Huang Xiaoguo and Huang Xiaomin adapted to the village very quickly, especially with the help of Huang Xiaofu and Huang Xiaoqiang. They were fully settled in within ten days to half a month.

Wang Huijun and Li Jin'e were assigned to collect the remaining crops in the fields, as a considerable amount was still left after the autumn harvest.

The work was delicate but heavy, and Li Jin'e initially found it difficult to handle. Fortunately, Wang Huijun was there with her, helping her out.

Huang Mancang was assigned to compost with Uncle Meng, which was extremely difficult. Every day, he would wake up to a drafty shed with a makeshift bed made of wooden planks. Fortunately, the weather there was not too cold.

Otherwise, he would rather hang himself than suffer this humiliation.

He did consider going to see Grandma Wu, but when he looked down at his hand, which was missing a finger, he immediately gave up the idea.

Before she left, Old Lady Wu asked him to send money to the countryside every month, but he forgot about it as soon as he turned his back. Now he has dragged his whole family into this place. He doesn't have the face to go there.

The autumn harvest has passed, and time has flown by day by day, neither too fast nor too slow.

As the Lunar New Year approached, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, early in the morning, every household in the village was bustling with activity.

"grandmother."

Since coming to the countryside and playing with the village's tough kids, Huang Xuewen has become much more cheerful and talkative.

Grandma Wu applied a hot towel to her face, the steam warming her eyes and instantly waking her up. Hearing the child's sweet voice calling her, she removed the towel and looked at the chubby Huang Xuewen, "What's wrong?"

"Pig, pig pig."

Wang Huijun picked up Huang Xuewen and said, "Alright, little pig, today the village secretary will slaughter a pig for us and distribute the pork."

The voices of Wang Huijun and her son faded into the distance. Old Mrs. Wu hadn't even eaten breakfast that morning and went to the pigsty with her hands behind her back.

Just as Li Jin'e put breakfast on the table, Huang Xiaomin looked at Wu's back with a puzzled expression and asked, "Mom, aren't you going to eat? Where are you going?"

"Go and see, raise your own big pigs."

"What's so interesting about pigs?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he felt a sharp pain on his forehead. He looked up and saw Li Jin'e. "Why did you hit me?"

"Are you stupid! Your mother raised you from such a tiny piglet to this size, how long has it been? Now that you've raised you to adulthood, you just want to kill you like that? How can your mother feel good about that?"

"It's over!"

The two turned around when they heard the sound. Wang Huijun's face turned pale. "When I carried Xuewen out of Mom's room just now, I told Xuewen that we were raising a pig to slaughter, and that it was a good thing."

Li Jin'e blinked. "It's okay, it's okay. It's an unavoidable fact. Shanyao Village has been hoping for the pig slaughter for a long time. Mom must have been prepared."

Huang Xiaomin stared wide-eyed; that wasn't what he had just been told.

As dawn broke, Old Lady Wu arrived at the pigsty.

As we approached, we saw a group of people gathered around the pigpen.

When someone saw Old Lady Wu arrive, they quickly pulled her inside. "Mingxia, you're really something! Not only have you fattened these three pigs so much, but you've also bred a litter of piglets."

Grandma Wu smiled, looking at the village secretary who was nodding with satisfaction, and asked, "How many are you planning to kill?"

The village party secretary stroked his beard. "One, the other two are kept for breeding."

Grandma Wu asked again, "Which end?"

The village party secretary pointed to the head and said, "It's over there, the one with the biggest ears."

Grandma Wu nodded, "Okay."

Wang Huijun, who had just rushed over from home, heard Old Lady Wu's indifferent tone and, wanting to get a better look at Old Lady Wu's expression, instinctively stood on tiptoe. Just then, she heard her say...

"Big ears are good; cold pig ears with green peppers are the best."

Wang Huijun froze on the spot, as if she had been struck on an acupoint.

Why is my thinking different from theirs?

The village secretary laughed and said, "You deserve the most credit. If you want one of these pig ears, you can have it."

Grandma Wu's tone changed noticeably, "We get along really well, so when shall we get started?"

"Right now, have someone drive the pig out first. The pig butcher is waiting. It's almost the end of the year, and pigs from all around need to be slaughtered. The pig butcher is too busy to handle it all. We can't delay."

Grandma Wu nodded and quickly opened the fence.

It is worth mentioning that since the incident of Qi Niuhua poisoning the pigs, Grandma Wu specially reinforced and rebuilt the fence of the pigsty.

Not only can it withstand impacts, but it has also grown taller, with each of the fence bars covered in spikes.

It won't be so easy to climb over the pigpen or reach in to poison them again.

The village party secretary also noticed the fence as soon as he arrived and nodded to himself.

After the fence was opened, the three large pigs and five piglets seemed to sense something and began to squeal and squeak incessantly. As soon as someone touched a pig, they began to scream in a heart-wrenching voice that seemed to pierce the brain.

When the village secretary saw that several grown men couldn't catch a pig, a look of disdain appeared on his lips.

As dawn broke, seeing that they still hadn't caught a single pig, Old Lady Wu grew anxious and began giving them instructions.

"Grab the pig's front trotters first, yes! Grab them!"

"Put it on the shelf, hook it, come on, lift it up!"

"Alright, alright, put on the rope and tie them up!"

Under Grandma Wu's direction, the whole process was completed in one go. In just a few minutes, the big-eared pig was tied upside down on the frame.

Gou Cuifen excitedly grabbed Wu Laotai's hand, "You're really something, you even know how to catch a pig?"

Catching pigs? Old Mrs. Wu raised an eyebrow; it was all experience she had accumulated in her past life raising pigs for those unfilial descendants.

The remaining male and female pigs, along with their five round-nosed piglets, shrank back in fear.

The villagers followed the pig as it was carried away, and the noisy crowd also left.

The pigsty fell silent immediately.

Grandma Wu picked up a broom and swept away all the piles of pig manure left from last night, as well as the manure marks that had been trampled on by the person who had caught the pig earlier.

Hmph!

Grandma Wu stood up with a broom and pushed them away, and sure enough, she found several more lumps under her bottom.

The weather is not as warm as when we first arrived; it's damp and cold now. Giving the pigs a bath now would be like killing them.

The village was slaughtering a pig, and the noise was deafening. Old Mrs. Wu started a fire all by herself and began to cook the pig feed.

The pigs have been slaughtered, but the remaining pigs still need to eat and live.

Wang Huijun covered her eyes, wanting to look but not daring to, "Sister-in-law!"

"ah!"

Li Jin'e quickly pressed her down, "What's wrong? It's me! Why are you acting like you've seen a ghost?"

Wang Huijun patted her chest. "No, I've never seen that before. I only saw a pig's neck being stabbed straight through with a knife, and the blood was gushing out like it was free. It gave me the creeps."

Li Jin'e playfully slapped her, "Then why are you still looking?"

"By the way, where's Mom? I've looked all over but can't find her."

Wang Huijun stretched her neck and circled around, "They're feeding the pigs in the pigsty, I didn't see them when I came down."