Commander Zheng continued to sigh, "Brother Mingxuan, sometimes I truly envy you educated people, who can write and calculate. My family was poor when I was young, we barely had enough to eat. How could my family afford to send me to school? The few characters I know now, I learned from my old squad leader in the army. He taught me many life lessons, he was truly a good person! It's a pity, good people don't live long! During an enemy encirclement, he led the dare-to-die squad to cover our retreat and they all sacrificed themselves. By the time we went back to find them, there was nothing left but scattered bones. Alas!" He sighed, then wiped the tears from his face with his rough hands.
Xu Mingxuan was instantly overcome with grief and also reached up to wipe his own tears. Truly, heroes do not shed tears easily, only when their hearts are broken!
Xu Mingxuan wiped his tears and immediately pulled himself together, saying, "Commander Zheng, it is precisely because our ranks have had many brave and fearless fighters like the old squad leader and the dare-to-die squad, like my father, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law, who do not fear sacrifice, that our forces have been able to win battles and achieve national liberation!"
Amidst the continuous exclamations of Commander Zheng and Xu Mingxuan, Li Dayong led the soldiers to climb the mountain again. As soon as they arrived, he immediately organized the soldiers to carry the prey down the mountain. All other prey were manageable, but dealing with eight wild boars weighing over three hundred pounds each posed a challenge. The boar's stiff, needle-like bristles made them difficult to handle. Moreover, carrying such heavy wild boars down the mountain was inherently dangerous; a single misstep could easily injure the soldiers in front.
Seeing the soldiers preparing to carry the wild boars down, Xu Mingxuan quickly stopped them and urged, "Li Dayong, ask the soldiers present if any of them know how to butcher a pig and skin it. The skin and internal organs of these wild boars are not to be kept. Let's skin them here and empty their entrails, then dig a pit and bury them on the spot."
Commander Zheng exclaimed in surprise, "Mingxuan, eight wild boars have a lot of internal organs. Wouldn't it be a waste to discard them all? We could have the cooks wash them thoroughly a few times, and they'd still be edible. It's meat, after all!"
Xu Mingxuan quickly explained, "Commander Zheng, it's not that I want to be wasteful. These wild boars eat all sorts of things in the mountains. I'm worried about parasites in their organs. We must also instruct the cooks to boil the boar meat for a longer time, until it's thoroughly cooked." Xu Mingxuan continued, "Commander Zheng, our battalion is short on medicine and supplies. We cannot risk everyone getting sick for a meal. It's not worth it, don't you agree?"
Commander Zheng pondered for a moment and agreed, "Yes, yes, you're right. It makes sense!" He then loudly called out, "Li Dayong, did you ask if anyone here has ever butchered a pig at home?"
Li Dayong replied sheepishly, "Report, Commander, I asked. No one has ever butchered a pig at home. They say they barely had enough food to eat at home, so where would they have had the grain to feed pigs?"
Commander Zheng was stunned. He uttered, "It's all over!"
Xu Mingxuan smiled and said, "Commander Zheng, if they don't know how, let's do it ourselves!" With that, he took two daggers from his trouser pocket. These were Swiss Army knives that Chen Lan had bought for him from the system last night for self-defense. He casually handed one to Commander Zheng. Xu Mingxuan had wondered last night why his wife gave him two daggers, as one would be enough for self-defense. It turned out she wanted him to give one away.
Commander Zheng accepted the dagger as if it were a treasure, caressing it with his fingers, and said happily, "You, kid, you have quite a few good things! This one's for your brother."
Xu Mingxuan smiled and said, "It's for you. Let's get to work quickly! Otherwise, the boar meat will start to go bad."
Commander Zheng loudly declared, "Li Dayong, don't move the wild boars for now. Have the soldiers move the other items first. We can bring the boar meat back last. Tell the head cook to bring his men up to the mountain to carry the boar meat back. Tonight, our battalion will have pork feast!"
Upon hearing that they would have pork feast tonight, Li Dayong and the soldiers were immediately overjoyed and full of energy. They nimbly picked up their items and left. Suddenly, a soldier exclaimed, "Aiya!" Everyone curiously asked, "What's wrong? Can't you lift it? This bag isn't very big, it shouldn't be a problem?" The soldier replied, "It's not that I can't lift it, I'm just surprised how heavy this bag is for its size!"
At this point, other soldiers also mentioned their bags were heavy. Li Dayong walked over and grabbed a bag, but couldn't lift it. This sparked everyone's curiosity about what was inside. Xu Mingxuan looked up and saw a crowd gathered and discussing something. He casually asked, "Li Dayong, what's going on?"
Li Dayong quickly replied, "Report, Political Commissar, there are several bags over there that are peculiar." Hearing this, Xu Mingxuan was surprised. He hadn't heard his wife mention any other items yesterday. Could it be something his father added at the last minute? He immediately got up and walked over, casually slicing open a bag with his dagger. Inside, he found bags of white powder. The bags were labeled with three characters: "Edible Salt," and nothing else. He opened one bag, dipped a finger in, and tasted it. It was indeed salty. He immediately understood his wife's intention. He handed the opened bag of salt to Li Dayong and said, "Taste it. It's edible salt for curing the wild boar meat."
Everyone was overjoyed. So many bags of salt, likely over a thousand pounds! Commander Zheng also came over and looked at the twenty or so large bags of salt on the ground, and said emotionally, "Mingxuan! Your father is truly a good man! He's so considerate of the soldiers. If he were alive, he would have been a great leader. What a pity!"
At this moment, a soldier carried over a large bundle and reported, "Report, Political Commissar, report, Commander, here is a bundle of spices, likely for curing the wild boar meat." Xu Mingxuan took the bundle and opened it. It was indeed the seasonings for curing wild boar meat, and the seasoning bags even clearly stated the curing method! Commander Zheng happily exclaimed, "This is truly full of surprises! Today is truly a good day!"
Xu Mingxuan thought to himself, this must have been his wife's idea. He knew his father's personality quite well. His father, a man who didn't cook, would absolutely not think that the boar meat might not be eaten all at once and would need to be cured with salt, nor would he know that the unit was short on edible salt. Even less would he know about needing curing spices for meat. This must be his wife's idea; only she would be so meticulous and consider things so thoroughly. Alas! He already missed his wife since leaving home.