Slaughtering a pig is a big deal in the village, especially since Aunt Lin is selling it to them so cheaply.
Before long, many villagers crowded into Song Anxin's courtyard to watch the excitement. Seeing so many people and worried that the duck eggs she had collected in the courtyard might get broken, Song Anxin asked Feng Nian and the others to put the wild boar at the gate of the courtyard to kill it.
The courtyard entrance was spacious and bright, and now it was surrounded by three layers of people, with a group of children chasing each other and laughing and playing.
Since the wild boar was already dead and didn't need to be held down, Zhao Zhuangniu could kill it by himself. He pulled out the long wooden stick that had pierced the wild boar.
Song Anxin, Zhang Meilin's sister-in-law, and several others carried out a large basin of boiling water. Zhao Zhuangniu, Lin Fengnian, and a few others began to scald the pig, remove its hair, and scrub away the dirt.
After plucking the hair and cleaning the pig, Zhao Zhuangniu began to slaughter it, cutting the wild boar into eight pieces.
Song Anxin kept the two pig trotters to give to Zhao Zhuangniu later. She remembered that her grandfather would give the butcher two trotters after he hired someone to slaughter a pig. Her grandfather told her that this was a matter of etiquette.
She never expected that she would one day inherit her grandfather's old traditions, and a smile appeared on her lips.
Once the pigs were slaughtered, the villagers began to buy them.
Granny Han was the first to rush forward and say, "Big Brother Mao, give me two jin."
Aunt Zhao and Zhao Zhuangniu's eldest son is named Da Mao.
Granny Han had made a lot of money from Song Anxin these past few days, and now that she had the opportunity, she generously bought two catties of meat.
The villagers stared wide-eyed. When did this old woman Han become so generous? Usually, she and her grandson were the ones who had the hardest time in the village. They were lucky if they didn't get any relief from the village. Now, she was actually willing to spend more than ten coins to buy two catties of meat!
Zhao Zhuangniu said gruffly, "Alright!"
Zhao Zhuangniu quickly cut the meat, and Lin Fengnian was in charge of weighing it and then tying it up with straw so that the people buying pork could carry it easily.
Zhao Zhuangniu has a great feel for cutting meat; he cuts exactly two pounds, no more, no less.
Lin Fengshou was in charge of collecting money, while Lin Fenghe and Feng Yao, the two younger ones, were in charge of picking up pig bones to give away. The group worked together very well.
After Granny Han finished buying, Stone's mother said softly, "Give me half a jin too."
Stone's mother also earned a little money, but she used most of it to pay off the medicine, and only managed to cut half a pound to try.
Everyone knows that Lin Jiugui, the man from Shitou's mother's family, loves to drink heavily, so much so that all that's left in their house is a dilapidated thatched roof. Yet, Shitou's mother still manages to spend money to buy half a pound of meat.
What's going on here?! Some clever women guessed that Stone's mother and Granny Han had been spending a lot of time with Aunt Lin's family these past few days, and that they might have something to do with Aunt Lin.
Dog Egg's mother asked, "Granny Han, how come you have money to buy two catties of meat? Where did you get rich?"
Granny Han was beaming with joy, carrying two jin of meat and the free pork bones.
He said, "Where would an old woman like me get rich? I've been craving meat for too long. This year is a good harvest, and my mother is treating us villagers well, so I reluctantly chopped off these two pounds of meat."
When the women couldn't get anything out of Granny Han, they went to ask Stone Mother, but Stone Mother was also the type who wouldn't say a word even if you beat her with a stick.
Song Anxin found it somewhat amusing. Granny Han and Stone Mother were truly tight-lipped. They had worked at her house for so many days without uttering a single word. However, such people were capable.
As more and more people came to buy meat, everyone worried that they wouldn't get any pork bones. Song Anxin and Sister-in-law Lin went to help, while Lin Erxi and Dongzi helped collect and deliver the pork bones.
After cleaning the blood, meat, and other internal organs from a wild boar weighing around 200 jin (approximately 100 kg), about 170-180 jin (approximately 85-90 kg) of pork remains. Song Anxin kept 10 jin (approximately 5 kg) of meat for her family and kept all the pork fat. The rest was sold; nearly 200 households in the village each bought at least half a jin (approximately 250 kg) for a treat.
In the end, only two pounds of pork ribs, a pig's head, pig offal, and some broken pig bones were left. The pig offal was smelly and difficult to clean, and since the pork she sold was not expensive, no one would spend money to buy this instead of meat.
Song Anxin tallied up the figures and found that she had sold the wild boar for a total of one tael and two hundred and seventy coins.
After everything was done, Song Anxin gave the two pork hocks and a large bowl of pig's blood to Aunt Zhao and Zhao Zhuangniu.
Aunt Zhao also bought two jin of meat, and she said, "Why are you giving us so much meat, and pig's blood too? We can't accept this!"
Zhao Zhuangniu honestly replied, "Yes, we don't want Fengnian's mother. I admire you for killing the wild boar with a single stab."
Song Anxin smiled and handed them the pork hock: "Dad Mao, you've been busy all morning, you deserve it."
The two were embarrassed to accept the gift, thanked it profusely, and went back.
Song Anxin gave a large bowl of pig's blood to her sister-in-law, and Sister-in-law Lin also bought two jin. Originally, Song Anxin told her sister-in-law not to buy any, as giving two jin of meat was no big deal.
But Sister-in-law Lin said that she had asked her family to make wooden basins and that they should keep clear accounts, so why couldn't her family keep clear accounts? Song Anxin was convinced by Sister-in-law Lin's theory, but since it wasn't much money, she let her have her way.
Song Anxin's family had a very lavish lunch. A bunch of green vegetables had already sprouted in the yard, and they were put into the pot as soon as they were picked. These fresh vegetables are really different; they were sweet and delicious even without any seasoning.
There were also sweet and sour pork ribs, steamed pork with rice flour, and a big bowl of pork blood and bone soup. The two new meat dishes were praised by the children. However, Song Anxin felt that they preferred the sweet and sour pork ribs. Sure enough, children love sweet things.
Around noon, Brother Lin returned with good news: Lin Dazhuang was alright, his bones and tendons hadn't been injured, and all he needed to do was bandage his wound, change the dressing regularly, and rest.
After finishing her meal, Song Anxin carried a pig's trotter that had been prepared beforehand, using straw, and headed towards the village head's house. The village head's house was bustling with activity. Hearing that Lin Dazhuang was alright, many people from the village came to visit him, and naturally, they didn't come empty-handed, each bringing three or four eggs.
Seeing that her eldest son was alright, the village headwoman stopped wiping away her tears and was chatting and laughing with several other women when she saw Song Anxin arrive. She quickly got up to greet her, saying, "Fengnian's mother, you've come."
Several women and old women also greeted Song Anxin warmly.
Song Anxin said, "Auntie, is Da Zhuang feeling better? I'll get him a pork hock to help him recover faster."
The village headwoman took the pork hock, a smile on her face, and said:
"You're here, why bring pork hock? It's my fault for not buying some for Da Zhuang from your store. You wait here, I'll give you the money right now."
Song Anxin couldn't possibly accept it. In the village, if anything serious happened to anyone, you had to bring something to offer as a token of respect. And these were all relatives; it just so happened that her family had gotten a big wild boar for free.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com