"So your second uncle didn't want to farm then and decided to raise sheep."
"With wolfsbane root, Auntie Er's family has enough money, and your Uncle Er and Uncle San have good futures because of you, especially Uncle San who has a good marriage engagement. Auntie Er thanks Yao Yao."
Qin Second Aunt smiled broadly when she mentioned her two sons, but her smile quickly faded.
"Ever since Da Ni closed her shop and came back, your mother hasn't smiled in days, and your brother is also on tenterhooks. She'll eventually live with your brother, and thinking about her being like this all the time, I don't want to split the family."
"Alas!" Qin Second Aunt sighed deeply.
Qin Jun Yao dangled her hands, playing with the calf, "Auntie Er, you just told me not to be angry, and now you're overthinking again. My elder brother and sister-in-law have already returned to Yan County to open a shop, and my mother will be less bothered if she doesn't see it."
"When my sister-in-law has a child and brings it to my mother to raise, she'll get better over time."
"Speaking of my father, isn't there my grandmother? My grandmother said," Qin Jun Yao pressed the corner of her eye downwards, imitating Grandma Qin's manner, "even if your father floats to the heavens, your grandmother can pull him down."
"Hahaha, oh my, you little imp, if your grandmother saw you, she'd scold you."
Because Qin Si Niu was still young and afraid of being scared by the squeals of the pig being slaughtered, Qin Second Aunt brought the child to Qin Jun Yao's place.
The Qin family only slaughtered one pig, and it was finished quickly. Qin Second Aunt, holding the little Si Niu, also went down the mountain to help.
The Qin family's pigs were different from other people's. They were descendants of wild boars.
The wild boar piglets caught the year before last had already grown up. The boar had been killed long ago, and the sow was kept to have piglets.
Wild boars grew slowly, and it took nearly two years for the piglets to reach the required weight.
There were still a few large pigs for breeding, and only one was slaughtered for the New Year.
The slaughter of this one pig also made the villagers heartbroken. The Qin family's pigs were truly easy to raise, with no faults except for slow growth, and they ate anything.
They could even be let into the mountains like sheep to find their own food. Of course, it took some effort to herd them.
But none of that mattered. As long as they didn't get sick and were easy to raise, villagers wanted to buy a piglet.
Therefore, the Qin family's few pigs became the coveted treasures of the entire village.
Grandma Qin did not eat at the Qin family's house. She took a piece of meat and two pig trotters back.
"This pig trotter is for you to make soup, and this meat is for lunch. I'll have your father send over a hind leg and half a rack of ribs," Grandma Qin dangled the pork in front of Qin Jun Yao's eyes, then called a young maidservant inside to take it to the kitchen.
"Grandma, did you ask for too much? My father only slaughtered one pig," Qin Jun Yao's eyes followed the pork until it disappeared.
She was craving pork, having not eaten it for a long time.
Grandma Qin tried to hold Little Hammer. Seeing that she didn't resist, she happily hugged her, "Too much? Even if he gave me half a pig, he'd have to."
"Grandma, I've ordered two pigs from another village."
"You ordered wild boars too?" Grandma Qin rolled her eyes. "Wild boar meat isn't fatty, but it's chewy. Half of tonight's meat will be braised pork, and the other half will be made into meatballs."
Qin Jun Yao saw that her grandmother had made up her mind and said nothing more.
Her father was probably quite proud and had likely sold a lot of the pork before it was even slaughtered. She wondered how much would be left at home after he sent a hind leg to Grandma.
However, this worry would be gone by evening.
Because Zhao Liang Cai and his men had hunted five wild boars and captured over a dozen wild boar piglets.
The pigsty, built long ago behind the Zhao family's fruit orchard, finally welcomed its residents.