CHAPTER 16: CHAPTER 13: THE SWALLOW RETURNS 13

"No need, I’ll go fetch some vines."

In a short while, Jiang Jianjun returned with some vines and a branch to use as a pole.

A few rounds later, he and Jiang Jian Country had securely tied up the large wild boar.

"Alright, eldest brother and I will carry one back first. We’ll leave the smaller one in the cave and come back for it later. Third sister, you carry the wild chickens and rabbits, and little sister, you handle the flashlight."

Jiang Jianjun quickly assigned the tasks.

As they made their way back, no one noticed what Jiang Mingyue was doing. It was only when the brothers needed a rest midway through from exhaustion that they realized the smaller boar had accompanied them, not by its own feet, but because Jiang Mingyue had carried it down.

The other three siblings: "... Even though, even though you’re strong, little sister, this wild boar is really heavy."

Jiang Mingyue: "Heavy? It’s just over a hundred pounds."

The two boars combined weighed at most four hundred pounds.

Several siblings: "..."

Unable to deter the strong-willed powerhouse, the journey continued as before, but Jiang Zhenmei took over the flashlight at the back, while Jiang Mingyue led at the front. The siblings watched anxiously, fearing she might trip or something similar.

But it was clear their worries were baseless; the seemingly "frail" city sister easily slung the hundred-plus-pound wild boar over her shoulder, navigating the rugged, thorny mountain path as if it were a flat surface, striding forward as if she were attending a wine party at the Long Pavilion.

In the middle of the night, the four siblings finally arrived home, entering through the small back door in the unnoticed backyard.

Shen Fanghua might not have slept while waiting for their return, for she immediately lit a candle and opened the door upon hearing a slight noise.

Seeing her fourth daughter carrying a wild boar alone made Mrs. Jiang both distressed and angry.

"I ask you three, what did you grow up eating? How could you let your fourth sister carry things? And such heavy things at that?"

It was enough to infuriate her.

The siblings hung their heads in guilt, not daring to meet their mother’s gaze.

It was Jiang Mingyue who spoke up to soothe her: "Mom, I carried it myself. I’m strong, see, I haven’t even broken a sweat."

It was then the others noticed that, at some point, they were all drenched with sweat, even though it was the latter part of a cool night.

"Mom, you should go rest. I’ll handle things with my brothers."

This was what she had heard her brothers and sisters discuss on the road.

Finally, they had meat to eat. They would only be relieved after watching the pork be properly handled and stored; there was no extra time to rest, as dawn would soon break.

"Ming Yue, you and Mom should rest. The three of us will handle it, Zhenmei, you go boil water."

"Ming Yue should rest. I’ll help you to speed things up, the water’s already boiled, Zhenmei go fetch it."

Jiang Mingyue originally intended to go rest, exhausted and sleepy after all the work.

But seeing her family so excited, she wanted to stay as well, especially since she had other ideas.

"Mom, could I take charge of storing the wild chickens and rabbits?"

Mrs. Jiang thought her daughter was talking nonsense: "Ming Yue, what’s ours is yours. You can handle it however you want. Besides, without you, I doubt those three would return with anything. In fact, you should decide what to do with the two boars. Let your two brothers handle the slaughter, plucking, cutting, and dividing. You handle the storage, decide how to eat them. From now on, the meat in the house will be managed by you."

Jiang Mingyue: "..." Although what Mrs. Jiang said wasn’t quite what she intended, it was generally correct.

Jiang Zhenmei: "Yes, fourth sister’s cooking is delicious. I have no objections; from now on it’s up to her."

The two brothers were eager to express their agreement: "Nothing could be better. Fourth sister, you don’t even know, our mom and third sister’s cooking is terrible; after tasting yours, we think theirs is mere pig feed."

Mrs. Jiang sneered: "... Oh really! How dare you criticize your mother to her face, clearly you need teaching a lesson."

The Jiang brothers: "... Mom, you can’t ignore the truth."

After some casual chat, it seemed the fatigue had vanished.

They spoke in low voices, and since the back yard wasn’t connected to neighbors, they weren’t worried about being overheard.

The water was boiling, and soon they were collecting pig’s blood, plucking hair, and removing all the viscera.

Jiang Mingyue noticed they were throwing the viscera on the ground along with the pig hair, assuming they didn’t know it could be eaten.

"Eldest brother, second brother, these are needed too."

Jiang Jian Country: "No, Ming Yue, this stuff can’t be eaten."

"How do you know it can’t be eaten?"

"Never seen anyone eat it. A year ago, during the New Year, they collectively caught three wild boars, dug out and buried the three sets of viscera on site. The butcher said it wasn’t edible and would quickly stink if left outside."

Jiang Mingyue patiently explained, "Eldest brother, trust me, this is good stuff. Just clean it well as I instruct and it’s fine."

Mrs. Jiang: "Why so much nonsense? Just listen to your fourth sister."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Jiang Mingyue could hardly suppress a laugh.

Following Jiang Mingyue’s instructions, they cut down the four whole hind legs, then the four whole front legs, cut off the pig’s head, extracted the ribs, and similarly the big bones, while the meat was cut into strips.

Normally, they would have stopped here, but the brothers, like iron men, insisted on processing the viscera Jiang Mingyue had set aside.

Jiang Mingyue took out another bag of salt to teach them how to use it to clean the intestines thoroughly.

After a busy night, they barely finished everything before dawn, even burying all the hair and blood, and Mrs. Jiang sprinkled her homemade deodorizer to restore the place to its original state.

With everything sorted out, Jiang Mingyue wanted to wash up and sleep, but her family was heading to work with hoes. Jiang Mingyue realized farming had no weekends and sunny days required work.

"Mom, brothers, I made some buns yesterday. Let me get some for you to take along."

Jiang Mingyue wrapped eight large buns in a cloth to give to them.

She didn’t insist on going to the fields; she knew her brothers and sisters didn’t want her to either. She stayed home to make delicious food for them when they returned.

Other families had to cook after a day’s work.

Jiang Mingyue felt she was also "working."

Once everyone left, she hurriedly put all the meat from the woodshed into her space, including the wild chickens and rabbits.

Later, she locked the kitchen cupboard as if it held the meat, then quickly washed up and went to sleep.

When she woke up, it was already afternoon.

Although there wasn’t a clock at home, she could gauge time by the sun’s position, determining it to be around 3:30 p.m.

In the kitchen, they had kept her buns and wild vegetable porridge warm, which Jiang Mingyue quickly ate.

Afterward, she entered her space and found that the grains she planted yesterday had already sprouted to palm height, the growth speed was astonishing, so she used spiritual power to water them and left them alone.

She took out the four pig hind legs and cleaned them again in a large basin found in the kitchen, preparing to cure them into ham, with the first step being to apply salt evenly on the meat surface.

She also took out the pig liver, along with a large bone.

She cleaned the large bone to start making soup and sliced the pig liver, gathering ginger and green onions from the yard, washing and chopping them.

For the main dish, she made some more buns.