Chapter 26

Silence…

A suffocating, deathly silence filled the surroundings.

Everyone stared at Su Ye and the trap with a mix of fear and feverish excitement in their eyes.

Especially the army wives who had previously witnessed Su Ye inexplicably “catching” a rabbit. Their shock now carried an undertone of madness.

What kind of heaven-defying luck did Su Ye have?

Twice in a row, prey had willingly thrown themselves to their deaths right in front of her!

The rabbit from last time was enough to make people envious, but this time… it was a massive wild boar?

Many of these people hadn’t tasted even a drop of oil in ages. The flavor of pork? They’d likely forgotten it entirely.

The most affected was Li Hongli.

Just a second ago, she was mocking Su Ye with “science,” and now, a wild boar had obediently trapped itself.

Although her father held a high position and her family never lacked basic food, their meals were merely enough to fill their stomachs. Her parents only received three pounds of meat tickets per month, and being able to eat meat once a week was already considered great. Eating meat-stuffed buns from the cafeteria once a month was a luxury for her.

But Su Ye? She was about to own an entire pig! Enough pork to eat every day for three whole months!

No matter how wealthy or well-off Li Hongli’s family was, she couldn’t help but stop breathing for a moment.

In times of famine, when pork was scarce even on the black market, hunting a wild boar was akin to striking it rich overnight.

She couldn’t understand why such good fortune always fell into Su Ye’s lap. Why always Su Ye?

This marked the third time Su Ye had such absurd luck!

When someone gets fixated on a thought, it’s easy to spiral into a dead end.

Although Li Hongli didn’t yet understand the concept of a “non-lucky person” (非酋), nor could she accept her own misfortune, being surrounded by a “luck goddess” like Su Ye filled her with mounting resentment.

Meanwhile, He Meimei gasped in surprise, covering her mouth in delight. She carefully leaned over the trap and saw the wild boar impaled on the sharp wooden stakes. It had rolled its eyes and taken its last breath, its once-mighty frame now lifeless.

“Oh my gosh, Su Ye, come look! It’s huge!”

Fang Xiulian stood there in shock, frozen to the spot, muttering repeatedly, “It’s huge. Really huge. How can it be this big?” Everyone gathered around to take a closer look at the wild boar. It was undeniably massive, so much so that the trap pit could barely contain it.

The wild boar’s bristles stood proud and sharp like pine needles, its round, upturned snout giving it an imposing appearance. Its plump, meaty belly bulged like it was eight months pregnant—round and almost joyous in its heft.

In these hard times, where people fought even animals for food, stripping wild vegetables, tree bark, and grass roots clean, how had this pig managed to grow so fat and full? Was it living off the wind? How could it become this plump in such a barren land?

“My goodness, this boar must weigh over a hundred pounds, don’t you think?” someone exclaimed.

Su Ye glanced at it and confirmed that it was indeed larger than she had expected. This was not a forty-pound pig as she had originally thought—this one was close to a hundred pounds.

But as she pondered it further, it made sense. She was expecting forty pounds of pork belly, which contains no bones. A live pig, once skinned, de-boned, and gutted, would yield around thirty pounds of pork belly at best. While the livestream system might be stingy, it appeared fair enough in this regard.

Seeing the crowd around them growing larger, Su Ye quickly tapped the dazed Gu Xiangqian on the shoulder.

“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and take the pig home! Look at all this blood spilling—it’s such a waste!”

Gu Xiangqian was just as stunned as He Meimei and Li Hongli.

Wild boars weren’t supposed to appear in a place like this… yet here it was, caught in the trap.

However, this wasn’t the time for shock. They needed to get the boar home as soon as possible. If they delayed, there was a risk of someone trying to steal it.

Gu Xiangqian carefully removed the sharp stakes from the trap and grabbed the boar by its hind legs. Taking a deep breath, he hoisted the massive boar onto his back.

The boar was drenched in blood, which flowed freely as it was lifted, staining Gu Xiangqian’s once-clean uniform. Yet he didn’t show a hint of displeasure, not even furrowing his brows.

Seeing the blood gushing out, Su Ye’s heart ached. Fortunately, one of the army wives who had come to gather wild vegetables had a basin for carrying fish. Su Ye quickly borrowed it and caught the pig’s blood as it flowed.

Fresh pig’s blood was a delicacy! Rich in vitamins, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, and selenium, it was a rare and valuable source of nutrition.

After collecting a basin of pig’s blood, Su Ye and Gu Xiangqian loaded the boar onto a bicycle and pushed it away from the riverside.

The onlookers watched the couple’s figures gradually fade into the distance. Though their envy burned bright, none dared to openly snatch the plump boar.

After all, they had seen it clearly: the tall, imposing soldier wore a pristine 1955-style military uniform. No matter how shameless or desperate anyone might be, they wouldn’t dare make trouble for a People’s Liberation Army soldier.

As the couple left, the crowd turned their attention back to the pit, their excitement reigniting.

“Do you think… there might be a whole nest of wild boars around here?” someone suddenly asked.

Wild boars are herd animals, and the one that just died didn’t look like a fully grown adult. If wild boars could be caught in traps along the flat riverbanks, wouldn’t there be even more of them up in the mountains?

“Quite possible. Wild boars need a water source to survive. With this river here, it’s likely they’ve settled around it.”

Before the boar was caught, everyone had mocked Su Ye with their theories and experience. But now that the boar had been taken away, they were racking their brains to justify the existence of wild boars here.

The crowd stared at the fresh trap with fervent intensity.

“This trap is mine!” one man declared, picking up a sharp stake from the ground and sticking it into the trap to mark his claim.

“What do you mean, yours? This was dug by the soldier! Have some shame, will you?”

A heated argument broke out, with people nearly coming to blows over the trap.

The speed at which the crowd’s attitudes flipped left He Meimei stunned. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

It all felt familiar—this scene was almost identical to what happened last time when everyone scrambled by the riverside to find a rabbit. But back then, they dug until nightfall and didn’t even find a strand of rabbit fur.

—

Su Ye and Gu Xiangqian pulled the wild boar back to the military compound using their bicycle and delivered it to the canteen.

The young cooks at the canteen were astonished at the sight of the whole boar. They stared at it as if it were a treasure.

Su Ye pointed to the wild boar and said, “This is the wild boar we caught. We can’t finish it all by ourselves. Can you process the pork for us and exchange it for some meat coupons?”

This was incredible! In the vast military compound, home to tens of thousands, the daily pork consumption was just a few dozen pounds. The wild boar Su Ye brought would greatly enhance everyone’s meals.

Two chefs got to work skillfully butchering the boar, separating the bones, offal, front legs, hind legs, and pork belly. After half an hour of effort, the boar was neatly processed.

The chef weighed everything piece by piece: “The four legs are 20 pounds, the head is 12 pounds, the offal is 20 pounds, and the meat with bones is 56 pounds.”

“A total of 108 pounds. We’ll give you 50 pounds worth of meat coupons. You can exchange them for raw meat at the military kitchen whenever you want or use them to get cooked meat dishes from the canteen.”

Trading 108 pounds of wild boar for 50 pounds of meat coupons seemed like a loss, but considering Su Ye had originally exchanged for only 40 pounds of pork belly, it was a win. With the coupons, she could be clever and get more premium cuts of pork belly later.

Su Ye nodded eagerly. “That works perfectly! I’m happy to contribute to the military!”

She glanced at the delectable pork bones and pig trotters, swallowed her saliva, and asked, “Chef Yang, can we take some pig trotters and bones back to make soup?”

Pig trotters and bones didn’t have much meat and weren’t worth much. Since the kitchen had exchanged fifty pounds of meat coupons for over a hundred pounds of wild boar, it was a fair deal. The cook thought for a moment and agreed to her harmless request.

Satisfied, Su Ye carried four pig trotters and weighed two pounds of meaty pork bones to take home.

Gu Xiangqian couldn’t help but laugh when he saw her acting like such a miser.

After getting the trotters, Su Ye changed clothes, washed her hands, and headed to the kitchen herself.

Gu Xiangqian wasn’t skilled in cooking. Usually, it was fine for him to make simple breakfasts, but Su Ye wouldn’t let him ruin a premium ingredient like pig trotters.

She planned to make braised pig trotters. After cleaning off the hair, she boiled the trotters in hot water to remove the odor. Then she melted sugar in a pan to create caramel, skillfully frying the trotters in the caramel to coat them evenly before taking them out.

Next, she sautéed scallions, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce until aromatic, pouring the sauce over the trotters. She added water to cover the trotters and included bay leaves, star anise, and cinnamon. Su Ye turned down the stove to a low flame to simmer the trotters.

After finishing that, Su Ye washed fresh elm seeds.

In spring, elm trees sprout tender, yellow-green buds, so fresh they seemed to drip with moisture. Su Ye picked an entire basketful in no time, which explained why elders called it life saving food during famine years.

While washing, she plucked one to taste. Fresh elm seeds were sweet, with a delightful flavor that grew stronger the more she chewed. Using the basketful of elm seeds, she made elm seed pancakes and elm seed rice. After steaming the rice, she asked Gu Xiangqian to keep an eye on the pot while she went to grade papers.

When the water in the clay pot was almost dry, Gu Xiangqian, following his wife’s instructions, used a spatula to keep pouring the thickened sauce over the trotters.

Patiently tending the stove, he was surrounded by a rich aroma. The military canteen’s cooking couldn’t compare to Su Ye’s meticulousness. Even though it wasn’t mealtime yet, Gu Xiangqian was already feeling hungry.

It had been a week since he last ate meat. Seeing it again felt almost surreal.

With fifty pounds of meat coupons, they’d have enough meat to last half a year!

The sauce-coated trotters glistened with a glossy red sheen. Once the sauce thickened to the perfect consistency, Gu Xiangqian plated the trotters.

The two trotters were plump and large, slow-cooked for nearly two hours. Even the thick skin had turned soft and tender. Su Ye poked them with chopsticks, splitting one apart to reveal an inch-thick layer of gleaming white meat inside.

Su Ye’s eyes sparkled with delight. This pig was so fat! It was leagues above any scrawny wild boar.

‘Slurp…’ I’m starving just looking at it. The aroma is incredible! I’ve practically licked my screen dirty!

Food is truly hard to come by, and having this meal is not easy at all!

“Hahaha, of course! This is our free-range wild mountain boar, guaranteed to be fragrant, tender, and delicious!”

Since that was the case, Su Ye didn’t hold back. She used a small knife to carefully cut through the thick trotters, slicing them into thin pieces. The layers of meat were distinct, with a layer of shiny red pig skin, snow-white fat, and pale pink lean meat. She picked up a slice with chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce, and it looked like snow fabric dyed with ink.

A drop of sauce dripped from the end of the meat, and the close-up shot in the livestream was immediately zoomed in.

Su Ye opened her mouth, caught the drop of sauce, and with a roll of her tongue, she put the thin slice of meat into her mouth. She chewed for a moment, squinting her eyes and letting out a comfortable sigh.

Aaaahhhh, I’m dying! Late at night, hit by this food bombardment, I want to eat pig trotters too!

I’m going to kill the live streamer with a knife!

I’m convinced! It’s hard to imagine making such a food vlog under such harsh conditions.

Each person had a pig trotter. Although neither Su Ye nor Gu Xiangqian were wasteful or extravagant, without realizing it, they had eaten both trotters during the meal. Not only had they eaten the trotters clean, but the sauce used to simmer the trotters was also mixed with elm seed rice and elm seed pancakes, all of it gone.

By the time Fang Xiulian and her husband came to visit again, the plates and bowls on the table were wiped clean, with not a drop of sauce left.

Su Ye happily sighed and enthusiastically said, “Maogang, little sister-in-law, would you like to have some elm seed pancakes?”

The smile on Fang Xiulian’s face faded, and there was no sign of wild boar. The room only smelled of meat, with no trace of the boar. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.

“Xiangqian, sister-in-law, where’s the wild boar you caught this morning?”

Su Ye chuckled to herself. When there was meat, they called her sister-in-law, but when there was no meat, they just called her Su Ye. They still wanted to share her meat?

“The wild boar? We sent it to the canteen to exchange for meat coupons. It was hard to get one, so we couldn’t waste it all.”

Li Maogang sat down and ate some of the elm seed rice that Su Ye passed to him, chewing and savoring the flavor. “This elm seed is really tender! Xiulian, sit down and eat too!”