At this moment, the villagers were anxiously waiting in fear.
Although many men had gone up the mountain, that was still a wild boar. Being rammed by one could easily cost a person their life.
Mother Su and Second Aunt Su stood together, pacing back and forth anxiously.
Mother Su kept muttering, “Nothing must happen to my Su Wan…”
Second Aunt Su was also worried about Su Yan and complained, “You tell me, it’s been so many years since anyone’s seen a wild boar. Weren’t they all killed back then? Why has one suddenly appeared again?”
“They’re back! They’re back!”
Someone suddenly shouted, and everyone saw several men carrying the wild boar back, followed by a large crowd.
Mother Su and the others hurried over to check whether their family members were alright.
For a moment, the place became extremely lively.
When Mother Su saw that Father Su and Su Wan were both unharmed, she finally relaxed. She grabbed Su Wan’s arm tightly and refused to let go.
“You really scared me to death. If a wild boar had rammed your tiny body, wouldn’t you have lost your life?”
Su Wan quickly comforted her. “Mom, I’m fine. I stayed far away from the wild boar.”
After everyone finished comforting and checking on each other, the villagers’ attention shifted to the wild boar.
They gathered around it to look at it carefully, no longer feeling afraid.
The boar looked strong and sturdy, weighing at least over a hundred kilograms.
And that was all meat.
Pork!
Someone immediately asked, “How did the wild boar die?”
So the people who had gone up the mountain excitedly began recounting the thrilling events that happened there.
The others listened with great interest.
But when they heard that the wild boar had smashed itself to death, none of the villagers believed it.
How could a wild boar possibly kill itself?
Auntie Li saw their disbelief and said, “If you don’t believe us, ask the others. That wild boar charged straight into the tree beside Educated Youth Liu! The boar’s head was caved in!”
This time, the villagers could no longer remain calm.
One after another, they looked at Liu Rongrong with astonishment.
Of course, they were not thinking about things like lucky stars or blessings. It was simply the first time they had ever seen a wild boar kill itself by crashing into a tree, so naturally they were shocked.
As for the fact that it died beside Liu Rongrong, they merely thought it was a coincidence.
Even so, the villagers still developed a favorable impression of this educated youth.
Seeing the noisy crowd growing more chaotic, Father Su raised his voice and shouted, “Quiet! Stop talking!”
Only after everyone quieted down did he continue.
“Everyone line up according to your work points. In a moment, we’ll butcher the pig and divide the meat.”
After pausing briefly, he added, “Also, every family whose men went up the mountain to help today will receive an extra jin of meat.”
Then he supplemented, “And everyone who got frightened on the mountain will also receive an extra half jin.”
The villagers immediately lined up excitedly, their eyes practically glowing as they stared at the wild boar.
Pig slaughter only happened twice a year — once during the grain distribution after autumn harvest, and once during the New Year.
Usually, if people wanted meat, they had to buy it themselves.
This was basically free extra meat. Who wouldn’t be happy?
Hearing that those who went up the mountain would get an extra jin, the men who had helped became even happier.
Meanwhile, the people who had not gone suddenly forgot how dangerous the wild boar had been and instead looked regretful, upset that they had missed out on a whole jin of pork.
Still, no one objected.
They all agreed it was deserved.
Very soon, large pots were set up and water was boiled.
The most experienced butcher in the village sharpened his knife and began slaughtering the pig.
For a time, the wide threshing ground was filled with laughter and cheerful chatter.
As families carried their share of meat home one after another, cooking smoke began rising from every household.
The air became filled with the rich aroma of meat.
Even the children stopped running around outside and instead guarded the kitchen entrances, eagerly waiting to eat pork.
At the Su family home, Mother Su placed the meat into a pot to stew while saying to Su Wan, who was tending the fire, “Wild boar meat smells gamey, and the meat is tough to chew. It needs to stew longer.”
Then she smiled and added, “Even though it’s not as good as domesticated pork, having meat is still better than having none.”
Father Su, sitting in the courtyard, heard this and took a puff from his cigarette.
“You’re still complaining even when there’s meat to eat? Back in the old days, just being able to fill your stomach was already good enough.”
Mother Su pretended to glare and said to Su Wan, “Your father’s showing off his production team leader authority at home now. Am I not even allowed to say a single thing?”
Inside, Su Wan secretly complained that she had been fed their lovey-dovey behavior her entire life.
But outwardly she sided with Mother Su and said, “Exactly! Mom, you definitely have to teach Dad a lesson later. Don’t go easy on him.”
Hearing his daughter say this, Mother Su laughed and scolded, “You and your sharp tongue.”
Then she added, “Alright, alright. You don’t need to stay here tending the fire anymore. You were frightened today too, so hurry back to your room and rest.”
Su Wan sat on the bed in her room, recalling the events of the day.
Thinking about how calm Liu Rongrong had looked after seeing the wild boar, Su Wan became even more certain that Liu Rongrong was no longer the original female lead from the novel.
Whether she had transmigrated into the book or been reborn, she clearly already knew the future plot.
And judging from her behavior, she intended to continue following the original storyline.
Su Wan carefully reviewed the plot of the novel again and realized there were already differences between the story and reality.
In the original novel, Su Wan had not been engaged to Han Rui. Instead, she had been engaged to someone from a neighboring village.
Because of that, she would never have followed Han Rui to the military base, meaning the teacher position would never have become vacant.
But now, she was already going to follow Han Rui after marriage.
Naturally, the teaching position would become empty.
That meant Liu Rongrong could become the teacher after she left, so Su Wan herself would no longer mysteriously die from a sudden high fever.
Thinking of this, Su Wan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she suddenly slapped her forehead, as though enlightened.
Since the female lead was no longer the original female lead, whether she had transmigrated or been reborn, her attention and feelings must now all be focused on the male lead.
That meant she would no longer notice Han Rui.
If that were the case, Han Rui would be safe too.
Su Wan happily thought to herself that the issue she had been most worried about had now been completely resolved.
Now the only remaining hidden danger was the female lead’s black jade.
This matter could not be rushed.
She obviously could not just knock the female lead unconscious and snatch it directly. If she did that, things would become a huge mess.
She still needed to find a chance to see exactly what the black jade looked like.
Then she could make a similar fake and secretly swap them without anyone noticing, ensuring the female lead would not discover it for a while.
And even if she noticed later, by then it would already be useless.
There were still several months left.
No need to rush.
There would always be an opportunity eventually.
Slowly but steadily.
With a huge burden finally lifted from her heart, Su Wan at last had the energy to think about other things.
She sniffed the air, smelling the rich aroma of pork drifting in from outside.
Immediately excited, she hurried out to the kitchen and said to Mother Su, who was cutting vegetables, “Mom, let me cook today’s meal!”
Hearing this, Mother Su happily agreed.
“Alright.”
After all, her daughter’s cooking skills were genuinely excellent.
Although watching Su Wan use oil and seasonings so generously always made Mother Su’s heart ache.
The first time Su Wan ever cooked had been when she was thirteen years old.
That evening, after Father Su and Mother Su returned home from work, they saw smoke rising from their house from far away and thought the house had caught fire.
Terrified, they rushed home.
But when they arrived, they discovered Su Wan cooking in the kitchen while Su Lei sat nearby tending the fire.
Seeing them return, Su Wan smiled and said, “Dad, Mom, hurry and wash your hands. Dinner’s ready.”
At that time, Father Su and Mother Su exchanged glances and silently reached the same conclusion:
No matter how the food tasted, since it was their daughter’s first time cooking, they absolutely had to praise it and say it was delicious.
But when dinner started and they each took a bite of the stir-fried beans and eggplant, fully prepared to give dishonest compliments—
They were shocked to discover that it was actually very delicious.
Father Su immediately praised her in amazement.
“As expected of my daughter! Your first time cooking and it already tastes this good.”
Su Lei even loudly suggested that his younger sister should cook more often in the future.
He was immediately silenced after Father Su tapped him with chopsticks.
At first, Mother Su truly thought it was Su Wan’s natural talent that made her cooking taste so good.
But later, one day while watching Su Wan cook again, Mother Su personally saw Su Wan pour in half a ladle of oil and add generous amounts of precious seasonings.
Watching this made her heart ache terribly.
No wonder the food tasted so good.
With that much oil, how could it not taste good?
Still, she could not bear to scold her daughter.
Over time, she gradually got used to watching Su Wan cook that way from time to time.