Although she didn't know why Aunt Wei was asking again when she had already explained it, Chun Mian still replied earnestly, "Yes, I killed it."
Aunt Wei felt her vision going black in waves! This didn't sound real at all, damn it! Where was her Xiao Hai?
Wei Dama felt her breathing quicken, but she forced herself to steady her mind at the thought of Wei Qihai. Then, upon seeing Wei Qihai standing perfectly intact behind Chun Mian, Wei Dama felt her vision clear up a bit.
"You child..." Uncle Wei also finally came to his senses. He wanted to offer some praise, but due to his limited vocabulary, he thought for a moment before simply adding, "You're really amazing."
"Old man! Old man!" Uncle Wei called out for Old Man Wei after he finished speaking.
Old Man Wei's fields were a bit further away, not near the intersection. Because of the distance and the fact that he was busy working in the fields, he probably hadn't noticed Chun Mian's side. At this point, Uncle Wei still hadn't realized that something was off.
Instead, it was Aunt Wei who, after taking a long time to process everything, finally realized the problem. "Y-y-you carried it back?"
"Yes." Chun Mian felt that she should be honest with the relatives who cared about her.
However, seeing Aunt Wei looking as if she might faint at any moment, Chun Mian wondered if she had said something wrong.
"Such a massive wild boar, and you just carried it back like that?" Aunt Wei truly felt like she was running out of oxygen. The hand she used to point at the boar was trembling.
Chun Mian was confused. Was it because her strength was too great? She wondered if it was too late to act a little weaker now.
Not wanting Aunt Wei to worry, Chun Mian dropped the wild boar, slumped down beside it, and said softly, "Oof, it's so heavy." She figured this performance made her look weak and perfectly normal, right?
THUD!
When the wild boar hit the ground, Aunt Wei felt the earth itself tremble.
Pinching her philtrum to stay conscious, Aunt Wei took a step forward and evaluated the beast with her experienced eyes. This wild boar had to weigh at least two hundred and sixty to seventy catties. Then she looked at Chun Mian, who barely weighed a hundred catties herself. Realizing the sheer weight difference between the two, Aunt Wei pressed her fingers even harder against her philtrum.
She wanted to say something, but at that moment, Old Man Wei heard the commotion and rushed over with Wei Shuxiang, completely abandoning their farm work.
"Shumei! Shumei!" When Old Man Wei heard that Chun Mian had brought back a wild boar, he was nearly scared to death. Rushing over, he only had eyes for Chun Mian and didn't even notice the wild boar lying right beside her.
"I'm fine, Dad," Chun Mian quickly stood up when she saw the worried look on Old Man Wei's face.
Seeing that Chun Mian was perfectly safe, Old Man Wei finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"It's good that you're fine. Good that you're fine," Old Man Wei repeated. Then, putting on a stern face, he swatted Chun Mian's arm twice. It looked forceful, but the impact was incredibly light. "You child, how could you go deep into the mountains? It's too dangerous! You're not allowed to go there anymore!"
"Okay, I'll listen to you, Dad." Chun Mian acted incredibly well-behaved, showing that she was an obedient child.
Unfortunately, Old Man Wei was a naive and honest man. He had no idea that Chun Mian's expression actually meant, "I know I was wrong, but I'll do it again next time!"
Having received Chun Mian's promise, Old Man Wei finally noticed the wild boar on the side. Looking at the boar's sheer tonnage, his vision blurred once more.
After another chaotic flurry of activity, Old Man Wei, Uncle Wei, Third Uncle Wei, and Uncle Wei—the four brothers—along with a few male cousins, finally managed to lug the wild boar back home. At this point, everyone's focus was solely on the wild boar. No one stopped to think about how Chun Mian had single-handedly carried back a boar that required several grown men to lift.
Times had changed from a few years ago, when anything hunted in the mountains had to be handed over to the collective. Now, whatever you caught belonged to you. However, even if a wild boar of this size were divided among Old Man Wei and his three brothers, they wouldn't necessarily be able to finish it. The weather was hot now. If they couldn't finish the fresh meat, they would have to turn it into cured or salted meat. Otherwise, it wouldn't keep, and it would be a pity if it went bad.
Wei Xiangdong, the village chief of Xiao Wo Village and one of Chun Mian's paternal uncles, rushed over immediately upon hearing about the wild boar. His purpose for coming was actually quite simple. Since the Wei Family couldn't finish it all, could they consider sharing some with the villagers? Of course, it wouldn't be for free; they would pay for it. He just hoped that, for the sake of being fellow villagers, it could be sold at a slightly cheaper price.
Old Man Wei consulted Chun Mian about this, and only nodded in agreement after receiving her consent.
Soon, every household in the village beamed with joy as they grabbed bowls or basins and headed over to buy meat. The summer harvest had just ended, and everyone was genuinely exhausted. With living standards improving over the past two years, people had more disposable income and were less stingy. Thus, everyone bought at least a little bit as a reward for their families' recent hard work.
Old Man Wei hired the village butcher to help. Naturally, their family kept some of the best cuts for themselves. Thick, perfectly marbled pork belly was Old Man Wei's favorite. He also saved a few ribs to boil into soup for Chun Mian to nourish her body. The rest was available for everyone else to divide up.
Because Chun Mian had struck so heavily, many of the wild boar's joints and bones were already fractured and separated. The experienced old butcher stared at the boar's mangled insides in silence for about a minute before wiping his face and resuming his work.
As he swung his cleaver to portion the meat, the old butcher silently remarked in his heart that any woman these days who could harden her heart and choose divorce despite others' judgment was indeed an absolute savage. An ordinary woman could never mangle a wild boar like this! If the old butcher had the privilege of visiting the modern era, he would probably think of a specific term: a ragdoll.
The four brothers of the Wei Family each received their share of pork, taking home a couple of ribs as well. As for the remaining meat, it was quickly divvied up among the villagers, with one family taking half a catty and another taking a few grams. The bones weren't wasted either. Old Man Wei generously announced that the bones were free. Anyone who wanted them could take them back to boil for soup—first come, first served.
At noon that day, the rich aroma of meat drifted from every household in Xiao Wo Village. Although Mrs. Wei felt her heart clench with a painful ache at the sight of so much meat being given away, looking at the money in her hands and the eggs, brown sugar, and other goods bartered for the meat, her heart didn't seem to ache quite as much.
If wild boar meat wasn't cooked properly, it would have a very strong gamey smell. Thus, Mrs. Wei added heavy spices into the pot while clutching her painfully aching chest. Since it required heavy spices to taste good anyway, Mrs. Wei gritted her teeth, braced herself, and cooked nearly half a basin of pork belly. Because of this, she even specifically sent Wei Shuxiang to call Wei Qifeng and his wife back for a meal.
After the elementary school semester started, Wei Qifeng and his wife had already moved back into their new house. When the meat was distributed today, the couple hadn't shown up. They probably hadn't heard the news. Since Mrs. Wei doted on her son, she naturally had to send someone to fetch them.
When Wei Qifeng arrived and heard that Chun Mian had carried back a wild boar, he stood frozen in the main room for a full minute. Then he glanced at Hao Yue beside him, only to find that his wife was still looking utterly bewildered and hadn't processed the news at all.
Seeing his wife in such a state, Wei Qifeng felt an inexplicable sense of superiority. He chuckled internally, "Hehehe, my sister is a total badass!"