Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 599: It Happened When the Pig Was Killed
These ingredients ordered from the restaurant will be brought along by Yang Liguo, Qian Shude and others when they go to Qing'antun tomorrow, so Xu Ning can save some time dealing with miscellaneous matters.

Near noon, he and Li Fuqiang drove back home. When Liu Lizhen and others saw more than fifty pickled cabbages, they almost laughed out loud. This finally wiped out his mother's obsession.

In order to better entertain relatives and friends, Liu Lizhen not only thought about sauerkraut, but also led Han Fengjiao, Yang Shuhua and others to make ten fire basins with mud and straw, and found Du Shoucai to help collect copper basins from house to house.

It was hard to find a copper basin these days. Finally, Du Shoucai contacted Lao Hu and looked for it in the two villages of Qing'an and Taiping. They had to return it later and give some pig-killing dishes as a token of their gratitude.

The copper basin is very useful because when the sauerkraut is put into the copper pot, a chemical reaction will occur, and the stewed sauerkraut will be crispy and look pretty, and naturally more fragrant than the sauerkraut stewed in an iron pot! This copper basin pig-killing dish can be said to be the highest standard of treatment in the countryside.

No food was cooked at noon, so everyone munched on a few mooncakes to fill their stomachs. Then Liu Daming, Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, Meng Yinhe and others brought their own chopping boards. The old ladies were in the north kitchen and the dining room, each guarding a chopping board, cutting sauerkraut and chatting.

Xu Ning and others were not idle either. They went home to heat their kangs. Da Laba also heated up the two kangs in Xu Pao's house, because Xu Pao, Chai Liangyu and Chang Danian would arrive tonight, while the Sun, Wu and Wang families would not be able to come until tomorrow. The Sun and Wu families would not be able to see the pig-slaughtering scene, but when they arrived in Qing'an, the meat should be roasted.

In the evening, Liu Lizhen specially stewed a pot of sauerkraut. Although there was no fresh pork, there was mutton and pork bought by Xu Long in the cellar. At around five o'clock, when the table had not been set yet, Chai Bing drove over with Chai Baotong, Chai Hongyan, Chai Liangyu, Xu Pao, Gao Danian and Chang Danian.

Old Xu's family greeted him warmly and led him into the house. Xu Ning introduced Ma Liu to Chang Danian. Naturally, Chang Danian knew Ma Liu, because Ma Liu was quite famous in Dongshan. People from several nearby villages knew him. When mentioning Ma Liu, the first thing they said was: This old man has a bad temper!

However, Chang Danian was not surprised. Ever since Xu Ning and Ma Liu met, he knew that Ma Liu would definitely have to go down the mountain. How could the kind-hearted Xu Erning let this old man live out his life alone in Dongshan?
After everyone took their seats, Chai Liangyu and others' eyes lit up when they saw the sauerkraut. People just crave for whatever they lack. In winter, they make sauerkraut all day long and eat it for every meal. They feel upset when they see sauerkraut. But now they haven't tasted sauerkraut for half a year, and they are drooling with greed.

Liu Lizhen said with a smile: "Tonight we stewed it in an iron pot, tomorrow we will stew it in a copper basin! The taste is much better than this."

"Oh my god, my sister is the only one who knows how to eat and cook!" Chai Liangyu laughed, patting his thigh.

Everyone raised their glasses and had a few drinks. No one was trying to drink too much tonight. They just sipped the wine in their glasses, crossed their legs and chatted at the table.

As they had not seen each other for a long time, Chai Liangyu talked a lot. It was mainly because Xu Ning had done a good thing that brought the three brothers together again and reminisced about their old times. On two nights, the three brothers chatted until after three in the morning and woke up with dark circles under their eyes. Chai Bing and his two brothers did not dare to ask, but had to tactfully advise the three brothers to be careful, as they were older and did not have the same physique as young people. If they stayed up for two nights, their bodies would easily collapse.

When Chai Liangyu just walked in, Xu Ning asked Chai Shao and his third sister-in-law why they didn't come. The answer he got was that they would be here tomorrow afternoon because they had to take care of the children tonight, and it was almost time to harvest the ginseng. Chai Shao had to count the mature ginseng seedlings and ginseng that were five years old or more from each household in order to calculate this year's profit.

Since we had to get up early the next day, the group chatted until around nine o'clock and then dispersed.

Xu Pao and Aunt Gao naturally followed Da Laba and his family of three back to Taipingtun, while Chai Liangyu, Chai Bing, Chai Baotong and Xu Ning lived in the west room, and Chai Hongyan and Guan Hua lived in the west room of Guan Lei's house.

Now there is no need to worry about not having enough space. The Xu and Wang families have a total of twelve rooms, and each room can sleep at least six people. There are just not enough beddings. However, Li Fuqiang, Liu Daming and others have extra beddings at home. They have all dried the beddings in the sun, so they can just take them and use them.

The next day, around six in the morning, people started to arrive at the Xu family's home one after another.

After Xu Laonian got up, he rode his donkey upside down to the old house. He first took a look at the pig. The pig weighed only 240 pounds when it came, but now it weighs more than 280 pounds. Although it does not reach 300 pounds, this pig is not small. In the countryside, there is no feed for pigs, and they eat only slop and bran. It can gain 40 pounds after being raised at home for two months, which is considered to be eating well and sleeping well.

He took Ma Liu back with him and said as soon as he entered the room, "I'm the one who does the surgery today! I've been feeding this pig for two months, and it's time for me to have a taste of it."

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Dad, other people can develop feelings for their pigs, why do you have to ignore your relatives?"

"Get out of the way! Is this called not recognizing your relatives? This is called giving up! Without giving up, how can there be gain? You know nothing."

Xu Long rubbed his chin and said, "Dad, I think I should let my uncle do the surgery. You haven't done surgery in years."

"What's wrong with you two? Why don't you trust me? Erli, when the time comes, you'll just hold my head down..."

Wang Erli looked at him and shook his head as he walked in: "Brother, please stop messing around. I'm trembling just because of the two sentences you just said."

"Why are you trembling? You're doomed!" said Xu Laonian with his eyelids rolled up.

Liu Lizhen said: "Stop making trouble, let Daming and the others kill you, you just stay aside and catch the blood..."

Han Fengjiao hurriedly said: "Sister-in-law, please don't let my elder brother take the blood and spill it..."

"Hey! Look at you guys, why don't you believe me? Am I so annoying?"

Xu Feng said jokingly, "Dad, you're not annoying, you're more annoying than me!"

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

Xu Laonian sat on the bench with a gloomy face and said, "Third Brother and Sixth Brother, do you think it's reasonable for them to do this?"

"That's outrageous!" Yang Yusheng laughed and said, "Dalin, we are about the same age, and this kind of thing can be done by young people."

"It's not good, let's not get involved."

After hearing his brothers' kind words of persuasion, Xu Laonian gave up the idea of ​​slaughtering the pig himself. He just smoked gloomily and said, "I just want to have some fun. In the past, when the family was short of meat, Erli and I went into the mountains to hunt for animals. Now that we have this little Xu Pao... I have nothing to say."

"Aiya, your thoughts are unnecessary. Who wouldn't worry about having a son like Erning?"

Chai Liangyu smiled and waved his hands: "Hey, don't talk about Erning's past, or I'll be the first to get angry!"

"Hahaha!"

The breakfast was the leftovers from last night. Liu Lizhen rolled some extra noodles. After everyone had eaten their fill, they did not rush to kill the pig, but sat inside the house and drank some tea.

While they were drinking tea, the old women had split into two groups, one group stayed at home to wash dishes and pots, and the other group went to the old house to boil water.

At around eight o'clock, Xu Ning saw that the time was almost up, so he stood up and asked Li Fuqiang, Liu Daming and others to go out. When they left home, they carried the rope for catching the pig, the knife for killing the pig, the aluminum basin for holding the pig's blood and pork, the scraper for scraping the pig's hair, and the axe for unloading the pork...

Killing a pig is not difficult for someone like Xu Ning, and he has no intention of killing today. He just needs to help. After all, he is getting married tomorrow, so how can he get his hands dirty with blood today?
When passing the fork in the road, Xu Ning happened to run into Li Feng and Lao Jiang. He called out, "Uncle Jiang! Brother Feng, let's go!"

Lao Jiang and Li Feng climbed onto the tractor bed, and Lao Jiang asked, "Why didn't my eldest brother come over?"

"They are all following behind. There is no room for all of them to sit down."

Xu Ning turned around and asked, "Uncle Jiang, did you go to a restaurant on the street yesterday?"

Old Jiang blushed slightly when he heard that, and nodded with difficulty, "Yeah! I just got home last night." Xu Ning smiled and said, "Why are you blushing? It's not something shameful! Uncle Jiang, how did you two know each other?"

"The two of us... Hey, fuck, you're trying to trick me?!"

"Hahaha……"

At the side, Liu Daming said with a smile: "Brother Jiang, Guoxing is not around, why don't you reveal a few words? We have all guessed it."

"Oh, there was nothing to tell. I took Xiaoqiu to have a meal with her and told her openly that I have an older daughter..."

Li Fuqiang, who was driving the tractor, turned around and shouted, "Uncle Jiang is so honest!"

"Haha, how can that not be true? How old is she?"

Lao Jiang frowned and said, "She's about two or three years younger than me. I didn't ask in detail... Someone else introduced her to me, and I don't know what she meant."

"Have you seen it before?"

"I've met her several times, but we've never exchanged a few words. I know her brother-in-law, and he always goes to Yongping."

At this time, the tractor drove to the door of the old house and stopped. Liu Daming heard this clearly, his eyes lit up and he said, "The daughter of the old Zhou family in Yongping?"

"Yes, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family."

Xu Ning jumped out of the car and turned around to ask in confusion: "The last name is Zhou? Uncle Jiang, does she work at the post office on the street?"

"I heard that she was paid by the government, but I didn't ask her in detail. How could she be interested in me with my conditions? Well, I originally wanted to take Xiaoqiu to the street to have a meal and buy two clothes, but I didn't think it would work out."

"Uncle Jiang, this guy is very familiar with my brother Manzhi. They are not only in the same unit, but also in the same group. Can I ask him for you?"

"Oh, forget it, just let it go. If she likes me, I'll give it a try. If she doesn't, forget it. I have no regrets."

As they walked into the courtyard, Lao Jiang continued, "I never thought about finding a partner before. First, I was afraid that it would affect Xiaoqiu's studies. Second, my family really didn't have much money. Now we have some surplus food... Hey, this old man tends to squander some money. Sometimes I am afraid of that myself. If I were to become a millionaire, wouldn't I be very arrogant?"

"Hahaha, my uncle Jiang is always honest when he talks, there's nothing wrong with what he said, but you have the conditions now, why don't you find someone? Xiaoqiu will go to high school after the New Year, and then you will stay at home all day to watch over him? Just find someone if you need to, what does your Xiaoqiu mean?"

"She agreed. Otherwise, could she follow me to the street? She refused to go when I told her to buy her clothes, but she was quite enthusiastic when I told her to go on a blind date with me."

Xu Ning nodded, and then asked Liu Daming and others to go to the backyard to catch her. He pulled Lao Jiang to the corner and whispered, "Uncle Jiang, as your nephew, I definitely hope you can find someone. As for this old woman, I heard from Du Manzhi the other day that she has no children. She had a boyfriend who was electrocuted and lost him. She hasn't found another one until now. She has a good personality and a good job. You should really seize the opportunity."

Lao Jiang smoked a cigarette and said, "She told me all these things. She said she couldn't have children and asked me if I could accept it. What's so unacceptable about this? I'm almost 40 years old. What's the point of this bullshit..."

The reason the other party asked this was that Lao Jiang only had one daughter, and he was afraid that Lao Jiang would miss his son and want to have another one.

In fact, this kind of thing is nothing to Lao Jiang. His wife died long ago, and he raised Jiang Qiu'er alone. During that time, he never thought about having a son. Otherwise, with Lao Jiang's appearance, he would definitely find one if he wanted to.

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Uncle Jiang, did she send you mooncakes?"

"How do you know?" Lao Jiang was stunned.

"Hahaha, because of the mooncake incident that day, my brother Manzhi was almost scolded by my uncle. Anyway, it was quite a coincidence. What does this mean? It means that you and her are quite destined to be together. I think you two can be successful."

Lao Jiang said with a smile: "It would be great if it works out. To be honest, this old woman is pretty good-looking and has a gentle face. She talks in a leisurely tone, unlike other old women. When I got home, I asked Xiaoqiu about it, and she said she was fine too."

"Then why are you still hesitating? Get in touch now!"

"Okay, I'll talk to her after you get married."

At this time, the courtyard of Lao Wang's house was already full of people, and Xu Ning and Lao Jiang also squeezed in through the gate.

Inside the house, Liu Lizhen, Liu Fenfang, Meng Ziyan and others were pouring the boiling water in the big pot into the water tank. Wang Biao, Liu Tianen, Huang Lin and Meng Yinhe were waiting beside them. When the water tank was full, they carried it to the courtyard.

"Why haven't we found it after so long? I'll go take a look." After Xu Laonian muttered, he walked towards the backyard.

Xu Ning stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and said, "Dad, just stand aside and watch. My uncle and the others will take care of it."

"Hey, your uncle learned how to kill pigs from me..."

"Stop it now, or my mom will scold you again."

Xu Laonian was a little upset, stamping his feet and saying, "Then I'll go and set off the fireworks! Don't stop me, or I'll get mad at you."

"I don't like to manage you."

In the backyard, Liu Daming, Lao Wei, Li Fuqiang and Da Laba grabbed the rope. After spinning it twice in the air, they threw it out and it immediately caught the pig's neck.

"Hey... I finally got it on. This pig can really run. Qiangzi, Guoxing, you two grab the pig's ears and let's get out."

"Okay, press it harder, this pig is almost like a wild boar."

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "If this thing was placed on the mountain, I could shoot it down with one shot!"

"If it wasn't for drinking some pig's blood, who would go through all this trouble?"

Lao Wei said with a smile: "Domestic pork tastes better than wild boar meat, right?"

"Of course. Domestic pigs are all fat. Look at how much fat there is on wild boars."

(End of this chapter)