Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 761 A New Year's Reunion: Slaughtering Pigs and Sheep, and Playing Words
February 17, 1985, the 2th day of the twelfth lunar month.

As the rooster crows at dawn, donkeys bray and dogs bark, wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys of every household.

Golden light pierced through the clouds, turning the snow-covered earth golden, and the scene was exceptionally beautiful in the tranquil atmosphere.

In the morning, the Xu family cooked their meals as usual. Since it was the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the dough had to be prepared, so the mother and others had kneaded it the night before. As soon as the sky began to lighten, Liu Lizhen, Yang Shuhua, Han Fengjiao, and others started steaming buns, flower rolls, steamed cakes, and other foods.

Xu Ning had been fighting for quite a while last night, and when he woke up he was slightly dazed, feeling a tearing pain in his groin, which he guessed was due to not exercising regularly. In contrast, Meng Ziyan was full of energy, radiant, and increasingly plump and charming.

It wasn't until after 7:30 that the Xu family had breakfast. They set up two tables in the living room to accommodate the group of people.

Steamed cakes and steamed buns come in brown sugar flavors, which are very sweet. Xu Feng loves this flavor. If you break the steamed buns open and stuff them with mustard greens and pickled cucumbers, and then spread a layer of chili oil on top, it will be a rare delicacy!
Xu Ning drank two bowls of porridge and ate two brown sugar steamed buns. After putting down her chopsticks, she said, "My dad will arrange for it to be made later, right?"

Xu Laonian, without hesitation, clapped his hands and said confidently, "I'll take care of it! Today's just a matter of slaughtering a pig and a sheep, right? Zhen, you guys need to boil some water."

Liu Lizhen chewed on a steamed bun, rolled her eyes, and said, "Do you even need to tell me? I filled the pot with water as soon as the steamed buns came out of the pot."

To cover his embarrassment, Xu Laonian said to Wang Erli, "It has to be your sister-in-law, right? She arranges everything so clearly. What more could a husband ask for than a wife like that?"

Wang Erli was a little embarrassed when he heard this. "Oh my god, brother, you're really good at this. You almost made my sister-in-law blush."

"Hahaha..." A burst of laughter erupted inside the room.

Xu Ning hadn't fully recovered from being out of bed, but after stepping out of the plastic shed and standing on the platform to enjoy the sunshine for a while, she felt a bit more energetic.

While the women were picking up bowls and clearing tables inside the house, the men were also getting their tools. First, they needed to prepare a rope for catching the pig and a pig-slaughtering knife, and they also needed to prepare a basin filled with salt water, which was used to hold the pig's blood. Since Wang Shujuan and Meng Ziyan were now showing signs of pregnancy and could not do heavy work, they could only sit in front of the stove to add firewood or pick vegetables.

Wang Biao went into the house and brought out two kang tables, put them together, and placed them in the vegetable garden. This way, even if there was blood, it could be used as waste, and the blood wouldn't seep into the red bricks and be difficult to clean.

All of them were people that the Xu family had invited today, including Yu Kaihe, Lao Wei, Du Shoucai, Du Manzhi, and others. They did not arrive at the same time, but entered the house one after another.

These people had an extremely good relationship with the Xu family, and they often helped each other. After they entered the house, they didn't sit idle. They all rolled up their sleeves and got involved, even if they couldn't do much work, they still tried their hand at it.

Soon, the four hooves of an old sow were bound with ropes, and the crowd pressed it down on the kang table. Ma Liu, holding a pig-slaughtering knife, quickly stabbed it into the pig's neck. The knife was steady, accurate, and ruthless. When he pulled the knife out, Ma Liu even moved the handle up and down a couple of times to enlarge the wound on the pig's neck.

Liu Tianen squatted down below, holding a basin mixed with salt, to collect the pig's blood. The pig's screams were deafening, making everyone's eardrums vibrate. However, they did not show any disgust. Instead, they were all smiles, with a kind of heartfelt joy.

Wang Biao gripped a long stick and stirred the blood in the basin to prevent it from congealing too quickly. Xu Laonian said, "Take it inside later. Tell your aunt not to worry. We still have a sheep to slaughter."

"Alright! Grandpa, listen to how this pig squeals. Wow, you can hear it all over the village, right?"

At this moment, Meng the Cripple and Meng Yinhe stepped into the courtyard and laughed, "We heard it! We heard it! We could hear the pig being slaughtered from far away, and everyone in the village was looking this way."

Upon hearing this, Xu Laonian burst into laughter: "Hahaha..."

While the men and children were slaughtering pigs and sheep, Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, Guan Lei, and Yang Jun were doing the dirty work. Some of them rode on the backs of the pigs, while others stood behind them with their buttocks pressed against the pigs. If they were unlucky, pig manure would gush out and instantly cover their feet.

Li Fuqiang twisted his face, looking helpless: "How come it actually pooped? Uncle, did you feed the pigs last night?"

Xu Laonian waved his hand dismissively: "I'll feed my ass! Even if you starve this thing for three days, it'll still have what it needs... Didn't your second uncle just tell you to change into rain boots?"

Li Fuqiang pointed to the rain boots on Xu Ning's feet and said, "We only found two pairs. My uncle wore one pair when he was catching pigs, and my brother wore one pair. There aren't any more."

"Serves you right! You guys put on this whole brotherhood act, you deserve it."

Xu Ning grinned and said, "Big brother, hurry up and go to that corner and take off your shoes. Mantang, go inside and find a pair of shoes for your dad."

"Okay, Dad, be careful not to get it on the bricks, or it'll be hard to clean later."

"Holy crap, this little brat is making fun of me now."

"Hahaha……"

With a carrying pole on his shoulder, from which two water spouts hung, Yang Jun laboriously carried the water spouts to the yard and poured them into a large aluminum basin.

"Uncle, this is boiling water. Be careful when you're shaving."

"I know, Tiger. Tell your little brother to go home and light the stove. We'll go over there later to stew meat and sauerkraut."

The noise rose and fell freely, and the courtyard was filled with laughter. Xu Laonian and other middle-aged men smoked and chatted around the dead pig, but they did not neglect their work. After the pig hair, which was as sharp as steel needles, was scalded with boiling water, it was scraped off with a scraper. A layer of white hair was removed from the skin, and the smell of scalding hair filled the air.

After the lanterns were taken out, Ma Liu, Lao Zhao, and Lao Yang took over. Ma Liu cleaned the pig intestines the best, and threw the remaining heart, lungs, and liver into the large basin.

"Slaughtering a sheep?"

“Let’s slaughter a sheep today. We’ll save the other one to treat my son’s friends to a meal after the New Year.”

Old Jiang said, "Weren't Hu Zhibin and the others coming today?"

"The ones who came today, I'm referring to those from Sandaohe and Wanye."

Old Wei laughed and said, "Er Ning is really good at making friends; he can make friends anywhere."

“Just like me,” Old Xu said shamelessly.

After Xu Laonian, Liu Daming, Lao Wei, and others caught the sheep, they pressed it to the ground and slaughtered it.

The sheep's wool also needs to be scraped, but you can't use a coarse scraper; you need to use a fine one. It's best to soak the sheep in water. The wool on the face and thin legs is difficult to remove, so what do you do? You can only burn it with charcoal. In short, it took almost half a day to remove the wool.

Pork and lamb should not be cooked together because they will absorb each other's flavors. Nowadays, people value the original flavor of food, so if they are cooked together, the taste will be different.

Liu Daming tossed the sheep intestines around a couple of times, then turned around and called out, "Sister! Should we build a stove in the yard?"

"Go to your second brother's courtyard; there's a stove there."

Wang Hu ran over and said, "Uncle, there are two stoves in my yard. Shall I go light them and boil some water?" "Sure, I'll boil some offal in a bit. Oh my, if this offal soup were served with some big fried dough sticks, wouldn't it be incredibly delicious?"

"It must smell amazing!"

No one was idle in the yard; everyone was looking for work to do. Around 10 o'clock, the pigs and sheep had already been shaved, and it was just time to put the meat in the pot to stew. Chang Juan, Sun Cuiping, Zhao Yue'e, and others arrived late. It wasn't that they didn't want to come earlier, but they needed to steam some noodles at home for today's offering.

Xu Ning saw that his sisters-in-law had all come over, so he seized the opportunity to run to the second room on the west side to rest for a while. But as soon as he sat down on the bed, he heard shouts from the courtyard gate. He got up and looked out, and saw Hu Zhibin, Lao Hu, and Hu Zhiyong coming over.

Moreover, there was an old Jiefang truck outside the high wall. Just as Xu Ning was walking out, Lao Qian, Liu Xuemin, and Lao Jin entered the door carrying things.

"My goodness, are they slaughtering pigs and sheep? This is such a huge spectacle!"

Liu Xuemin greeted Xu Laonian and the others, offered them cigarettes, and Xu Laonian grinned and said, "We've all been working hard for a year, so we have to eat and drink well today! Xuemin, did you come from the street?"

"Yeah, Lao Qian picked me up. He originally wanted my wife to come too, but she went back to her parents' house."

"Going back to your parents' home is also important. How's your dad's health?"

"It's fine, I can eat and drink."

"Being able to eat and drink is a blessing. You don't need to worry about him usually. This old man is quite easy to manage."

Xu Ning stepped out the door and waved his hand, "Why are you only arriving now?"

"Oh dear, they're all rushing over here. Old Qian picked me up around eight o'clock this morning, and then he went to pick up Old Jin..."

Xu Ning nodded: "How did it go, Brother Jin? Did your father-in-law not make things easy for you when you went to your wife's house?"

Old Jin said proudly, "When I visit my father-in-law's house, I have to start eating first. No one dares to touch the wine glass if I don't take one."

"Haha, even Lao Jin might be bragging now."

Everyone stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky and laughing heartily, bending over backwards with laughter.

Besides having dinner, Xu Ning also wanted to discuss the car repair shop with them. Taking advantage of the time they had, everyone went into the west room and chatted while drinking tea and eating melon seeds. The main topic was investing money. Xu Ning had already cleared away the initial obstacles, and now all that was left was building the factory and signing an agency agreement with the car manufacturer.

“Old Qian, my brother said there’s a vacant lot in the city near Xishan Street. The transportation is convenient and it’s not too far from the residential area. Can you find a construction team in the city? We need to build a two-story house and a repair shop.”

"Yes, construction teams are easy to find. The main question is, what kind of building do you want?"

"It's very simple. The two-story building occupies more than 200 square meters. The first floor can be used as an office, reception area, and showroom, while the second floor is for employee accommodation. The repair shop also needs to be divided into two sections: one for repairing car parts and the other for repairing car engines and such..."

The conversation lasted for about an hour. Xu Ning explained it in great detail and also told them about the shares in the auto repair shop. They said they would sign the share agreement once the funds arrived next year.

Around 11 a.m., Yang Yusheng and Xu Long returned. Xu Laonian asked Xu Long to drive the jeep to the forest farm to pick up Zheng Yunlong, Guo Xingmin, and others. There would be more than 10 people from the forest farm.

At this moment, the corner of the reception room of the Xu family was piled up with things. There were six large fruit gift boxes alone, as well as many canned goods, cigarettes and alcohol, all brought by people who came to the Xu family for dinner.

Both animals were taken care of, and the men had finished their work. The remaining tasks were the women's responsibility. They split into two groups: one group cooked pork at Old Xu's house, and the other group cooked mutton at Old Wang's house. There were also people chopping sauerkraut, mincing garlic, chopping vegetables, and mincing meat...

In short, the atmosphere was quite lively. After the children cleaned up the clutter in the yard, they played jump rope in the yard. If anyone needed help, they could just call out and the children would willingly run errands for them.

It wasn't until after 2 o'clock that the Xu family started setting up the table, and one hot dish after another was served, the aroma filling the air and making people's mouths water.

The main dishes are braised pork belly with sauerkraut and blood sausage. There is also deboned meat and half a pork knuckle for each table. Because there are six tables, there are not enough pork knuckles. Each table also has stir-fried mutton, mutton soup, and braised carp.

The cuisine is naturally very diverse. After all, the Xu family is known for its discerning palates and adventurous eating habits. No one who comes to the Xu family says they don't like the food. The main reason is that Yang Shuhua's cooking is also very delicious. However, today's braised carp and stir-fried mutton were prepared by Yang Liguo, and Yang Shuhua only assisted him.

The elderly drank loose-leaf liquor, while the middle-aged and young people drank Fengcheng Laojiao liquor. Xu Laonian, the head of the family, stood up, raised his glass, and said a few words. Everyone took a sip of liquor, and the meal began.

Xu Long accompanied his buddies Xiao Du and Yan He, while Xu Ning accompanied Lao Qian and others. Although they were seated at two separate tables, it didn't stop them from wanting to chat. Xu Laonian, in particular, stretched his neck and got up to chat with the old ladies at the two tables next to him.

“Jane, sister-in-law, and my nieces... you all worked so hard today.”

"Oh my, look at my uncle, his chatter is so heartwarming."

Liu Lizhen laughed and said, "He's just good at talking. Let's have a toast and wish him a Happy New Year in advance."

"Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Chinese New Year..."

The drinking session was quite enjoyable, and the table wasn't cleared off until after 7 p.m.

The daughters-in-law cooked the food in the north kitchen, and the men ate two bowls of rice, then left satisfied to drink tea.

They all had to stay tonight. Yang Yusheng went to Li Fuqiang's house because he wouldn't be able to return to work in the city until after the New Year. Lao Qian and the others stayed in the second room on the east side. Xu Long, Xu Ning, and their wives stayed in the west room. The rest of them also had somewhere to go...

Xu Long and Xu Ning drank quite a bit tonight, and went to the courtyard to vomit twice. Their wives gave them a teacup of salt water, and after drinking it, they lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"We're going to deliver some meat to Master Zhang tomorrow. Are you coming with me?"

Xu Long nodded: "Sure, will you also deliver them to other people?"

"It's convenient for others to stay nearby, and they can finish delivering in two hours, so we won't stay for dinner."

Wang Shujuan said, "The reinforcements are bringing their partners back for the New Year this year. Will they need to come to our house then?"

Xu Ning remained silent, while Xu Long said, "You're not officially married yet, what are you doing here? Wait until you're officially married before coming."

"Even the reinforcements have never done anything like this before, so shouldn't he ask them about it?"

"Asking makes sense..."

(End of this chapter)