My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 32: A 500-pound Wild Boar

After leaving the steel mill, Zhang Lei found a secluded corner to sit down, lit two cigarettes, and then, on a whim, released the wild boar weighing over 500 pounds from his spatial storage.

As soon as he put the wild boar down on the ground, Zhang Lei slapped his thigh and cried out in dismay—he had forgotten to borrow a cart from the factory.

Looking at the large, robust wild boar in front of him, Zhang Lei could only pull out a thick hemp rope from his spatial storage, and with some effort, tie the boar's two hind legs tightly. Then, pulling on the rope, he slowly dragged it towards the factory.

Fortunately, the place he chose wasn't too far from the factory gate. After five minutes of struggling, he finally managed to drag the wild boar to the factory gate.

The commotion immediately alerted the security personnel and the guards on duty. Several people were startled at first, but then their eyes were fixed on the big wild boar, and they swarmed over.

Zhang Lei wiped the sweat from his brow, took out his purchasing pass, and handed it over. The security personnel carefully checked it and confirmed that he was a factory employee before they were relieved. A group of people surrounded the wild boar, looking it over from all angles, marveling at it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhang Lei grabbed a security officer and said, "Comrade, could you please call Deputy Factory Director Li and tell him that the big wild boar I promised has been delivered, and ask him to send someone over to help carry it into the factory?"

Upon hearing that the gift was for Deputy Factory Director Li, the security officer dared not delay and quickly ran to the reception room to make a phone call.

When Li Huaide received the call and heard that Zhang Lei had really brought over the 500-pound wild boar so quickly, he immediately perked up and arranged for the logistics department to go and help.

Before long, news of Zhang Lei bringing in a large wild boar spread throughout the steel rolling mill.

These days, people are starving, and it's rare to even smell meat, let alone pork. When they heard that such a big wild boar had come to the factory, many people gathered at the factory gate to watch the spectacle, secretly hoping to get a taste of meat and satisfy their cravings.

When Liu Ming heard the news about the wild boar, he was so shocked that he couldn't come to his senses for a long time. Zhang Lei had just brought in 200 jin of pork to complete his task that morning, and now, in just half a day, he had brought in a wild boar weighing 500 jin.

Liu Ming hurriedly ran to the factory gate and bumped into Li Huaide, who had also arrived. Li Huaide looked at the large wild boar on the ground, then at Zhang Lei, who was covered in sweat, and said "good" three times in a row. He couldn't hide the smile on his face, and he was overjoyed.

He was startled when he first saw the wild boar. If Zhang Lei hadn't mentioned beforehand that it had been hunted by three or four hunters working together, he would have doubted the truth of Zhang Lei's words. The reason the wild boar looked as fresh as if it had just been hunted was entirely due to the time-stopping preservation function of Zhang Lei's personal space.

Liu Ming approached the wild boar, circled it twice, and then looked at Zhang Lei in disbelief: "Zhang Lei, did you really get this?"

Zhang Lei wiped his sweat, smiled at Liu Ming, and said respectfully, "Section Chief, this is all thanks to Director Li's connections."

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide was overjoyed, and his gaze towards Zhang Lei became even more satisfied. Liu Ming also suddenly realized what was going on and secretly decided that he would have to be more polite to Zhang Lei in the future. This kid was clearly one of Director Li's men; otherwise, how could he have such a great ability to bring in a wild boar?

Li Huaide was in high spirits. He patted the wild boar's body and said, "This is some rare good meat. I'll give you a discount of seven cents a pound, how about that?"

Zhang Lei immediately nodded in agreement, his face full of gratitude: "Thank you, Director Li! Seven cents a pound is still the price of live pigs, which is definitely a top price in the factory."

He quickly did the math in his head: if this pig weighed 500 jin, it could sell for 350 yuan, which was a considerable sum.

Just then, the logistics department men arrived carrying a large scale. A dozen strong young men worked together to lift the wild boar onto the scale. Everyone stared at the weights, and then someone shouted, "Five hundred and sixty jin! A full five hundred and sixty jin!"

Upon hearing this, the people gathered around erupted in astonishment, exclaiming in disbelief.

Just as they finished weighing themselves, they heard someone running up from behind, shouting at the top of their lungs, "Make way! Make way! Everyone make way!"

At this moment, Zhang Lei saw a person rushing towards him with a boning knife in his hand. When the person got closer, Zhang Lei realized that it was Sha Zhu.

Sha Zhu's gaze fell upon the giant wild boar, and he immediately exclaimed in amazement, "Wow! Good heavens! Who bought this? Such a huge wild boar! Those two tusks could be used as weapons! Wow!"

Someone nearby immediately chimed in, "It was Zhang Lei who made the purchase!"

Upon hearing the name "Zhang Lei," Sha Zhu immediately turned his head and glanced around. He quickly spotted Zhang Lei standing next to Li Huaide and snorted disdainfully, his eyes filled with resentment.

Seeing Sha Zhu's expression, Zhang Lei didn't take it to heart at all. He knew Sha Zhu's personality too well. He had previously left Sha Zhu speechless in the kitchen, so it was no wonder he wouldn't give him a friendly look. However, Zhang Lei didn't care. One of them worked in purchasing, and the other in the canteen; their jobs were completely unrelated, and they hardly ever interacted.

By this time, the warehouse clerk had already issued Zhang Lei a receipt, which he accepted with satisfaction. This money was coming in so fast! He'd made over five hundred yuan in a single day, more than a year's salary.

Zhang Lei carefully put the receipt away and turned to watch Sha Zhu slaughter the pig.

As soon as he got close, Sha Zhu looked up and saw him, immediately pulling a long face and scolding, "Zhang Lei, what are you doing here? You know how to butcher pigs too?"

Zhang Lei got angry when he heard the barbed words in his voice: "What's wrong? Can't I even take a look at you slaughtering a pig? Besides, I'm the one who bought this wild boar!"

Sha Zhu, with his neck stiff, yelled, "So what if you bought it? This belongs to the factory! Get out of here, don't interfere with my pig slaughtering!"

These words completely ignited Zhang Lei's temper. His mind raced, and he raised his voice, "Shazhu, you can slaughter pigs as you please, but you absolutely mustn't take the pork home! This pig is a benefit provided by the factory to all the workers!"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers all turned to look at Sha Zhu, their eyes filled with suspicion.

Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat, and his anger flared up instantly. He had originally planned to sneak some extra meat home while the pig was being slaughtered, thinking that a cook who didn't steal wouldn't get rich, and taking a little meat was no big deal. But after Zhang Lei's outburst, he knew he couldn't do anything about it anymore; there were not only ordinary workers present, but also security personnel watching.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable under everyone's gaze, Sha Zhu immediately launched into a tirade against Zhang Lei: "Zhang Lei, you're talking nonsense! I, Sha Zhu, am an upright and honest person. I wouldn't steal even an ounce of this meat! Bah, I've never stolen a single piece!"

Zhang Lei deliberately looked at the security guards next to him and said loudly, "Colleagues in the security department, did you all hear that?! Meat is so precious these days, we absolutely cannot let anyone secretly take it home!"

The security personnel remained silent, but they all took it to heart, determined to thoroughly investigate the kitchen staff in the future.

Silly Zhu was speechless, his anger finding no outlet. He turned and yelled at his apprentice, Ma Hua, "Ma Hua, what are you standing there for? Give me the knife!"

Before he finished speaking, he snatched the boning knife and plunged it into the wild boar's neck with a "thud," his ferocity as if he had stabbed Zhang Lei himself, venting his pent-up anger.