Second Uncle waved his hand and called out, "Grandpa Zhang, the sled is all harnessed up for me. I'll be driving it back home before dark."
Grandpa Zhang nodded and said, "It's been harnessed for a while now. I was just waiting for you two to get back."
When they reached him, Grandpa Zhang stared wide-eyed and walked a circle around the Ancient Boar.
"Good grief, this thing must weigh eight or nine hundred catties, right?"
Second Uncle handed Grandpa Zhang a cigarette and said, "You said it. I figure it's around eight hundred fifty or sixty catties."
Regardless of anything else, this is quite a catch. Now that the production team doesn't withhold meat anymore, selling the whole thing will bring in a pretty penny."
Second Uncle lit the cigarette for Grandpa Zhang and said, "Pork is only eighty cents a catty now, and wild boar meat is a lot cheaper—at best, maybe fifty cents."
Grandpa Zhang nodded and said, "Though this creature has plenty of fat, the meat is too coarse and hard to stew until tender. Still, it'll do."
Second Uncle pulled out the axe tucked into his waistband and, with a few heavy chops, severed the boar's head.
"Ning Jie, help me bring the boar's head over to your Zhang Ye's place."
Zhang Ye hurriedly protested, "We can't do that. The red deer leg you brought me last time isn't even finished yet. The boy's still growing, give it to him to eat."
Ning Jie braced himself and hoisted the head—and you have to hand it to him, this thing was seriously heavy.
"Grandpa, I'm already twenty, what growing do I have left to do? When my second uncle was my age, Second Aunt's belly was already big."
Second Uncle kicked Ning Jie right in the backside and snapped, "If you're too lazy to find a wife yourself, don't blame me."
Zhang Ye burst into laughter, then leaned in close to Ning Jie and said, "The Eldest Liu family's girl in Jinchang Village is eighteen this year. She finished high school, has an education, looks good, and has wide hips. Shall I ask your grandma to act as a matchmaker for you?"
Ning Jie shuddered. The moment he thought of Liu Jinhua's sharp-tongued, fiery demeanor, the shadow of someone else involuntarily rose in his mind.
That was the woman who had accompanied him without a single complaint for over fifty years. Even living his life over again, he felt no one else could ever compare to her.
"Oh, please don't, Fifth Uncle, I couldn't handle that kind of blessing."
"Then what kind of woman are you looking for?"
"I want to find someone from the city."
Second Uncle gave a disgruntled huff and said, "What do you want with a city girl? She wouldn't be able to carry anything on her shoulder or lift a thing with her hands, and she'd make a fuss over every little thing. She wouldn't even know how to tend to our dozen or so mu of land."
"Then I'll just go to the city myself, and you can come with me when the time comes."
"All you've grown is a mouth on that head of yours. Hurry up and carry that inside."
They carried the boar's head into the house, where a dim tungsten bulb flickered on and off. Grandma Zhang was standing by the stove scrubbing the wok, and when she saw Ning Jie coming in, she quickly set aside her straw dish brush.
"Oh, my dear child, I was actually wondering if the wild boar had turned into a spirit. This thing gave me quite a start."
Ning Jie put down the boar's head and smiled. "Heh, Grandma, you go ahead and tidy up. I've got to hurry back home."
"What's the rush? I was just getting ready to scrub the wok and cook noodles for you and Second Brother."
"I won't eat, Grandma. It's almost dark, and when I get back tonight we still need to process the boar. I have to go sell the pork tomorrow during the day."
"All right, watch your step on the way back."
After seeing Ning Jie out of the house, Grandpa Zhang lent a hand to drag the boar onto the sled, and the family's cow began to slowly pull it forward.
More than twenty dogs started bounding about with joy, vanishing into the distance one moment only to come dashing back the next.
Second Uncle wound the rope around the cow's head, walked behind with his hands behind his back, a cigarette clamped in his teeth, his figure slightly hunched.
Night fell in an instant, and upon returning to that familiar home, Ning Jie felt a sudden, sharp ache in his nose.
At the front gate, Second Aunt and his mother were standing there, their silhouettes just barely visible.
The beam of a flashlight suddenly flashed toward them, and Second Aunt's voice rang out right after: "Oh, you actually caught it! Such a huge thing!"
Ning Jie couldn't help quickening his pace, and by the residual light of the flashlight, he saw that face covered in crow's feet.
"Mom."
Ning Jie's mother's body trembled slightly, and she said, "What is it, Xiao Jie? Why are you crying?"
Second Aunt instantly grew displeased, took a few quick steps forward, and directly grabbed Second Uncle by the ear.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"Still know it hurts, do you? Did you go bullying the child with your itchy hands again?! Ah! With our eldest brother gone, you're Xiao Jie's father—why do your hands always itch like that every single day, huh?!"
Second Uncle felt utterly wronged and protested, "I didn't! I just kicked him once."
Second Aunt immediately raised her foot and kicked Second Uncle back. Second Uncle clutched his backside looking pitiful, wincing and grinning in pain.
"Aigoo, Xiao Jie, don't cry, don't cry! I've already punished your second uncle for you, so stop crying now."
As she spoke, Second Aunt turned her complaints toward Second Uncle: "You're a grown man, and you still go laying hands on a kid? The boy is grown up now, is he someone you can just kick whenever you feel like it?"
"He's twenty already! When I was twenty, you were already pregnant!"
"Bah! You still remember he's twenty? Since he's twenty, why haven't you found him a match yet? Day in and day out, what kind of uncle are you?"
Second Uncle's tooth roots ached with fury. This little bastard must have wanted to torture him on purpose—damn it, that kick hurt, it really fucking hurt!
What an absolute tiger of a woman.
Ning Jie wiped the tears from his face and let out a sudden chuckle. "Second Aunt, my second uncle was just joking around with me. I was just hungry, and seeing the two of you made me want to cry."
Second Aunt said with heartfelt distress, "Oh, you poor child... Wait, did your second uncle eat all the pancakes and not leave you any? Just watch me deal with him."
Second Uncle's eyes went wide: "??????"
After dragging the boar into the courtyard, Second Aunt and Ning Jie's mother boiled some water and began scalding off the bristles.
Second Uncle and Ning Jie sat down at the table. Second Aunt had specially cut a piece of pork and stir-fried it with strips of potato. It might not have been anything fancy, but Ning Jie was genuinely starving, so he picked up a white steamed bun and started devouring it.
"Liu Jinhua—are you really not going to consider her? I've seen that girl, she's a very nice person."
Ning Jie didn't even raise his head. In this lifetime, he was determined to find Lin Yuezhi; it didn't matter what anyone else said.
"I won't consider her. I'm not good enough for her."
"Cut the crap. You seriously plan on finding some city girl to bring back here?"
Ning Jie took a sip of water and nodded.
"Mm-hmm, I want to find someone from the city."
"No, wait—she won't be able to farm!" Second Uncle grew anxious.
"Second Uncle, why do we have to farm and hunt? How much money can that dozen or so mu of land actually make us? And as for hunting, have you ever thought about how things are getting scarcer on the mountain? What happens in a few years if they ban hunting altogether?"
Second Uncle stared hard and said, "Impossible! Let me tell you, even though our line of work won't make us super rich, it's definitely this—"
Second Uncle held up his thumb. "Hunting will never be banned."
Ning Jie didn't know how to explain it to Second Uncle. Hunting would be banned in '96, and guns would be outlawed in the early 2000s. Right now everyone was exploiting loopholes and almost every household had a gun, but what about a few years down the line?
The reform and opening-up wasn't just a spring breeze; it was a mountain of gold, and with this many guns gathered together, something disastrous was bound to happen one hundred percent of the time.
"Second Uncle, do you trust me or not?"
Second Uncle looked thoroughly disdainful. "No."
Ning Jie: "......"