Chapter 111: Slaughtering the Year-End Pig

Watching Mo Jinnan’s graceful movements and lightning-fast speed, Xiang Xinyao felt a tinge of envy.

Even though she had memories from her previous life, she still had to start training from scratch after transmigrating here.

Although she was improving faster than before, reaching the level she once had was no easy feat.

Before long, Mo Jinnan returned with Xiang Yanzhuo and Xiang Yanchen in tow.

Xiang Yanzhuo and Xiang Yanchen carefully examined Xiang Xinyao from head to toe, only to feel assured once they saw she was unscathed and her clothes were still neat.

With a look of reproach, Xiang Yanzhuo said, “Sister, if you’re going into the mountains to hunt, why didn’t you ask me to go with you? What would I do if you got hurt?”

Xiang Xinyao gave him a sweet smile. “Big Brother, don’t worry! The mountains are safe for me; the wolves will protect me, and I can defend myself.”

“But your skills are still so weak. Next time, don’t go into the mountains alone. Either we three brothers accompany you, or let the prince go with you—that way, we can be at ease.”

“Alright, let’s hurry then! If the wild boar wakes up, we’ll be in trouble.”

With Xiang Xinyao leading the way, the four men followed her to the wild boar.

After some playful interaction with the wolves, Xiang Xinyao let them go once her brothers and Mo Jinnan had securely bound the wild boar.

With her three brothers and Mo Jinnan carrying the boar, Xiang Xinyao led them down the mountain.

Once they left the deep forest, Xiang Xinyao told her brothers and Mo Jinnan to head home first while she went to the small pine grove to invite Uncle Ji and his family over to help with the pig slaughter.

She also took the chance to inform the villagers working in the pine grove that each family would still receive a pound of pork, and if they wanted more, it would be available at the lowest price.

Today was the last day of work before the New Year, and they’d only work half a day. The afternoon would be for resting and preparing for the holiday. Work would resume on the sixth day of the new year.

Over the past half-month, the entire village had learned that the Minister Xiang Taifu and his wife were Xiang Xinyao’s biological parents.

And those four exceptionally handsome men—three were her biological brothers, while the best-looking one was her fiancé.

The Hu family and Yang Dahui, who had once hurt Xiang Xinyao, didn’t dare show their faces around the Xiang family or Mo Jinnan, fearing they’d be beaten to death.

Upon learning that Xiang Xinyao was the daughter of a prominent family in Bianjing, both families were filled with envy, fear, and regret.

Had they treated her kindly from the start, her biological parents would surely have rewarded them handsomely upon finding her.

Now, however, the Xiang family’s restraint in not harming them was mercy enough. How could they dare hope for any silver as a reward?

Yet life wasn’t going well for either family. They were no longer allowed to work in the pine grove and had to seek dirty and exhausting jobs elsewhere just to avoid being starve to death.

The most miserable among them was Yang Dahui. His wife and son were bedridden and completely dependent on him.

Every day, he would come home exhausted from work, only to care for his filthy wife and son.

Several times, he’d had thoughts of suffocating his wife to end his misery.

But each time, he gave up on the idea, realizing he would still need her to meet certain needs.

As for the Hu family, since Hu Yaozu’s death, Mrs. Yang’s health had been deteriorating daily.

The meager earnings Hu Dashan brought home weren’t nearly enough to cover her medical expenses.

She would make a single dose of medicine last four or five days, unwilling to throw out the dregs even after they lost their medicinal taste.

In the past, Mrs. Yang had mistreated Mrs. Zhang. But now, Mrs. Zhang gave her no respect in return.

Spitting into Mrs. Yang’s medicine and food had become a daily routine for Mrs. Zhang.

Not only that, but Mrs. Yang’s clothes had become unbearably smelly, and Mrs. Zhang was unwilling to help her change.

After being bedridden for so long, the stench in Mrs. Yang’s room was overwhelming. Her body was covered with bedsores, and lice could even be seen crawling out from her hair.

It seemed that both the Hu family and Yang Dahui’s household were simply reaping what they had sown.

When Xiang Xinyao called the Ji family over, the sight of the massive, glossy-furred wild boar left the Uncle Ji and the three sons wide-eyed in awe.

“Wow.”

If it weren’t for the boar’s two large, curved, sharp tusks, they might have suspected it was domesticated—perhaps even healthier than a farm pig.

After taking a moment to recover, Uncle Ji instructed his three sons, “Why are you just standing there? Start to make a fire and boil some water! With this big boar, we’ll have a truly bountiful New Year!”

The three brothers snapped out of their daze, their bodies moving before their minds. The Eldest Brother Ji grabbed firewood, Fifth Brother Ji lit the fire, and Third Brother Ji called Xiang Yanchen to help carry a long wooden table.

Uncle Ji, meanwhile, set about sharpening the slaughtering knife.

Xiang Xinyao prepared a basin to catch the pig’s blood.

Once the wooden table was in place, the men heaved the wild boar onto it, leaving the ropes tied around it just in case it woke up and hurt someone.

When Xiang Xinyao had the blood-catching basin ready, Uncle Ji gripped the rope tied around the boar’s snout with his left hand and clutched the knife in his right. With a swift motion, he plunged the knife into the boar’s neck.

Blood spurted out instantly, flowing into the basin.

On closer inspection, this wild boar’s blood seemed slightly different from what they’d seen in previous hunts—its color was more vibrant.

Once the blood had mostly drained, the men moved the boar to the large pot of boiling water.

There was little else that Xiang’s family or Mo Jinnan could help with at this point, as it was the Ji family’s expertise.

Since it was still early, the group returned to the pine grove to assist with other tasks.

However, the Madam Xiang and Xiang Xinyu stayed behind.

They might not have been able to help with butchering, but they could still help by sorting and washing vegetables.

Xiang Xinyao started a fire on the stove and set a large pot of water to boil in preparation for cooking the pig’s blood.

While the water was heating up, she grabbed a basket and went quickly to the vegetable plot.

When she returned, the basket was full of fresh Chinese vegetable, along with some green onions and garlic sprouts.

The Chinese vegetable was pulled from her hidden space, while the onions and garlic sprouts came from the plot.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, Xiang Xinyu took the basket of vegetables from her.

“Sister, leave these veggies to me.”

Xiang Xinyao nodded, “Alright. When you wash them, use a bit of warm water—it’s too cold otherwise.”

“Got it.”

The Madam Xiang stepped forward, intending to help Xiang Xinyu with sorting and washing the vegetables, but Xiang Xinyu firmly stopped her.

“Mother, please rest! I can handle these vegetables on my own.”

With that, Xiang Xinyao headed into the kitchen, and the Madam Xiang could only follow.

“Yao’er, is there anything I can do?”

Xiang Xinyao smiled. “Mother, go ahead and rest. You don’t know how to do these things.”

A glimmer of regret flashed in her mother’s eyes. “Oh! Why didn’t I ever learn to cook?”

Seeing that hint of regret, Xiang Xinyao sighed with a hint of exasperation. “Mother, if you really don’t want to sit idle, then you can join me in cooking the pig’s blood.”

The Madam Xiang brightened instantly, her smile spreading wide. “Alright, alright! Yao’er, show me how to do it.”