Chapter 6 ☆ Chili Stewed Wild Boar

The blade reflected the face of a terrified beauty.

Xie San lifted his eyelids and looked at her. His eyes were long and narrow, and the narrow double eyelids were very beautiful. His dark pupils were like some kind of cold beast, which made people shudder.

Cheng Yaoyao bit her tongue and wanted to cry. In the original book, Cheng Yaoyao was very disliked by Xie San, and she ended up in a miserable situation. But she didn’t do anything today, and all the hatred was directed at her!

The man suddenly asked, “What do you want?”

Cheng Yaoyao shuddered again. She came back to her senses, tensed her face, pointed at a piece of meat, and said politely, “Excuse me, cut three pounds of pork belly.”

Xie San raised his knife and threw a piece of meat on the scale. Three pounds, exactly, not a cent more or less. He put it through a rope and passed it over.

The rope was stained with blood, and a piece of greasy fat was hanging in the air. Cheng Yaoyao stretched out her hand and gestured, but she didn’t know where to start.

Her hand was slender and soft, whiter than the jasmine buds on the branches, which made people want to destroy it.

“Go on.” Xie San stepped forward, his voice hoarse and seeming impatient.

Cheng Yaoyao heard the impatience in his voice, shuddered again, and took the meat with grievance. The rough hemp rope tightened around her fingers, making her fall down. Zhang Xiaofeng hurriedly took it, but the blood and grease all rubbed onto Cheng Yaoyao’s hands.

The original book said:

“The butcher was a young man. He looked at Lin Ranran in silence. With a flash of his sharp knife, he cut off a piece of pork belly and a piece of fat. He put the two pieces on the scale, and they weighed five pounds and three ounces.”

He was so good to the original heroine, giving her more meat and pig offal. Now it’s Cheng Yaoyao’s turn, and he didn’t give her a single extra ounce. Plus, her hands got greasy! Cheng Yaoyao gritted her teeth and glared angrily at Xie San. When he looked over, she quickly put on a polite smile, the muscles on her face almost cramping: “Thank you.”

Xie San looked at her strangely, then lowered his eyes and ignored her, proceeding to cut meat for the next villager in line.

The blade was chopped down, and minced meat splattered everywhere. The young butcher’s muscular body was covered with sweat, and his torn coat was soaked, sticking to his body and outlining the mermaid lines on his abdomen that disappeared into the waistband of his pants. He looked as murderous as a wild beast.

Cheng Yaoyao didn’t dare to look back and ran away, pulling Zhang Xiaofeng along.

Zhang Xiaofeng and Han Yin were very happy carrying the three pounds of wild boar meat. The three of them walked side by side on the way back to the dormitory. Han Yin said to Cheng Yaoyao, “It’s definitely right to bring you this kind of thing. You’re getting advantages just because you’re pretty.”

Cheng Yaoyao wiped her hands with a handkerchief without looking up: “Next time, if something like this happens, don’t ask me to come. It’s not easy to take advantage of those men.”

Han Yin had a strange expression on her face: “Did you burn your brain?”

Cheng Yaoyao rolled her eyes and was too lazy to explain. Zhang Xiaofeng patted her on the shoulder and said with relief, “You have this awareness, which is great! In the future, we should ask the male educated youth to line up to avoid such things happening again. We are few in number and cannot compete with them.”

Cheng Yaoyao usually accepted all the men who offered their attention to her. While enjoying the benefits of others, she looked down on these men. There is no such thing as a free advantage in the world. Cheng Yaoyao thought she was smart, but over time, not only would her reputation be ruined, but those men would also ask for the benefits back sooner or later.

Zhang Xiaofeng once kindly reminded Cheng Yaoyao, but Cheng Yaoyao not only did not appreciate it, but also ridiculed her, believing that Zhang Xiaofeng was jealous of her. This made Zhang Xiaofeng very angry, and she ignored her from then on.

Today, Cheng Yaoyao repeatedly rejected the advances of men and performed very well. Zhang Xiaofeng considered herself the squad leader and felt responsible for helping these comrades improve, so she was very pleased.

Han Yin understood it differently: “That’s right! Call everyone next time. Those village girls will think we are easy to bully because we are few in number!”

Cheng Yaoyao and Zhang Xiaofeng both rolled their eyes.

After bringing back three pounds of wild boar meat, the three were cheered by the crowd like triumphant warriors. Everyone decided to be extravagant and emptied the grain bags to collect two pounds of fine grain and three pounds of cornmeal to cook a pot of noodles.

Han Yin took out the account book and said, “Fifty cents per person, or you can use food stamps. Come and pay!”

Tianshui Village is located near mountains and rivers, with fertile land. Young and strong laborers can earn fifty or sixty cents a day, which is neither too much nor too little. Taohua Village in Lin County can earn one yuan a day, and girls from far and near are eager to marry there. There are also villages with poor land, where people can only earn seven or eight cents a day, and some even owe money to the production team.

These educated youth from the city were not used to farm work. The male educated youth earned twenty to thirty cents a day, while the original owner could not even earn ten cents. Fifty cents was not a small amount for educated youth. Fortunately, the original owner was not short of money, so Cheng Yaoyao paid fifty cents and sat down to wait for dinner.

The kitchen was simple, with an oil lamp on the big wooden table, dimly lit. However, the fire in front of the stove was bright, and Cheng Nuonuo’s petite figure was busy.

Chili peppers were stir-fried in the pot, wild boar meat was cut into small pieces and thrown in, and a pungent, spicy smell filled the air. Zhang Xiaofeng went to help and distribute the bowls and chopsticks.

Han Yin wrote and drew in the notebook, counting the money: “Who else hasn’t paid yet? Don’t let them eat the meat later!”

The male educated youth turned their heads when they heard this. Zhao Weimin said, “Accountant, we have already paid!”

Han Yin knocked on the table: “There’s still one missing, who hasn’t handed it in yet?”

Tsk. Such an obvious trick. Cheng Yaoyao propped up her chin and looked at everyone else. Liu Minxia, who was sitting next to her in a faded plaid blouse, stammered, “I… I have a stomachache today, so I won’t eat meat.”

Han Yin dragged out her tone: “You’re not going to eat again? This dumpling soup is cooked in one pot; the oil and meat are all boiled into the soup. You can still eat it even if you don’t pay? Really, you always try to take advantage.”

Under the dim light, Liu Minxia lowered her head deeply onto her chest, looking embarrassed and pitiful.

There are ten people in the educated youth center, five men and five women, which is also a small society. The relationships in the boys’ dormitory were relatively simple. Shen Yan had a good family background and was the leader of the male educated youth. The remaining Zhao Weimin, Qian Binbin, Sun Yu, and Li Xiaoen formed a group called Zhao Qian Sun Li, the four big lickers who fawned over the original owner.

The girls’ dormitory was much more complicated. Cheng Yaoyao, who was beautiful and spoiled, seemed to be the center of attention, but she was not popular. Cheng Nuonuo was soft-hearted and kind to others. With the original owner as a comparison, most girls liked her. Zhang Xiaofeng was fair and hardworking. Everyone respected her except the original owner.

Han Yin was sharp-tongued and good at calculating. She was in charge of the educated youth’s contributions and accounting and enjoyed a relatively stable position in the dormitory.

Liu Minxia came from an impoverished mountainous area. Her family was poor, and she had to save a small portion of her pitiful monthly allowance to send back home. Since she didn’t have enough food to eat, she always hung around the original owner to take advantage.

At this moment, Liu Minxia sat next to Cheng Yaoyao in embarrassment, like a punching bag. In the past, the original owner, who was protective of her shortcomings, would have quarreled with Han Yin a long time ago. But this time, Cheng Yaoyao didn’t say a word.

Seeing that Cheng Yaoyao had not stood up for her follower, Han Yin became more and more excited: “By the way, Liu Minxia, your soap has been used up for a long time, right? What did you use to wash clothes this month? I went to wash clothes yesterday, and when I took the soap, I found it was wet, as if it had been used.”

The male educated youth chatted and smoked among themselves, ignoring the women’s affairs. Cheng Nuonuo, who seemed to be a good person, was busy cooking, as if she didn’t hear anything.

Liu Minxia looked at Cheng Yaoyao for help and said, “Yaoyao…”

Cheng Yaoyao didn’t even bother to raise her eyes and just fiddled with her long hair on her shoulders.

Cheng Yaoyao was a young lady in her previous life. She had no shortage of followers around her and didn’t mind giving them some benefits. But this Liu Minxia was different. In the book, the original owner had an annoying personality and was only nice to Liu Minxia. She gave her a lot of food and clothes. It can be said that Liu Minxia was supported by the original owner. But Liu Minxia regarded everything the original owner gave her as charity. In order to get the only quota for workers, peasants, and soldiers returning to the city, she deliberately instigated the original owner to elope with a scumbag, which directly led to a series of tragedies for the original owner.

Cheng Yaoyao didn’t bother to care about such an ungrateful person. She ran her slender fingers through her black hair and quickly braided it into a loose pigtail that hung down her shoulders. Even without shampoo or hair conditioner in the countryside, her long hair was still black, smooth, and shiny. Cheng Yaoyao was very satisfied.

After two failed requests for help, Liu Minxia blushed and lowered her head, enduring Han Yin’s ridicule. In her heart, she poured all her hatred on Cheng Yaoyao. She usually tried to please her in every way, but what happened?!

Finally, Zhang Xiaofeng came over with a bowl and tried to smooth things over: “Okay, Han Yin, stop talking. Put away your money and account books, and get ready to eat.”

Eating was more important than anything else, especially since there was meat tonight. Han Yin quickly gathered up the bills and account books and took them back to the house. Everyone washed their hands and prepared to eat.

Cheng Nuonuo made a dish of wild boar meat fried with peppers and a pot of meat dumplings. She was small, and her thin arms seemed like they would break when she served the dumplings. Shen Yan hurriedly threw away his cigarette butt and strode over to take it from her.

Cheng Nuonuo’s delicate fingers accidentally brushed against Shen Yan’s, and she immediately blushed and ran back to the stove in shock. Shen Yan also had a smile on his lips, looking like a young boy in love.

Tsk tsk. Cheng Yaoyao propped up her chin. It was indeed the most delicious thing to eat secretly. How stupid was the original owner not to see the trick between these two people? But looking around, Cheng Yaoyao realized she wasn’t the only one blind to it. None of the educated youth noticed either.

No one paid attention to Shen Yan and Cheng Nuonuo’s little actions; everyone was staring at the pork.

The wild boar meat was juicy and fatty, and the red and green peppers gave off a hot and spicy aroma that stimulated the appetite. Everyone ate eagerly, finishing half the pot in no time.

The large piece of wild boar meat, including the skin and meat, was stewed until tender. As soon as it entered their mouths, they sucked in a mouthful of oil, and the hot and spicy taste slid down their throats. Their internal organs, lacking in oil and water, craved more.

No one spoke. Everyone waved their chopsticks, stuffing meat into their mouths and swallowing without chewing. After several pieces of meat and breaking out in sweat, they finally paused and picked up more meat with their chopsticks.

With only a small amount of meat left in the pot, the pace slowed down, and they had time to chat.

Cheng Yaoyao only picked up a piece of meat, shocked by the way everyone ate. If they usually fought over food like this, would she need to practice her chopstick skills?

Shen Yan, who often went to town to eat, had good table manners. He looked up and saw Cheng Yaoyao hadn’t touched her chopsticks, a piece of meat was still in her bowl. She was wearing a white shirt tonight, and her black hair was braided into a pigtail that hung on her shoulders, looking very charming. The teardrop mole under her eye added to her allure.

Shen Yan’s heart was moved, and he blurted out, “Why don’t you eat? Are you feeling unwell?”