Chapter 45: A Good Day

“You guys, put the game to the side and count it carefully. If even one hair is missing when we get back, I’ll hold you responsible!”

The village chief barked orders at the men around him.

The men, initially eager to haul the game, froze at his words.

“Chief, we can’t guarantee no hair will fall off!”

“Exactly, Chief! With all these trees and grass around, it’s bound to get scraped. And anyway, what’s the big deal about a bit of hair?”

The chief snorted in frustration, his nostrils flaring. “I was just making a point! You don’t even understand metaphors? Who said the hair was important?

Forget it. You lot haven’t had much schooling. Just get moving! Everyone’s watching, you won’t mess this up.”

With that sorted, the chief shifted his focus from the badgers and wild boar to the pressing issue at hand.

“You’ve all seen it now. This hole was caused by the badgers and the wild boar. Before digging, who could’ve imagined something like this underfoot?

But what’s done is done. Now we need to figure out how to bypass this pit and get the water to flow down the mountain.

Some of you claimed to have experience earlier, let’s hear your ideas.”

The villagers, who had been jubilant moments ago, fell silent.

The pit was so deep and long, and its unseen extent was worrisome. If they tried to fill it with water, who knew how much would be needed?

Even lining it with bamboo wouldn’t work, bamboo might hold temporarily but wouldn’t last over time.

This was no easy problem to solve.

Just as the crowd was feeling hopeless, Ye Xin Ran spoke up.
“Chief, I have an idea.”

“What idea?” the chief asked eagerly.

Xiao Huai’an, who had been quietly listening to the discussions, looked intrigued and turned his gaze toward her.

“We could build a bridge to let the water flow over.”

“A bridge?”

The chief looked puzzled.

Bridges were for people to cross over water, not for water to cross.

“And how exactly would you build this bridge?”

“It’s actually quite simple. I’ll draw a diagram later, and you’ll understand right away,” Ye Xin Ran replied confidently.

“That’s excellent!” The chief tugged his beard with a smile.
“We’ll focus on the bridge plan later. For now, let’s finish digging the rest of the water way today.”

“Whatever you say, Chief.”

With a solution in sight, the villagers’ spirits lifted. They threw themselves back into the work, digging tirelessly until late in the evening, finally connecting the trench to the river at the foot of the mountain.

The game they’d hunted was also brought down from the mountain.

However, no one was in a hurry to go home. Instead, they lingered, waiting for the chief to address them.

Seeing the eager gleam in everyone’s eyes, the chief had torches lit and set about having the badgers and wild boar skinned, butchered, and distributed.

The largest badger weighed about 30 Yin (around 15 kg), while the smallest was only 10 Yin (about 5 kg). The wild boar, weighing nearly 200 Yin (about 100 kg) with its bones and meat combined, provided roughly two Yin (1 kg) of meat per household.

For villagers who hadn’t tasted meat in a long time, this day felt as joyous as celebrating the New Year.

“Today’s hard work digging the channel, take this meat home and cook it to nourish your bodies,” the village chief called out.

“Thank you, Grandpa Village Chief! I haven’t had meat in ages,” Gui Hua said, holding the meat.

“Village Chief, I’m so old, and it’s my first time eating pork! You’re much more capable than your father!”

Li Lao Po from the village, whose mouth was missing teeth, laughed with joy.

“It’s not me, it’s all thanks to the Xiao family,” the village chief said, looking at Xiao Huai’an and Ye Xin Ran. The more he looked at them, the more satisfied he became, and the more he felt they were a perfect match.

“While you’re enjoying the meat, don’t forget the good deed of this family!”

The Xiao family, who had done the most, didn’t ask for much in return. After the meat was distributed, Ye Xin Ran only asked the village chief for some badger fat.

That night, for the first time in years, the smoke rose from Yun Bian Village’s chimneys after dark.

The fragrance of meat filled the kitchens of every household.

Some were spicy, some stir-fried, and others boiled with water.

But the scent that was different from all the others was the smell of roasted meat from the Xiao family’s courtyard.

Ye Xin Ran had been craving roast meat for a long time, so she seized this opportunity. She asked Xiao Huai’an to slice the wild boar and badger meat thinly, and then, when no one was paying attention, she mixed it with two boxes of snow flake beef slices she had taken from her space’s fridge.

Xiao Huai’an’s knife skills were excellent, and the slices were evenly cut. The tool they used for roasting the meat was a thin stone slab.

The stone was heated in the fire until it was scalding hot. The meat was placed on top, sizzling with a “sizzle,” curling up, and then flipped to cook the other side.

The dipping sauce for the roast meat was made of sesame paste, sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar, while Ye Xin Ran also prepared a dry dipping dish with cumin powder, peanut powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, and chili powder.

She preferred the dry dipping sauce, while the kids enjoyed the sesame paste dip more.

The roasted meat slices were dipped in the sauce and placed in their mouths, where the savory taste of the meat mixed with the nutty flavor of the sesame seeds, instantly filling their mouths with an explosion of flavor that made it hard to stop.

The meat’s exterior was crisp and hard, but the inside remained soft and juicy.

When they bit into it, the juice spilled out, making it hard to resist even when their tongues burned from the heat.

The kids ate with gusto. Ye Xin Ran also prepared yam skewers, mushroom skewers, and wild vegetable rolls, filling a small basin.

While roasting the meat, they enjoyed the vegetables to balance out the richness.

By the time they were half full, there was still half the meat left in the basin.

Not only Xiao Huai’an, but even the kids were puzzled: “Aunt, I remember there wasn’t much meat. How come there’s still so much after all this time?”

Ye Xin Ran didn’t bother to come up with an explanation and shrugged, saying, “I don’t know, it just seems like it never runs out!”

“Aunt, are you using magic to make the meat multiply and smell even better?”

Chang An stared with wide eyes, speaking seriously.

Chang Sheng and Chang Ping nodded in agreement, “It must be true. Aunt is the best!”

The moon slowly climbed to the treetops, and the fire in the courtyard was almost out.

The three children, their stomachs round, patted their bellies and looked up at the moon.

Ye Xin Ran took the roasted potatoes from the fire and handed one to each person.

Xiao Huai’an didn’t eat his. Instead, he peeled the potato and handed it to Ye Xin Ran. He seemed about to say something but stopped himself, finally just saying, “You’ve worked hard.”

Ye Xin Ran thought to herself that while it had been a bit of a tough day, she was mostly satisfied with her current life.

“It’s a little hard, but that’s fine. I hope life will get better in the future!” she said.

Xiao Huai’an looked up at the sky. “Don’t worry, it will.”