Chapter 21 Killing Pigs (Catching Bugs) I have no idea about my future fate...
Chapter 21 Killing Pigs
Nowadays, everyone has a strong sense of collective honor.
Who would be happy about this?
Today’s advanced collectives are not just awarded a certificate, but also receive a tilt in resource allocation.
For example, the production materials such as pesticides and fertilizers mentioned by the team leader are so important to farmers, but the production capacity is limited. The plan from above only provides so many materials. If more is given to one team, there will naturally be less for another.
This is a planned economy. The distribution of materials depends entirely on the impression from above and the performance of each brigade. If you are not registered with them, who would remember the Xinghua Brigade?
In everyone's simple understanding, Feng Laosan's bad behavior was caused by his mother. If he didn't have a selfish, greedy and shameless mother, he wouldn't be unable to marry a wife in his thirties, nor would he have developed such bad habits.
Therefore, the troublemaker is still Jinhua, the mother.
If you want to take care of your own business, no one will bother you. But if you destroy the advanced achievements of the team, that's not okay.
Grandma Yan was particularly furious. This advance was something her eldest grandson had worked so hard to earn. If it were to be lost, the old lady was so enraged that she smacked him on the head with the shoe sole she was sewing. "You beggar woman! The village shouldn't have taken pity on you and taken you in. You ungrateful creature!"
The old lady was actually only in her fifties, and had been doing farm work for many years, so she was in good health. The soles of her shoes made a "pa, pa" sound when they slapped each other, without any hesitation.
Jinhua hid here and there with her head in her hands. She didn't dare to confront the old woman head-on.
Everyone in the village of her age knows her background. It may be fine if no one talks about it normally, but once everyone starts talking about it, she will have no peace.
"I'll change, I'll change, I'll change in the future, and if it doesn't work, don't make me stop begging!"
She used to be a concubine of a wealthy family. When the Japanese invaders were bombing the city, she stole her master's things and ran away from the city. As a result, she encountered a war between the Japanese invaders and the National Army. She had to exchange the stolen things for food. Fortunately, she was lucky. Although she was not good-looking, she managed to escape by hiding from place to place. Later, she begged all the way and ended up here.
In my dreams at midnight, I still remember the days when I fought with stray dogs for food. The sharp teeth of the stray dogs seemed to be right in front of me, and even the stench from their mouths was still lingering in my nose.
She absolutely cannot go begging.
But if the village drives her away, no one can resist.
After all, she alone affected the performance of the entire brigade. As a rotten apple that spoiled the whole pot of soup, she would definitely be abandoned by the entire brigade. And other brigade would not want a rotten apple that was kicked out by another brigade.
"I won't beg for food, I won't beg for food..."
Secretary Chen looked at Jinhua, who was mumbling, and said coldly, "Have her write a letter of guarantee. If she does it again, she'll either be sent to a labor camp or given a begging certificate so she can earn a living elsewhere."
The eldest and second sons of the Feng family had no objection at all, and the two daughters-in-law were so relieved that they wanted to set off some firecrackers to celebrate.
Secretary Chen concluded by saying, "The brigade was busy with farming a while ago, and we relaxed our policy study a bit. From now on, whether it's the militia, ordinary members, or women's organizations, we must strengthen our study and resolutely not allow this kind of black sheep to appear.
We should learn more from Comrade Lei Feng, treat our comrades as warmly as the spring breeze, help each other, and treat our enemies as ruthlessly as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. We must resolutely stop and crack down on those who bring discredit to the brigade.
Although our brigade is a little poor, we must believe that as long as we work hard, enrich our minds, and follow Chairman Mao’s instructions, we will always live a good life.
People who are a little older should still remember the time when the Japanese devils bombed. They should cherish their current life and not go astray.
We must work hard to earn a good harvest, instead of always thinking about getting something for nothing or having crooked ideas.
If I hear again that any family favors boys over girls, doesn't send their children to school, doesn't feed their daughters, demands a high bride price to sell their daughters, or disrespects the families of martyrs, I will send them to the commune revolutionary committee for education!
Also, the day after tomorrow evening, the brigade will organize a meeting to recall the bitter past and sweet past, and have a meal to recall the bitter past and sweet past. No family is allowed to be absent! "
After the brigade secretary finished speaking, the brigade leader waved his hand and said, "Starting tomorrow, we'll have three days off. Farming is busy these days, and everyone has a lot of things to do, so we should hurry up and get them done."
Okay, let's go. Um, Brother Guo has already picked out the pigs. Tomorrow morning, Dashan and the rest of you, go to the yard early to prepare."
***
The next day, Yan Jiuru got up early again.
After he got married, he became a real adult and could now go to the brigade's yard to help slaughter pigs.
His grandparents and his parents had also gotten up. His grandparents went to tidy up the vegetable garden, and his father took his second brother to work on the private plot.
These days we are busy with the brigade's rice fields, and each household can only work on their private plots when they have time. If we don't hurry up, the farming season will be over.
"Dad, you two just do it for a while, I'll go when I get back."
His father didn't even turn his head, just waved his hand behind him, "Go and do your thing, eating meat early is better than anything else!"
Okay!
The two big fat black pigs that were picked out have been locked up in their own pens. At this time, they are grunting and digging at the food trough, looking very dissatisfied.
You can tell at a glance that you are a pig that has never been slaughtered: your meat is about to be eaten, so who would feed you?
"Big Brother Guo" is what the team leader called him. My real name is Guo Mancang. He is almost fifty years old but still has a rare strong body. This is because he was a pig butcher before liberation, and now he is the pig butcher of his team.
There is never a shortage of meat for butchers, just like chefs, no one would starve themselves to death.
At this time, the helpers had already carried out a rough but sturdy large table, and five or six women were boiling water in pots on a temporary stove not far away.
Many people who were not assigned to help also came. Without being told, they all found work to do. Some helped to carry firewood, fetch water, pour out slop, carry basins and buckets, pick, wash and cut vegetables. Soon the yard was bustling with activity.
***
Guo Mancang saw Yan Jiuru and called out, "Jiuru, come catch pigs with me later."
Yan Jiuru: "Okay."
"Uncle Guo, should we kill them one by one or all at once?" Yan Jiuru asked.
Uncle Guo laughed heartily, sharpening his knife as he said, "I'll kill one, and you, Big Brother Guo, will kill one. You can't do this one first and one later, or the one behind will get scared and its flesh will become tight and won't taste good."
"You help your brother Guo. He's good at cutting, but he's not as strong as you."
Yan Jiuru looked at it and asked, "Why is there only one table?"
Uncle Guo said, "You guys take that one somewhere else and kill it later. Once it's healthy, bring it back. Otherwise, the two of them will fight even harder together. If one of them runs away, it'll be a real problem."
Domestic pigs are also quite ferocious. Not only will they bump into someone, they are also likely to bite or eat people.
The two pigs, who had no idea of their future fate, had a bad feeling when they saw a group of people coming with ropes and bars. However, they had not eaten since last night and had defecated everything in their stomachs long ago. Now they just stared at people with their little black eyes, humming, and were very alert.
At this time, the breeder brought a bucket of pig food, "Hello, hello, hello~ It's time to eat~"
A scoop of pig feed was poured into the trough. The pigs, which were originally somewhat vigilant, were already starving and ran over to start eating.
How could the butcher let it eat? Wouldn't that be a waste of pig food?
Uncle Guo made a gesture to everyone, and Yan Jiuru and Brother Guo and seven or eight others quietly opened the pen door. While the pigs were concentrating on eating, everyone rushed over, pulling their ears and stretching their tails. Bursts of pig howls came from the two pig pens at the same time.
"Hold it!"
"Legs, legs!"
"Head, hold the head!"
"Oh my god, it's biting!" The child was almost bitten on the hand by the angry pig. He was scared to death. A bite when fighting for life is no joke.
Yan Jiuru pushed Shengzi aside, went over and pinched the pig's mouth, and held down the pig's upper body with one hand. The wildly struggling pig suddenly became much more docile. Brother Guo quickly tied the pig's four hooves tightly with a rope.
Several people put the pole through the rope and carried the pig to the slaughterhouse.
***
Hearing the pigs' squeals, many half-grown children who were still lazy in bed got up, regardless of anything else, and some even ran to the brigade yard without even wearing shoes.
Watching the pig slaughtering is a rare spectacle in the year and should not be missed.
What? Scared?
Compared to being afraid of eating meat, eating steak is of course more important. Besides, how many farm kids are afraid of this or that?
Yan Jiuru also saw Ruyue and the third child among the group of children, chattering and wanting to see them but not daring to.
Yan Jiuru shouted, "Ruyue, stop looking at her. She'll dream at night."
Where are the girls who come to watch this?
Brother Guo also glanced at the children and said, "Go, go, go back. You little ones dare to look at everything. Go back, or you won't get any meat."
Having no meat to eat is more effective than any threat.
The very young children and several girls were coaxed back home, leaving only some naughty boys and mischievous children.
***
As for Yan Jiuru, he thought the pig was too noisy, so he punched it and knocked it unconscious.
It's much quieter now.
Brother Guo laughed so hard, "With your strength, no one else could knock you out."
Zhang Mingli laughed and said, "Maybe he didn't get knocked unconscious, but instead got angry and ran away~"
Hahaha~
Everyone burst into laughter.
The fat pig had been placed on the table. Yan Jiuru looked at the large wooden basin below to collect the blood and suggested to Brother Guo, "Why don't you shave the hair where you cut the pig? That way the blood will be cleaner."
Brother Guo knew that these educated people loved cleanliness, so there was nothing wrong with it. It would only take a few steps.
After slaughtering the pig and collecting the blood, when it’s almost done, carry it back to the yard.
The pigs in the yard have also been slaughtered.
The two pigs each occupied one side, and they began to pour boiling water on them to scald the pig hair. They also cut a hole in the pig's leg and blew air into it to make the pig swell up, making it easier to cut and shave the hair.
The father and son of the Guo family were quite skilled and shaved all the hair off in no time.
Yan Jiuru looked at the stubble and thought, if there was a fireball spell, it would be much easier to just burn the hair off. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough spiritual energy now.
***
The pig that Uncle Guo killed was weighed on a beam scale and it was 103 pounds. This was the gross weight. After all, it was less than a year old, so it was quite good to be this heavy.
The other one weighs 98 kilograms, which is also okay.
The meat is distributed under the supervision of the team leader, scorer, accountant, etc.
According to the total work points of each household, Yan Jiuru's family ranks third. His family has a lot of labor, but his grandmother, mother and Chen Yin are all women, and their work points are not as good as those of men. His second brother can only earn some work points during the holidays, and the same is true for the other two younger ones.
The main work points in the family came from the three of them, so naturally they could not compare to the six or seven or five or six from the two previous families who had not split up.
It is said that one pig is eaten and one is divided, but in fact, the meat of one pig is not enough to be divided, so the two pigs are put together, and the remaining parts are made into a big pot of pig-killing dish and each family is given a bowl.
In order to eat the pig-killing meal today, Li Laodou, who knows how to make tofu in the team, received beans and soaked them last night. Many families who wanted to exchange beans for tofu also brought beans to him. The Li family started making tofu before dawn.
At this time, a cart was brought over with about ten large plates of hot tofu. Uncle Li called out, "Tofu is here~"
Hearing this, Aunt Yan quickly took out an enamel basin and said to Chen Yin, "Please put the pot in. I'll go get the tofu."
Nowadays, the countryside is full of old-fashioned brine tofu, which is particularly fragrant. In addition to eating meat, being able to eat tofu is also a luxury for the members.
The Yan family sent three pounds of soybeans yesterday. The general market price is that one pound of soybeans can produce about two and a half to three pounds of tofu, but they have to pay the labor fee, so they brought back five pounds of tofu and a bucket of hot soy milk.
This was specially taken care of yesterday.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com