To eat free meat, the entire brigade, young and old, mobilized, working together to connect electricity and heat water next to the threshing ground, with pig slaughtering and processing as a streamlined operation.
The women, tired from a day's work, didn't mind the fatigue now, taking charge of all the miscellaneous tasks like heating water.
The men helped the butcher slaughter the pigs and clean the entrails, occasionally raising their voices in boisterous cheers, seemingly happy for the current circumstances.
Through the quiet, collective efforts of everyone in the brigade, several wild boars were quickly turned into chunks of pork.
By this time, Su Xiaotian had already gone home to sleep.
Such scenes, after this year, would likely become rare, with household contracting expected to be implemented next year.
When that happened, another different era would arrive.
Unaware of all this, the brigade leader worried about what would happen if someone reported them.
Before distributing the meat, the brigade leader did not forget to remind the brigade members that the matter of catching wild boars and distributing the meat must absolutely not be leaked.
If anyone leaked it, they would be expelled from Hongxin Brigade.
Before leaving, they would have to return the meat they had eaten to the brigade!
The brigade members knew the gravity of the situation, and one by one, they all promised not to speak of it, and also promised to ensure their wives and children wouldn't talk either.
Su Changjiu finally felt relieved.
During the New Year, people visited relatives, and if someone's loose tongue leaked any information, it was hard to say what trouble it would cause.
Hongxin Brigade had a chicken farm and a pig farm, with many eyes watching them.
There were even more people around who were envious, so he had to be careful.
Su Xiaotian had gone home to sleep, but before sleeping, she had made arrangements for her brothers, asking them to get two more sets of offal if no one else wanted them, to make preserved meat.
For Su Xiaotian's arrangement, Su family's brothers endured the cold wind and waited until the very end at the threshing ground instead of going home to sleep early.
This year was a prosperous one, who cared about pig offal!
In the end, no one wanted the few sets of pig offal.
Since every household already had meat, no one was willing to spend a few more yuan to buy offal, even if it was cheap.
Finally, the butcher took one set, and the rest were distributed to the Su family, who had contributed the most, by the brigade leader's decision.
No one in the brigade had any objections.
The pigs were discovered by the old Su family, and they were also the ones who trapped them.
When catching the wild boars, the old Su family's sons and son-in-law had put in a lot of effort.
Although it was said that everyone went up the mountain together to catch wild boars, in reality, they just went to make up the numbers and helped carry the wild boars.
It didn't actually take much effort.
They received a lot of meat for free, so what more could they complain about?
Let alone the brigade leader giving them a few sets of offal, even giving them more meat would have been acceptable.
It had to be said that people in this era were still quite simple at heart.
Of course, not everyone in the brigade was simple; there were still others who liked to stir up trouble.
That would be Liu Xiuying.
In the entire brigade, Liu Xiuying was the most troublesome right now.
But wasn't Liu Xiuying fighting with her husband and running home?
Since she wasn't present, she lost the opportunity to express her wishes.
It had to be said that since Liu Xiuying left, Hongxin Brigade had been peaceful.
Some people even said privately that it would be great if Liu Xiuying never came back.
Unfortunately, the next day was New Year's Eve, and Liu Xiuying herself returned.
When she returned, she was still wearing the same clothes, and the injuries on her face had not healed, with bruises and contusions, making her look particularly comical.
Su Shan, holding back his anger, refused to pick her up. She had initially intended to play hard to get and wait for Su Shan to beg her to come back.
However, life at her nephew's house was too difficult. Her nephew's wife was constantly finding fault with her, and every time she opened her mouth, she implied that Liu Xiuying was eating their family's rations.
Liu Xiuying was accustomed to being domineering in her own home, so how could she tolerate this?
Moreover, it was already New Year's Eve, and her nephew's wife was practically chasing her out with a broom, saying there was no reason for an unmarried daughter to spend the New Year at her parents' home.
Even though Liu Xiuying was an elder relative, she had no choice but to shamelessly return.
Upon returning home, Su Shan still gave her a cold shoulder, pretending not to see her.
Liu Xiuying had been holding back her anger for the past two days and felt uncomfortable. She wanted to complain a little.
Unexpectedly, Su Shan, perhaps feeling good after hitting someone, immediately raised his fist and made a gesture as if to strike.
With her face and body still hurting badly, Liu Xiuying, thinking of the hardness of Su Shan's fists, dared not say anything more and quickly made an excuse about cooking to escape.
When she reached the kitchen, she discovered that there was more meat in the house.
Rummaging through it, she saw it looked like pork, but it was somewhat different from regular pork, so she asked her daughter-in-law what was going on.
The two daughters-in-law, accustomed to being bullied by Liu Xiuying, quickly explained the origin of the wild boar meat.
Seeing Liu Xiuying's demeanor, they were afraid she would cause trouble, so they quickly relayed the brigade leader's instructions.
They also repeatedly emphasized that outsiders must not know.
Liu Xiuying remained unconcerned.
She secretly rejoiced that she had returned.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten any of this meat!
Su Shan, that heartless man, wouldn't have left her a single bite.
She only felt that her fate was bitter, having not met a good man, and therefore not enjoying a good life.
Afterward, she began to worry about the distribution of the meat.
Upon learning that the Su family had received several extra sets of pig offal, Liu Xiuying immediately jumped up.
She angrily went to find Su Changjiu, and her daughters-in-law couldn't hold her back.
Liu Xiuying, cursing all the way, rushed towards the brigade leader's house.
It was still morning, and there weren't many people on the road. Seeing Liu Xiuying, people thought she had returned to her usual antics.
"Brigade leader, how can you do this? We are all from the Su family, why are you showing favoritism?" Liu Xiuying barged into the brigade leader's house without knocking.
The brigade leader and his wife were busy sorting the wild boar meat they had received the previous night. The sudden intrusion startled them.
Upon seeing Liu Xiuying, Su Changjiu's expression turned cold.
However, as she was a nominal elder, the brigade leader did not say anything too harsh.
"How have I shown favoritism?" the brigade leader asked, without getting up.
"Why did Su Chuan's family get so much offal, we want some too!"
If she had to pay for it, she certainly wouldn't want it, but since it was free, why not take advantage of it!
"Auntie, why don't your family also go up the mountain to hunt a few wild boars? Then, not only will you get the offal, but we'll also give your family an extra five catties of meat, how about that?"
Su Changjiu's words left Liu Xiuying dumbfounded!
"That wild boar was hunted by the collective efforts of the brigade members, don't lie to me!" Liu Xiuying said after a long pause.
"No one from your family went up the mountain," the brigade leader's voice grew colder.
He didn't know how Su Shan educated his descendants; his two sons were lazier than each other.
Yesterday, the brigade had called out for a long time, but they refused to step out of the house.
Later, they privately said that in such cold weather, only a fool would go up the mountain to catch a cold.
When the meat was distributed that evening, they smugly said that since no one from their family went up the mountain, they still received meat.
"According to your logic, your family's meat should be returned first, and we will reallocate it based on the work contributed. What do you think?"