Killing Pigs

"My mother is from Heilongjiang Province. She is the second child in the family. Most children in the family don't pay much attention to her, so she developed an introverted personality."

"My father was an educated youth from Hecheng. He was unfamiliar with the place, and life wasn't easy for him for a long time after marrying my mother. Later, by chance, he came to Xuecheng. My family's conditions were better when I was born, but due to policy changes, the living environment in Northeast China was not good. We relied on the bath center to keep the restaurant going."

"Since I was little, they've told me that a person can be bad at studying or poor, but they must be honest. They even looked up a book and gave me this name. Actions and concealment, use and disposal are determined by the time, actions and concealment are up to me. They hope that no matter what, I can always recognize my true heart and be my true self."

Li Xingzang looked at the tombstone in front of him with a sardonic smile on his face, "But they didn't do it."

"My father was in poor health due to something that happened when he was young, and he always smelled of medicine. After a classmate's parents died unexpectedly, I asked him, 'Will you be put in a box like him?' He said no. But within a few months, I hadn't seen him since I returned from my grandmother's house."

"My mother raised me all by herself. Her personality has changed from being introverted to being outgoing, but her health is not as good as before. I wanted to take her to see a doctor, but she told me she had already been there and that as long as she took the medicine properly, she would be fine."

"I remember it was a Friday. The midterm results came out, and I got first place again. After I got home, Aunt Guan took me straight to a bathhouse. They said Mom had gone back to Heilongjiang Province for work. But later I found out she had already been to the hospital for terminal cancer. In the end, all I saw was her face under the white cloth."

"Two people, twice, and I didn't even see the last of them."

"They are all liars." Time is a good medicine. She went from sadness to complaints and even resentment at the beginning, but eventually became calm now.

Although the wound no longer hurts, the shadow of the past will remain in my heart.

"Lies are sometimes a good way to cover up the truth, but they can make people miss the truth. I can ignore some harmless little lies in normal times, but for some people, and at some times, I would rather face the pain than be an idiot who knows nothing."

"Even sometimes, lies are the better choice?"

"A lie is a lie. I need to judge the final outcome myself. Why should others make decisions for me?"

It was the first time that Yu Sishi saw Li Xingzang so cold. It was as if her usually gentle and kind appearance had been torn off, revealing her true self.

No wonder she was able to successfully transform. You know, successfully completing the First Embrace is inherently difficult. Most people can't maintain a clear mind in the moment of death, and the end result is a monster that's neither human nor ghost, turning into ash in the sun. Without Grandma Baishan's protection, she could have become a true vampire in Hecheng, or even in Yuncheng.

It looks really good.

The pain didn't numb her, but instead kept her awake. Even if she became what people called a blood-sucking monster, she could still maintain her true heart. This true light made her entire being sparkle, and he was almost dazzled by her brilliance and cried.

"I understand." Yu Sishi looked at the tombstone, as if making a silent vow. Li Xingzang tilted his head and glanced at him. Oh, he was so educated that tears welled up in his eyes.

Oh...it's too beautiful. Li Xingzang blinked and tucked his head into his scarf, leaving only his eyes exposed. "Let's go."

There were only four or five days left until New Year's Eve, and the number of tourists was gradually decreasing. Li Xingzang felt that the time was almost up, so he simply hung up a sign saying that the hotel was closed, and called on the employees of Lao Li's Hotel and the people of Baishan Bathing to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner together.

He Yishu raised an eyebrow as he watched Yu Sishi, wearing an apron and wielding his claws to remove pig's trotters in the backyard. "Boss, have you reconciled with Officer Yu?"

Li Xingzang, holding a glistening Galaha in his hand, rolled his eyes at her and said, "We didn't have a fight."

Yes, yes. You didn't argue, you just unilaterally crushed him. He Yishu complained inwardly, drifting to the other side to pick chicken feathers with Wei Chunhua.

Northeastern people pay attention to the four major items during the Chinese New Year, which are the four essential dishes on the Chinese New Year table: chicken, fish, ribs and pork elbow.

Fish is naturally a must, as the Chinese people all know that it symbolizes abundance every year; when eating ribs, you must eat the middle part, which means everything will go smoothly in the new year; pork elbows can be made into braised pork elbows, or they can be "braised" in a large iron pot with other pork liver, pig heart, pig ears, pig tongue, etc., which is actually just boiling it, slicing it and eating it with garlic paste, which means "walking", which means good luck; a chicken dish is even simpler, it means good luck and good fortune!

For example, Li Xingzang's family, whether it was when his parents were still alive or later when they followed Baishan, they would definitely eat pig's trotters during the Chinese New Year, which meant "collecting money", and there were also particular requirements for the front and hind trotters. Of course, a pig cannot have only front trotters, and some families nowadays may not be so particular.

"Boss, there's still four or five days left, why are you starting preparations so early?" Zhu Wang asked curiously. He usually ate New Year's Eve dinner in the company cafeteria or simply hibernated, and had never experienced anything like this before.

While the others were working, Li Xingzang was not idle either. Uncle Shi and Li Long had packed up the oil barrel on which to support the iron pot two days ago. She put the iron pot on top and started to boil water!

"Officer Zhu, you don't know about that, right?" Wei Chunhua said with a smile, "The cold dishes and main dishes for Chinese New Year can't be prepared so quickly. They take at least a day or two. Usually, we have to start preparing them two days before the New Year. Once the meat is stewed, we can eat it within two days. We have a large family like ours, so we have to prepare even more things for Chinese New Year. If it were an ordinary family, just buying all these pigs, cattle, and sheep would take a long time."

That’s right, other families would work together to kill a pig during the Chinese New Year, but Boss Li bought all the pigs, cattle and sheep by himself, not to mention chickens, ducks and geese.

"Oh, there's nothing I can do. It's because I have a wealthy family." Li Xingzang got angry when he saw Zidane eating melon seeds. Logically, after becoming spirits, small animals would absorb spiritual energy and the essence of the sun and the moon, and they would just need to have human food occasionally to adjust their diet. But these small animals in her family not only ate human food for every meal, but even had spiritual powers and were not afraid of being overeating. They were all big eaters.

"Uncle, are you really not going to help at all?" Boss Li said gritting his teeth.

"There are so many people here, do they still need an old man like me? Besides, I can't even get a foothold here!" Zidane asked with his eyes wide open.

Boss Li looked at the animal corpses all over the yard. Yes, if someone didn’t know, they would think this was a crime scene!

"It's okay, Boss Li. They're just a few animals. We can finish them quickly." Yu Sishi waved his two sharp claws, and the whole pig was divided into different parts in a short while.

"I'm like a fish in your..." His cell phone ringtone changed again, "Boss Li, the water isn't boiled yet, please answer the phone for me at the bar." Yu Sishi dragged the other pig over, fixed it with his spiritual power, and with a stroke of his fingertips, the pig's blood flowed into the basin, and the pig closed its eyes peacefully.

Li Xingzang bared his teeth at Zidane and picked up the phone on the bar, "Little brat?"

Just as the call was connected, before I had time to speak, the young man's voice on the other end rang out in a series of voices, "Uncle, my grandfather and grandma have started again. Where are you? I'll go to Snow City to find you?!"

"Son, it's just right that you're not coming home for the New Year. I won't spend the holiday with him either. Zhaoqing and I will go find you!" The woman on the other end of the line spoke in a full-throated voice. "Yu Jingtao, you scolded my son away, and I won't spend the holiday with you either!"

"Did I scold him and send him away? It's clearly his own fault for being unfilial! A rebellious son!"

"Say it again!"

"Uh..." Li Xingzang felt a little embarrassed as the increasingly excited voice on the other end of the line asked, "Hello?"

"..." Although the receiver was covered, Boss Li was a vampire after all, so the boy's soft voice was no different from a normal volume to her. "Nanny! Nanny! It's Boss Li!"

"What?!"

It seemed as if something was thrown out, and the next second Li Xingzang heard a gentle voice on the other end of the phone ask, "Hello, I'm Yu Sishi's mother."

Oops, why does it feel even more awkward?

"Hello, Auntie. I'm Li Xingzang, a friend of Officer Yu."

Ah! It really is Boss Li! My daughter-in-law! Ms. Xu looked at Yu Zhaoqing excitedly, and rolled her eyes at the father and daughter who were secretly listening over there.

"Hello, hello! I heard Yu Sishi mention you before."

Looking at Yu Sishi who hurried over after hearing the sound, Li Xingzang raised his eyebrows. Is that so?

Officer Yu took the phone somewhat uncomfortably. Seeing Li Xingzang leaning against the bar with his shoulders folded and a leisurely look on his face, he felt even more awkward. "Mom."

"Hey? Why are you here? Where's Zang Zang?"

Zang Zang? Li Xingzang smiled. Officer Yu’s mother is so interesting?

"Mom, I'm doing fine in Snow City. I'll go back when I have time after the New Year."

Ms. Xu rolled her eyes. "You have time? When will you have time?" But it didn't matter now. "It's okay. You can stay in Xuecheng. I think it's a nice place. How about I come to find you?"

"Aren't you going back to the old house for the New Year?" Yu Sishi knew her habit of acting on her impulses very well, so he said calmly.

"Oh, right..." Ms. Xu felt a little discouraged after hearing what he said. "Then you can help Zang Zang more there. If there's anything she wants to eat, you can get it like you did last time."

Officer Yu glanced at Li Xingzang, who was watching the excitement over there, and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll go get busy first." After quickly hanging up the phone, Yu Sishi looked at her and said, "I've put all the blood together. Do you want to drink it directly or use it to cook?"

Li Xingzang pulled out a bag of "drinks" subsidized by the Special Intelligence Bureau from under the bar, looked at him with a smile and said, "Let's cook. Steamed blood tofu. Officer Yu made it well last time."

Yu Sishi touched his nose, feeling that there was something else behind her words.

"Boss, the water is boiling!"

"Okay!" Li Xingzang threw the blood bag into the trash can. "Let's go, Officer Yu, it's time to get busy."