Chapter 60 Chapter 60 Killing Pigs Together
Early that morning, Kang He and Fan Jing were squatting under the eaves rinsing their mouths when Hu Dasan came home.
It was said that several families asked him to slaughter pigs, and two families had their pigs slaughtered on the same day, so he asked one family to slaughter the pigs in the morning and the other to slaughter the pigs in the afternoon. They were not from the same village, and the two villages were far apart, so he was afraid that he would not be able to do it in time.
The twelfth month of winter is the most popular time for butchers, as farmers slaughter pigs and sheep in this month in preparation for the New Year.
But there are not many butchers, maybe only one or two in three or two villages.
People say that this is an evil act of killing, and ordinary people are unwilling to do it. In fact, they don’t have the talent for it, are too timid, and dare not do it.
With fewer butchers, it's easier to make money in this business. At the end of the year, with so many butchers trying to hire, the market becomes very tight.
"I wanted to tell the next customer that we had already booked them on that date, but they kept asking for favors and they're regular customers. I couldn't just turn them away just because business was good this month."
Hu Dasan said, "I told him that since the date had come up, my apprentice and I would go to each household, and he agreed."
"Da Jing can also kill pigs, so go and give it a try."
Kang He and Fan Jing naturally agreed.
Fan Jingdan got a job slaughtering pigs, and he asked Kang He to go with him on the day.
Even if he asked, Kang Heding would follow him. Although the family was still working on the project, there was no need to rush. Besides, Chen's brothers from her mother's family were very friendly recently, and they would come with their wives to help with the work every now and then.
When the day came, Kang He and Fan Jingtian got up before dawn to clean up.
Fan Jing put on his clothes and pointed at the knives in the box. He had only used this set of knives to kill chickens at home and had never been willing to use them outside.
Nowadays, if you go to slaughter a pig for the first time, you must use a new knife.
Fan Jing closed the lid and looked at Kang He wearing the clothes he had gotten rid of yesterday.
It’s not that they are very dirty, but the clothes they wear when working are old and rough, which is not decent.
He thought about what he had said before about Kang He's talk of attracting bees and butterflies. He thought Kang He was smiling at the time, and wondered if he had taken it to heart.
He asked, "Didn't you say yesterday that you would wear the clothes you made last year? Why are you wearing this one today?"
"I thought about it. I won't be slaughtering the pig when I go over there, so I can't eat the host's meal for free. I have to help to control the pig. If I wear clean clothes, they will get dirty again. I will have to change them when I come home. And clothes don't dry easily in this weather."
Kang He said, "We are not going to a banquet anyway, so I am not going to dress up nicely."
Fan Jing didn't think about it that way. He listened to him and said nothing more.
The two of them ate something quickly, then carried the cart that Carpenter Wang had sent them a few days ago to the village main road and harnessed the donkey.
The two of them originally planned to walk there. Although they had a cart at home, the road had not been compacted and was not suitable for carrying heavy objects.
But Father Fan said that everything was ready, so he would try it out first to see if it was any good, and then he could also temper the donkey's temper.
This strong donkey has been in our family for more than half a year. Although it can carry heavy loads, it has never pulled a cart.
Kang He and Fan Jing followed Fan's father's instructions and took some time to move the cart to the main road first.
Father Fan followed him out, wanting to see the novelty of using the car for the first time.
With his hands behind his back, he looked left and right at the donkeys harnessed to the cart, and then at his own cart and animals, feeling strangely proud.
But he had never used this thing before. He had heard that a donkey pulling a cart fell into a ditch and broke bones. He was still a little worried and asked, "Is the harness secure?"
Fan Jing tightened the reins to make sure everything was alright, then nodded: "Go back, it'll work."
He threw the knife box in his hand to Kang He and stepped onto the cart.
Kang He held the knife box in his arms, watched the man sit down in the driver's seat, and said, "You driving?"
Fan Jing picked up the whip and asked, "If I don't drive, who will?"
Kang He hesitated for a moment, then climbed up holding the knife box and sat down next to Fan Jing.
He looked at the man and asked, "Can it be done?"
Fan Jing ignored him and cracked the whip, and the donkey raised its hooves and ran forward.
Kang Hejiao stumbled due to his sudden start and quickly hugged Fan Jing.
Father Fan originally wanted to ride in a cart, not to mention going with them to slaughter pigs, but he could also sit in the field at the entrance of the village and pick some onions.
Try something new for once and brag about it to others.
Seeing how fast Fan Jing was driving, he silently swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth and shouted instead, "Go slower."
When the two of them got onto the official road, Fan Jingjiao and Kang He were so constrained that they could hardly move. Finally, they said, "What are you afraid of? Every time you go out with Hu Dasan, I'm the one driving the car."
"You drive?"
Kang He looked at the man with a calm face, and there was a hint of smile in his eyes. He suddenly let go of his hand: "You can drive a car! Why are you deliberately scaring me?"
Fan Jing said: "Who would be afraid of this?"
Kang He snorted, "Ordinary people, look at you driving that car earlier, who else would dare to get on it except me?"
He turned his head away and said, "I don't know who asked me to come out with you. I won't come here again next time."
Seeing that the man was getting angry, Fan Jing was silent for a moment and said, "I'll just go slower next time."
Kang He snorted and ignored him.
"I'll teach you how to drive."
After hearing this, Kang He turned around and said, "Don't fool me again."
Fan Jing said nothing, took Kang He's hand, taught him to pull the reins, and held his hand himself.
"It's easy. If you're quick, pull the rope. If you're slow, crack the whip."
Kang He tugged at the reins and said, "How can it be easy? This donkey won't obey me."
Fan Jing said, "If you want to do this on purpose, it's really not easy."
Kang He laughed and calmed down.
"When did you learn to drive? I never heard you say you could do it before."
"I learned it from Hu Dasan."
Kang He said, "I didn't learn much about butchering pigs, but I did learn how to drive a car. So the three strings of cash I paid to become your apprentice were not wasted."
Fan Jing hummed.
The weather is very cold in the mornings in winter, and even the mountain caves are covered with frost.
Sitting in the car like this, the wind blowing in my face is like a razor on my face.
Kang He rubbed his hands and covered Fan Jing's red ears.
"I've got some rabbit fur in the house. I'll ask Zhen'er to make you some earmuffs when I get home. Next time you go out, you won't get so cold."
Fan Jing said, "Why don't you do it?"
Kang He smiled and said, "If you don't mind it being ugly, I can make it for you."
Fan Jing didn't say anything. As they talked, they arrived at the village very quickly.
When you enter the village, the family surnamed Bai who slaughters pigs is not far from the main road of the village and can be seen from the road.
Many people who were there to eat the pig-killing meal had already arrived, and it was a lively scene. People heard the sound of the cart wheels and came out to see. When they saw someone arriving, they hurried to greet him.
"There are two of them here, they look like a couple."
"This is the first time I've seen such a young butcher. That boy doesn't even look 20 years old. I wonder if he can accomplish anything. I'd better not kill him with the knife."
"Why don't you invite Hu Tuzi?"
"It's very popular in winter, so I didn't invite him. He said that the one who came here is his apprentice."
The people in the yard whispered a few words in their ears.
The Bai family was quite polite. They called Kang He and Fan Jing into the house to have some hot tea and started working once everything was ready outside.
The Bai family had never met Hu Dasan's apprentice. He and Hu Dasan were old friends and he trusted him. Hu Dasan said he was too busy to ask his apprentice to come, and they couldn't hire any other butcher, so they had no choice but to do this.
I was still a little nervous, but when I saw Kang He coming, I found that he was tall and strong. Although he was a little young, I felt relieved.
Kang He and Fan Jing took a few sips of hot soup. They were frozen stiff from the car ride all the way here, so they had to warm themselves up, otherwise they wouldn't be able to hold the knife properly.
That’s all. When Kang He felt it was almost done, he went to talk to the owner about it.
After hearing what was said, the host called for the pig handler to come over. Kang He handed the knife box to Fan Jing, rolled up his sleeves and followed him to the pig shed.
"Brother Kang, I can't help but tell you to work so hard. You'll have to kill the pig soon, so save your energy."
Seeing Kang He was about to go to the pig shed, the Bai family thought that new butchers would be more willing to work, but those experienced butchers would not be willing to go to the pig shed.
Kang He was slightly stunned. Only then did he realize that his master mistook him for a butcher. No wonder he came over and asked him what he thought about everything.
He smiled and said, "I won't kill the pig, my husband will do it."
"ah?"
Not only the owner of the house, but also the man who was pressing the pig and the woman who was playing outside screamed in surprise.
"This...is this possible?"
Seeing this, Kang He acted as if Hu Dasan hadn't told him anything, so he said, "Master, don't worry, my husband's cooking skills are not bad. If we can't do it well today, I won't charge you for slaughtering the pig."
The host was skeptical, but since everyone was gathered, it would be difficult to refuse now.
The man's face looked a little unhappy, and he raised his hand anxiously, indicating that he should take a look first.
Kang He looked back at Fan Jing. He was very confident in his craftsmanship, but he was afraid that he would be suspected and feel unhappy.
Fan Jing said nothing and nodded slightly at him. Seeing this, Kang He followed the men into the pigpen with peace of mind.
After a while, the pig was dragged out squealing. The women and husbands who came to help with the fire and cooking gathered around and wanted to see the boy slaughter the pig.
Fan Jing slowly opened the knife box and took out the butcher knife.
The pig was pressed onto the bench, and the man quickly pulled out a hemp rope to tie it up, to prevent the pig from running away if the knife wasn't stuck properly and he let go.
The butcher made a fool of himself and caused trouble for his master.
Fan Jing simply said, "Unworthy."
After saying that, he ordered the pig to be held down tightly. The fat pig struggled even harder than when it was just dragged out, and kept screaming with its mouth open, as if it wanted to bite people. The timid ones didn't dare to go near it.
Fan Jing remained calm, raised his knife and swung it down, and the cold white knife immediately turned into a warm red knife.
In a few seconds, the pig stopped moving.
Fan Jing casually wiped the bloody knife clean and put it back into the box.
He felt that slaughtering a domestic pig was no different from killing a chicken.
People saw that his hands were so steady and accurate, and he did it skillfully without any effort.
They were all a little surprised.
"Fan Fulang has great skills!"
Kang He clapped his hands and said, "It's all thanks to Master Hu's good teaching. I've learned some of the skills from him. If you think your skills are good enough, you can call Master Hu whenever you need to slaughter animals in the future."
Everyone in the yard smiled and said yes.
Kang He picked up the kettle and poured boiling water on the pig's body, while Fan Jing scraped the pig's hair with a knife on the scalded surface.
The two of them worked together and quickly cleaned the pig hair.
After removing the hair, the animal needs to be gutted, the heart, liver, spleen and lungs taken out, and then the meat is divided.
Fan Jing used the new knife and found it particularly useful. The blade cut through the meat neatly without much effort.
During this time, Kang He picked up the pig intestines and helped drain the feces inside.
He also asked the host if he wanted to chop the bones, since all the tools were ready, and if he wanted to chop ribs, he could get them out at the same time.
The host then gave me two pounds of pork ribs to chop into small pieces so that they could be eaten in two days.
People all said that this couple was very considerate. They came over and did the work without taking a break.
Who wouldn’t be happy when such a great guest is invited?
After eating the pig-killing meal, the host gave Fan Jing a hundred yuan according to the outside price, and also gave him a piece of pig liver and a piece of pig lung.
On their way back, Fan Jing said to Kang He, "I thought you were here today to join the crowd and yell. Next time, you'll ask me to go slaughter the pig."
Kang He said, "If you put it that way, then you are deliberately trying to steal Uncle Hu's customers. If we want to work on our own and borrow his reputation, then if we want to take his customers, wouldn't that make the master suspicious?"
“People say that teaching a disciple means starving the master. If we are not careful, we may become enemies.
Uncle Hu and I are from the same village, and we're also in the same business. If we mess things up and offend our elders, people outside will say we're heartless and dishonest."
Fan Jing nodded. He just couldn't figure out all these twists and turns. If it weren't for Kang He, he would have been able to do good things for him.
If he were to do the pig-killing business alone now, he would definitely find it dangerous in the mountains.
On their way back, Kang He and Fan Jing went to Hu Dasan first and gave the pig liver and lung to Qiao Fulang, saying that it was a gift from the Bai family to Hu Dasan.
He took out half of the money from slaughtering the pig as a filial gift.
Qiao Fulang refused to accept it, saying that it took two people a lot of hard work to get it.
"If Master hadn't assigned me a part of the work, I wouldn't have been able to work even if I wanted to. It's all thanks to Master, how could I have monopolized this good thing?"
Qiao Fulang said, "You two helped him find a job. Otherwise, it would be the old customers who would come to call. If I don't go to either side, it would hurt the relationship. I should thank you two."
After some discussion, Qiao Fulang refused to accept it and told Kang He and Fan Jing to take it back themselves.
Seeing this, Kang He had no choice but to give up.
When they were at Hu Dasan's house, Qiao Fulang told him about this matter. After hearing it, Hu Dasan thought that it was rare for people to be so thoughtful.
Two days later, Hu Dasan went to the city to visit Sun and met the Bai family. The two of them had a bowl of hot tea in the city.
Hu Dasan asked the Bai family whether his apprentice could slaughter pigs properly.
The Bai family praised Fan Jing, saying that he had good skills and was efficient in his work, and that both he and his wife were willing to work hard.
He was also said to be down-to-earth. Since he had mastered the skills, he did not try to steal customers. Everyone praised him and just asked him to take care of his master's business.
Hu Dasan felt relieved after hearing this.
Fan Jing was good at slaughtering pigs outside. Not only did he not lose face, but he also had a good character and was not an ungrateful person.
I am afraid that people may seem so diligent in helping with work and chores in front of me on a daily basis, but then do unscrupulous things outside.
As the twelfth lunar month began, more families were slaughtering pigs. The cold weather made Hu Dasan's back pain worse. He had to go to Doctor Zhu every few days to get a dose of ointment to relieve the pain.
Doctor Zhu told him to do less strenuous work, but no matter how stubborn he was, he had to admit that he was getting old, and the pain in his bones was really unbearable.
There was no other way, so he had to ask Fan Jing to do the work at hand.
As for Fan Jing and Kang He, they always manage to look great whenever they go out, and everyone who goes there always praises them.
Kang He is also a good person. He praises Fan Jingduo to others and says that his master taught him well.
People outside also said that Hu Tuzi was a good master who was willing to teach his apprentices real skills.
Since Hu Tuzi has a good reputation outside, he will not feel that everyone is praising his apprentice and overshadowing him. He will become more and more satisfied with Kang He and Fan Jing.
After the fifteenth day, on the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Kang He and Fan Jing went to three households in a row and slaughtered two pigs and a sheep.
After running around all day, it was already dark when I got home.
Fan Jing was driving the donkey quickly. The wind was blowing outside, and it was extremely cold on Kang He's body. He wiped his face, and some scattered snowflakes were stuck to his clothes.
Fortunately, they each wore a hat made by Zhen'er, which could block some of the wind, otherwise they would have been very cold.
When they got home, everyone in the house had already eaten dinner and I had left some hot water for them.
The two of them quickly took a hot bath and soaked their feet in it, and only then did they feel better.
Fortunately, I ran fast, and the snow outside was already falling like catkins.
Kang He counted the copper coins he had earned today and said, "Today's efforts were not in vain. I earned 360 copper coins in one day."
Fan Jing said, "Even when I was selling candles, I could earn more than ten strings of cash at a time, but I never saw you so happy."
"Well, it's the same. Even though the candles were sold in one day, they weren't made in one day. It took a long time to save them."
Kang He counted the copper coins: "After all, it's still a pig slaughter. We are in the winter and twelfth month. In less than two months, we have already earned more than two strings of copper coins."
Fan Jing also felt that he was making good money these days. He could earn at least 120 copper coins each time he went out. If he was lucky, he could visit two or three households in a day!
Earning money this way is indeed more secure than living in the mountains.
However, he also knew that the pig-slaughtering business was more popular only in the winter and twelfth months of the year. If it were any other time, there would definitely be no such good thing.
Kang He put the copper coins into the money box and put it away. He encouraged Fan Jing and said, "Now that we have set up the pork stall, we won't just sit there and earn a little money from slaughtering pigs."
"You don't know how powerful you are. A few days ago, two families in Tangjia Village didn't go to Uncle Hu's place and just asked you to kill a pig. They weren't Uncle Hu's guests before, they only asked you to do it because of your skills."
"Today we have two more urgent customers. They came because they heard about your goodness. When they left, they said they would keep you in mind from now on. All in all, we have four or five customers of our own now."
Fan Jing was so impressed by Kang He's praise that he lowered his eyes and hid the smile in his eyes.
He felt that the reason he was able to have his own customers so quickly was thanks to Kanghe's ability to handle things properly, as he was able to take care of every household he visited.
Not to mention those pig-killing families, even for him, if Hu Dasan and Kang He were both pig-killers, comparing the two, he would definitely be more willing to ask Kang He to do the work like this, rather than Hu Dasan who just brags and orders the head of the family to do this and that.
Fan Jing took his scalded feet out of the bucket and rubbed them against Kang He's trouser legs. "When are we going to go it alone?"
Kang He said, "I'll go out to slaughter pigs tomorrow. I'll go to Uncle Hu's house."
The next day, a thick layer of snow accumulated in the village.
The new road in front of the Fan family's door was covered with snow. Fortunately, there was a layer of mud on the surface, so even if the snow fell, it would not become muddy for a while.
When Kang He carried some things to Hu's house, Qiao Fulang was cooking pig food in the kitchen.
He and Fan Jing went into the house to see Hu Dasan. He was dressed warmly and sitting on the kang. There was a charcoal brazier in the room, so it was quite warm.
"Uncle's waist is feeling better now."
"He's been moving around a lot, and Doctor Zhu has been treating him diligently, so he's gotten much better. But now that it's snowing, it's not a pleasant feeling."
Kang He took out a new water heater, filled it with hot water, and gave it to Hu Dasan to use.
"It's cold and snowy, and back and leg pains are the worst. Uncle, don't work too hard. If you have any problems, just call me and Dajing."
"I know you two are filial, and you come to see me every now and then."
Hu Dasan said, "Your father is the same. Whenever he has time, he comes to drink with me because he's afraid I'll get bored inside. Look at my back pain. I didn't even bother to check on your new road after it was finished."
"The road is too long to run there. When spring comes and it's warmer, there's still time for you to go over and take a look."
Hu Dasan responded and asked Fan Jing if slaughtering pigs had been going smoothly recently.
Fan Jing replied that everything was fine.
The master and disciple were quiet. Hu Dasan knew Fan Jing's personality, so he didn't chat with him much. Instead, he was more willing to talk to Kang He.
"Speaking of slaughtering pigs, I have something on my mind, and I want to hear uncle's opinion."
"Just tell me. If there's any trouble at home, I'll help you find a solution."
Kang He then said, "A while ago, my family took a taxi to build a road, but we ran into the difficult Cheng family, so we had no choice but to buy the land. In a short time, we spent all the money we had on hand."
"My parents are worried. Although Dajing and I are engaged, Zhen'er and Qiao'er are growing up. If a girl wants to find a good family this year, she'll need a generous gift to get the job done..."
Qiao Fulang and three other men brought a stack of incense sticks into the room. When they heard that Kang He had something to say, they sat down and listened.
Hearing that it was about his sister's marriage, he couldn't help but say, "Zhen'er is already sixteen, but she has found a suitable husband. How much dowry do you want? If you don't have enough money, you can get some from us first."
Kang He smiled and thanked Mr. Qiao for his kindness. He said, "I haven't met her yet, but the year has come, so I have to make some preparations. You never know when you'll find a good match, and if the right one comes along, it would be a shame to miss it because of money."
"Seeing the trouble at home, Dajing and I were also upset, so we discussed it and decided to do some business before the New Year to save some money for the two girls' weddings."
After hearing this, Hu Dasan understood what they meant: "Do you want to set up a stall and buy livestock to sell meat?"
Kang He nodded and said, "Now that I've learned Uncle Hu's craft, I have no choice but to do this business. It's not good to give up halfway and go back to the mountains to make money."
Hu Dasan subconsciously felt that this was too fast, but when he thought about it carefully, it didn't matter whether it was fast or not as long as he learned the skill and put it into use.
Selfishly, he was no longer in the pork business, so even if the couple opened a stall, it wouldn't affect his business.
Besides, he had observed these days that Kang He and Fan Jing were not bad people, so there was no reason for him to suppress them and not let them stand out.
It is a good thing for young people to be willing to support their families and shoulder the burden.
He initially accepted Fan Jing as his apprentice because he was impressed by Kang He's abilities. Now that he was ambitious in doing business, there was no reason for him to refuse.
"It's rare that you two think this way. The pork business is a good way out. I won't tell you about the rich. If you manage it well, it will be enough to feed and clothe your family."
Hu Dasan said, "If you have the intention, then do it right away. Don't make it a joke. If you have any trouble, tell me. It's unreasonable for a master with connections not to help his apprentice."
"You should focus on your business. I have also introduced my old customers to you two."
Seeing that Hu Dasan didn't have any suspicions, Kang He and Fan Jing couldn't help but look at each other, feeling quite happy.
He was afraid that they would say they wanted to work alone, as Hu Dasan thought they were ambitious.
Kang He expressed his gratitude and promised to do his best before going back with Fan Jing.
Now that Hu Dasan's side was settled, both of them were a little busy. Fan Jing drove Chen Sanfang to the county to sell konjac tofu, and went with Kang He to see what the market price was for renting a stall.
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