Chapter Twenty-Four: Dividing the Spoils

  The next day, when the sun rose high in the sky, at around 9 am, some quiet Zengjia Village gradually became lively, and one by one, villagers walked out of their homes and gathered towards Zeng's house.

  The whole village had twenty or so households, each of which sent a representative to Zeng Yu's spacious courtyard to deal with the wild boar.

  To solve the problem of wild boars, more than a dozen hunters above the village level all took action, however, among the young and strong, there were also some who did not participate.

  It is said that when sharing the spoils of war, those who did not participate should not be allocated a share. However, under Zhao Ji's proposal, Zeng Yu still decided that every household in the village, regardless of whether anyone participated in the wild boar hunt, would receive some wild boar meat.

  "Zhao brothers, all the household heads in the village have arrived, what should we do next?"

  Zeng Yi asked Zhao Ji extremely.

  "There are two big and three small wild boars here, the live one belongs to me, I'm going to try raising it. As for the other four dead pigs, everyone shares them together, those who participated in hunting can get more meat, and those who didn't can get less."

  Zhao Ji said with certainty.

  "Alright, let's do it this way."

  Zeng Yu had fully agreed.

  Five wild boars were killed and captured, basically thanks to Zhao Ji's efforts. He got one live wild boar, which was a matter of course. Even if he had swallowed all the wild boars, Zeng Yu wouldn't have said anything.

  Four more wild boars, two large and two small, the two smaller ones hadn't died yet yesterday, but with severe injuries, without treatment for a night, it was impossible to hold on, thus sparing the village butcher some effort.

  The villagers in the village, almost everyone can kill chickens and sheep, but the most skilled ones are only two or three people. With them as the mainstay, a group of villagers assisted, and soon the four wild boars were cleaned up, cut into thick and thin pieces of meat.

  "Villagers, thanks to Zhao brother's generosity, today every household can get a piece of meat, regardless of whether they participated in yesterday's wild boar hunt or not. Alright, everyone please line up and come forward one by one to receive the meat, don't make a mess."

  Standing in front of a pile of pork, Zeng once meant to be spirited and vigorous, like a general about to go on an expedition, reviewing his troops and giving a speech, with emotions full and rich.

  As soon as Zeng Yu's words fell, the courtyard immediately erupted in a burst of excited cheers. More than 20 villagers quickly lined up and actively came forward to receive the wild boar meat.

  It's not that the villagers are ignorant, but they get excited over a piece of pork because in this society similar to ancient China, ordinary people live very hard lives. It's not like they have meat every day, being able to eat it once a week is already good.

  The situation in Zengjia Village is slightly better, almost every household has a hunter, and if they catch prey, they can occasionally have a good meal.

  One by one, the villagers received their wild boar meat and left with satisfaction. The courtyard, which had been bustling with noise, gradually became quiet once again.

  Two big and two small wild boars, totaling over 1,000 catties. More than 20 villagers each got 3-4 catties of pork, and there were still more than 20 pieces left.

  "Zhao brothers, there is still some wild boar meat left, about 70 catties or so, what do you think we should do?"

  Zeng had an audience with Zhao and asked him about the Way.

  All the villagers had received their share of wild boar meat, leaving only Zeng Yu and Zeng Dazhuang without theirs. Zhao Ji casually said: "Older brother Zeng, you and big brother Dazhuang can divide the remaining ones between yourselves."

  "It's like this, you haven't even gotten a share yet, in my opinion, you'd better take these wild boar meats back."

  Shaking his head violently, Zeng Yu said in a urgent tone.

  "Right, Brother Zhao, solving this den of wild boars is all thanks to your strength, these pork should belong to you."

  Zeng Dashuai also hastily echoed him.

  With Zhao Ji's ability, wanting to eat meat in the dense mountain forest with many animals, hunting prey is simply effortless. Several dozen kilograms of wild boar meat are not even taken seriously.

  Yes, although Zhao Ji repeatedly declined, letting Zeng Yu and Zeng Dazhuang divide the meat among themselves, they firmly refused to accept it, leaving him somewhat helpless.

  "Alright, alright, let's divide this wild boar meat among the three of us. It's settled then, no one is allowed to raise any objections."

  After three refusals and two rejections, Zhao Ji said in a somewhat impatient low voice.

  Under Zhao Ji's decisive blow, Zeng Yu sprang into action and with incredible skill divided the twenty-odd pieces of pork into three piles. He and Zeng Dazhuang each took one of the smaller piles, leaving the largest pile for Zhao Ji.

  "Zeng Lao Ge, trouble your wife for a moment, cook these meats, this afternoon, I'll invite all the villagers to have a meal."

  A sudden flash of inspiration in his mind, Zhao Ji shouted loudly.

  In these days in Zengjiacun, he received a lot of help from the villagers. Moreover, Zhao Ji estimated that he would have to stay in the village for a considerable period of time. Setting up several tables and inviting all the villagers to eat together was very important to build closer relationships with everyone.

  "Zhao brothers, you, you're going to set up a floating banquet!"

  Zeng Yu said with surprise.

  With a faint smile, Zhao Ji denied: "The flowing water banquet is to set up hundreds of tables, and the delicious food will be served continuously for several days and nights. Anyone can come and eat. I just want to set up a few tables to entertain the villagers, how can it be called a flowing water banquet?"

  "This is already a rare occasion, as no one in the village can afford such a grand gesture. Even during festivals and weddings, everyone has never had a banquet together."

  Zeng Yi still stubbornly expressed his astonishment.

  "Yes, Brother Zhao, this is indeed the first time in our village."

  Zeng Daizhuang also expressed his surprise, and then excitedly said: "Is this thing settled? If it's settled, I'll go tell everyone. I dare say that everyone will be very surprised."

  "Go."

  With a slight lift of his chin, Zhao Ji said with certainty.

  As soon as the news spread, the whole village was in an uproar, and the joyful atmosphere that filled the village was even more intense than when they had shared the wild boar meat before.

  Although the divided pork brings benefits to every household, only the head of each household can feel the joyful atmosphere. The village feast is something that everyone can participate in and experience.

  Among the crowd, if we say who is the most excited and happy, it must be the little kids. Three or four years old, seven or eight years old, or ten years old, they run back and forth happily on the flat ground in the village, their shouts of joy and laughter echoing through the clear sky.

  "Great, we can eat meat now."

  "We have meat to eat now, we finally have meat to eat."

  "It's been ages since I last had meat, today I must have a satisfying meal."

  ……

  When the good news was announced at the village banquet, adults tried their best to restrain their joy for the sake of dignity, but children didn't care about these things and freely expressed their excitement.

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