PCJ – Chapter 380 Stealthily Getting Some Meat

Nie Tong, however, lowered his head and refused to speak.

“Alright then. Whenever you’re willing to share, let me know,” Zhang Jiaohua said as he picked up a chopstick full of spicy sauce. “This sauce is really delicious.”

“If you like it, next time I’ll bring you a jar,” Nie Tong replied.

“Forget it. I’ll just come over to your place to grab some,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

After finishing their meal, when they went to wash their lunch boxes, Qi Xia pulled Zhang Jiaohua aside. “I know about Nie Tong’s family. They really have it tough. Two years ago, his family had a little sister, and all their belongings were taken away by the family planning officials, and their house was demolished. Nie Tong’s parents ran away then and haven’t come back since. No one in the village knows where they went. With the house demolished, Nie Tong’s grandparents used the planks from the demolition to build a very simple house. Originally, life was tight, but they managed to get by. Later, when you all were collecting wild tea in Meizi Ditch, Nie Tong went up the mountain with his grandfather to pick wild tea, which earned them some money. Who would have thought that Nie Tong’s grandmother fell ill, spent all their money, and died last year? Now it’s just Nie Tong and his grandfather left at home. Those uncles and aunts of his see that his grandparents are taking care of him but don’t care about their lives at all.”

“What about his sister?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“She was taken away by his parents. Sigh, every family has its own troubles,” Qi Xia said, looking very deep and melancholy.

Zhang Jiaohua looked at Qi Xia in confusion. “What troubles do you have at home?”

“I wish I had been born in Meizi Ditch,” Qi Xia said.

“Why?” Zhang Jiaohua was somewhat puzzled.

“Then I could play basketball as well as you guys. Even the mute can play so well. If I had practiced with you earlier, I would definitely play better than the mute,” Qi Xia lamented, recalling how badly he had been bullied by the kids from Meizi Ditch on the basketball court these days.

After less than a week in the school cafeteria, Zhang Jiaohua was starting to feel overwhelmed. He had to practice martial arts every day, even after starting middle school. He continued to persist. While the saying goes “Poor in literature but rich in martial arts,” the daily training consumed a significant amount of energy. If conditions allowed, he also needed to concoct medicine to replenish his energy. Even without making medicine, he had to consume a large amount of meat every day to compensate for the energy spent. However, even if Zhang Jiaohua had money at school, he couldn’t buy enough meat to meet his needs. After a week, he felt a persistent hunger gnawing at him.

“Hey, Mute, want to eat meat?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“Yes,” the mute quickly nodded.

Zhang Yuanbao was also smacking his lips; he wasn’t as severe off as Zhang Jiaohua and the mute. Once at Yidushui Middle School, Zhang Yuanbao couldn’t hold on anymore. However, being tall and having a good appetite, the little food available at school often left him in a half-hungry state.

“This can’t go on; we need to find something to eat,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Jiaohua, are you thinking about stealing some chickens?” Zhang Yuanbao asked.

“Steal your brain. Why would I need to steal chickens?” Zhang Jiaohua shot Zhang Yuanbao a glare.

“I didn’t mean that! I’m just worried that Runtian will go back and report us. This yellow-haired girl has nearly gotten me killed; every time something happens, she definitely goes back to tell on us.” Zhang Yuanbao actually wanted to join Zhang Jiaohua in stealing chickens. Seeing that Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t planning to, he felt a bit regretful.

Next to Yidushui was a rice field where flocks of doves could often be seen lined up along the field ridge. However, on this day, the group of doves didn’t notice the fine lines on the ground, nor the abundance of food that had appeared on the ridge. They joyfully shared the food, oblivious to the fine lines beginning to move. Suddenly, with a strong pull, the fine strings ensnared the doves’ feet. Startled, the doves took off into the air, but before they could get far, over a dozen of them fell in a line.

Five boys emerged quickly from the nearby bushes, rushing to catch the doves. These five boys were, of course, Zhang Jiaohua, the mute, Zhang Yuanbao, Qi Xia, and Nie Tong.

“Jiaohua, how are we going to eat these doves?” the mute asked.

“Let’s go find a place to roast them,” Zhang Jiaohua said as he led the way to a small creek not far from the school. It was a perfect spot for a picnic.

This creek was downstream from Bai Creek but was called Yidushui here.

Zhang Jiaohua found a wider, shallower spot by Yidushui, most importantly, there was a stretch of mud nearby. Without needing Zhang Jiaohua to instruct them, the mute and the others quickly gathered firewood around them. The mountain kids were all experts in survival in the wild. As long as they had matches, mountain folk would never go hungry. Of course, it’s not easy to eat as luxuriously as Jiaohua did.

Zhang Jiaohua had already scouted the area, so he quickly found a place with clay. Clay is different from regular soil. Its fertility is very poor, and its stickiness is too high, making it hard for plant roots to breathe. In places where there’s a lot of clay, plants struggle to grow well. Such areas often become desolate, with only tough wild grasses and thorns managing to survive stubbornly.

This time, Zhang Jiaohua planned to use clay to wrap the doves, making “Jiaohua Doves” to eat. He easily dug a stove on the bank’s slope with the knife he always carried and piled all the gathered firewood into the stove. Zhang Jiaohua then thoroughly wrapped several doves in the prepared clay and threw them into the fire.

“Mute, keep an eye on the fire. You all go collect more firewood, especially some tree branches. We need a big fire to roast the doves later,” Zhang Jiaohua instructed.

With food involved, everyone was eager to act. Zhang Yuanbao quickly took Qi Xia and Nie Tong to gather firewood in the nearby woods.

Zhang Jiaohua filled a metal bucket that they had brought with water and set it on the fire. Once the water boiled, he tossed the doves into the boiling water. After scalding them, he and the mute quickly cleaned the remaining doves. This time, Zhang Jiaohua even took special care to remove the doves’ intestines.

These intestines weren’t entirely useless. Zhang Jiaohua took out a bundle of fishing line from his bag, hooked the dove intestines onto a fish hook, and tossed it directly into the creek. Unexpectedly, without a fishing rod, the fishing line soon showed signs of movement, with something pulling on the line and thrashing about in the water.

The bucket that had just been used to boil water quickly transformed into a fish bucket. In no time, Zhang Jiaohua had caught over ten stone fish.

“These fish are so easy to catch?” the mute asked.

“Because they’re just like you, greedy!” Zhang Jiaohua laughed.

These stone fish were indeed very easy to catch; they were greedy and would eat anything thrown in without even testing it first. Zhang Jiaohua didn’t even need a fishing rod; he tied a one or two-meter-long fishing line to a stick and caught that many fish in no time. Of course, this was also because very few people in Yidushui used electric fishing machines. People here had things to do, and young and old alike could easily earn money, so who would bother with such dangerous fishing machines?

Zhang Jiaohua went to the bank and cut some thin bamboo, shaving them down into skewers. Once he finished these tasks, Zhang Yuanbao returned with Qi Xia and Nie Tong, all carrying a bundle of dry firewood.

“I was wondering where you all had disappeared for so long. Are you bringing back all this firewood to start a fire?” the mute laughed.

“This time we won’t use it all, we can use it again next time,” Zhang Yuanbao replied, knowing that Jiaohua wouldn’t just come out once.

“Just right, everyone can have a dove to roast, I’ve got the seasonings in my bag,” Zhang Jiaohua handed out several bamboo skewers to each of them.

Indeed, everyone was a master of survival in the wild. The cleaned doves quickly turned golden brown in their hands, the skin sizzling as the aroma of roasting meat filled the air.

Zhang Jiaohua’s backpack contained various spices, the most important of which was the secret seasoning he personally mixed, along with essential salt.

“Jiaohua, are you going to make fish soup with those fish?” The mute gulped down his wild chicken in a few bites and still felt unsatisfied. A cleaned dove weighed less than half a kilogram, and what they could eat was just about 100-150 grams, which was hardly enough for these growing boys.

“Let’s roast it. Roasting is better,” Qi Xia quickly said.

“Then we’ll roast it,” Zhang Jiaohua also nodded, skewering the fish while quickly soaking the doves in the seasoning and placing them next to the fire.

As he watched everyone feast with satisfied faces, Zhang Jiaohua felt like he was more like the cook. He didn’t intend to eat more; the food was enough for him. But if you were to eat in front of them, they’d probably complain, thinking he didn’t want to share with them.

After an hour, Zhang Jiaohua finished cooking the fish and doves. He started handing them out. “Go ahead, eat! How do you want to eat it? Just pull the skewers out!”

“Wow, it’s so fragrant!” Zhang Yuanbao exclaimed. His mouth was already full of meat, and he couldn’t help himself. The mute ate even faster, as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Jiaohua, do you think we’ll get caught?” Zhang Yuanbao asked.

“Relax, it’s just a few doves; they won’t care about us!” Zhang Jiaohua replied confidently.

The boys were having a great time, each enjoying their doves and fish. The once troubled days were but a memory now, and laughter echoed down the creek.