave little boys and girls squeezed to the front, standing on tiptoe and craning their necks, curiously trying to pry open the wild boar's snout, vying to see its sharp, long tusks.

"That's great! The wild boar that was ruining our crops has been killed. From now on, no more wild animals will be damaging our crops!"

"My goodness, this wild boar is huge! No wonder it ruined more than an acre of soybeans and corn. It's terrifying to look at!"

"The village chief and these men are truly heroes of our Nangou Village! Now the whole village can finally eat meat!"

Wang Changfa had been busy for most of the day before he could finally take a breather.

He sat on a large rock, took out his pipe, filled it with tobacco, lit it, and puffed on it, squinting as he watched the crowd tie the wild boar up and weigh it.

"Village chief, it's weighed! The wild boars, big and small, together weigh a total of 2,238 jin!"

"Our village has 56 households. Excluding the babies who are still nursing, there are a total of 500 people. Each adult gets 5 jin of meat, each child gets 2 jin, and the rest is distributed among the households."

"Alright."