Early the next morning, the village square was filled with people. Several young men were herding pigs out of their enclosures. Several people stood along the way, afraid that the pigs might escape if they weren't kept in watch.
When they finally managed to drive the pig to the square, the others joined in, some pulling on its ears, others on its tail. Together, they pressed the pig down onto the slaughtering bench. Butcher Zhang, with a knife in one hand and a crowbar in the other, rubbed the knife back and forth on the crowbar, eager to try his hand at slaughtering.
After the pig lay down, he made one move, and within seconds, the big fat pig was still. Then, some people fetched water, some plucked hair, and some cleaned the pig's intestines.
"Captain, this year's pigs are really fat. When we're dividing the meat later, we have to make sure everyone gets their share properly," said two middle-aged men who were helping to cut open the pig's belly.
"That's right, Uncle Songbai, look at this pork, it's so fatty!"
"If you ask me, we have to thank Teacher Sun and his team. If it weren't for him teaching us how to feed pigs scientifically, we wouldn't have such a big pig for the New Year this year."
"Yes, yes, Teacher Sun and the others are so kind! They not only teach our dog, Gou Dan, but they also teach us how to increase yields when farming, ensuring a good harvest this year. Thank you so much, Teacher Sun!"
"Yes, yes, thank you, Teacher Sun."
Everyone happily thanked Sun Yuchu.
In the past six months, since the Sun family came to the brigade, they were initially worried and fearful. However, under the guidance of the Huo family, they quickly integrated into the village. Later, through the efforts of the Gu and Ruan families, the Sun family was exonerated, but they still cannot return to the capital.
Having witnessed the deceit and treachery of the capital, the Sun family found peace and stability in the village. Seeing the simple and honest villagers working together to improve their lives, they temporarily forgot their unpleasant experiences in the capital and became more integrated into the village's development.
Sun Yuchu never expected that his skills would one day be put into practice in the village. He had been interested in agriculture since he was a child, and he spent a lot of time reading books and occasionally checking the situation and recording data in the experimental fields. In the past six months, he devoted himself to the village, teaching the villagers to use wood ash to fertilize the land, use soybean residue and waste to raise pigs, and disinfect the pigsty with limestone every once in a while.
As a result, the pigs never got sick again, and the crops in the soil grew better than in previous years. In addition, with the fertilizer that Grandpa Huo had applied for, everyone in the Hongqi Brigade was overjoyed during the harvest this year.
Besides the grain tax that had to be paid, each family received a considerable amount of the rest.
Several young girls from the village were spotted by Zhao Shuyi, Sun Lao's wife, who saw potential in them. With Huo Lao's help, they agreed to have Zhao Shuyi teach them for two hours every day. This allowed them to become among the first dancers to perform for their country on the international stage after China's reform and opening up.
Hearing everyone thanking them, Grandpa Sun felt that it was all worth it. The brigade had given them shelter when they were down on their luck, and they had used their knowledge to help them have a better life. He felt that he had put his knowledge to good use, and that was good enough.
"It's all what we should do, and we're grateful that everyone is willing to believe in us," Sun Yuchu and her family said, standing in the crowd, feeling the joy.
The two children, Sun Lin and Sun Yitong, were brought here by Sun Yuling after her divorce. She brought her children with her parents and changed their surnames to her own when registering her household.
Over the past six months, they have become close friends with the children in the village, going to school and coming home together. On weekends, they study foreign languages with Grandpa Sun at his house, pick up rice stalks, cut pig feed, collect firewood on the mountain, and catch fish in the river.
Right now, they're jumping around excitedly with their friends watching the pig being slaughtered. It's their first time seeing it, so they're quite thrilled.
"Alright, everyone stand in line, let's start dividing the meat." The team leader stood in front of the neatly arranged pork, and together with Butcher Zhang and the Party Secretary, they divided the meat for each family one by one, and recorded it. They finished quickly.
"The pigs this year are fat, and they've all been distributed to each family. If you need to buy meat, hurry up, it'll be 40 cents a pound, no coupons required." Right now, meat in the commune costs 55 cents a pound and requires coupons. The black market doesn't require coupons, but it's expensive, 80 cents a pound. So now, when they hear the brigade leader say it's 40 cents a pound and no coupons required, families with a little spare money rush forward to buy a pound or two.
After receiving their share of meat, everyone happily carried it home together.
"Auntie, your daughter-in-law should be giving birth soon, right?"
"It'll be soon, in the next few days. I was originally planning to go to town to buy some nutritious food for her to take good care of herself during her postpartum period, but the team leader said yesterday that they're slaughtering a pig today, so I didn't go. That's why I bought two extra pounds of meat so she can have some nourishment."
"I heard your daughter is pregnant too?"
"Yes, yes, she got pregnant right after getting married, which made her mother-in-law so happy. We just received the news, so we thought we'd send her some meat to check on her."
"Then your daughter is very lucky."
"It's also because her in-laws value her. My son-in-law is a good man. I heard that after they found out my daughter was pregnant, they didn't let her work in the fields anymore, but only let her do some housework with her sister-in-law."
The two aunties chatted and walked further and further away. The educated youth who followed behind and heard the whole thing felt bad. This time, when the meat was distributed, they were given relatively lean meat. The amounts varied across the educated youth settlement, with some receiving as much as two jin (1 kg) and others as little as two liang (100 grams). Those who received more were happy, while those who received less felt very bad.
After overhearing the two women's conversation, they felt even worse. They knew the people they were talking about; they were the two who had been entangled with Tian Zhiqing back then. After Tian Zhiqing was taken away, their families quickly arranged marriages for them.
Moreover, after the incident involving Tian Zhiqing, the village kept their distance from the educated youth, avoiding contact with them whenever possible. When they were assigned to work together, they did their own thing and didn't bother each other. They wouldn't take advantage of each other, and the villagers and the educated youth maintained a strangely harmonious relationship.
After taking the meat home, everyone returned to the square with their basins.
"Aunt Zhang, this basin is really too big!"
"How did I go too far? I'm just getting old and worried about spilling things while walking! I didn't ask you to fill my cup completely."
After saying "Okay," he only filled her basin about a third full before letting her take it away, adding, "Aunt Zhang, walk slowly, don't spill it."
"They have no respect for the elderly at all," he said, before quickly leaving with the basin.
Everyone else felt guilty when they saw her actions, but they still went forward, took the pig-killing vegetables from their own homes, and went back.
The pig slaughtering wasn't finished until noon. The workers then used hot water to wash the square clean, and after cleaning and putting away their tools, they went home.
That morning, Ruan Ruan and Huo Yue stayed on the kang (a heated brick bed), chatting with their grandmother and listening to her stories. At noon, they started cooking so that their parents could eat as soon as they finished their work.
Although it wasn't snowing outside, it was still quite cold with the wind blowing. In her opinion, there was nothing interesting about slaughtering pigs, and it was better to stay at home.
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