pjbooks Chapter 78 The Purpose of Carrying a Bow
Chapter 78 The Purpose of Carrying a Bow
"Grandma, come out quickly and see who's here."
Who is it?
A woman carrying a spatula came out, water dripping from it, indicating that she had just been washing a pot. This was Lin Chuan's grandmother, Dong Cui.
Dong Cui was accompanied by a younger woman, Sun Xiaoling, her brother-in-law's wife, and behind her were two teenagers, Lin Yang and Lin Yue.
These days, especially in the mountains, visitors are a rare and joyful thing. Whenever someone comes, the whole family will come out to greet them. But I didn't see my uncle Linhe.
"Oh my, Xiuxia's here! Xiaochuan, you're all here! Come in, come in and have some water first. I'm cooking, let's eat right away!"
"Has the rice been cooked?" the old man suddenly asked.
"Not yet, we're just getting ready."
"Then don't cook anymore, let's cook some noodles. Xiaoyang, call your dad back and have him go find Erniu."
"Who serves noodles when their eldest grandson comes home? The water's already boiling, cooking rice will be ready soon. Can't you wait until after we eat to do something?"
Grandma glared at Grandpa, then said, "Why are you looking for Erniu? It's not even New Year's yet."
Linjiadang only has the Lin family, but there are other people on the mountain. Erniu is from the family not far away; he is a butcher.
"I'm not going to kill you, but look what's behind Xiaochuan."
The Lin family's courtyard is gourd-shaped, with a small courtyard in front of the house and a large open space outside.
Mom and Grandpa walked quickly. When they reached the door, they met Grandma and the others and started chatting. Lin Chuan lagged behind by a few meters. In addition, there were piles of firewood on both sides of the small square, so they couldn't see the wild boar that Lin Chuan was leading from the doorway.
After hearing what the old man said, the grandmother took a few steps and peeked out:
"My God, a wild boar! Where did this wild boar come from?"
The old man looked smug: "My good grandson did it, isn't he amazing?"
"Go away, you're talking like he's not my grandson," Grandma punched the old man, then pulled Lin Chuan around and praised him from all angles. In the process, she also praised Lin Feng and Lin Xue, making sure to give them all the credit.
"Alright, let's get this over with first. We need to kill the wild boar first, or it'll go bad if we leave it too long."
The old man interrupted the old woman, and she glared at him irritably, expressing her dissatisfaction that he had interrupted her and her beloved grandson's affectionate conversation.
"Xiaoling, go and light the fire and cook some noodles. Just a little bit, enough for one person to have a little something to tide us over. We'll have a proper meal after we slaughter the pig."
Sun Xiaoling didn't go to the kitchen immediately. She glanced at the basket a few times, then walked up to Dong Cui and whispered:
"Mom, this looks like an electric fan."
"An electric fan? Where did this electric fan come from?"
Grandma Dong Cui hasn't left the house for many years. She's always busy at home and has only heard of electric fans, but has never actually seen one.
After hearing Sun Xiaoling's words, Dong Cui walked over, pulled her mother aside, and asked directly:
"Xiuxia, did you bring an electric fan?"
"Yes, Mom, the weather is getting hotter and hotter. I was thinking of bringing you two fans so you can use them when you're hot."
"Oh dear, we don't need this at all. We've been doing this for so many years. This must be very expensive. Take it with you when you leave and return it."
Although Grandma had never seen an electric fan before, she knew it was expensive, and her first reaction was the same as Grandpa's: to return it.
"Mom, I can't return it anymore. I bought it a while ago."
"Why can't I return it? It's just like new, it's not broken, why can't I return it?"
I bought the fan, but I haven't used it many times. It's not even August yet, and it's not hot except at noon. The fan does look brand new.
Mom and Grandma were no match for each other, so she turned to Lin Chuan for help, since Lin Chuan had asked her to bring the fan.
Lin Chuan stepped forward: "Grandma, let's talk about the fan later. It's not like we're going to take it away today. I'm planning to stay here for two days. Let's eat first, I'm starving."
"Let's go inside. Why are you blocking people at the door?"
The old man couldn't stand it anymore either. Women are so indecisive. He said something to his grandmother, then turned to his daughter-in-law:
"Xiaoling, go cook some noodles. Xiaoyang, go call your dad and tell him to bring Erniu over."
Lin Chuan didn't know who Er Niu was, but he had a guess: "Grandpa, is Er Niu a pig butcher?"
"Yes, we have him slaughter the pigs for our New Year."
"Grandpa, then don't call him. Just call Uncle back. I can slaughter the pig."
"You can even slaughter pigs?"
"Yes, Grandpa, I killed all the wild boars myself, and I've done it many times."
"Fine, then you can kill them. Your uncle and I will assist you."
The wild boars have already been hunted, so the only remaining issue is how to kill them. The old man was too lazy to ask in detail. In fact, he had been watching pigs kill for decades and knew how to do it, but his mindset hadn't changed.
"Xiao Chuan, I heard you hunted a wild boar, that's awesome, haha."
"Uncle."
My uncle Lin He came back, and after some pleasantries, we ate dinner.
Lin Chuan was indeed quite hungry. Although he wasn't tired from carrying the load and walking along the mountain path for so long, the energy expenditure was substantial.
My aunt is a good cook; she cut a lot of cured pork and cooked noodles in it, and it tasted pretty good.
Unfortunately, the portion was a bit small; there was only one bowl per person.
After eating, Lin Chuan skillfully blew air into the pig. After that, his mother poured water on it, and Lin Chuan and his grandfather shaved off the hair together.
Lin Chuan was strong and slashed quickly and steadily. Lin He had previously said he would come and let Lin Chuan rest, but after seeing this, he stopped talking.
He turned to the old man and said, "Dad, keep it up! Xiao Chuan has already beaten you twice as much."
The old man was furious: "Why don't you do it?"
After scraping off the hair and butchering the pig, the standard procedure is to cut open the belly, remove the internal organs, remove the pig's head, cut the meat into two pieces, and then cut it into strips.
After it was divided into two pieces, the old man wouldn't let it be divided into strips again:
"Just cut some for two meals, keep the pig's head, and you can take the meat back with you."
"Dad, keep these for yourselves. We still have plenty of meat at home; we can't possibly eat them all."
"There's no such thing as not being able to eat all the meat," the old man thought Wang Xiuxia was just trying to fool him, and waved his hand dismissively.
"Take it home and eat it slowly. If you can't finish it, you can sell it."
Nearly 100 pounds of meat, costing over 200 yuan, is no small sum.
At that time, farmers' annual income was around six or seven hundred yuan, and two hundred yuan was equivalent to a quarter's income.
Although the old man believed that Lin Chuan was now capable, he thought it was just that life was a little easier.
He didn't know exactly how much he had earned, and he couldn't ask or tell anyone, as he didn't want to take such a big advantage of his grandson's family.
Her mother tried to reason with him for a few minutes but failed. Then she looked at Lin Chuan. He wasn't good with words, was soft-hearted, and lacked assertiveness.
She used to listen to her father when he was alive, but after a few years of trying to stand on her own, her personality started to change. Now that Lin Chuan has risen to prominence, she has become accustomed to wanting to hear his opinions again.
"Grandpa, let's rub some salt on it and wrap it with nylon paper to fumigate it first."
Lin Chuan cut off a piece of meat weighing over ten pounds and pointed to the remaining two pieces, saying...
Like with the fan, he planned to use delaying tactics first.
It's too much trouble to explain this; it's better to let them see the actual situation.
There are quite a few wild boars in Linjiadang. If we take them out and hunt ten or eight in the next few days, we'll have everything sorted out.
Lin Chuan brought a bow for this very purpose.
The old man's family had treated them well, and now that he was able to do so, he naturally wanted to give back.