Song Qingshan turned around and, from the tractor’s cart, dragged down a wild boar that weighed at least 300 pounds.

He dropped it heavily in front of Zhao Guodong. “My work is done. I was collecting sand in Qing Shui Gorge, and today I happened to run into a wild boar, so I hunted it. What do you think? Let’s improve our meal tonight, huh?”

Song Guangguang patted the boar and exclaimed, “Such a big fat boar! Does our county even have these?”

“They’re up in the mountains. They’re afraid of people, so they don’t come down,” Song Qingshan said, stepping on the boar. “Does anyone have a knife? Let’s skin it here, and I’ll help divide the meat.”

“Here, I have a kitchen knife. Is it good enough?” Song Jianguo had already brought a knife over.

Zhao Guodong also ran to his dormitory and took out his old kitchen knife. “Here, I just sharpened this yesterday.”

Song Qingshan took Zhao Guodong’s knife, scraped it along the boar’s skin, and said, “This knife is better for killing people than for wild boars. It’s too dull to cut through, let alone a wild boar.”

“Gou Dan, go find Dad’s sharp knife,” Song Qingshan suddenly remembered and said.

Well, Song Qingshan’s secret stash was well-known to both Gou Dan and Lu Dan.

With a quick shout, Gou Dan shot off like lightning.

The entire village hadn’t eaten meat for at least five or six years, in order to increase crop yields.

The adults knew what meat tasted like and were swallowing their saliva.

The younger children, full of curiosity, were dipping their hands in the blood flowing from the boar and tasting it.

After changing out of his old clothes, Song Qingshan wore a new military uniform with only two pockets and said, “You’re all electing a village secretary, right? Don’t let me influence your decision. Take your time and choose.”

“Su Xiangwan, it’s your turn to come up,” Song Guangguang quickly said. “You’re the first female comrade in our village to dare to stand for election as secretary. I really want to hear what you have to say.”

A group of women all blushed and hid their faces in embarrassment.

Su Xiangwan confidently stepped in front of everyone, raising her voice as high as she could, speaking passionately, “I just think that since Xiaozhai Village has a female secretary, why can’t our village have one? If I become secretary, Song Jianguo will still work hard because he is an excellent worker. If I become secretary, the women will stand up without needing Song Jianguo’s persuasion because I stand up, and that means all the women of Songjia Village are standing up. So, I believe Song Jianguo is a good secretary, but I am better than him.”

She couldn’t be too bold, just a little bit better than Song Jianguo.

After all, the wild boar that Song Qingshan brought might just be the best reason for everyone to vote for her as village secretary.

Gou Dan brought over a sharp, pointed dagger.

Song Qingshan was great at using such tools.

With one clean cut, he slashed through the boar’s throat, and with a few more motions, he had removed its head.

Next came skinning.

He passed the knife to Lu Dan, and with a quick motion, the boar’s skin was off.

“Go ahead and vote. Don’t mind me. Once the pig’s ready, I’ll divide it for everyone,” Song Qingshan said casually.

Well, as it turned out, the villagers had very short-sighted views.

Take Song Jianguo, for example.

Song Qingshan held the boar’s head and placed it in his brother’s arms. “Alright, Jianguo, you don’t need to divide the meat. You can have the head.”

“Qingshan, you really are my brother,” Song Jianguo replied, accepting the head, then raised his arm and shouted, “I vote for Su Xiangwan to be the village secretary!”

The candidate had switched sides.

Song Qingshan was still busy with the meat when he cut a large piece of fat.

Suddenly, Song Ershan rushed over. “Big brother, no need to say anything. My sister-in-law is our village secretary. Can I have that piece of wild boar meat? I haven’t had meat in five or six years. The last time I had meat was on the day you and sister-in-law got married. Do you remember?”

Su Xiangwan was on the verge of collapsing. “Is this bribery?”

Although the village had voted in agreement, to truly become the village secretary, it still had to be approved by the township.

Once approved, she would have to go to the township, take an oath under the Red Flag, and only then would this small, humble village secretary position—where the leadership is criticized from above and the villagers only want to take what they can—be officially hers.

The fat and offal of the wild boar were almost completely divided among the villagers.

In the end, what was left were the ribs, which people felt didn’t have much meat. But the ribs were the best part.

Especially the wild boar ribs.

When Su Xiangwan was washing the ribs, Er Dan could no longer wait, his mouth watering.

He suddenly rushed over and dove right into the pile of wild boar meat. “I can’t wait for it to cook; I’m dying to smell it!”

Gou Dan, on the other hand, patted his chest proudly and said, “Brother, you’re too impatient. I can wait for the food to cook, and I could even finish this whole pot!”

Song Qingshan had the fire going strong, the stove roaring with heat.

Su Xiangwan didn’t have white sugar, only a small half-package of brown sugar that she had bought from the supply and marketing cooperative.

She melted all the brown sugar and stir-fried the ribs with it, then added some water to stew.

The wild boar meat not only lost its gamey smell, but it also developed a strong, sweet aroma.

There wasn’t any seasoning, yet it didn’t taste at all fishy. In just half an hour, the meat was tender and falling off the bone.

Xiao Zhizhi, who had smelled the food, was jumping around on the Kang (a traditional heated bed) in excitement, trying several times to sneak down, but the edge of the Kang was too high, and the child was too afraid to climb down.

Gou Dan, a natural pessimist, watched his mother humming a song, and for the first time, he willingly called Song Qingshan “Dad.”

“Dad, how long do you think my mom will be able to be the village secretary?”

Song Qingshan, still tending the fire, casually replied, “That depends on whether Dad can keep carrying wild boars into the village.”

“Then you carry one every day,” Gou Dan said boldly. “I’ll call you ‘Dad’ every day.”

Song Qingshan ruffled his son’s head. “If your mom can hold on until everyone finishes eating this meat, I’ll go hunt another one. Really!”

Su Xiangwan entered just in time to catch his smile. How could she not understand?

This man thought she was just playing around, that the village chief position would last no more than three days before she’d cry and come back home.

Of course, when he used to coax her, he never respected her will either.

That heartless man, thinking he had everything under control?

But for now, she dared not reveal herself, dared not act decisively.

She had to play the fool, pretend to be crazy, and it really made her angry.

Su Xiangwan took all the meat out of the pot and blew on it to cool it down.

She handed a piece to each of the two kids.

They ate one piece, and threw a bone outside. Shanzi, afraid of Song Qingshan being inside, stayed outside the house gnawing on a bone.

That night, Lu Dan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He had eaten too much meat, was full and felt like throwing up, but after all, it was the first time he had eaten meat.

He was afraid his father would find out he threw up and wouldn’t bring more meat in the future, so he kept tossing on the kang (bed) like he was flipping pancakes.

In the dark, he suddenly heard his father’s low voice. He was singing the national anthem.

“Dad, isn’t the national anthem supposed to be sung when raising the flag? Why are you singing it now?” Lu Dan asked, curious.

The deliberately lowered voice suddenly stopped.

Along with the soft breathing of Su Xiangwan and the steady snoring of Gou Dan, Song Qingshan was startled and said, “No, I wasn’t singing. Song Donghai, go to sleep.”

It was the youth of revolutionary times, and tomorrow he had to drive to the provincial capital.

They ate the meat, and the children laughed.

Was life too easy now?

Or had he forgotten the time in Dongfeng City when he hadn’t left yet, and Su Xiangwan had cried, saying that since he got what he wanted, he could divorce her now and go find Ting Xiu?

Was that moment of embarrassment and helplessness forgotten?

Had he forgotten the countless comrades who died after the plane crash and the noble ideals he carried on his shoulders?

Song Qingshan deeply felt that he had been too distracted lately.

He even found himself thinking about random things.

He shut his mouth, silently singing the national anthem in his heart, and soon fell asleep.

Su Xiangwan hadn’t officially been appointed as the village secretary, but it was already a done deal.

Now that she had truly become the secretary, she had to do something practical.

It wasn’t that Su Xiangwan was some saint.

She had money in her hands, and Song Qingshan had a salary.

With subsidies, the three kids wouldn’t starve; they could always make ends meet.

But for the likes of Xiong Dan, who was always hungry, or Ye Dan, whose back had been broken from lifting gold, forcing him to walk with a stick, she, as a woman from the 21st century, had the ability and the means.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch them starve to death.

After planting vegetables and watering them thoroughly, the village women all came to Su Xiangwan because they all wanted to know whether planting vegetables and herbs this way would really double their yield by next year.

The medicinal herb seeds had been bought privately by Su Xiangwan, so they figured it wouldn’t hurt to plant them.

There was another concern: when the herbs were harvested, where would they be sold? Once sold, who would get the money? If the villagers took the money, would that count as engaging in capitalist speculation?

On this matter, Su Xiangwan had already studied the policies.

She explained to the women: “The village will collect them and send them to the county, where a special herb station will accept them. If you can’t read, you can ask Comrade Zhao to help you read the documents. As long as the village buys them back, it counts as secondary work and isn’t considered capitalism.”

Zhao Guodong, who was working behind the women, quickly added, “This policy is indeed valid. I can testify to it.”

He had once even tried to matchmake to marry Su Xiangwan.

Xiong Dan’s mother and Ershan’s wife, Gao Baiyu, immediately started to argue. “Comrade Zhao, your knife can’t even cut through anything. You should spend more time sharpening it. Look at Song Qingshan’s knife; it’s so sharp.”

They were teasing the intellectuals.

“I’m the head of the production team. I’m comrades with Su Xiangwan and all of you. Can we not spread rumors like this?” Zhao Guodong said with his hands on his hips, smiling.

Originally, the women had been secretly hoping to see a comparison between Song Qingshan and Zhao Guodong.

But in the end, Song Qingshan simply carried in a wild boar.

Well, Zhao Guodong lost miserably.

Luckily, he was gentle and magnanimous; if it had been anyone else, they’d probably be embarrassed by now.

“I don’t know where a good girl could be found to marry a good man like Comrade Zhao,” Su Xiangwan deliberately said loudly. “Comrade Zhao, if you want us to help matchmake, just say it. I’ve got some good candidates.”

When she turned around, Zhao Guodong was nowhere to be found.

He was embarrassed.

His personality really was quite charming.