Chapter 1074

The reason Wang An was in such a hurry to return was that many things in life are governed by the principle of "first come, first served."

Even though the big boar Wang An and Wang Li killed wasn't necessarily the one that had gored Li Tie, as Wang An had said, there were so many wild boars in the mountains—who could tell which one it was?

Besides, even if Li Tie were there himself to identify which boar had injured him, he probably wouldn't be able to tell anymore.

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Li suddenly said:

"Fourth Brother, when you come over next time, come by my place and grab some chili sauce. My mother is making it today, and I reckon it should be ready to come off the stove by now."

Hearing this, Wang An felt a stir in his heart and said with a chuckle:

"Your mother's chili sauce is truly a masterpiece. Don't worry, I definitely won't forget that, hahahaha."

As he spoke, Wang An checked his watch, then mounted his horse and, carrying the boar's head, headed back toward the settlement.

Ten minutes later, Wang An arrived directly at the settlement office. He untied the boar's head from the horse's back, grabbed it by the ears, and walked straight into the office.

This boar's head was larger than a cow's, weighing a full thirty-five or thirty-six jin, but with Wang An's current wrist and finger strength, carrying it wasn't much of an effort.

At that moment, only Sun Physician and Li Youcai were in the office. As for the militia captain, Sun Xiangfeng, he was likely still up in the mountains protecting the autumn crops.

As soon as he entered the room, Wang An said with a grin:

"Uncle Sun, Uncle Li, my brother and I have finished off that pest of a big boar. I specifically came back to report the mission accomplished, hehe... hehehe."

Sun Physician and Li Youcai were stunned for a moment, only to see Wang An throw the massive boar's head onto the floor.

The two men hurriedly stood up and walked over to the boar's head.

After examining it for a moment, Sun Physician said to Li Youcai with a face full of smiles:

"Look, what did I say? I said at the meeting last night that it had to be the little Fourth and Fifth from the Wang family who had the hunting skills. Only those two brothers from the Wang family could kill a big boar that had hurt people, hehehehe."

Li Youcai chimed in:

"You're right. All those others, the moment they heard about a four or five-hundred-jin boar, look how scared they were—damn, they were all useless cowards."

Sun Physician immediately replied:

"That's for sure, they don't think about anything all day long."

Wang An smiled but didn't interject; he was quite disdainful of the practice of stepping on others to elevate oneself.

Besides, Wang An killing this big boar was purely a matter of coincidence; otherwise, what hunter would go out of their way to hunt a big boar that was of no use at all?

As for the boar gallstone and the vast amount of boar tripe Wang An had harvested, that was like winning the lottery in later generations—something you might encounter but couldn't seek out.

In short, nobody cared for these big boars; hunters who went out on patrol usually walked around them if they saw them in the mountains.

After the two men grumbled a bit more, Wang An finally said with a thick-skinned grin:

"So, Uncle Sun and Uncle Zhao, didn't we say at the meeting last night that whichever group killed that big boar would be rewarded with 10 mu of land? Does that 10 mu of land belong to us brothers now?"

As soon as Wang An spoke, Sun Physician said very generously:

"Yes, that's right, that 10 mu of land is yours. Mind you, you can only farm it for three years; after three years, it will automatically revert to the settlement, unless you can perform some more meritorious service for us."

Wang An felt a surge of joy; since the settlement head had said so, his hard work hadn't been in vain.

Who would have thought that after Sun Physician finished, Li Youcai would suddenly ask Wang An:

"Little An, how big was the boar you two killed? Looking at this head, it couldn't have been small, right?"

Although Wang An wasn't pleased, his expression didn't change in the slightest, and he continued with a smile:

"I reckon it was at least 500 jin or more. I can't say for sure if it reached 600 jin, but in any case, this big boar was truly not small; I've never seen one this big before."

It was impossible for Wang An to tell the truth; the key to this matter was to keep it "about right" and secure that wasteland.

Li Youcai looked at Wang An, then at the big boar's head, clearly doubting the veracity of Wang An's words.

However, after pondering for a moment, Li Youcai nodded and asked Sun Physician:

"So, Settlement Head, shall I register that 10 mu of land for Little An and Little Li now?"

Sun Physician said with a beaming smile:

"Register it. With the big boar's head that Little An and his brother brought in, it counts as an explanation to the people in the settlement, hehehehehe... very good, very good."

It was clear that Sun Physician was genuinely quite happy at that moment.

Li Youcai took a small notebook out of the drawer and, while writing in it, asked Wang An with a smile:

"Little An, killing such a huge boar must have taken a lot of effort, right?"

Hearing this, Wang An put on an exaggerated expression and said:

"You bet. This big boar's armor was too thick; my brother and I fired four shots and still couldn't kill it."

As he spoke, Wang An pointed to the four bullet holes on the boar's forehead and said:

"Look, the first four shots all hit its forehead, and the bullets all got stuck. Then this big boar came charging right at us. Our dogs wouldn't stand for it, of course, and tried to block it. You should have seen our pack of dogs being sent flying by this big boar..."

Just like that, using somewhat exaggerated language and expressions, Wang An recounted the process of killing the boar, as well as gutting it and chopping off its head.

Truth be told, when it came to storytelling, Mu Xueqing was the one who did it well. Although Wang An's account was direct and clear, it didn't feel quite as exciting.

Fortunately, the scene at the time had been truly perilous, so just telling it was enough to capture people's attention, and Sun Physician and Li Youcai were left feeling tense, their expressions changing repeatedly.

When Wang An finished, Sun Physician and Li Youcai looked at each other, then back at the bullet holes on the boar's head, both looking quite shaken.

People living in these mountains knew all too well how ferocious wild boars, especially big ones, could be. Once a big boar went berserk, it was a fight to the death.

The danger involved was something only those who had experienced it would know!

Seeing that Sun Physician and Li Youcai were silent, Wang An said with a smile:

"Well, that's that. Uncle Sun, Uncle Li, you two go ahead and get back to work. My brother is still out in the mountains alone, and I need to go home to grab some things before heading back."

Sun Physician and Li Youcai were still imagining the thrilling scene Wang An had described. Hearing his words, they snapped back to reality, and Sun Physician hurriedly said:

"Yes, you must be careful and stay safe."

Li Youcai immediately added:

"If you have to run, run. If it really doesn't work out, come back to the settlement and we'll figure something out."

Wang An said as he walked out:

"Alright, got it. Don't worry."