It wasn't until around nine o'clock that Wang Jianshe and the others left, and Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei went home after their evening classes. Only then did the Sheng family lock their gates and go to bed.

Zhang Shuzhen said she was going to slaughter a pig, and that she would stop feeding the pig a day in advance.

After breakfast on the morning of the 18th, Wang Jianshe, Gao Haining, Chen Weiguo, and several others arrived at the Sheng family's house one after another.

Sheng Xiping had arranged with them last night that he would come to their house today to slaughter a pig and have a pig-killing feast.

At this time of year, the frontline work teams have no work to do, and it's still early for afforestation, so they all have some free time and changed their clothes to come over.

By this time, the pig weighed about 230 or 240 pounds. Several people went into the pigpen, grabbed the pig, tied it up, carried it out, and placed it on a long bench.

Many households have these long benches, which are usually used for woodworking. They are much longer and wider than the benches in schools.

The pig was tied to the head and squealed desperately, but no matter how much it squealed, it couldn't escape the knife today.

The big pot in the yard was set up again, filled with a large pot of hot water.

In early spring, the weather is not yet warm. The steam rising from the pot instantly liquefies into wisps of white mist that drift away with the wind.

Sheng Xiping held a sharp knife, and with a swift stroke, the pig let out a few pitiful screams, twitched a few times, and then lay still.

Someone brought over a basin and collected the pig's blood.

Today we're not making blood sausage, so there's no need to mix it with sorghum stalks. We just added some water with seasonings to the basin, poured in the pig's blood, stirred it a couple of times to mix, and then set it aside.

The blood will slowly coagulate and can be steamed to make blood tofu.

The pig was dead. The hair was removed and the body was gutted. Everyone was busy in the yard having a great time.

Liu Changde and his wife came with their two grandsons.

The two younger ones were even younger than Sheng Xinyu. The three kids played together quite well. Sheng Xinyu acted like a good older brother, taking out all his toys for his two younger brothers to play with.

With Sheng Xinyu coaxing the two children, and Sheng Liancheng and Liu Changde glancing at them from time to time, Qin Qiuyan would go and help out.

"Haining, Weiguo, you two help me take this piece of pork to the store. My dad has already arranged with them to sell half of it to the store after slaughtering the pig."

After cleaning the pig, chop off its head, trotters, and tail, and then cut it open along the spine.

Sheng Xiping asked Gao Haining and Chen Weiguo to help him deliver half of the pigs to the forest farm store.

During this season, every household is short of oil and fat in their stomachs, and the meat that comes in from the forest farm store is not enough to sell every day.

When the Sheng family slaughters a pig, some people inevitably come to join in the fun. If they ask to buy a piece of meat, the Sheng family is generous and embarrassed to ask for money.

But it would be a shame to give away a pet that you've raised with so much effort.

So Sheng Liancheng had already told the shopkeepers that he would sell them half of the pork when they slaughtered the pig, so that if anyone else came to buy meat, the Sheng family would have a way to deal with them.

Gao Haining and Chen Weiguo responded, then each of them put on a white apron and carried half a piece of meat outside.

"Sister-in-law Sheng, are you slaughtering a pig today? Um, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and you can't possibly eat all this meat. Can you sell me some?"

Before Gao Haining and Chen Weiguo could even leave the Sheng family's gate, several old women came in from outside, talking loudly as they walked.

"Aunt Zhang, Aunt Li, come with us to the store. Look, this meat is going to be delivered to the store."

Gao Haining glanced at the group of people and knew that they were saying they were buying meat but actually wanted to take advantage of them, so he spoke first.

"Oh, no need, we don't need much, we'll just buy some here." The group exchanged glances and continued walking into the courtyard.

Gao Haining rolled her eyes at those people, then shouted loudly into the courtyard.

"Xiping, don't forget the meat you promised to leave for us families. Pay the price as it is; we can't take advantage of you."