Chapter 66: What Are You Doing? Stay Away From Me, Men and Women Should Keep Their Distance
At the big willow tree, Ning Xiyue took the chance to use her last sign-in opportunity of the day, exchanging it for a cup of mango pomelo sago and storing it away.
When they arrived back at the brigade, the brigade leader shouted:
“Has Li the pig butcher not arrived yet?”
Everyone else, just as eager about the pork distribution, also started calling:
“Where’s Li the butcher? Li the butcher!”
“I’m here, I’m here!”
Li the butcher came rushing over, carrying a box of pig-slaughtering tools.
The captain arranged for the same few young men who had helped carry the wild boars earlier to assist Li with the slaughter.
Boiling water, shaving the pigs, draining the blood — they were all busy and buzzing with activity.
Aunt Liu stood on the side, her eyes gleaming at the sight of the freshly butchered meat. Thinking of the pork she’d soon receive, she felt giddy with joy.
“This pig’s quite big! I thought we’d have to wait until New Year’s to eat meat. Today we’re lucky, thanks to Xiyue and Aunt Yangliu, we get to eat meat early. Yangliu, Little Xiyue, thank you both.”
Aunt Yangliu waved her hand with a big smile:
“If you want to thank someone, thank our comrade Ning Xiyue. These two pigs are all thanks to her. If it weren’t for her, none of you would be seeing me today. I didn’t lift a finger.”
“Thank you, Comrade Ning!”
“Thank you, Comrade Ning!”
Everyone present sincerely thanked Ning Xiyue, eyes fixed on the pork in front of them.
The corners of Ning Xiyue’s lips curled up with mischief as she replied meaningfully:
“Don’t thank me too early, aunties. It’s not too late to thank me once the meat’s actually in your hands.”
“Comrade Ning, don’t be embarrassed. A thank you today is well deserved.”
“Exactly, and we can thank you again once the meat’s divided.”
Ning Xiyue smiled but said nothing more. She wondered what their faces would look like when they found out one of the pigs belonged entirely to her. She was very much looking forward to that.
She hoped the aunties wouldn’t disappoint her — she was ready to enjoy the show.
Aunt Yangliu also didn’t mention anything about dividing the meat yet. She planned to bring it up once the slaughtering was done, not wanting to interrupt Li the butcher’s work.
Just watching the slaughter didn’t feel like enough, so Aunt Liu tugged on Aunt Yangliu’s sleeve and urged:
“Yangliu, tell me the story about how you killed the wild boar!”
“Sure, let me tell you just how clever and powerful our comrade Ning Xiyue was when she took that boar down.”
This was exactly what Aunt Yangliu wanted — to build up Ning Xiyue’s reputation so no one would dare underestimate her.
“It all started when we stopped to rest… All of a sudden, the wild boar came charging at us — that bloody mouth and those long tusks scared me so much I nearly collapsed. I thought I was done for, that I’d end up in that beast’s jaws. But guess what happened?”
“I don’t know, what?”
“Sounds terrifying.”
“It was! But our comrade Xiyue wasn’t scared at all. She grabbed a brick she’d been carrying and whack! — hit the boar. It was so dizzy it staggered. Then she quickly calculated the angle, and when the boar charged again, she turned, swung the brick, and bam! the boar crashed into the rocks. Think that was it? Oh no, that was just the beginning! Then she…”
“Wow—”
“That’s amazing!”
“Comrade Ning is so smart — how did she think of that?”
Ning Xiyue felt a little guilty listening to the embellished story, but she didn’t show it on her face. She didn’t deny it either, just smiled faintly as she stood there listening to Aunt Yangliu skillfully exaggerate and dramatize her original excuse into a full-blown heroic tale — lively, detailed, and complete.
The story painted her as fearless in the face of death, brave and strong, sharp and clever, powerful in combat, and brilliant in strategy — a truly impressive figure.
If she weren’t the one who knew the real story, she might’ve believed it herself — that she was indeed the heroic comrade who combined brains and brawn to defeat a wild boar.
“What happened after that?” someone asked eagerly.
“Let me tell you slowly — and then there was another bang!…”
Ning Xiyue: Go on, keep praising me. I can’t wait for the dramatic face change later.
Chen Yechu came up beside Ning Xiyue, giving her a big thumbs-up with genuine admiration.
“Xiyue, you’re amazing. So cool.”
Ning Xiyue accepted the praise shamelessly, not even blushing.
“Calm down. Don’t worship me too much — I’m not giving you any pork as a reward.”
Chen Yechu giggled behind her hand.
“Why don’t you go back and eat first? It’s so late, you must be hungry.”
“Thanks, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not in a rush. I still have some things to do. I’ll eat once this is all done.”
Ning Xiyue wanted to stay and keep an eye on her share of the meat. She wasn’t leaving even a single pig hair behind — those could be sold for money too.
Chen Yechu thought about it and quickly understood her reasoning.
If she had hunted the boar, she’d be standing here waiting for her share too — no way she’d let anyone else take advantage.
Liu Yao also arrived from the educated youth compound, bringing along her cousin Yu Zhiyu and several other new and old educated youths — all of them drawn by the promise of wild boar meat.
Upon hearing that the meat had something to do with Ning Xiyue, Liu Yao ran over excitedly and asked:
“Xiyue, do you think we’ll get a share of the meat?”
“You’ll have to ask the captain about that,” Ning Xiyue replied, tossing the question back to him. She couldn’t care less about their meat — only about her pig.
The other educated youths standing around were also discussing the same question.
Wang Fenglan said, “Maybe we’ll get a little, but don’t get your hopes up too high. The villagers will definitely get priority.”
Ning Xiaoxiao stepped forward, wearing a fake innocent expression and pretending to be sincere as she asked, “Didn’t Xiyue kill the boar? If she talks to the captain, maybe we could…”
Wu Zhigang clapped his hands and chimed in, “Yeah! She could ask the captain. Then we’d definitely get some wild boar meat. Comrade Ning is right there — come on, let’s go talk to her.”
Wang Fenglan looked at Ning Xiaoxiao and Wu Zhigang like they were idiots.
“If you want to ask, go by yourselves. I’m not saying a word. Some people clearly haven’t been beaten enough — such bravery!”
Wu Guifang and Zhao Jianshe, two of the older members, took a step back. They had no intention of getting involved. They’d been in the brigade long enough and had a good relationship with the captain — they’d get their share no matter what. Why go sticking their noses into trouble?
Li Yang stayed silent, his refusal obvious.
Wang Jiandong shook his head. He wasn’t stupid — he didn’t want to get beaten.
Wang Mengmeng and Xia Zhipeng, both of whom had witnessed Ning Xiyue wielding a brick before, shook their heads like rattles.
Especially Wang Mengmeng, who had once been scared senseless by Ning Xiyue — she immediately declared, “I’ve got money and ration coupons. I don’t need a bit of pork that badly.”
At that moment, Wu Zhigang suddenly remembered Brick-Swinging Demon Ning Xiyue, and his confidence started to falter.
But Ning Xiaoxiao was looking up at him expectantly and admiringly, which inflated his ego and sent his dopamine surging — before he knew it, he was walking toward Ning Xiyue.
Ning Xiyue shot him a look of pure disgust and pushed him back with a brick.
“What are you doing? Stay away from me — men and women should keep their distance.”
