Chapter 26 The Last Reserves 2

On July 6th, the balance was 22,000.

I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I overexerted myself yesterday, which made me very tired today.

However, I forced myself to get up; there was no way to stop now.

The weather is getting colder.

The outdoor temperature is currently 7 degrees Celsius, and the indoor temperature is 18 degrees Celsius.

The first thing I do when I get up is to heat the kang (a traditional heated brick bed). The current temperature is not enough to freeze the vegetables, but I'm worried about a sudden drop in temperature, so I still need to take precautions.

I started to worry that the temperature drop would be too severe and the farmers selling pork would refuse to sell it to me.

So I called him to ask if he could slaughter a pig today.

The farmers said it was possible; with the weather dropping to this level, the grain wasn't ripe yet, so there wasn't much to harvest.

They sounded like they were still willing to sell pigs, probably because they couldn't harvest the grain and wanted to earn some extra income.

I told them directly over the phone to prepare to slaughter the pig now, and that I would be there in a bit.

When we arrived at the farmer's house, there were five or six men busy in the yard.

Slaughtering three pigs is a big deal; even if it's not your own family slaughtering the pigs, the neighbors will come to help.

The pigs have all been killed, and people are removing their hair and bleeding them.

The farm woman boiled pot after pot of water, while other women chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic.

I had promised to leave the pig offal for them, and I suspect they're preparing to make blood sausage.

The male homeowner and the chicken seller both noticed me and greeted me warmly.

The scene was somewhat bloody, and I didn't want to watch, so I went inside to chat with the women.

They were very welcoming and chatted with me about the temperature drop.

I didn't dare say too much, so I just agreed with them. The weather was really strange, so we had to stock up on more food and firewood at home.

The peasant women would sigh and lament that all the grain had been wasted, and then burst into laughter and jokes.

"So what if it's ruined? It'll save you some effort, let the men put more effort into you," the woman chopping scallions, ginger, and garlic said loudly.

The older woman squatting by the stove glared at her and retorted, "Pah! Let my husband use his strength on you!"

Such blatant dirty jokes are a bit hard for me to handle.

However, immersing myself in their lively and harmonious atmosphere seemed to alleviate my tension and anxiety.

There's no need to worry too much about them. Every household has stored grain, firewood, and meat, so they shouldn't suffer too much.

They talked about everything under the sun, about their children living away from home, about their mothers in other places, and about how cruel Liu's wife was, throwing away their newborn puppies.

When the topic turned back to the drop in temperature.

I reminded him again, and this time I couldn't help but ramble on and on.

Be sure to contact relatives to make preparations, and be sure to tell your children who are away from home to keep warm and store food. If things don't look good, hurry home.

Even if you don't have much oil or salt at home, you should still stock up on some.

The peasant women started praising me when they heard this.

"You know, city kids are just different; they know so much."

"You've thought of everything so thoroughly."

After spending two hours in a noisy atmosphere.

The blood sausage is cooked; it's from three pigs, and it filled seven or eight large basins.

Less than 1/6 of it was cooked, and it filled a whole pot.

The older woman, who was telling risqué jokes, put the blood sausage into a large basin and shouted, "The blood sausage is ready!"

Then he handed me a piece of blood sausage about the size of my palm.

Without being polite, I took it directly into my hand, almost jumping up and down from the heat. The hostess saw this and immediately gave me a pair of chopsticks.

I took a bite and it was delicious. The aroma of various spices mixed with pig's blood and lard was incredibly satisfying.

The men also came in one after another, gesturing with the eldest sister about how big they wanted the piece.

The older sister grimaced from the heat as she held the blood sausage in one hand, while quickly cutting it with a cleaver in the other.

The hostess watched everyone cutting blood sausage and said, "It's all thanks to that girl's generosity; even though she sells pork, we can still have blood sausage."

"Thank you, little sister. I'll make sure to clean the pork thoroughly for you."

The man who had eaten the blood sausage turned around, laughed heartily, and said frankly.

The local customs and people here are wonderful; everyone is cheerful, straightforward, warm, and friendly.

I immediately adopted a very generous attitude, saying, "Eating some blood sausage is nothing; we should thank you for helping us slaughter the pig."

Since the pig was sold to me, no one planned to make a "pig-killing feast".

After finishing the blood sausage, we got back to work.

The farm women began preparing lunch, since the neighbors had helped slaughter the pig, and the host family was obligated to cook a meal.

The host family prepared the food themselves, since the pork was sold to me and they couldn't touch my pork.

However, it is reasonable for them to take the money from selling pork.

"Big sister, cut a few pounds of pork belly and make a pork stew."

"No way. You just buy the pork. Slaughtering the pig is our job. How can we eat your pork?"

"How can you not eat the stew after slaughtering a pig? It's so unlucky. Quickly cut off a piece of meat and stew it in a pot."

The woman thought about it for a moment and then agreed, and went outside to buy two pounds of meat.

Then they stewed pork and radish slices in a large iron pot.

Once the pork is tender, take it out, slice it, and put it back into the pot.

The blood sausage was also sliced ​​and thrown into the pot.

This is how we eat "pig-killing stew" here, but instead of sauerkraut, we use radish slices.

Once the stewed pork was cooked, the rice was ready, and everyone invited me to sit on the kang (heated brick bed) to eat.

There weren't enough seats at one table, so the men sat at one table and the women at another.

I don't think this is about favoring men over women; it's simply because men get along well with men and women get along well with women.

There were six dishes in total: pork stew, stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts, stir-fried pork with celery, steamed mackerel, tofu with scallions, and salted duck eggs.

Apart from the pork stew, the other meats used are from their own farm.

The stewed pork dish was incredibly fragrant. The hostess used a lot of her own lard, which soaked into the tender, stewed radish slices. Combined with the aroma of blood sausage and meat, it was simply divine.

The stir-fried garlic shoots with pork and the stir-fried celery with pork also had a wok hei (wok aroma), and the meat and vegetables were very flavorful, making them perfect with rice.

The steamed mackerel tasted exactly like the ones I ate when I was a child. The fish was slightly sour with a rich, savory sauce flavor. When you pick it up, you dip it in some of the oil from the plate, which perfectly balances out the dryness of the fish.

This mackerel is very cheap, but I don't know why it tastes so good when cooked this way.

The salted duck eggs are homemade; a single bite releases a burst of buttery oil, and they have a slightly grainy texture that's incredibly fragrant.

I didn't stand on ceremony and ate a full bowl and a half of rice.

Two hours after we finished eating, they had finished cutting up all the pork according to my instructions.

Lean meat, fatty meat, ribs, and leg bones are all divided into small packages and packaged separately.

The men then worked together to help me load it onto the car.

The hostess placed two large bowls of cooked blood sausage in my car and told me to freeze them and eat them slowly.

I used the money I had set aside to pay for the pork. The slaughtering fee was 600 yuan, which was enough in the money I had set aside, and I even had 400 yuan left over.

After paying the bill, I prepared to leave.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, I drove off with a clanging sound.

There seemed to be some reluctance in her emotions.

A person was sitting in the car and there was no other sound except for the car's noise.

It feels like the temperature has dropped again; my hands are freezing while driving.

When I got home, it wasn't dark yet, so I unloaded the pork and put it directly on the storage shelf in the back room.

Three pigs completely filled five large storage shelves.

The pork won't spoil at the current temperature. In a couple of days, as it gets colder, the pork can be frozen directly for proper preservation.