Chapter 49: His Name Was Shen Zhinian

After he asked this, Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen subconsciously turned to look at Xie Zhao.

Buying wild boars?

Xie Zhao hadn’t mentioned anything about this!

“I do.”

Xie Zhao nodded, looking a bit hesitant. “But how much are you selling it for? Not many people eat this stuff, and it doesn’t have much fat. If it’s too expensive, it’s not worth it, and I won’t take it.”

Hearing this, Sanliuzi quickly said, “I know that! This stuff is all lean meat with barely any fat. It won’t fetch a good price!”

He kicked the wild boar with his foot, thought for a moment, and added, “If I take it to Xiangmin Town to sell the meat, it’ll only go for about one yuan sixty or seventy cents a jin, and I’d have to throw in the offal for free. Plus, I’d have to slaughter it and waste time watching the stall. It’s too much trouble.”

“Second Brother Xie, we’re all family. If you want it, I’ll let you have it for one yuan twenty cents a jin. What do you think?”

For a whole wild boar, one yuan twenty a jin was basically saving him the trouble of selling it himself.

Xie Zhao sized Sanliuzi up, feigning hesitation. After a brief moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded firmly in agreement.

“Deal! One-twenty it is. But I’ll have to put it on the tab and pay you tomorrow. Is that alright?”

Sanliuzi grinned, excited and happy.

“Thanks, Second Brother Xie! You’ve really saved me a lot of trouble!”

Seeing that Xie Zhao really intended to buy it, Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen didn’t ask any questions. The two of them found a carrying pole and tied the wild boar securely with rope. Threading the pole through the rope, the father and son bent their waists, gritted their teeth, and hoisted the wild boar up with a heave!

“Whoa! Quite a beast! It must weigh over a hundred jin!”

They had already switched to a larger steelyard scale. Sanliuzi held it up while Xie Zhao adjusted the counterweight from behind.

He adjusted the counterweight several times before it finally came to a rest.

“How many jin?”

Xie Youzhen caught his breath, pulled out his pipe, tapped it against the ground, and squatted down to roll some tobacco.

“One hundred and seventy-eight jin!”

Xie Zhao was also quite surprised. He clicked his tongue twice and pointed out the number to Sanliuzi.

“Impressive, kid. You carried this back all by yourself?”

Sanliuzi scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Him? He’s been strong since he was a kid!”

Xie Cheng scooped up some water, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and raised an eyebrow at Xie Zhao. “His parents passed away early, so he had to feed himself starting at age ten. He’s much stronger than average. At ten, he could already do the work of a grown farmer! Otherwise, wouldn’t he have starved to death?”

Hearing this, Sanliuzi just chuckled and scratched his head in embarrassment.

“Back then, Big Brother Xie always brought me food. I still remember how good Auntie Tian and Uncle Xie were to me!”

Sanliuzi’s face flushed slightly as he said, “If you ever need help with anything in the future, just let know. I’ll definitely help!”

Xie Youzhen tapped his pipe and let out a long sigh.

“It was nothing. As long as you survived, I feel I’ve done right by your parents. You’re a good kid. You didn’t let anyone look down on you, and you’ve made a good life for yourself all on your own. I’m genuinely happy for you.”

Sanliuzi nodded. Hearing Xie Youzhen mention his parents, he quietly turned his head to wipe away a tear. “I understand, Uncle Xie.”

After saying that, he chatted with Xie Cheng and Xie Zhao for a bit longer before turning and disappearing into the night.

“He’s had a hard life. His parents used to be the biggest landlords in our Shishui Village. But when it comes to landlords, there are good ones and bad ones…”

Sanliuzi’s background wasn’t particularly complicated.

His parents used to be the biggest landlords in Shishui Village.

But not every landlord was a greedy tyrant like Zhou Bapi^[1], eating fine meat and vegetables at every meal.

At least, Sanliuzi’s parents weren’t like that.

Shishui Village had poor soil, so the grain collected from rent wasn’t much. Later, during the years of severe drought, many villagers starved to death. Sanliuzi’s parents distributed their own grain, emptying their family savings to save Shishui Village.

The village owed their family a massive debt of gratitude.

Then came the Struggle Against Landlords^[2].

Back then, there was no such thing as presenting a defense. It was a blanket sweep. To make their political achievements look good and report successful work to their superiors, once they caught someone, they cracked down hard.

They struggled against them relentlessly.

His parents had their arms and legs broken during that time.

When it finally ended, the signs hanging around their necks were taken off, and they were allowed to return home. The family of three was also allocated a small plot of poor land.

Unfortunately, there were no able-bodied men left in the family to farm it, so the land gradually went to waste.

Then came the winter of the year Sanliuzi turned ten.

That winter was exceptionally cold.

A severe bout of influenza left Sanliuzi’s parents coughing for two whole months. In the end, they couldn’t pull through and didn’t even live to see the New Year.

“Shen Zhinian was his real name. But on the night his parents died, three bean-sized lumps grew on his chest. Ever since then, he changed his name to this.”

After Xie Cheng finished speaking, Xie Zhao stood in a daze for a long time before snapping back to reality.

He looked up at the dark sky.

He let out a long, slow breath.

Shen Zhinian.

To Sanliuzi.

It hid the turbulent life of a young boy.

…

The next day.

Six o’clock.

Tian Xiufen made shepherd’s purse wontons again.

She had wrapped a large batch, and since it was winter, they didn’t spoil easily.

A pot of water bubbled merrily. She grabbed a handful of plump shepherd’s purse wontons and tossed them in. The boiling water splashed, sending the round, white wontons tumbling and rolling inside, a truly delightful sight.

“Come! Eat up first! You’ll need your strength for the road.”

Tian Xiufen set out several large bowls. Once the wontons floated to the top, she scooped twenty into each bowl.

Xie Zhao carried a bowl in each hand to Xie Youzhen and Xie Cheng before picking up his own.

Mmm.

It smelled absolutely delicious.

A large bowl filled with twenty wontons, sprinkled with chopped green onions and a thin layer of melted lard floating on top.

He scooped one up and popped it into his mouth. With one bite, the savory mixture of shepherd’s purse and pork burst with flavorful juices, so delicious it could make one’s eyebrows fall off!

“Mom! Your cooking is amazing! None of the wonton shops I’ve been to taste as good as yours!”

Xie Zhao grinned at Tian Xiufen.

Tian Xiufen beamed with pride.

“The shepherd’s purse in the basket is what your little sister and I picked from the fields yesterday afternoon. It only took a few days for them to sprout up all over the place. Spring came early this year, starting even before the New Year.^[3] Wild vegetables really grow fast!”

As she spoke, she cooked another big bowl and had Xie Tian carry it over to Lin Muyu.

“Bring out Xi Bao’er and Le Bao’er’s diapers to wash!”

Xie Tian called out in response and went inside.

Once the three of them finished eating, they began loading the cart.

The load today was incredibly heavy: a large water vat, four wooden buckets, and a wild boar weighing over a hundred jin.

This had to weigh over eight hundred jin in total!

Xie Cheng and Xie Zhao gritted their teeth and tried to lift it, instantly grimacing from the strain.

Xie Youzhen finished smoking his pipe. Seeing the two of them like this, he was both amused and sympathetic.

“You two blockheads! Did you really think you could drag all this to the county seat yourselves?”

He turned to look outside and said, “I already spoke to the village chief yesterday afternoon to borrow his family’s mule. Just wait a bit!”

About ten minutes later, a sturdy, bright-eyed boy poked his head inside.