The deep mountains were pitch black in the dead of night, with eerie cries echoing intermittently.
After securing his flashlight, Zhao Yi began digging traps, needing to finish before dawn. Having carefully observed the wild boars' tracks, he knew they always came and went along the same path. Digging traps along their regular route would make catching them easiest.
Zhao Yi dug two traps in total. He had originally planned to dig three in a triangular formation, but seeing how late it was getting, he realized he wouldn't have enough time.
Each trap was one and a half meters deep, filled with sharpened bamboo spikes. He covered the traps with bamboo strips brought from home, then scattered fallen leaves over them. From above, they were completely indistinguishable from the surrounding ground. Still, Zhao Yi placed a bamboo marker beside each trap to prevent anyone from accidentally falling in.
Anyone who frequently entered the mountains would recognize these upright fresh bamboo markers as warnings of traps ahead and would detour around them.
Zhao Yi found a large tree and climbed up. Once startled, wild boars would charge recklessly, and Zhao Yi was no match for them.
Perched on a tree branch with a clear view of the traps, Zhao Yi eventually dozed off into a deep sleep.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek jolted him awake.
Opening his eyes, Zhao Yi saw that both leaf-covered traps had become gaping pits. The ground shook violently as panicked boars scattered in all directions.
His heart leapt with joy, but he didn't dare climb down yet. Wild boars were tenacious creatures, and their death throes could unleash surprising force.
Moreover, the traps here would be useless for catching boars from now on. These animals were clever—once they lost a member in one location, they would never return.
After waiting several minutes until the screams finally ceased, Zhao Yi cautiously slid down the tree trunk to inspect the traps.
Only one boar remained in the traps, while the adjacent one contained just a pool of blood.
Ignoring the trapped boar, Zhao Yi followed the blood trail along the path. After four or five minutes, he finally discovered a massive creature lying motionless in a patch of grass.
A wild boar weighing nearly two hundred jin.
Its body bore seven or eight wounds. Despite such severe injuries, it had managed to flee this far.
Wasting no time, Zhao Yi took out the knife he carried and began butchering the animal. He didn't concern himself with whether there was any hair left or if the cleaning was thorough. The priority now was to break down the carcass and bring it back for proper processing later.
He worked in the mountains for what felt like ages.
Finding the nearest cave, Zhao Yi hung all the boar meat on a makeshift wooden rack, covered it with pine resin, and began smoking it.
By nightfall, he had finished all the rations he brought up the mountain. Yet he didn't dare leave—losing this much meat would be devastating.
While tending the smoking fire at the cave entrance, he soon heard a call.
"Xiao Yi!"
Zhang Fusheng shouted.
"Dad!"
Zhao Yi immediately responded.
This was prearranged with Zhang Jing—if he hadn't returned home by noon, it meant he had made a catch, and she should ask her father to come help.
Zhang Fusheng could find Zhao Yi entirely because of the markers Zhao Yi had left in the mountains—originally placed when gathering wild grapes. Otherwise, in these deep woods at this hour, unless there was a raging fire, this faint smoke would be completely invisible in the darkness.
Father-in-law was still at the last marker. Although he also had a flashlight, it couldn't illuminate far in these deep mountains.
Zhao Yi hurried to assist his father-in-law.
"So much?"
Father-in-law exclaimed in surprise at the wild boar meat sizzling and dripping oil on the wooden rack.
"Dad, you keep watch here first. I'll go fill in the traps. Once that's done, we can take the pork to the city to sell," Zhao Yi said.
"Alright."
Father-in-law nodded.
By the time Zhao Yi returned, the meat had been smoked sufficiently – from noon until late night. Zhao Yi wasn't making cured meat, but without this treatment in such weather, it would all spoil by that very night.
Though troublesome, this method would keep the meat from spoiling for at least ten days.
Meat in hot weather would eventually go bad no matter how well preserved.
To fully smoke-dry it would require several more days.
"Dad, no need to pack everything. Let's hide some here to take home after we sell the meat. Since you have more people at your place, take these two pieces back. Xiaojing and I will keep just one piece."
As he spoke, Zhao Yi picked out three larger pieces of meat. As for the intestines and stomach – these definitely wouldn't be taken to the city. They weren't valuable, and wouldn't fetch a good price anyway.
The two men traveled through the night by flashlight, reaching the black market just as the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon.
Zhao Yi went straight to the black market manager and sold all the pork to him. The two boar heads fetched three yuan, while the rest was weighed and sold at five mao per jin.
"Are you sure it can last over ten days treated like this?" the black market manager asked Zhao Yi.
"As long as it's kept in shade and not exposed to direct sunlight, it can last over ten days," Zhao Yi confirmed.
"Alright."
The two wild boars yielded just over two hundred jin of meat total, selling for over one hundred yuan.
Zhao Yi immediately handed twenty yuan to his father-in-law.
"Dad, take this money. Buy whatever you need here to take back. No ration coupons needed here, and if you need coupons for anything, you can buy them here too. Don't think it's too little – consider it my filial offering to you."
Zhao Yi said cheerfully.
"What are you doing? I just came to help. If you keep this up, I won't come next time," Zhang Fusheng immediately said with a stern face.
"Dad, listen to me. Xiaojing and I have few expenses. You saw we made one hundred twenty yuan total. Without your help, I couldn't have managed all this alone. Since you've been so sincere with me and Xiaojing, how could I pretend not to see it?
Buy some things to take back, get something for mom too. When we have money, shouldn't we show our filial respect to you?
The fabric here doesn't require coupons – buy some to make clothes with."
Zhao Yi said warmly.
Hearing this, Zhang Fusheng finally nodded and accepted the money. He never expected this randomly chosen son-in-law would show such filial devotion, surpassing even what many biological sons would offer.
Following Zhao Yi's suggestion, the two bought considerable fabric, washed the carrying basket clean, then packed the fabric inside before hurrying back to the village.
Back in the mountains, they rested against the large rock beside the cave, only starting for home with the meat after complete darkness fell.
Zhang Fusheng and Zhao Yi parted ways at the mountain foot, with Zhang choosing not to visit Zhao Yi's home.
"Husband."
Seeing Zhao Yi push open the courtyard gate and enter, still carrying a piece of meat, Zhang Jing called out excitedly in a hushed voice.
Nearly a full day passed with no news, and while Zhang Jing claimed not to be worried, her concern was evident. Still, knowing her father had accompanied them eased her mind considerably.
Without a word, Zhao Yi led Zhang Jing back into the house and handed her the money he had concealed in his clothing.
Zhang Jing stared at the thick stack of ten-yuan bills, her mouth agape as she struggled to form any words.