Chapter 45: Keep Them Alive for The New Year?
Besides Zhang Wenliang, the watch dogs had also come along with Chen Fan.
The dogs had been following them since they were outside the woods, running a few steps then stopping, looking at Chen Fan as if he were some kind of strange creature.
By the time they reached the road in front of the earthen wall houses, quite a few local dogs had come running out after catching their scent.
The big yellow dog immediately got excited, rushing over to bark loudly: "Woof woof woof... (This guy can speak dog language!)"
The other dogs behind it barked along: "It's true, it's true – I heard it too!"
In no time at all, all the dogs had gathered around, barking nonstop.
"Really?"
"Why isn't he talking?"
"Make him say something so we can hear!"
Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly – were dogs this gossipy too?
Zhang Wenliang was surprised to see so many dogs swarming over. Normally, even when strangers entered the village, the dogs weren't this noisy.
He tilted his head to look at Chen Fan, then at the dogs, growing more and more puzzled.
It didn't seem like the dogs were hostile toward Chen Fan. When they'd taken the dogs to catch thieves before, the animals had been truly fierce – baring their back teeth, ready to pounce and tear people to shreds.
But the scene before him was more like the dogs had encountered something fascinating, crowding around to stare at Chen Fan with their heads tilted to the side.
Feeling a bit bewildered, Zhang Wenliang waved his hand to shoo the dogs away. "Shoo, shoo – get out of here all of you."
Then he looked at Chen Fan and smiled. "Don't worry – with me here, they won't bite anyone."
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel impressed. This young man looked fair-skinned and slender, yet he had remarkable nerve. Most people would either burst into tears or turn pale if surrounded by so many dogs, but Chen Fan still wore a smile on his face. Just for that courage alone, Zhang Wenliang felt a strong liking for him.
Of course Chen Fan wasn't scared – the dogs were all looking at him expectantly, hoping he'd talk to them.
So he first replied to Zhang Wenliang, "It's fine, it's fine – these dogs are all very well-behaved and cute."
Then he barked a few times at the dogs: "Woof woof woof... (Settle down now – the best-behaved one gets bones for dinner tonight!)"
Instantly, all the dogs stopped barking, though their gazes toward him were unusually intense.
Zhang Wenliang was shocked again. "Wow – you really know how to handle dogs!"
Chen Fan laughed it off. "Not at all, not at all – just fooling around with them."
Then he changed the subject and asked, "Brother Sanhu, with so many dogs in the village, doesn't that take up a lot of grain?"
Zhang Wenliang let out a hearty laugh. "Take up grain? Hardly – just give them some leftover rice and they'll survive. There's plenty to find in the countryside, so the dogs can scrounge up a lot of food on their own too – if they're lucky, they might even catch a rabbit. Of course you can't keep too many, but one or two are easy enough to care for."
Pausing for a moment, he added, "You sound like a local from your accent – did you never work in the countryside before?"
Chen Fan let out a small "ah" and said casually, "I don't know if I ever did or not – I can't remember."
Zhang Wenliang then recalled what the captain had told him – this man had been fished out of the river by Captain Yang from Team 6, and he'd suffered some kind of head injury that made him forget many things. He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him.
If he didn't have memory problems and his family background was good, with his looks and his skill at cooking turtle dishes, he'd be the perfect match for his youngest sister.
What a shame.
Just then, a group of children ran over and sized Chen Fan up from a distance.
Zhang Wenliang waved his hand and called out, though it wasn't clear who exactly he was addressing. "Zhang Xuejun – go tell them that Master Chen is here!"
No one responded, but the group of children immediately started laughing and chattering as they ran back. Chen Fan still had no idea which one was Zhang Xuejun.
As they walked, Zhang Wenliang said, "If you'd ever worked in the countryside, you'd know this place is a land of fish and rice. Farming here is hard work, that's for sure, but as long as we don't get hit by floods, with two harvests a year, we basically have enough grain to eat.
"Even during the three years of severe drought, our grain production wasn't affected much. The problem was that higher authorities requisitioned too much grain – seventy to eighty percent of what we produced had to be handed over. Plus, in the years before that, we ate in communal canteens and used up all our stored grain, so we went hungry for three years. We endured it together with people all across the country, but at least no one starved to death here."
He pointed at the earthen wall houses along the road. "After the three years of hardship, grain production bounced back right away. This whole row of houses was built during those years, so keeping a couple of dogs is nothing."
He turned to look at Chen Fan and smiled. "You have no idea – during those three years, we ate turtle every so often, plus loaches, eels, and crabs. The rest were alright – even without much oil or seasoning, we could still stomach them. But turtle was really tough to get down; if it weren't for how much meat it had and how one meal could keep you full for a day, no one would have touched the stuff.
"Who would've thought turtle could be such a delicacy? If you'd come here eighteen years earlier, not just us in Lujiawan – the whole county's people would've worshipped you like a god. Gufeng County is full of ditches, pits, and ponds; you could just flip over rocks and find piles of turtles. We could've eaten our fill and never gone hungry at all!"
Chen Fan smiled without saying a word.
Eat our fill?
Ever since the 1990s, when the "Ma Family Army" made turtle famous and Japanese laboratories claimed it had anti-cancer properties, the creature had become all the rage across the country. A simple home-style banquet would instantly become more prestigious just by adding a turtle hot pot to the menu.
As a result, wild giant turtles became extinct within just a few years. Occasionally, if someone caught one, it could sell for thousands of yuan – and the price had stayed high, barely dropping in over two decades.
Once food lovers set their sights on something, there was no such thing as "eating more than enough"!
As they talked, they were already approaching the pond.
Only then did Chen Fan notice that nearly the entire village had gathered here to clean turtles. Baskets filled with turtles were lined up along the pond edge, and men, women, and children were all scrubbing them with bundles of straw.
Seeing where Chen Fan was looking, Zhang Wenliang explained, "After your Captain Yang came here yesterday afternoon, we organized people to go dig for them, and we dug up another batch this morning. They're all right here. They only just started cleaning them – with so many people working together, it should be done quickly, so we won't be held up."
After speaking, he called out to the crowd who were already looking their way. "This is Master Chen, who's come to teach us how to cook turtle – let's give him a warm welcome!"
Those not holding turtles clapped their hands, while those who were called out loudly, "Welcome! Welcome!"
No one stopped working while they did so.
Chen Fan grinned and waved his hand at everyone. "Hello everyone! Hello!"
This was quite a unique way of welcoming someone.
After exchanging greetings, he quickly tugged on Zhang Wenliang's clothes and said quietly, "Brother Sanhu – are we going to kill all of them?"
Zhang Wenliang was stunned for a moment, glanced at the turtles, then looked back at him. "Keep them alive for New Year?"
Chen Fan was both amused and exasperated. "Yesterday we only prepared seven or eight large ones, and that was enough for the whole village to have a meal. You've caught hundreds of turtles – if we kill them all to make dishes, can you possibly eat that much?"
Zhang Wenliang was dumbfounded. "Seven or eight large ones are enough for the whole village?"
Chen Fan patiently explained, "Turtles have a meat yield of around sixty percent. Once cleaned properly, almost all of a large turtle is edible. A big one can weigh fifteen or sixteen jin – ten of them would be the equivalent of a whole pig. How many pigs can your village eat in one meal?"
How many pigs indeed?
With some extra side dishes, half a pig was enough for the whole village to have a feast. By now, nearly half the turtles had already been cleaned – were they really planning to eat until they couldn't move?
Zhang Wenliang quickly shouted out loud, "Everyone stop! Stop! Master Chen says we have enough – we'll keep the rest for later!"
Upon hearing Zhang Wenliang's order, everyone stopped what they were doing. After a quick tidy-up, most of them followed the two men up the slope toward the brigade headquarters.
(End of Chapter)
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