"Brother Zhu, a wild boar..." Liu Ergou shouted in terror when he saw Liu Tiezhu.
"Damn it!" Looking at the fat pig behind Liu Ergou, Liu Tiezhu couldn't help but curse. This wild boar weighed at least three hundred jin, its bristles standing on end and eyes bloodshot—a state of rage. He had no idea how Ergou had managed to provoke such a beast. A three-hundred-jin wild boar was fully grown; the compound crossbow in his hand couldn't even pierce its hide. The only option was to run.
"Ergou, zigzag! Fast!" Liu Tiezhu bellowed, grabbing a wooden stick and charging at the boar. Ergou didn't hesitate, immediately weaving in an S-pattern through the weeds.
Liu Tiezhu closed to within three meters of the boar, firing the umbrella spoke from his compound crossbow while swinging the stick wildly in a flurry of blows. Just as he'd predicted, the umbrella spike only scratched the boar's hide, barely penetrating it. It couldn't hurt the beast. But the barrage of stick strikes did make the boar halt.
By then, Ergou was panting heavily as he came up behind Liu Tiezhu, pulling out a hatchet for defense. "Damn it, this beast is starving—it sees me as a meal." "Brother Zhu, can we take this thing down?" Thinking back to the close call, Ergou's heart was still pounding.
"No way. This is a full-grown boar, incredibly strong." "Our gear here can't handle it. Fighting head-on is suicide." Liu Tiezhu wanted to claim those hundreds of jin of meat, but he knew his limits. If they'd brought iron pitchforks, they might have had a chance. But with just a hatchet and this compound crossbow, it was too risky. A mature male boar was devastatingly powerful; one wrong move and it could gore them, ending their lives right there.
"Damn, if only we had a hunting rifle." "That's hundreds of jin of meat—enough to feed us for a month." Ergou said regretfully.
The two men and the boar faced off for several minutes before the beast finally turned and left. Once it was gone, Liu Tiezhu turned to Ergou. "Ergou, what happened? Did the boar hurt you?" "There's a whole nest of boars back there—besides this male, there are six or seven piglets and a sow." "When I was draining the roe deer's blood, I startled the beast, and it chased me." "Brother Zhu, let's figure out a way to take out the whole batch." At the mention of wild boars, Ergou's eyes lit up again, completely forgetting the danger he'd just faced.
Liu Tiezhu smacked Ergou on the head and pointed at the roe deer nearby. "Take out what? Our crappy gear here can't even scratch them." "You go drain those two silly deer's blood, and I'll gather some dry firewood." Ergou turned his head, grinned, and trotted off with the hatchet. Three roe deer—that was nearly two hundred jin of meat. No more going hungry.
Liu Tiezhu gathered dry wood, his mind working on how to deal with the boar pack. A group of boars usually didn't stray far. Since they'd nested here, they'd definitely come back. His compound crossbow couldn't hurt them; he needed something with more punch. The iron pitchforks at home wouldn't cut it either—even if they could pierce the boars, he and Ergou weren't strong enough to take them on. One slip-up, and the whole village might be feasting at their funeral.
He lit a fire, and Ergou dragged the three roe deer back. Liu Tiezhu tossed a sweet potato to Ergou and asked, "Ergou, can you get your hands on a hunting rifle?" "I could before, but now it's strict—everything's been turned in." "Brother Zhu, you want to go after those boars?" Ergou asked.
"No shit. Hundreds of jin of meat—you're not tempted?" Liu Tiezhu replied. How could Ergou not be? He was practically drooling. "We've got steel forks at home. One each. Want to come back tomorrow and take them on?"
Liu Tiezhu shook his head. "That's a last resort. We're no match for boars in a brawl." "So what do we do?" Ergou smacked his lips. "If we could bag those beasts, we'd be set for a month's worth of food."
Liu Tiezhu thought for a moment. "Let's butcher the roe deer first, head back, and go to town tomorrow." "It's still early—why not hunt a few more?" Ergou said. "No time. A blizzard's coming soon." Liu Tiezhu remembered clearly: after six in the evening, a sudden blizzard would hit the mountains, sealing off the entire peak. That same blizzard had cost his older brother his life back then.
The two pulled out burlap sacks, quickly butchered and packed the three roe deer, then each carried a sack down the mountain. They got home around three in the afternoon, but the sky was already darkening. Seeing the two sacks of meat, Liu Tieshan and his wife were both shocked and overjoyed.
Liu Tiezhu set down the compound crossbow and said, "Bro, take one bamboo chicken and half the snake meat to make soup." "Ergou, go back and call Uncle over. Keep it quiet." "No one else can know about our hunting."
Ergou nodded and headed home. Huang Xiumei came over to help, washing the roe deer meat clean, cutting it into pieces, and coating each with salt for better preservation. Liu Tiezhu went into the kitchen, sliced off some civet meat, and threw it into a pot with the bamboo chicken and king cobra meat to stew. The happiest was Yaoyao, clapping her hands and laughing joyfully at the prospect of meat.
Liu Tiezhu took out the snake gall and walked over to Yaoyao. "Yaoyao, swallow this snake gall, and tomorrow Uncle will buy you a toy when he goes to town." At the mention of snake gall, Yaoyao's face fell, and she hid behind Huang Xiumei, who was salting the roe deer meat. Huang Xiumei took the gall. "Yaoyao, be good. This snake gall is a treasure—eating it will help you grow up fast." Hearing that, Yaoyao nodded and swallowed the gall.
Just then, Uncle and Ergou arrived. Seeing the hundreds of jin of roe deer meat, Uncle was stunned. He hadn't expected Liu Tiezhu to bag so much meat in a single day.
"Uncle, have a seat. Dinner's almost ready." Liu Tiezhu greeted him, pulling out a stool. Uncle took the stool, laughing heartily. "Tiezhu, you've really made something of yourself—getting all this meat in one day." Liu Tiezhu replied, "It was all Ergou's help. I couldn't have done it alone." "Ergou?" Uncle glanced at his son. "Do I not know what he's capable of as his father?" "That kid's got nothing but bad habits, no real skills." "Dad, how can you talk about your own son like that?" "I'm strong—isn't that a good thing?" Ergou's comment sparked a round of laughter.
As they chatted, the meal was ready. A big pot of roe deer meat, a big pot of nourishing soup, a big pot of rice, and a plate of greens. This kind of spread was unheard of, even during New Year's.
"Xiumei, don't do this again. We've got a long road ahead—we need to be frugal." Uncle was sensible, knowing Huang Xiumei had prepared this feast specially for him. "Uncle, we're family. From now on, we'll have meat every meal." Liu Tiezhu didn't hold back, laying out his plan to buy parts in town for assembly and then head into the mountains to hunt. Ergou then brought up the boar pack.
After eating and drinking their fill, Liu Tiezhu mentioned going to town with Ergou the next day. Those boars weren't going to jump into the pot on their own. He needed to get proper gear to take them down. Before, he had no money and had to make do with the compound crossbow. Now, with hundreds of jin of meat at home, they could trade it for a decent sum.
Hearing Liu Tiezhu's idea, Uncle didn't hesitate, pulling crumpled one- and two-mao bills from his pocket.