CHAPTER 100: CHAPTER 100: HAPPIER THAN NEW YEAR’S

In this situation, the third household played both the good and bad roles, even those who caused trouble had no way to say a word against them.

People were so generous, yet it was these people who were too greedy, even causing a disturbance.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s emotions were ignited.

The crowd looked angrily at Aunt Lin, their faces full of resentment and anger.

This vicious woman!

She couldn’t get it herself, so she wouldn’t let others have it either.

Poor Aunt Lin had just been injured in both hands by a wild boar and now had to deal with these troublemakers, being beaten so badly she cried out pitifully.

Tang Qingrou tried to pull her away several times, but was dragged into the crowd and hit a few times as well.

When Tang Qingrou squeezed out of the crowd, she went to Niu Qian and tearfully pleaded with him.

"Brother Niu, please save my mother, she’s about to be beaten to death."

As she turned around, she saw Niu Qian staring blankly at Pei Shu’er, no longer showing her the tenderness from before.

Tang Qingrou felt panicked, leaning bonelessly into Niu Qian’s arms, coquettishly pleading.

"Brother Niu, you’re the best. I’ll do whatever you want tonight, you can play however you like."

Hearing this, Niu Qian finally snapped back to his senses reluctantly.

It was simply because Pei Shu’er’s face was too beautiful.

Just looking at it was alluring.

Slurp.

But the woman in his arms was hitting just the right spots for him.

Niu Qian rushed in and pulled Aunt Lin out.

With a fierce look on his face, people didn’t dare do anything.

However, everyone held deep resentment towards Aunt Lin, thinking they must have lost their heads to have been bewitched by her just now.

Anyway, Niu Qian couldn’t stay there forever, and when he left, everyone could deal with Aunt Lin later.

Aunt Lin could no longer imagine good days ahead.

When dividing the boar meat, the wild boar’s skin was kept by Tang Zan, and as compensation, they gave everyone a little more meat.

The old couple went off to tan the leather.

Pei Shu’er planned to use it to make ancient-style protective gear.

Nowadays, the likelihood was that these people still had to be conscripted into the battlefield.

The previous group of exiles had also been conscripted into the battlefield.

Now the government officers probably wanted them to adapt to the environment first.

The others didn’t think about all this, they only cared about the wild boar meat.

Everyone held heavy wild boar meat in their hands, smiling until their teeth showed.

They had already silently planned in their minds: The fattier parts could be used to render lard and stir-fry.

The leaner parts would be stir-fried; regardless, today they had to eat the boar meat.

As dawn approached, everyone’s stomachs were rumbling with hunger after staying up all night, so they hurried back home to cook the wild boar meat!

Just the thought made their mouths water uncontrollably.

"Mom will make you wild boar ribs, it’s not only delicious but also filling, and the broth can go with rice."

"I also want braised pork like the one made by the third household, it was so tasty."

"Sweetie, we don’t have sugar at home right now. But when it’s time to go into town, we’ll buy it, and mom will make it for you then."

This was just a way to trick the kids; the border city was more than a hundred miles away.

The government officers kept such a strict watch on them, there was no way they could reach the border city.

However, the joy of receiving the wild boar meat made everyone forget these worries.

When the pork was ready, the entire deserted mountain was filled with a fragrant aroma of meat that made everyone’s stomachs growl just by smelling it.

The more basic preparation involved cooking the wild boar meat with sweet potatoes, whose subtle sweetness melded with the rich flavor of the boar.

A fancier preparation included digging up some radishes or yams from the mountain to boil with the wild boar ribs.

The boar meat soup, combined with the soft and glutinous yams, was so flavorful and smooth that people couldn’t stop eating.

One family, with two young children and a woman, received five pounds of boar meat from the hunt.

Now that the boar meat was ready, the two children were drooling as they were about to eat, but the woman spoke sternly.

"Wait, don’t eat yet. Let’s first thank Miss Pei; if not for her, we wouldn’t have had this blessing of eating wild boar."

After saying this, she took a bowl, filled it with some rice, and bowed towards the direction of the third household.

The two children didn’t think this was strange at all and bowed along willingly.

Others saw this and also followed the woman’s gesture, bowing towards the stone house of the third household.

They needed to be grateful, to remember.

Today, they had a taste of wild boar because of someone!

The government officers didn’t care about their survival, and other exiles only cared about filling their own bellies. At this moment, only Pei Shu’er gave them meat to eat.

The entire deserted mountain was filled with a New Year’s celebration atmosphere.

Some families even brought their bowls, with a few pieces of wild boar meat, and a few people squatted by the field ridges to eat in threes and fours.

As they ate, they remarked.

"Not even the New Year was this happy."

Exactly! During the New Year, they were starving and didn’t know which would come first, death, or tomorrow.

How unlike now, when they could eat wild boar.

"If we could catch wild boars every day, we wouldn’t worry about being hungry."

Everyone felt like they were eating well, but the third household’s meals were far better in comparison.

After all, the third household had Pei Shu’er, who was maxed out in cooking skills.

Tonight, Yinxing, Hongye, and Granny Zhang helped in the kitchen, chopping the wild boar meat into block-sized pieces, as Pei Shu’er planned to make braised pork for everyone.

Since moving to the new house, they hadn’t tasted such a delicacy, although no one said it, they all longed for it in their hearts.

While making the braised pork, Pei Shu’er also took out some potatoes "found" on the mountain and cooked them together.

The wild boar meat was robust and took a long time to become flavorful, but once tasted, it had a unique taste.

Pei Shu’er even luxuriously deep-fried some ribs, and as soon as they were done, a strong aroma of meat filled the entire stone house.

Everyone’s mouth watered at the scent.

Meanwhile, the river had thawed, so Zhang Chao, Ma He, Li Zhuang, and Liu Di caught a few fish.

Pei Shu’er made a sweet and sour fish, its tangy aroma wafting through every room of the stone house.

Then she made a clear soup fish, which was indescribably delicious.

As it was spring, some wild vegetables were also emerging from the mountains, such as shepherd’s purse and bracken, which Pei Shu’er stir-fried for a mix of meat and vegetables.

In the chicken coop, the wild chickens had been laying eggs after being fed through the winter, and Pei Shu’er carefully collected them, whipping up a bowl of wild chicken eggs and frying them in wild boar oil to make a fragrant scrambled egg dish.

When all the dishes were served, people from the third household couldn’t believe the feast before them.

After the meal, everyone looked like they had eaten too much once again.

Even though they were once people of privilege, having tasted all kinds of delicacies, whatever Pei Shu’er cooked had a magic that kept them from stopping.

Looking at the empty plates, Pei Shu’er, the cooking enthusiast, felt a sense of satisfaction.