Chapter 309: Widespread Shock

Everyone gleefully carried the wild boars back to Zhou Family Village.

Returning to Zhou Family Village, they instantly caused a sensation.

When the villagers saw so many wild boars, they couldn’t contain their excitement.

It seemed they would have a good year; Yimin was truly their village’s good luck charm. Previously, when they went hunting in the mountains, they had never managed to catch so many game animals in one go.

But in these past few months, this wasn’t the first time they had hunted so many wild boars.

Zhou Daming asked, “Old Secretary, how should we handle these wild boars?”

“The village will keep two larger ones; the rest should be taken back to the steel plant by Yimin!” The old secretary thought for a moment and gave his answer.

Unfortunately, the boars’ blood was wasted.

Actually, if they hadn’t caught so many this time, he wouldn’t have been willing to keep two. Normally, he’d only keep one at most.

Zhou Daming nodded, “Okay.”

Then, he and the others selected two of the larger ones, each weighing about 200 pounds, totaling around 500 pounds combined.

Although the current weather wasn’t as hot as summer, the meat could only be preserved long-term by making it into cured meat; otherwise, it would spoil quickly.

The old secretary arranged for someone to handle the two wild boars, set aside some for the workers building the reservoir as a treat for the next day, and the rest would be made into cured meat, etc.

By the New Year, every household could get some meat, ensuring a good celebration.

The crowd had no objections to the old secretary’s arrangement. Except for those few like Zhou Xuqian who were handling the pork, the others continued to work on the reservoir, a critically important project for the village that couldn’t be delayed.

While Zhou Xuqian and the others were still dealing with the wild boars, Zhou Dafu had already brought Li Feng to Zhou Family Village.

He was very surprised to hear the news brought by the team leader.

Having been a part of the hunting team before, he knew hunting wasn’t an easy task. It required a combination of skill and luck; lacking either made hunting success difficult.

They were shocked again seeing the dozen or so wild boar corpses on the ground after getting out of the vehicle.

The best luck they’d ever had before was catching five or six at most, which was already very impressive.

Li Feng was amazed; there had to be over 2,000 pounds here! Accustomed to transporting goods, he could estimate the weight at a glance.

“Team lead Zhou, you’ve really brought us great news.”

“Chief Li, thank you for coming personally; have a cigarette!” Yimin chimed in.

Chief Li laughed and said, “If I had these kinds of troubles every day, I’d be overjoyed!”

“Is all this meat going to the factory?”

“No, the factory will take about half; I have other uses for the rest,” Yimin replied.

Even though taking all of it to the steel plant was doable, it needed to be portioned out. The research institute, sub-district office, and instant noodle factory often asked him to bring some meat over; this time, he could oblige.

Having legitimate meat was great for gifting openly.

“Alright, where’s the rest going?” Li Feng seemed slightly disappointed.

He thought he could take all of it back to the factory, so he’d have more to bring home for his family to try.

“I’ll go with you later, but I’ll need you to take me back,” Yimin said.

Li Feng didn’t mind at all: “No problem.”

Soon, with Zhou Daming and others’ help, all the wild boars were loaded onto a truck.

They first went to the instant noodle factory. The security guard, seeing the truck approach, quickly asked, “Comrade, who are you here to see?”

“We’re here to see Zhao Zhenguo. Just tell him Yimin is here, and he’ll know,” Yimin said, noticing the guard was new.

Hearing this, the guard went back to the security office to report: “supervisor Zhao, a Comrade Yimin is here to see you.”

“Okay, just let him in and be polite; he’s an important guest here,” Zhao Zhenguo instructed.

The guard signaled them to proceed.

Yimin and Li Feng arrived near Zhao Zhenguo’s office just as he was coming down.

Seeing the wild boars on the truck, Zhao Zhenguo hurried over: “Yimin, are all these wild boars for our factory?”

With so much meat, there’d be no worry about New Year’s gifts.

Current resources were indeed hard to come by.

“Brother Zhao, not all of them; at most, three can be left, the rest have other uses,” Yimin quickly explained, worried everything might get taken by Zhao Zhenguo.

“Yimin, with so many on the truck, can’t you leave a little more?” Zhao Zhenguo asked, somewhat persistently.

Yimin then said, “If Aunt Li agrees to less for the sub-district office, then yes.”

“Fine, but I want to pick them myself!” Zhao Zhenguo quickly shifted the topic.

If his mom found out he took pork meant for the sub-district office, going home would be troublesome.

Yimin was relieved: “Alright, Brother Zhao, how can I refuse?”

Soon, Zhao Zhenguo picked three, including the largest one, which Yimin didn’t mind at all.

Next were the research institute and sub-district office, each taking two.

The sub-district office hoped to pull some strings to get an extra one, because more staff meant everyone would get more.

However, Director Li didn’t want to inconvenience Yimin.

The remaining meat was all for the steel plant.

Li Feng took over 1,000 pounds of wild boar meat back to the steel plant with Zhou Dafu.

The wild boar even caught the attention of factory leaders, who took the time to have a look.

After unloading the meat, the logistics department quickly processed it: weighing, billing, and paying…

The procedure was quick.

After receiving payment, Chief Li drove Yimin back to Zhou Family Village.

Upon returning, they heard the old secretary rewarding Zhou Daming and the others with five pounds of wild boar meat each and promised an additional thirty yuan once the meat money came back.

The onlookers were envious but had no complaints, knowing that without Zhou Daming and the others risking their lives for the wild boars, there would be nothing to share.

Zhou Daming and his team’s happiness was palpable—after all, five pounds of meat in the countryside was enough to find a wife, not to mention the thirty yuan.

“Yimin, you have a share too,” the old secretary noted Yimin’s return.

Yimin replied, “Old Secretary, I don’t need any. If you really want to give me some, give my share to the school children.”

He didn’t care for wild boar meat, which could be gamey if not properly prepared. Plus, he’d rather benefit others and maintain a good reputation.

“Okay, we’ll follow your suggestion,” the old secretary agreed, albeit reluctantly.

Everyone knew Yimin’s household was well-off enough to spurn such offerings.

(End of the Chapter)