Chapter 39: Distributing Meat to the Entire Village!

"Let's move the wild boars a distance at a time, then come back for the rest. This way, we won't waste time walking back and forth," Tang Jiancheng said, ignoring the shock of those around him. He quickly directed, "Brother Xingde, just keep an eye on the pigs as you go."

"Don't just stand there, let's get to work!"

Everyone sprang into action. The stronger men hoisted a wild boar onto their shoulders and walked off, while those less strong paired up to carry one. Aside from the small, hundred-pound yellow-haired boars, there were several massive boars weighing three to four hundred pounds, and sows weighing two to three hundred pounds. These required several people to lift. With the labor divided this way, the twenty-odd people were clearly not enough; many had to make two or three trips.

Liu Guang, hiding behind a rock, watched this scene, dumbfounded. Since when had wild boars become so easy to hunt? And where were his older and second brothers?

Once Tang Jiancheng and the others were far away, Liu Guang emerged from behind the rocks with his hunting dogs and headed toward Dachun Mountain to find Liu Mazi and Liu Qiang. However, all he found were his brother’s bird gun, torn fragments of clothing, bloodstains, and signs of a chaotic struggle. He found no sign of the men themselves, and dark, grim thoughts flooded his mind.

"Impossible. How could my brothers just vanish without a trace?" A murderous gleam flashed in Liu Guang's eyes. "It must be that bastard Tang Sanpao and his apprentice! They must have disposed of the bodies! They really are ruthless!"

"But if you dare to kill my brothers, I will make you pay in blood! You will regret this for the rest of your lives!"

After searching the area thoroughly, Liu Guang finally took the gun and his dogs and headed back. Upon arriving home, he learned that his brothers had been taken to the township clinic and were currently in surgery. Possessing at least a shred of conscience, he limped his way to the clinic.

Liu Qiang had regained consciousness, but he had several broken ribs, and the bones in his arms and legs were shattered; even if he recovered, he would be left with a severe disability. Liu Mazi was still unconscious, having lost too much blood. His abdomen had been punctured in several places and ripped open, his intestines exposed. It was a miracle he was still alive. Whether he would ever wake up again, the doctors could not say.

"Second Brother, was it Tang Sanpao who did this to you? Just focus on resting; I’m going to go slaughter that bastard right now!"

Arriving at Liu Qiang’s ward and seeing him swathed in bandages, Liu Guang’s eyes turned bloodshot.

Liu Qiang said weakly, "Don't... they were the ones who saved us! We were gored by the wild boars!"

"What? How could you be gored by boars? Didn't you have guns and knives?" Liu Guang couldn't believe it.

"There were too many of them!" Liu Qiang replied. With that, exhaustion overcame him, and after a sip of water, he drifted back to sleep.

In Liu Guang's mind, the image of Tang Sanpao and his group carrying the wild boars flashed. He finally understood what "too many" meant—his brothers had run into a stampede.

Meanwhile, back in the village, the arrival of Tang Jiancheng and his team with the wild boars caused a sensation. Almost everyone gathered around to marvel at the sight. Hunting twenty-one boars of various sizes at once was truly extraordinary—a feat not seen in decades, perhaps even a century.

"My goodness, how many boars did they kill?"

"You guys are incredible! There are so many, they look like a mountain!"

"It wasn't us—Uncle Jiancheng hunted them all by himself!"

"What? Jiancheng did it alone? Good heavens!"

"When did he learn to hunt? And to be this good? With this much game, he’s definitely the best hunter in all the surrounding villages!"

"Jiancheng has really been favored by the heavens lately. First finding a few boars, then digging up eleven fat badgers, then earning the township head's approval during the disaster relief, and now twenty-one wild boars! Each one is more astounding than the last!"

Amidst the shock and exclamations of the villagers, Tang Jiancheng and the others moved the boars to their homes. Tang Genshui shouted, "Yuezhu, hurry and boil water! We need to slaughter, de-hair, and clean them. If we leave them too long, the blood will soak into the meat and ruin the taste."

Yuan Yuezhu had already heard the news. Both shocked and delighted, she had stoked the fire high and boiled several large pots of water. Across the way, Liu Fangfang had also heard the news and had her children boil water as well. Tang Jiancheng’s brothers quickly returned home, brought their pots over, set up makeshift stoves, and started fires. Their families all came to help, as did the relatives of Tang Xingde.

While the water was boiling, Tang Genshui directed the men to set up frames. They hung the boars upside down and stabbed each one through the heart, letting the blood drain out. Since the boars had been dead for a while and the weather was freezing, not much blood flowed out; most had already congealed inside.

Seeing this, Tang Genshui's expression shifted slightly. "Bring the hot water over quickly! We must get as much blood out as possible!"

Yuan Yuezhu and the children brought the water, and Tang Genshui directed the men to de-hair and gut the carcasses, pouring hot water over them as they worked. It helped a little, though not much.

"It's fine," Tang Jiancheng consoled him. "If the blood won't come out, so be it. It doesn't matter if it soaks into the meat; wild boar isn't exactly delicious anyway—it's far worse than domestic pork."

"We worked hard to hunt these, so we should at least try our best," Tang Genshui insisted. Tang Jiancheng said no more and went back to de-hairing the boars.

The sisters all helped with the water, though the youngest ones were kept away from the boiling pots to prevent burns; they busied themselves gathering firewood instead. Twenty-one boars required an immense amount of wood to process, but fortunately, Tang Jiancheng had spent the previous days gathering plenty of dry wood from the mountains.

With plenty of hands, the work moved quickly. In less than an hour, all twenty-one boars were processed. Tang Jiancheng consulted with Tang Xingde and then announced loudly, "Brother Xingde says that to thank everyone for their help after his family's disaster and for their support over the years, he has decided to give five pounds of meat to every household in the village!"

"And for those who went into the mountains to help carry and process the boars, every household will receive fifteen pounds!"

"Wow! That's wonderful!"

"Xingde is a righteous man!"

"It's been years since we've seen a village-wide meat distribution like this!"

The villagers cheered thunderously. Tang Xingde hurried to shout, "This was all Tang Jiancheng's idea! If you want to thank someone, thank him!"