Chapter 275 - 272: Slaughtering the New Year Pig
Lin Yuezhen waved her hands repeatedly, but Lin Lan smiled and said, "Go on, take it. Brother Yong asked me to bring it for you. He already gave the money to Xiangyang."
Only then did Lin Yuezhen accept it.
Lin Lan pulled a red envelope from her pocket and pressed it into her hand. "This is some money for your nest egg. You keep it for yourself."
Lin Yuezhen felt the thick stack of bills and shook her head vigorously. Putting down the clothes, she gestured, "Little Lan, sis, I can’t take any more of your money..."
"Take it. You go with my mom to the guesthouse; I won’t walk you out." Lin Lan smiled, pushed the money back into her hand, and went to attend to her customers.
Lin Yuezhen’s eyes reddened as she watched Lin Lan’s busy figure. She hugged the clothes and went to the department store, then returned to Lexing with Wu Shufen and Qiaohui.
Wu Shufen opened the main hall. Inside were leather trunks adorned with red "double happiness" stickers, a bicycle, a sewing machine, a television, and a new set of bedding. The three of them carried everything out, loaded it onto a handcart, and pulled it to the guesthouse Brother Yong had booked.
The bicycle, television, and sewing machine were purchased by Brother Yong with Li Xiangyang’s help. Lin Lan and Wu Shufen had bought her the bedding set and two large, red leather trunks with "double happiness" symbols.
Lin Yuezhen tugged on Wu Shufen’s arm, pulled her over to a chair to sit, then bent her knees and knelt, kowtowing three times to her.
’Auntie, Uncle, and Little Lan have given me a new life. I see them as my own family.’
Wu Shufen stood up, took a red envelope from her pocket, and placed it in her hand. "Live a good life. If anything comes up, come back and talk to Little Lan. If that’s not enough, you still have Guoliang and the others!"
With red-rimmed eyes, Lin Yuezhen nodded and bowed deeply to Wu Shufen once more.
Wu Shufen patted her hand and smiled. "Let’s go. Ah Yong is still waiting for us at the guesthouse!"
"Let’s go, Cousin." Qiaohui smiled, taking Lin Yuezhen by the arm out of the main hall. "I’ll help you pull the handcart."
Wu Shufen closed and locked the door. The three of them pulled the cart out of the alley of the vehicle factory’s residential area. In the distance, they could see Brother Yong and the couple, Shuiqing and his wife, already waiting at the entrance of the guesthouse.
For his wedding reception with Lin Yuezhen, Brother Yong only invited a few close relatives and friends. He didn’t even invite his two brothers.
Wu Shufen placed Lin Yuezhen’s hand in Brother Yong’s and instructed, "Ah Yong, from now on, I’m entrusting Yuezhen to your care."
Brother Yong nodded solemnly. "Auntie, rest assured, I will definitely treat Yuezhen well."
Zhou Yongmei stepped forward with a smile. "Auntie, don’t you worry. He and his brothers are all family men."
"Hehe!" Shuiqing laughed and scratched his head upon hearing that. "This is the first time I’ve ever heard you praise me!"
Zhou Yongmei shot him a playful glare. "Hurry up and help carry this stuff upstairs."
Shuiqing and Brother Yong laughed as they carried the television and sewing machine upstairs. The people at the guesthouse watched them with envy.
"Wow! This family is quite something, to provide such a good dowry!"
"Right? I thought she didn’t have a family, getting married from a guesthouse like this!"
Wu Shufen smiled and explained, "We’re from Shilian. My niece’s parents have passed away, so this was the only way for her to get married from here."
"Oh!" The people from the guesthouse finally understood.
After the things were moved upstairs, Wu Shufen said her goodbyes to the group and went home with Qiaohui to wait for Yang Zhigang to arrive to butcher the pig.
They had just gotten home when Yang Zhigang and a young man arrived, pulling a butchering bench.
Wu Shufen ladled a large pot of water and started to boil it. Qiaohui moved a large wooden basin into the courtyard, ready to collect the pig’s blood.
A little while later, Zhao Dehai, He Xianghua, and Zhang Rongqing also arrived to help.
The four men took some thick hemp ropes and went to the pigpen. He Xianghua looked at the large, fat pig in the pen and exclaimed, "It’s huge!"
Zhang Rongqing laughed. "What does Lin Lan feed her pigs? How do they get so big?"
Standing outside the pigpen gate, Wu Shufen explained with a smile, "We add paper mulberry leaves and ramie leaves, plus the soybean pulp from her third brother-in-law’s place."
"We should plant some ramie to feed our pigs next year," said He Xianghua and Zhang Rongqing.
The big pig sensed danger, oinking and grunting as it retreated to a corner of the pen.
Yang Zhigang, holding a thick hemp rope, opened the pigpen gate. Zhao Dehai, He Xianghua, and Zhang Rongqing went in together to catch the pig.
The pig shot out from the corner, squealing loudly as it scrambled around the pen.
After a few rounds, the pig was ultimately no match for the men. Its head was lassoed with the hemp rope, and Yang Zhigang drove it out of the pen.
The four men, including Zhao Dehai, rushed forward with their ropes and tied its four legs securely. Yang Zhigang also bound its snout shut.
Zhao Dehai looked at Yang Zhigang and smiled. "There’s still one more. Should we kill it or take it away?"
"Take it away. We’ll tie it up, and Mingzi will take it to the slaughterhouse first."
The men went back into the pigpen, got the other large pig, tied it up securely, and lifted it onto the handcart.
Zhao Dehai and the other three helped pin the first pig down on the butchering bench. The pig struggled fiercely, howling desperately.
Yang Zhigang pressed one knee against the pig’s belly and picked up the butchering knife. Murmuring something under his breath, he gave one of its ears a hard tug. The pig, in pain, jerked its head aside. Yang Zhigang thrust the knife into its neck. The pig let out a piercing shriek and began to convulse.
Zhao Dehai lit the pig-butchering firecrackers, which exploded with a series of loud pops. CRACKLE! POP! POP!
Yang Zhigang pulled out the knife. Dark red blood gushed out. He Xianghua quickly pushed the wooden basin, which had been prepared with salt water, underneath to catch the surging flow.
Gradually, the flow of blood lessened, and the pig’s convulsions grew weaker. Finally, the world fell silent.
He Xianghua, Zhang Rongqing, and the other man said to Wu Shufen, "Auntie Shufen, we’re heading back now."
Wu Shufen quickly said, "Come back later for the pig-butchering feast!"
"Alright!" the three of them readily agreed and left.
After the pig was killed, it was time for dehairing. Yang Zhigang and Qiaohui ladled boiling water into a wooden bucket, carried it to the courtyard, and doused the pig thoroughly. A foul, gamy smell filled the air.
Qiaohui waved a hand in front of her nose. "It looked so clean, but after being scalded with boiling water, the smell is awful."
Yang Zhigang smiled. "It’s an animal, after all. No matter how clean, there’s always a smell."
Once the pig was scalded, Yang Zhigang and Mingzi took out their knives and began to scrape off the hair. It took them over an hour to scrape it clean. Then, they hung the carcass up with an iron hook.
Yang Zhigang chopped off the pig’s head, then slit open its belly and disemboweled it. He split the carcass in two, deboned it, and cut the meat. Qiaohui and Mingzi loaded the still-steaming offal into a back basket and carried it to the ditch to be cleaned.
Wu Shufen collected the rendered leaf lard and cockscomb fat into a basin and carried it to the kitchen to set aside.
Yang Zhigang said to Wu Shufen, "Ma’am, do you want to make cured bacon, stuff sausages, or prepare pork preserved in oil? If so, I can help you separate the meat and shave the skin clean."
"Yes," Wu Shufen said, looking at him cheerfully. "I’ll have to trouble you then, Zhigang. It’ll save us a lot of work if you separate it for us."
"It’s no trouble." Yang Zhigang got to work efficiently.
Qiaohui and Mingzi brought the cleaned innards back into the courtyard. Yang Zhigang had already finished separating the meat. After helping to clean the pig’s head and trotters with rosin, the two of them took the other pig and left for the slaughterhouse.
Wu Shufen washed the cleaned head meat, blanched it, and then placed it in a clay pot filled with simmering braising liquid to cook.