Chapter 45: I Don’t Really Want to Split the Family Anymore

“There’s nothing like that, we didn’t mean to target you, Master Liang.”

When Lin’s father heard Master Liang’s words, he hurriedly explained.

“Yeah, you misunderstood. We weren’t talking about you,” Lin’s mother also said with a smile.

Master Liang waved his hand, shaking his head with a bitter smile. “Whether you were talking about me or not, it’s indeed my fault. I apologize to you.”

“Let’s weigh it, and see how heavy it is,” Lin’s father quickly changed the subject and went back into the house to get a scale.

In the bedroom, Xiulan was using a warm towel to wipe Lin Heng’s back. Hearing the noise outside, Lin Heng couldn’t help but smile, “This Master Liang is quite a character.”

“Keep your voice down,” Xiulan reminded him.

Lin Heng propped up his wife’s chin, smiling as he said, “Am I impressive today?”

“Impressive, you’re the most impressive,” Xiulan rolled her eyes at him, pushing his hand away, and finished wiping his back.

After changing into a fresh set of clothes, Lin Heng came out of the bedroom to see Lin’s father and others weighing the badger.

“Twenty-four pounds, impressive!”

Seeing Lin Heng come out, Lin’s father looked at the scale, grinning happily.

“Second Uncle, how did you catch such a big badger? That’s amazing.”

Lin Heng’s big nephew, Lin Wei, had already started to idolize Lin Heng; this was just too impressive.

“Yeah, Lin Heng, how did you catch it?” Lin’s mother and others were also very curious.

“Let’s eat first, I’m starving. I’ll explain while eating,” Lin Heng said to everyone.

No problem with that. At the dinner table, Lin Heng first took a big bite of the cold gray vegetable salad.

After eating, he finally started recounting the entire hunting process, which was pretty much the same as what he had told Xiulan. He didn’t exaggerate, as he knew that too much boasting could backfire.

“I’m impressed, your archery skills are beyond words. You can hit a target from forty steps accurately. Uncle here apologizes for my previous attitude, I’ll drink this cup.”

Master Liang shook his head, bitterly smiling as he picked up his glass and drank the sweet sorghum wine in one gulp.

“Uncle Liang, you’re joking. I’m so young, it’s normal for me to keep learning,” Lin Heng wasn’t someone who liked to fuss, and he drank a cup with him.

“Drink this.”

Xiulan came over and sat beside him, handing him a bowl of ginger soup.

“Pure ginger soup!” Lin Heng took a sip, finding it a little hard to swallow.

“You’re not a child, do you still need sugar?” Xiulan glanced at him.

Lin Heng didn’t say anything more and drank the ginger soup in one gulp.

Sometimes, he often mixed things up, but when he thought carefully, he remembered that in this era, gifts were often half a packet of sugar, a few pounds of rice, etc.

At the dinner table, because of this badger, Lin Heng became the unquestionable main character.

His sister-in-law, Liu Juan, even smiled and poured him a glass of wine. At this moment, his reputation as a good-for-nothing began to be completely wiped away in the family.

After dinner, the rain got heavier. Lin Heng went into the kitchen and looked at the badger on the floor, smiling as he said, “Dad, you and my brother help me skin it.”

“No problem, you take a rest,” Lin’s father nodded, eager to try it.

Everyone else was still awake, and under the light of a flashlight and kerosene lamp, they stared intently at the badger.

Such a big catch was too precious for the family; it would be an extremely valuable source of meat.

Lin Heng went to scoop some rice, added some pork lard, and made a nice dinner for Xiong Ba.

After it finished eating, Lin Heng went over to watch his father skinning the badger.

Though called a “badger,” it actually belongs to the weasel family. Its fur is not as rough and tough as that of a pig. In fact, its pelts are beautiful and colorful, and they are used to make high-quality fur coats. The fur, with white at both ends and a black-brown middle, is thick and elastic, making it ideal for leather products.

A complete badger pelt can fetch no less than thirty yuan in the market.

Under Lin’s father’s skilled hands, the badger’s skin was carefully peeled off and stretched out with bamboo to dry.

“This is a male badger. The fur is very beautiful,” Lin’s father said, looking at the pelt with a smile.

“Probably worth more than thirty yuan.”

Lin Heng nodded with a smile.

Master Liang looked on enviously. Hunting may involve a lot of running around and often not catching anything, but when you do get something, it’s worth more than what others can earn in months.

Liu Juan, Lin Heng’s sister-in-law, began to envy Xiulan. It seemed like Lin Heng had truly turned over a new leaf. The speed at which he was making money was terrifying.

After gutting the badger, Lin Heng came over and took the lungs and liver: “These don’t need to be processed, leave them for Xiong Ba.”

The family was reluctant, watching Lin Heng feed such good stuff to the dog.

Lin Heng put them in a basin, saying, “Xiong Ba will catch more prey once he grows up.”

“Lin Heng’s right. Hurry up and process the intestines so everyone can sleep,” Lin’s father said.

The badger’s intestines were a delicacy, and fried fatty intestines would taste amazing.

Lin Heng’s elder brother took on the task of removing the waste from the intestines and would soak them in plant ash for processing tomorrow.

“Thirteen pounds of pure meat, not bad!”

Lin’s father weighed it again, his face full of joy.

“We don’t need to worry about meat for the house now,” Lin’s mother was also very happy.

Hearing about building a house, Liu Juan suddenly lost her previous enthusiasm. After the house was built and the family split, she might no longer be able to eat Lin Heng’s hunted game.

She thought about it and even had the impulse not to split the family.

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(Chapter End)