Once he got home, his older brother immediately came up to meet him.
Today, on his way back from his father-in-law's house, passing through Liujia Village, he'd heard many people talking about how Liu Yusheng had been severely beaten and sent to the county hospital for treatment.
"Zhu Zi, was it you who beat Liu Yusheng so badly?" Liu Yushan asked, his face full of worry.
Uncle, who was nearby, also tensed up upon hearing this.
Beating someone to the point of serious injury was no small matter. If Liu Yusheng called the police, Liu Tiezhu would definitely end up in jail.
He had originally thought Liu Tiezhu was just giving Liu Yusheng a simple lesson, never expecting him to inflict such severe injuries.
Liu Tiezhu nodded. "I hit him. Since he wanted to blackmail our family, I figured I'd let him lie in bed for a month."
Liu Tieshan immediately grew anxious. "Zhu Zi, how could you be so foolish?"
"Beating someone to the point of serious injury has blown things out of proportion. Come on, let's go to the Liu family and figure out how to settle this."
As he spoke, Liu Tieshan grabbed Liu Tiezhu and started pulling him toward the door.
"Brother, let me finish what I have to say first."
"I did hit him, that's true, but he has no proof."
"Otherwise, the Liu family would have already shown up by now."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned for a moment.
Er Gouzi chimed in, "Let me tell you, Brother Zhu Zi held back when he beat Liu Yusheng."
"Gou Zi, what happened? Spit it out," Uncle urged.
Er Gouzi didn't hold back and recounted everything in detail.
After listening, Uncle couldn't help but give Liu Tiezhu a thumbs-up.
Dead men tell no tales.
Even if Liu Yusheng suspected Liu Tiezhu, without evidence, the police couldn't do anything to him.
Besides, Liu Yusheng had brought people to extort them, which was already illegal.
If he called the police, they'd investigate him first anyway.
Liu Tiezhu's move was brilliantly executed.
"Zhu Zi, Gou Zi, you two need to be extra careful from now on."
Liu Tieshan remained cautious and offered a warning.
The feud with the Liu family was now set in stone.
Given Liu Yusheng's character, this wouldn't just blow over.
"Brother, don't worry. Even if Liu Yusheng wants to cause me trouble again, it'll be months before he can."
Thinking of the impending first snowstorm, Liu Tiezhu wasn't worried about Liu Yusheng's revenge at all.
"There's one more thing."
Er Gouzi couldn't keep his mouth shut and blurted out how Liu Gang had tried to steal their meat at the village entrance earlier.
At the mention of Liu Gang, Uncle was the first to stand up, gritting his teeth in anger.
When Big Brother and Sister-in-law were still alive, that family had given them no end of trouble.
The land Liu Shan had allocated to their family was the worst in the village, and the sweet potato plot was barren wasteland with low yields.
After Big Brother and Sister-in-law had finally managed to cultivate that wasteland, old man Liu Shan had found various excuses to swap it away.
Now, hearing that Liu Gang had tried to steal Liu Tiezhu's meat, Uncle was furious.
"Zhu Zi, you were too impulsive. Stabbing Liu Gang means his father will be here soon," Liu Tieshan said worriedly.
Uncle retorted, "What's there to fear? That old man's son tried to rob us first—we're in the right."
"If he dares to come and act tough again, I'll reason with the old bastard."
"Even if I have to risk my old life, I won't let that old man bully our family anymore."
"That's right! If they dare come and bully us again, I'll beat the hell out of them," Er Gouzi joined in, stirring things up.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Uncle, Gou Zi, don't be impulsive. Liu Shan won't be strutting around for much longer."
"The snow will melt in three days. Let's focus on hunting."
"Three days from now, there'll be a massive blizzard. When that happens, Liu Shan's family is bound to run into trouble."
At the mention of hunting, everyone's attention shifted back to the burlap sacks.
Liu Tieshan opened one, and his eyes went wide as saucers.
"Uncle, it's wild boar."
What?
Uncle didn't react at first, then grabbed Er Gouzi's sack.
Staring at the massive pig legs and chunks of meat, he was too moved to speak.
"Did you go into the mountains?"
After a long pause, Uncle finally came to his senses and asked Liu Tiezhu.
Liu Tiezhu replied, "No, we ran into it in the cornfield near West Village."
Uncle chuckled heartily. "You two are incredibly lucky."
"With this meat, we won't have to worry about the New Year."
Just three days ago, he'd been fretting over food and had nearly lost his life.
Now, with over two hundred pounds of game stored at home, plus this pork, it was enough to last him until the New Year.
Liu Tiezhu reminded him, "Uncle, meat alone won't be enough."
"For a long time to come, there'll be continuous blizzards. Hunting won't be easy then."
"I plan to go into town again tomorrow to trade for a few hundred pounds of rice. You should prepare early too."
In his past life, he remembered several massive blizzards hitting one after another, driving many animals deep into the mountains.
Whether he could still hunt game after this was uncertain.
That's why he had a plan to train hunting dogs.
The dogs could track game by scent, but whether they'd actually catch anything was still unknown.
"Zhu Zi, how do you know there'll be continuous blizzards?" Uncle asked.
Liu Tiezhu muttered, "I'm just guessing. Anyway, it's better to stock up on rice just in case."
Rice hadn't gone up in price yet—ten pounds of meat could trade for thirty-three pounds of rice.
After the first blizzard, the price of rice would double.
Then ten pounds of meat would only get twenty pounds of rice.
After the third blizzard, rice would double again.
By then, with heavy snow blocking all roads and villagers turning to robbery, trading meat for rice would be extremely difficult.
"Zhu Zi, you're right. We should stockpile more rice just in case," Uncle nodded, then turned his gaze to Er Gouzi.
"Tomorrow, clear out all the meat at home and trade for as much rice as possible."
Er Gouzi nodded, agreeing to follow Uncle's orders.
Soon, smoke began rising from the kitchen...
Except for Yaoyao, who was playing with the puppy in the yard, everyone else went into the kitchen to help.
Processing a wild boar weighing nearly three hundred pounds was no easy task.
Fortunately, Uncle used to be a butcher and had plenty of experience with wild boar.
After two hours of hard work, they finally finished butchering the boar.
Liu Tiezhu had his brother divide the meat into two portions, while the stomach and offal were set aside for tonight's dinner.
By six in the evening, a table full of offal dishes was laid out, their mouthwatering aroma whetting everyone's appetite.
Uncle was in high spirits and brought out some strong liquor, pouring a cup for everyone.
A few cups of the fiery liquor down, and everyone's bodies warmed up.
Uncle picked up a piece of pig heart, tossed it into his mouth, and then said, "Zhu Zi, what are your plans next?"
"You're not getting any younger. It's time to settle down and start a family."
"Uncle, let's talk about marriage after these blizzards pass," Liu Tiezhu said.
In his past life, he hadn't married, so he didn't give it much thought.
Right now, he was focused solely on how to survive the next three blizzards.
After those three blizzards, the land would be overrun with starving refugees fighting for food, and he'd have to find a way to prevent his own supplies from being looted.
The meal stretched on until after nine in the evening. A delighted Uncle was flushed red from drinking.
Liu Tiezhu helped him home and told Er Gouzi to come early tomorrow.
Back at his place, Liu Tiezhu added a few logs to the stove, then lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, his mind consumed with how to handle the coming blizzards.
Tomorrow's meat could be traded for five hundred pounds of rice, but that was still a drop in the bucket against three massive blizzards.
Over the next three days, he would have to ramp up his hunting efforts significantly.