The night market has passed its busy period of the past few days, and the daily volume has gradually stabilized. They make 1,500 skewers every day, half meat and half vegetables, and go home after selling them all.
On this day, Meng Zhao's long-awaited piglets were finally weaned, and Meng Dashan drove a donkey cart with people to deliver them to Meng Zhao early in the morning.
"Daughter, these are all piglets that I carefully selected. What do you think?"
This truckload of piglets looked lively and energetic, with glossy fur, short snouts and even lips, thick and short tails, and powerful hind legs. Meng Dashan, who was used to dealing with pigs, had picked out very healthy piglets.
Meng Zhao was very satisfied with this. He smiled and looked at Meng Dashan, saying softly, "Father, please castrate them."
Meng Dashan gasped, his face filled with disbelief. His burly frame even took a step back in shock. "What, what, what?"
Meng Zhao nodded and continued, "Yes, Father, we have to castrate them."
The two children brought by Meng Dashan looked at Meng Zhao as if he were the devil himself, their hair standing on end and their hair standing on end in horror.
Seeing their surprise, Meng Zhao realized what was happening and quickly explained to them, using the simplest language to describe it because he was worried they wouldn't understand some of the technical terms.
"Dad, think about those boars. Aren't they all very aggressive, always charging around recklessly? How can pigs like that grow fat in peace?"
"Moreover, if they are raised in groups, the uncastrated pigs can easily impregnate the sows, which is also difficult to manage."
Uncastrated pigs, influenced by male hormones, are full of aggressive genes. These pigs are overly energetic and are prone to fighting among the herd. In addition, the pork will have an unpleasant odor and be difficult to handle.
Castrated pigs, devoid of desires, only need to focus on eating and sleeping, naturally gaining weight quickly. Moreover, the meat they produce is of high quality, without any off-odors, and it also increases the speed at which pigs are slaughtered and the ratio of feed to meat.
After Meng Zhao finished explaining, Meng Dashan was still stunned, but he subconsciously nodded in support of his daughter's idea.
So Meng Dashan, along with the two people he had brought, began the process of castrating the pig under Meng Zhao's guidance.
"Hold it by its hind legs, clamp its body between your legs, and don't let it move."
"Dad, wipe it with strong liquor first, it'll be cleaner that way."
"Dad, you have to cut quickly. After you cut it open, squeeze the stuff out forcefully. The slower you go, the more the piglets will suffer."
"Yes, Dad, just like that, it's very simple, like squeezing grapes."
Meng Dashan broke out in a cold sweat after his daughter's words. He had managed to complete the task, except for keeping two sows and one breeding pig, all the other piglets were castrated.
Actually, it's a bit late to castrate piglets that have already been weaned, as their recovery period is not as good as that of piglets that are only one week old.
Meng Zhao moved the castrated piglets to the pigpen that had been cleaned in advance. She needed to pay close attention to them these days, making sure the hygiene was kept clean to avoid infection.
Feed them easy-to-eat and easily digestible food, with a variety of options and rich, comprehensive nutrition. Also, prepare plenty of water and change it regularly to prevent water pollution.
The environment also needs to be quiet. Piglets that have just been castrated may not be in a good mood, so we must pay close attention to them.
Meng Zhao instructed the two young men who had been brought by Meng Dashan, "You two go and boil some hot water, then pour it into the water tank and let it cool."
Having witnessed Meng Zhao teaching how to castrate pigs, the two men dared not disobey her, fearing they might be castrated themselves as well, and quickly went to do their work.
“Zhao Zhao, these two children are the ones I found in my hometown. They are both unfortunate people who have never had enough to eat. I tested them one by one, and they are strong and obedient. If you need anything, just arrange for them to take care of it. Just give them some food. For the time being, let your mother look after the shop. I will stay here and help you train the people.”
Meng Zhao was so moved she almost cried. What she needed most right now was manpower. "Okay, thank you, Father. You and Mother have really worked hard."
"What's this? You're my daughter, who else would we help if not you? If there's anything, just tell your father. Just send your mother some more plum wine; she's really into this flavor right now and doesn't want to drink anything else."
"Okay, I'll bring more back to Mother tomorrow. I can also brew other kinds of wine, and I'll let you all try them later."
***
A few days ago, Meng Zhao had already learned about Li Yunxiang's family situation from Aunt Feng'e.
Granny Fang had two sons and one daughter. When her eldest son, Li Dayong, got married, the family was poor and just randomly picked a daughter-in-law, Li Yunxiang, from among their distant relatives. The total cost, including the betrothal gifts and the wedding banquet, was less than six taels of silver.
The second daughter, Li Changying, was beautiful from a young age, unlike her mother at all. At the age of 14, she was engaged to a carpenter in the next village. The family had a tradition of craftsmanship and was quite wealthy. They sent ten taels of silver as soon as the engagement was made, plus the dowry for the wedding. In total, Granny Fang earned thirty or forty taels.
With the money, Fang Pozi put a lot more effort into finding a wife for her second son, Li Dagui. Since Li Yunxiang hadn't given birth to any children in the years since she entered the family, Fang Pozi didn't care about anything else when choosing a wife, only whether she was good at bearing children. After much deliberation, she chose Song Wuniang, because her four older sisters had each given birth to two or three sons.
Song Wu Niang did not disappoint Granny Fang. Less than half a year after entering the family, she became pregnant, and Li Yunxiang's belly also began to move. Granny Fang was overjoyed and told everyone that she had chosen a good wife for her son.
To everyone's surprise, both of her daughters-in-law gave birth to a daughter one after the other. Old Mrs. Fang didn't even bother to give them names, so she simply called them Daya and Erya.
Originally, because neither of them had a son, Granny Fang treated her two daughters-in-law the same way. But Song Wu Niang's pregnancy did not disappoint Granny Fang. In less than two years, she gave birth to another son, named Li Tianbao.
With the birth of her son, Song Wu Niang finally had some confidence, while Li Yunxiang was left only after being tormented by Granny Fang.
Furthermore, less than two years after Li Yunxiang entered the family, her father-in-law was accidentally injured while building a house and broke his leg, leaving him bedridden and unable to move. This made Granny Fang hate her even more, feeling that nothing good had happened to her since she entered the family, and she kept cursing Li Yunxiang as a jinx.
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