Chapter 86 85: Mountain God Blessing

Mother Zhou faced the mountain and clasped her hands together, "Thank you, mountain god, for your blessing! Thank you, mountain god, for your blessing!" After praying, she looked at Zhou Huaian and said, "Youngest, when we get the pigs out, you should also pray to the mountain god and ask him to bless you to have a smooth journey on the mountain in the future."

"Got it!"

Zhou Huaian thought to himself: Mom, how do you know that the mountain god is an old man?

Father Zhou went to the kitchen and said, "Guilan, boil two pots of water first so we can scald the skins and shave the hair."

Mother Zhou pointed at the steaming pot and said, "It's already boiling. Take it out right away."

"Okay!" Zhou's father went out and asked Zhou Huairong and others to take down a door panel, put it on a high wooden stool, and put a large wooden basin underneath. Zhang Xiuxiang and Yang Chunyan came out with boiling water, and several people began to scald the pig and shave it.

Zhou's mother took a bamboo basket and put the wild boar bristles away. This thing is a rare and good thing, and the brushes made from it are particularly useful.

After scraping and washing the pig hair, Zhou Huairong said to his father, "Old man, the wild boar skin is too hard to be boiled and raked for a long time. I think we should peel it off and sell it to the fur dealer?"

Zhou Huaishan took a look and said, "It's full of holes. I can't sell it for a high price!"

Father Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Peel it first. If it's hard to sell, just stew it and eat it yourself."

Yang Chunyan came out with some boiling water, "Brother, keep the pig skin and gallbladder. We will sell them at Doctor Wang's pharmacy tomorrow!"

Wild boar bile tastes bitter and is cold in nature. It has the effects of clearing away heat, calming nerves, detoxifying and promoting tissue regeneration.

In her previous life, she went to the county town to sell medicinal herbs and happened to see Dr. Wang collecting pig skins. At that time, wild boars were already protected animals, and the price of a wild boar skin was not low.

After asking, Yang Chunyan found out that wild boar skin is also a traditional Chinese medicine.

Wild boar skin tastes sweet and is neutral in nature. It has the effect of nourishing yin and moistening the lungs. For example, wild boar skin can be used to treat cough caused by deficiency.

In addition, wild boar skin also has the effect of detoxification and sore treatment, and can cure rat fistula, malignant sore, scabies, etc. You can apply a proper amount of wild boar skin burnt ash.

"Okay!" Zhou Huairong responded loudly.

Zhou Huaishan looked at her in surprise, "Sister-in-law, wild boar skin is also a medicine?"

Yang Chunyan nodded, "Yes, I think I heard my old man mention it before. There's nothing to lose if we take it to have a look."

Father Zhou said happily: "The pig skin has too many holes, and I was worried that the fur dealers would not accept it. But it's different if I send it to the pharmacy."

Zhou Huairong picked up the machete and chopped the pig's stomach. "The machete is not sharp enough. I'll sharpen it."

"Brother, I have a dagger here, it can cut in right away." Zhou Huaian, who was lying on a recliner with his legs crossed, pulled out a dagger and handed it over.

Zhou Huairong took it and looked at the cold light on the blade. "You have to carry a knife with you when you go up the mountain."

Zhou Huaian nodded, "It's very sharp. The holes on the butt were made by the dagger."

"Let me try!" Zhou Huairong held the dagger and slashed it down, cutting the skin with a little force. "Not bad, much faster than a machete."

Zhou Huairong slowly peeled off the pig skin, then used a machete to cut open the wild boar's belly and pulled out the pig's internal organs.

When the wild boar is cut open, there is only fat that is one finger thick, and the rest is mostly lean meat.

Yang Chunyan and others had already prepared a large wooden basin. After taking out the internal organs, they put them directly into the basin. They also cut the wild boar gallbladder from the liver, tied it with a hemp rope and hung it on a bamboo pole under the eaves.

Zhang Xiuxiang and Li Qiuyue put the pig heart, lungs, kidneys and liver in a small wooden basin.

Yang Chunyan put the net oil and cockscomb oil in a basin and soaked it in water. The three of them took the pig stomach, small intestines and large intestines to the ditch to rinse them.

Zhou Huairong tore off the lard from the pork and handed it to Zhao Huifang, "There are two more pieces of lard."

Zhao Huifang took a look and said, "It's not as good as domestic pig's. Domestic pig's lard is much thicker. I heard that dishes cooked with wild boar's lard are more delicious than those cooked with domestic pig's lard!"

"I haven't eaten it. In previous years, we sold all the meat we got from the wild boars that the team hunted."

Father Zhou looked at it and said, "Big brother, cut two pieces of meat and I will send them to your eldest father and third father. When it gets dark, send another piece to Secretary Xu and Ding's family." He looked at the sky and said, "Second brother, go pick up your grandfather."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaijun strode away.

After saying this, Zhou's father took out his pipe, filled it with leaf tobacco, and stood aside, smoking.

Zhou Huairong cut off the pig's tail and said, "This year, thanks to Secretary Xu for helping us with the wood and Uncle Daqing for lending us the chainsaw, otherwise we would have to work in the mountains for a few more days."

"Yes, thanks to their help."

Zhou Huairong picked up the axe and said to Zhou Huaishan, "Old Third, you are strong, you come and chop the wild boar in half."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaishan picked up the axe and chopped off the pig's head and four hooves, then cut the wild boar meat into two halves. He looked at Zhou's father and said, "Old man, how many pounds can you give to Daddy and Youngest Daddy's family?"

Father Zhou thought for a moment and said, "They will take about 3 or 4 kilograms of pig hearts. We will give the pig hearts to Uncle Sanba's family, and Secretary Xu and Uncle Daqing will take 5 kilograms."

"Okay!" Zhou Huaishan picked up the machete and cut two pieces of good meat weighing about five pounds, and then cut two more pieces weighing more than three or four pounds and put them in the vegetable basket.

Father Zhou picked up the pig heart from the basin and put it in the vegetable basket. "I'm going to deliver the meat to your eldest and third uncles' homes."

Zhou Huaishan nodded and shouted, "Mom, come out and take a look. How many pounds should we leave?"

Mother Zhou wiped her hands and came out to take a look. "Leave three or four pounds of pork belly and pork belly, and cut off a piece of pork belly. Send it to Doctor Wang's house tomorrow."

"Yes." Zhou Huaishan picked up the knife and chopped off the meat and sent it to the kitchen. "Mom, the meat won't go bad if left overnight, right?"

"It's cool at night, so it won't break down so quickly."

"Well, I'll put the meat in the basket and clean up the door."

"Third brother," Zhou's mother stopped him after thinking for a moment, "Go fill the big wooden basin with water, get a big winnowing basket and put it on top of the basin, spread the meat out on it, and get two gunnysacks soaked in water and cover the meat with them, to prevent it from drying out and looking ugly."

Zhou Huaishan nodded, "Find the rosin. The pig's head and trotters are covered with hair."

"Yes." Zhou's mother found the rosin and carried it to the yard. "Boss, light a fire to boil the rosin and clean the pig's head and trotters."

"Okay." Zhou Huairong went to the backyard and brought over three stones, then built a fire to boil the rosin.

Zhou Jiakang pointed at the pork ribs and said, "Grandma, we want to eat braised pork!"

"We'll stew pig brains tonight, and grandma will stir-fry pork slices, pork liver, and pork kidneys for you to eat."

Zhou Jiaming looked at the wild boar head with sharp beak and fangs, "Grandma, is the pig brain meat delicious?"

"It's delicious. The pig snout, pig ears, and pig cheeks are even better than the braised pork."

Zhou Jiakang and the others swallowed their saliva and asked, "Can we get some black food tonight?"

Mother Zhou shook her head. "The wild boar's head has a thick skin. Stew it overnight and you'll have it ready to eat tomorrow."

Zhao Huifang, who was cleaning the pig lungs, looked at them with amusement, "The youngest has been buying meat for them every other day these days. I don't know why they are still so greedy!"

Zhou's mother laughed and said, "You little brat, you've eaten me out of money. If you wait another two years, you'll be even greedier."

After hearing this, Zhou Huairong remembered that when he was eleven or twelve years old, he was so hungry in the middle of the night that he got up and scooped two buckets of cold water to drink, but it didn't help.

(End of this chapter)