Chapter 31 – Wild Boar Meat

Hearing the sound of the front gate opening, Xia Tian poked her head out and saw Mu Feng carrying a massive creature into the house.

She quickly stepped out of the kitchen and watched as Mu Feng dumped the thing he was carrying onto the ground.

Taking a closer look—oh my god!

It was a wild boar!

It must weigh around three hundred jin!

Shen Nian walked over too. “You went deep into the mountains?”

Mu Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead. “No, I ran into it on the back hill. No idea how it ended up wandering so close to the outskirts.”

Xia Tian brought out a bowl of water from the kitchen. Mu Feng took it and drank it in one gulp, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Thanks, sis-in-law!”

Xia Tian waved him off, a little worried. “Will it be dangerous for everyone to go up the mountain now?”

“I checked around the area. Didn’t run into any other wild boars. Should be fine.”

“Hmm, people in the village go up the mountain to dig wild herbs and chop firewood and stuff. If they run into a wild boar, something bad could happen.”

“Then after lunch, Mu Feng can go let the village chief know.” Shen Nian thought it over—this kind of thing was best reported directly to the village chief. Once he knew, he’d inform the villagers.

They lived in the same village, after all. It wouldn’t be right not to give a heads-up.

“I’ll go tell the village chief,” Xia Tian said. “Mu Feng just got here—people in the village don’t really know him yet.”

Shen Nian nodded. “That works.”

“Let’s eat first, then we’ll deal with the wild boar,” Xia Tian said as she went back into the kitchen to bring out the food.

Mu Feng washed his hands and helped Xia Tian bring the dishes to the table.

Faced with a table full of colorful and fragrant dishes, the three of them stopped talking and dove into the food.

It was already a bit late, and all three were starving. In less than fifteen minutes, the table was wiped clean.

Ever since Mu Feng came, they hadn’t had any leftovers for two meals straight.

After they finished eating, Xia Tian boiled a big pot of water. Mu Feng got to work cleaning the wild boar while Shen Nian helped by handing him tools and such.

Xia Tian used the time to clean the five pig heads and started braising them in two pots.

The wild boar’s skin was too thick, so Mu Feng simply removed it.

She brought out a basin and had Mu Feng cut the wild boar meat into strips and put them inside.

It was nearly three hundred jin of meat—they couldn’t possibly eat it all. And now that the weather was warming up, the meat wouldn’t last. Xia Tian planned to make smoked meat out of it.

Once the meat was sorted, she had Mu Feng cut off a chunk about five jin in weight, mostly fat, and packed it in a basket to take to the village chief’s house.

It was Xia Tian’s first time visiting the village chief’s home.

The village chief’s wife was a capable-looking woman who greeted her warmly and called into the house, “Old man, someone’s here to see you.”

No sooner had she said that than a man in his fifties walked out from inside. Judging by his friendly appearance, Xia Tian guessed he was the village chief.

She quickly smiled and greeted him, explaining her visit. “Uncle Chief, I’m the daughter-in-law of the Shen family at the end of the village. My name is Xia Tian. I came over today to let you know—my husband’s younger brother came across a wild boar on the edge of the back mountain.

My husband’s worried there might be more, and he’s afraid someone might get hurt if they run into one while foraging or chopping wood. So he asked me to come and let you know.”

“Got it. Thank you for the heads-up. I’ll arrange for someone to go check the mountain right away.” The chief turned to his wife. “Go tell Daqing to inform the rest of the village.”

Seeing that the village chief had taken care of it, Xia Tian didn’t stay long. She took out the meat from the basket and handed it to the chief’s wife. “Auntie, this is part of the wild boar we caught. Just a small gift from us—please accept it.”

The village chief’s wife waved her hands, refusing. “Oh, we can’t accept that.”

“Auntie, please just take it. My husband’s been in the village a while now, and it’s thanks to Uncle Chief looking out for him. Please don’t be so polite.”

Unable to refuse, the chief’s wife looked at her husband.

“Just accept it—it’s a kind gesture from the young ones.”

With the chief speaking, she finally accepted the meat and took the basket. Then she went to the vegetable garden and picked a basketful of eggplants, chilies, and loofahs. “I heard you guys planted your veggies late this year. Yours probably aren’t producing yet. Ours are just coming in—take these home.”

“Thanks so much, Auntie! We don’t have these at home, and they look so fresh!” Xia Tian smiled as she took the basket. “I’ll head off now. Come visit us when you’ve got time.”

The village chief’s wife walked her to the gate, only turning back once Xia Tian had gone far enough down the road.

“That Shen family daughter-in-law is really sharp,” she said to the chief, taking out the meat for him to see. “Look at this—five jin, with just the right fat content.”

The chief nodded approvingly. “She’s thoughtful.”

Back at home, by the time Xia Tian returned, Mu Feng had already scraped the fat off the pig intestines.

After telling Shen Nian about the village chief’s arrangements, she set down her basket and joined Mu Feng in washing.

Once the intestines were done, she cut off another chunk—about three jin—and brought it to their neighbor, Auntie Yao.

Seeing it was still early, she packed a few more two-jin portions into a basket and brought them to Auntie Chun, Auntie Sanhe, and a few other women she was close with.

After delivering the meat, she came back carrying a huge basket full of eggplants, long beans, tomatoes, and more.

Now they had plenty of vegetables at home.

She kept enough for dinner and stored the rest in her space.

Neither Shen Nian nor Mu Feng were likely to pay attention to what vegetables they had at home.

The pig head meat was done braising, and next came the pig intestines.

Xia Tian took out a portion of the wild boar meat with a good fat-to-lean ratio and put it in a separate basin. The rest she mixed with various seasonings to marinate for smoking later.

It was almost May now, and meat could only last two or three days at most before spoiling.

She asked Mu Feng if he wanted to sell some of it, but he said no—turns out, he wasn’t short on money either.

Looks like she was the only poor one here!

She sighed.

For dinner, Xia Tian made twice-cooked pork with the wild boar meat, red-braised ribs, a stir-fry of eggplant and chilies with tomato, and tomato-egg soup.

After washing up for the night and making sure Shen Nian and Mu Feng were asleep, she quietly slipped into the kitchen, secretly stored the fresh wild boar meat in her space, and locked the kitchen door—just in case anyone came in during the night.

She’d just sneak it back out in the morning.

If anyone asked why she locked the door, she’d just say it was to keep out mice.

That night, lying on the heated brick bed, Xia Tian slipped into her space and started organizing the mess inside.

So far, most of what she had stored were wooden basins, buckets, baskets, racks, and so on. Vegetables were limited to the ones she’d been gifted and the few chilies she’d bought herself, along with a heap of bamboo shoots she’d dug up in the mountains.

As for grains, she had fifty jin each of rice and white flour from her last town trip.

And now, the newly braised dishes and wild boar meat.

Before this, she didn’t have much money, so she hadn’t thought about stockpiling.

Now that she was earning, it was time to start planning and storing up supplies.

After all, this was ancient times, where people depended on the weather to survive. In case of natural disasters or emergencies, having extra grain was always a smart move.

The next day, Xia Tian went into town. Mu Feng followed her instructions and went up the mountain to cut cypress branches for smoking meat.

In the afternoon, during a break from braising, Xia Tian brought out the marinated wild boar meat and hung it in the yard to dry.

After drying it for two days, it would be ready to smoke.

Soon, the day of Old Master Wang’s birthday arrived. Early that morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Xia Tian set out.

It happened to be April 30th, a major market day in town.

To avoid the crowds, Xia Tian left before Uncle Liu and his ox cart departed.

Besides the thirty jin of pig head meat she’d prepped for the Wang family, she’d also prepared an extra fifty jin, along with ten sets of braised intestines and thirty jin of braised tofu.

Arriving early, she found most vendors were only just starting to set up their stalls.

After greeting a few of them, Xia Tian quickly arranged her table and display.

She had barely served a few scattered customers when, ahead of their agreed time, the Wang family’s steward arrived in person to pick up the order.