The weather has been getting colder these past few days, and the wind is strong, scratching my face. Qingya and her two younger brothers got chapped faces from playing outside a few days ago, and today, Liu's mother forced them to stay home. The temperature sometimes drops below zero at night, so before bed, Liu's mother fills a salt water bottle with hot water and places it under the covers, waiting until they're warm before going to bed.
Now, everyone except Liu's father sat by the firebox, warming themselves. Xuemei and Qingya were doing their homework on a wooden plank placed on the edge of the firebox. Ruirui and Feifei were huddled together, chattering away over a picture book. Liu's mother was sewing shoe soles.
"Mom, where is Dad? Is he out chopping wood again in such a cold day? Didn't he already send the firewood to Grandpa and Grandma?" Xuemei was tired from doing her homework. She stood up, moved around, and looked around, only to find that Father Liu was not at home.
"Your father went to the brigade headquarters. Today, the purchasing station will come to collect the task pigs."
When Qingya heard that she didn’t have to do her homework anymore, she was about to jump out of the firebox.
"Qingya, what are you doing? You want to run out again. How much homework have you done?"
"Mom, I want to go and see the pigs who are handing in their tasks. I'm almost halfway done, and there's still so much time left in the winter vacation." After saying that, he winked at Ruirui and Feifei, and the two brothers also got up from the firebox.
"What are you doing? Sit down first." Mother Liu flipped through Qingya's homework and then looked at Xuemei's homework.
"Xuemei, how much homework do you have left to do?"
"Do I need another day to finish my homework?"
"Qingya, look, your elder sister is almost done. You should do your homework well at home today. Ruirui and Feifei, your faces are just getting better, so don't go out today. I'll take you to watch the pig slaughtering in the village tomorrow." Qingya used to take her two younger brothers out to play every day, and her faces were chapped from the cold.
"Really? We're slaughtering a pig tomorrow, so we'll have meat to eat."
"We're going to slaughter a pig tomorrow. This year's pig's internal organs won't be separated. The village will use them for the pig-slaughtering dish. I'm going to the brigade office to cook tomorrow. You can bring bowls from home to serve the food." What Liu's mother said made Xuemei and her four siblings drool, and they kept swallowing their saliva.
Mr. Liu didn't come back until the afternoon, and his hands and face were red from the cold.
"Dad, come up and warm yourself by the fire. You guys can pile up over there." Father Liu took off his shoes, put his feet into the firebox, and sat on the edge of the firebox to warm himself by the fire.
"How many pigs did the purchasing station buy in today?" Liu's mother asked Liu's father.
"Luckily, we fed the pigs a good meal before the purchasing station staff came today. When they weighed them, there were exactly six pigs that met the requirements, so they took them away. Besides the pregnant sow, there are three pigs left. We'll kill two of the larger ones tomorrow and save one for next year's summer harvest."
"Next year when the villagers go to the commune to buy piglets, should we also buy one and raise it?"
"Dad, let's raise a pig too. The pigs raised by my second uncle's cousin are really fat this year. I have already asked how to raise pigs. My brothers and sisters and I will help when the time comes."
Mother Liu continued, "Yes, the last time I went back to my mother's house, I saw the pigsty and they weighed about 110 kilograms. Now they should be at least 130 kilograms. Mother said that Xinyan and her sister feed them most of the time."
"It's so heavy, so we'll feed one next year too. You guys will have to help."
Xuemei and her three siblings all nodded.
"Oh, I almost forgot. The postman just came to deliver a letter. It's from my eldest brother-in-law. Take a look." After saying this, Father Liu took out the letter from his pocket and handed it to Mother Liu.
"What did you write?" Liu's father asked Liu's mother.
"My eldest brother said he won't be back for the New Year this year, and my eldest sister-in-law is just three months pregnant. He sent us a separate package this time. Since it's almost New Year, he was worried that there would be too many packages and it would be too slow, so he sent the letter separately first."
"That's great. With one more child, Zhiqian won't be lonely anymore. It will be as lively as our family in the future."
"Of course not."
…
The next day, when Liu's mother brought Xuemei and her four siblings to the threshing ground, many people had already gathered there. Even Grandpa came with the help of a cane. Grandpa's legs had only been able to walk a few days ago. The eldest brother Mingzheng brought a chair for Grandpa to sit on at the back.
The pig butcher in the village is my second uncle. In previous years, my grandfather and Liu's father helped. This year, my grandfather injured his leg and did not come, so my second uncle called my great-grandfather's youngest son to help butcher the pig.
The water in the makeshift cauldron on the large stove in the threshing ground was already boiling. Killing the pig was no simple task. Liu's father and his three companions leaped into the pen, quietly circled behind the pig, and swiftly grabbed its hind legs, flipping it to the ground. Using their legs to support its upturned belly, they deftly twisted and turned the pig's hooves securely. "Tie the hooves" was a fundamental skill. Once the hooves were tied, the more the pig struggled, the tighter the ropes tightened. Once securely tied, they carried the pig toward the stove.
When they got to the big stove, they lifted the squealing pig onto the stove. Uncle Er took out two knives from a bag, one long and thin, one thick and wide, and the other was something rolled up with an iron plate. He knew that it was used to scrape pig hair. He picked up the long and thin knife, which had been sharpened at home in advance.
Uncle Er held a heavy, foot-long knife, straightened his back, and stabbed the pig's chin with his right hand. He felt his hand and the knife handle enter the blade together, and then a warm stream flowed out through his fingers. Father Liu quickly placed a wooden basin underneath to catch the blood, so that all the blood would flow into the basin, and only a little would splash onto the ground. Another person held the pig down, and it twitched a few times and stopped moving.
Sometimes the pig is not dead, but struggles even harder and squeals even louder, attracting everyone to look.
After the pig was killed, Uncle Er quickly inflated it. He made a half-inch-long cut on its hind leg, then placed his puffed mouth against the cut and blew air into the pig's body. This process is called "blowing the pig." Blowing the pig is a strenuous task, similar to blowing a balloon. It requires not only strong lungs and a lot of strength, but also a certain dexterity. This job is best left to young people. With their cheeks puffed out and their eyes flushed, their puffed mouths making popping sounds, the pig rapidly inflates like a balloon, until all its wrinkles are removed, the pig becomes plump and seemingly larger. Then, Father Liu and his men lift the pig's hind legs and immerse the upper half in a pot of boiling water to scald the hair. Generally, the boiling water and then rubbing it back and forth with corn stalks removes most of the hair. Uncle Er scrapes the remaining hair with a scraper until it's snow-white.
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