Chen Yang, carrying ten pounds of pork belly, felt delighted.
As the person who contributed the most to hunting the wild boar, second only to Old Man Tu, the old widower had personally selected the best pork belly when butchering, with both fat and lean meat, perfect for any dish.
Carrying the meat, Chen Yang walked with a spring in his step. The value of these few pounds of meat was secondary; what truly mattered was the sense of accomplishment. He, he had hunted a wild boar!
Even though he had only shot out one of its eyes, without his crucial arrow, the boar would not have died. Chen Yang naturally felt proud.
Shen Futang was also pleased. He carried four pounds of second-grade meat on his spear. Although it didn't have as much fat as Chen Yang's, it was still excellent meat.
Most importantly, his son-in-law had brought him face today.
Those old folks who used to look down on him, thinking he was unlucky for not having sons, were all outshone by him today.
What was the use of them having many sons? Even with many, none could compare to his eldest son-in-law. Let's see who in the village would dare call him the "old solitary one" anymore!
"Daddy, Daddy the great hero."
"My Daddy is a great hero. Daddy killed a big wild boar for the village."
"This is my Daddy, so amazing!"
Before Chen Yang even reached home, his little child saw him from afar and stood in the courtyard, hands on her hips, telling children of a similar age in a childish voice.
The little child usually stayed at home and rarely played with other children.
Today, having hunted a wild boar, the wives and children of the uncles and brothers who had helped at his home had all come. Everyone wanted to see the man who hunted the wild boar, out of curiosity.
The little child had also heard from others that her Daddy had hunted a wild boar and was a great hero in the village!
This made the little one extremely proud, constantly emphasizing to the other children that this was her Daddy.
"Oh, Daddy's little wine jar."
"Look how proud you are. Daddy only shot an arrow. Grandpa Tu was the厉害 one, he fired several shots, bang bang, and then your Grandpa pinned the wild boar down with his spear, hualala."
Chen Yang hugged his beloved daughter, feeling the little one's adoring gaze. His heart was sweeter than honey.
In this life, in his precious daughter's eyes, he was also a great hero!
He, who had been a pitiful child without a father's love in his past life, now had a father to brag about!
"Grandpa, hug!"
"Grandpa is also a great hero!"
Hearing Chen Yang's words, the little child kissed his face sweetly. Although Daddy was humble, she was still Yan Yan's great hero.
After kissing Chen Yang, the little child threw herself into Shen Futang's arms. This made the old man ecstatic, and he even straightened his back.
He was increasingly pleased with this son-in-law. He knew how to bring him face in front of his beloved granddaughter. Not bad!
"Look at you two getting so pleased with yourselves. That wild boar, I heard it was seven or eight hundred catties. You two just charged forward, did you really think you had shotguns like Old Man Tu and Er Wa Zi?"
"If anything really happened, I'll deal with you, you old geezer."
Liu Chunmei looked at Shen Futang, who had a smug expression, and impatiently took the four pounds of second-grade meat from his hands. Although her words were harsh, everyone could see she was inwardly proud.
The wild boar had been a menace to Shenjiaba Village for several years. Now that one had been killed, and her husband and son-in-law had both contributed, her Liu Chunmei's family's men were capable.
When the mother-in-law spoke, Shen Futang and Chen Yang dared not retort. Shen Xue secretly learned her mother's tone in her mind as she watched her father obediently accept the scolding.
She would have to deal with Chen Yang like this in the future. She couldn't let this scoundrel get too carried away.
"Thanks to his uncle and Yangzi today, we can all eat meat tonight."
The women all smiled, knowing that Liu Chunmei was showing off. But they didn't mind. If their own husbands had this ability, they would also be proud.
What's more, if it weren't for Chen Yang and his father's efforts, they wouldn't be able to eat meat today.
Amidst the casual chatter, Chen Yang was defeated by the women. As they talked, it turned to his prowess at night and when he would give Shen Xue another son or daughter for the little one.
Even as an old man who had lived two lives, he couldn't handle the teasing of these women in their thirties and forties. He finally understood why his wife always blushed.
Unlike Chen Yang, the little child was very happy, constantly telling other children how amazing her Daddy was.
The little one had never seen so many children of similar age and was having a blast.
Today, she was also wearing the new dress she had made yesterday. With other children surrounding her, she was like a star being adored.
"What are you grinning about?"
Seeing the old man gazing at the little child with a proud father's smile, Shen Xue didn't know why he was grinning. She looked at their daughter every day and still couldn't get enough of her.
"I'm smiling because my good wife gave me a good daughter. Wife, look at our daughter, doesn't she look like a princess? All the other children are surrounding her. Her little mouth is babbling away, not afraid of not being able to talk."
At just over two years old, many children of this age couldn't speak clearly, but the little one was conversing back and forth. Chen Yang couldn't help but marvel at how smart and clever his daughter was.
"You glib tongue!"
Seeing their daughter having so much fun playing with the other children, Shen Xue was also happy. What parent wouldn't want their child to be intelligent?
"We can't eat all this meat at once. Hurry up and salt it to make cured meat tomorrow. The weather is too hot, don't let it spoil."
Shen Xue picked up the two large pieces of meat. In her twenty-odd years of life, this was the first time she had worried about having too much meat.
For so many years, only during good harvests, when they slaughtered the pigs once a year, could a family get two or three pounds at most.
This time, Chen Yang and his father had directly divided fourteen pounds. Their family hadn't received so much meat in the last three to four years combined.
Of course, this was only at Chen Yang's home. Who would dislike having too much meat these days? They would render the pork fat to be eaten slowly.
Even the pork cracklings were added a little at a time, boiled with white radish. The soup, when steeped, could be eaten with several bowls of wild vegetable rice.
"Then let's salt it. Add some soy sauce, and dry it into cured meat. When we want to eat it, just cut a piece and stir-fry it with garlic, or put a few slices on top of steamed rice. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water."
Chen Yang was getting tired of eating meat every day for the past few days. Making it into cured meat would be a good change of flavor.
This was only Chen Yang. If anyone else knew he was tired of eating meat, they would definitely be so jealous they'd beat him up. Sū Dān Novel Network
"You only have a mouth for talking. You don't know to cut the meat into strips and bring me salt and soy sauce to marinate the meat."
Shen Xue gave Chen Yang an exasperated look. The old man rubbed the back of his head, not understanding why he had displeased his wife.
He didn't realize that his wife was learning from her mother to rein him in.
That night, in Shenjiaba Village, the entire village was filled with the aroma of meat, which made the surrounding hamlets envious. Many people cursed with their mouths watering.
Many people couldn't even get enough to eat, yet these folks in Shenjiaba were eating meat as a whole village. It was truly a case of comparing people and dying of anger.