Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, the ground was frozen and cracked, the north wind was blowing like a knife, and heavy snow was flying all over the sky.
The winter was so cold that it made people's noses sore and their heads ache, and their feet felt like two pieces of ice. But it still couldn't stop the women and children who had received the news in advance.
This day is the day to slaughter the New Year pig.
Unlike the pork supplied as non-staple food, which was purchased with meat coupons, these were two big, fat pigs raised in their yard.
Early that morning, the kitchen staff bustled about in the open space in front of the cafeteria. Everyone, whether watching or participating, wore excited smiles. The younger children, braving the cold wind, watched the sows being slaughtered, constantly wiping their saliva from the corners of their mouths.
A pit had been dug in the open space, and they quickly built a stove, set up a big pot, moved firewood, and boiled water. After everything was done, several cooks carried a dirty old sow that was tied up and placed it on a simple rack made of an old bed board and two benches to clean it and prepare for slaughter.
The red knife went in, the white knife came out, and amid the miserable cries of the black pig, the pig was soon expertly gutted and its internal organs removed with the movement of the knife.
The pig blood in the wooden plate on the ground was quickly salted and brought into the cafeteria.
The remaining pig continued on the same path as the former.
After stuffing blood sausage, cleaning pig offal, and removing bones, large chunks of bright red pork were neatly placed on the chopping board and moved into the large kitchen one after another.
Even though they couldn't eat the butcher's meal directly from the pot like in the countryside, the children were still overjoyed. They gathered around the canteen and refused to leave, hoping that noon would come soon so they could eat meat in the canteen earlier.
The women silently calculated how much meat they would get today, and with joy, they gave a few instructions to their children and hurried away to go home.
From this day on, according to the custom of previous years, after each family was given a quota of pork, when it was time for dinner, the tempting aroma of meat wafted from the nearby canteens of all sizes.
Dishes like braised pork liver, stir-fried pork intestines, braised pork head, radish and bone soup, stewed meat with green beans, etc. have appeared one after another in various ways.
After three years of belt-tightening, this year on New Year's Eve, we were finally able to enjoy a variety of white flour dumplings filled with pork and scallions, chives and eggs, cabbage with oil residue, pumpkin, and sauerkraut. How could this not make people happy? The long-lost laughter and joy returned to the courtyard.
Zhou Xiaozheng walked into the yard exhausted and saw many children in his west wing. He could tell without paying attention that the topic was all about meat.
"Grandpa..."
Zhou Xiaozheng picked up Ping An who rushed forward and touched his little hand: "Are you cold?"
"It's not cold. Grandpa, why did you come back just now? I missed you so much that my heart ached. Are you tired? I'm older now, I'll come down."
Although he said so, the arm around his neck didn't move. Zhou Xiaozheng patted the child's butt: "Are you playing tricks? What's wrong? Are you unhappy?"
Ping An pouted and said, "I have a younger brother."
Zhou Xiaozheng laughed. That's right! How could a child not want to compete for favor?
"Grandpa, I have a younger brother now!" Ping An reminded again dissatisfiedly.
Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at him and said, "I heard it."
"Are you happy? Uncle Xiaofei said that adults love the youngest one."
"Don't listen to other people's nonsense." Zhou Xiaozheng looked at the child's shining eyes and said as they walked, "In grandpa's heart, safety always comes first."
Ping An chuckled when he heard this.
Zhou Jiao came out to greet her father and heard this. She looked at her happy son and said, "Are you relieved now? Dad, why does he have so many little thoughts?"
Zhou Xiaozheng touched the top of the child's head, looked at her and smiled, "This is normal. Whether it's a boy or a girl this time, it's enough. The number of children is not important, but the sperm is. What does the doctor say? Can your body handle it?"
"Look, I've gained weight, that's fine."
Zhou Xiaozheng followed her into the living room and looked at her again with concern: "We still have to be careful. Did you find Dr. Lin? She is an authority and a well-known expert in obstetrics and gynecology. We must find her this time."
"It's her. I contacted her before."
Zhou Xiaozheng was very confident in his son-in-law's ability to get things done. He nodded approvingly and asked, "Where are the five young men?"
Ping An immediately replied, "I know. My dad went to the hospital to bring food to Grandpa. He will be back soon."
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at his daughter after hearing this.
"Dad, this story has to start from the beginning. Wipe your face first. Baby, come down quickly."
"I'm with Grandpa. Grandpa, let me tell you this. There's an old man who wants to take my mother as his apprentice..."
Zhou Xiaozheng put the child down and took him to the bathroom: "Tell me slowly."
Zhou Jiao listened to her son imitating others, smiled, and went to her father's room to get some clean clothes. When she came to the bathroom, she could still hear the child imitating the old man's tone of voice in a baby voice.
Especially those few swear words, not a single one was missed. She shook her head: "Dad, put the clothes on the stool at the door, come out early to eat."
"I know. Go sit on the sofa and have some rest."
In the bathroom, Zhou Xiaozheng finished listening to the live version of the performance and looked at his grandson: "Do you think he should learn it?"
"As long as my mother is happy."
Zhou Xiaozheng raised the corner of his mouth: "Did your dad say that?"
Ping An nodded: "My dad said that as long as my mom doesn't get too tired, it's fine. Grandpa, my dad even asked my mom to take a leave of absence from school. My mom got angry and kept ignoring him."
"She should drop out of school. She can still go back to school after your brother and sister are born. We don't need her to earn money."
"But I saw my mom win. She said she was in a bad mood, and my dad didn't dare to mention it later."
Zhou Xiaozheng laughed with joy, it really is true that there is always someone better than you.
"My dad said he's not worried about my mom's studies, but about her going to the countryside to do farm work. The worst part is, she can't even ask for leave. He plans to find a reliable doctor to get a certificate. He went to deliver dumplings to that great-grandfather today just to get a certificate. Do you think my dad can get it done?"
"Analyze it yourself."
"My dad analyzed it for me. He said it would definitely work, no matter how hard it tried."
Just as Zhang Guoqing had predicted, it happened. To the cynical Doctor Hu, his apprentice's affairs meant nothing. If he hadn't been teasing the boy, he would have issued a certificate long ago.
"Don't be happy too soon! If it were me, you wouldn't even bother going to that crappy school." Doctor Hu shook his head and shouted that he was not doing his job, his eyes rolling around.
"Don't make any rash plans. My wife can still go to the hospital with you during the winter and summer vacations. Besides, she can learn the basics before the baby is born."
Doctor Hu didn't want to talk too much with this silly boy. How could studying medicine be so easy? There were countless medicinal herbs and tens of thousands of prescriptions, not to mention clinical practice.
Remembering the old man's invitation from the military hospital last time, he stroked his now-defunct beard and coughed guiltily. He shouted at Zhang Guoqing, who looked suspicious, "What are you looking at, you idiot? How could I possibly harm my only successor? When can you meet your father-in-law?"
Zhang Guoqing glanced at him sympathetically, thinking to himself, "You're still thinking about meeting your father-in-law. If I don't blast your old bones dry, you're not a Siberian Tiger."
He replied with a smile: "Before the New Year."
"Don't be so perfunctory, kid. If I knew about this, I would definitely give you a handful of pills."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and said goodbye. Normally, he would have a lot of things to do since his father-in-law had just returned, but since it involved Zhou Jiao, it was a huge matter. If he was right, they might meet tomorrow night.
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