Only then did Lu Gu pour the ointment into his palm, rub it between his hands, and gently massage it into Shen Xuanqing’s shoulders.
Before him was a tall, muscular figure, the bronze muscles shifting slightly with every movement, exuding strength. But Lu Gu was used to it and remained unfazed, focusing solely on applying the ointment.
Shen Xuanqing, on the other hand, felt a tingling sensation from the gentle blow and the soft touch of Lu Gu’s hands on his shoulders. It completely relaxed the tension he had carried for the past few days in the mountains.
The candle was blown out, and the chirping of insects hidden somewhere outside filled the night. Summer nights were intoxicating.
Too tired to bathe that night, Shen Xuanqing decided to clean up properly the next day. However, intimacy also made one sweat. Before Lu Gu could make a sound, a large hand covered his mouth in the darkness.
In the midst of their passion, sweat and taut muscles exuded a wild, fierce energy, a feeling entirely different from before. But it was all hidden by the night, unseen by anyone.
____
Early the next morning, Shen Xuanqing and his brother took advantage of the cool weather to butcher the boar outside the gate, avoiding the mess in the yard.
The previous night’s intimacy hadn’t caused Lu Gu any trouble. Shen Xuanqing had been careful, not biting him recklessly, and they had slept well in the latter half of the night. Lu Gu didn’t oversleep and went up the mountain with Wei Lanxiang to dig up medicinal herbs.
Since the wild boar meat needed to be washed before being sold, and the boar’s skin was thick and rough with dense hair that would take forever to singe off, they decided to skin the entire boar. Using a cleaver, they scraped and trimmed the skin, even calling over Miao Chunsheng, who had come to watch, to help.
When Miao Chunsheng heard he was needed, he happily jumped in to help, not minding the hard work at all.
Many men in the village loved to watch such spectacles, and several stood or squatted around, observing.
Seeing Shen Yuping and his new wife coming over to join the crowd, Shen Yaoqing called out, “Yuping, come help.”
When they approached, Shen Yaoqing smiled and said, “Xinlian, go inside and sit with your sister-in-law and Shen Yan. They’re at home.”
Chen Xinlian, who had been married for less than a month, was wearing new clothes and nodded shyly, though her gaze lingered on the wild boar.
Shen Yuping, who doted on his wife, even called her over to take a closer look. Only after satisfying her curiosity did she finally enter the yard.
Outside, the men were busy skinning and cutting the meat. Shen Yan couldn’t sit still and came out to watch the spectacle with Chen Xinlian. The scene of chopping off the boar’s head and removing its organs was bloody and gruesome, so Ji Qiuyue stayed indoors.
Shen Xuanqing wasn’t much of a talker while working. The boar’s long snout and ugly head, with the long knife still stuck in the center of its forehead, made him find it too unsightly and dirty. He kept the tusks and cut off the ears.
Huang Zhenchuan, who was squatting nearby with his sleeves tucked, noticed this and craned his neck to ask, “You’re not keeping the head?”
Huang Zhenchuan was the uncle of Huang Da, the troublemaker in the village. He had a habit of bullying the weak but was always polite to strong young men like Shen Xuanqing.
Shen Xuanqing smiled and said, “Of course we’re keeping it. It needs to be washed in the medicinal herb water before it can be braised. Uncle Zhenchuan, if you want it, I’ll sell it to you cheap. The head doesn’t have much meat and has a lot of bones, so I’ll charge you five copper coins per catty.”
Huang Zhenchuan immediately retracted his neck and fell silent. Even at five copper coins per catty, such a large boar head would still cost a considerable amount.
If it was someone he was close to, Shen Xuanqing wouldn’t mind giving the head away for free. But Huang Zhenchuan wasn’t a good person, and Shen Xuanqing knew he wouldn’t buy it. The price was more for the benefit of others listening.
Noticing Shen Yuping looking over, Shen Xuanqing asked, “Yuping, do you want it?”
If Shen Yuping wanted it, he could just take it home. However, Shen Yuping waved his hand and grimaced, saying, “My mom doesn’t have the skills to braise something this big.”
Though he said this, his exaggerated expression of disgust made Shen Yaoqing laugh. It was clear that Shen Yuping found the boar head too dirty and ugly to eat.
Skinning the boar was a massive task and quite labor-intensive. By the time Lu Gu and Wei Lanxiang returned with the medicinal herbs, the men outside still hadn’t finished processing the boar.
The herbs were washed and boiled in a pot. Once the water came to a boil, it gave off a rich, bean-like aroma with a slightly sweet scent, and the water turned green.
Lu Gu covered the pot and reduced the heat to a simmer before going outside to check on the progress with the boar.
Finally, the boar’s skin was completely removed, and the organs were cleaned out. Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing worked together to split the boar into two halves. Each half was heavy, but since they were going to wash the meat, they didn’t need to hang it up.
The family didn’t have a cutting board large enough for such a big boar, so they had to cut the meat into large chunks on the ground and toss them into a big wooden basin.
Wei Lanxiang brought out a bucket of water and used it to rinse the mud off the meat, then wiped it clean by hand. Lu Gu helped her lift the meat and toss it into another clean basin.
With a boar this size, there was no other way to clean it thoroughly. The meat would still be washed two or three more times in the medicinal herb water. The villagers watching didn’t seem to mind.
By the time the meat was fully cut, more than an hour had passed.
Shen Xuanqing ladled some of the medicinal herb water from the pot, mixed it with cold water, and poured it into the large wooden basin. He, Shen Yaoqing, and Wei Lanxiang carefully scrubbed each piece of meat to remove the numbing poison.
The boar’s head lay on the ground, and many people came over to inspect it. Seeing this, Shen Xuanqing said, “The head is too big. How about we split it in half? Each half will be four copper coins per catty. What do you think?”
Preparing the head required plucking the hair and cleaning out the nose and ears, which was disgusting and time-consuming. He didn’t want to bother with it. The head was too big for anyone to take whole, and people were afraid of spending too much money. Besides, at ten copper coins per catty for regular meat, it was much easier to buy and cook than dealing with the head.
Splitting the head would take some effort, but selling it would still bring in a few dozen copper coins. It just depended on whether anyone wanted it.
Huang Zhenchuan, who had been squatting nearby the whole time, started calculating: “This head weighs about twenty or thirty catties. If we split it in half, each person would take ten catties, which would cost forty copper coins. That’s quite a bit.”
He kept muttering about the cost, but braised boar head meat was indeed delicious, and he had tasted it. Despite complaining about the price, he didn’t actually leave. After a moment, he suggested, “How about cutting it into smaller pieces?”
Shen Xuanqing smiled and said, “Alright. Once I finish washing this, we’ll see how to cut it.”
If someone wanted it, it was still money coming in. A little extra effort wasn’t a big deal.
Lu Gu added more water and herbs to the pot before coming out to help wash the meat. He grabbed a handful of boiled herbs and scrubbed them against the meat. With so much meat, they’d need to wash it at least twice. Shen Yan and Chen Xinlian also squatted down to lend a hand.
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