Chapter 42 Buying Pigs
In March and April, the ducks in the river arrive before spring.
The water in the river was no longer cold, so the duck farmers drove the ducks into the water to find food.
I don’t know if it was because they were too cooped up during the winter, but as soon as the ducks were released, they couldn’t wait to quack.
The sound was so loud that even though Lu Xing's house was far away from the river, he could still hear the ducks quacking.
After finally encountering a sunny day, she planned to dry the quilts at home and make some earthen sauce.
After the poachers were caught, Lu Xing released the little fox at home.
It was temporarily imprisoned before to treat its injuries and collect evidence.
Now that it had been caught, Lu Xing no longer needed to keep it. He released it into the back mountain that day, and the little fox soon disappeared.
Unexpectedly, it appeared again the next day, holding a little cub in its mouth, with the same white fur as it.
The two foxes seemed to treat Lu Xing's kitchen as their home. They slept next to the stove every day. Lu Xing took some old clothes and built a nest for them.
The little cub is different from the big fox. It eats meat and doesn't seem to need Lu Xing to feed it. The big fox takes it out hunting every day.
Since they came, there have been no more mice in the house, and stealing birds no longer dare to land in Lu Xing's house.
The big fox, however, still relied on the vegetables fed by Lu Xing.
It was a sunny day today, and Lu Xing came out to dry his quilt. The two foxes also came out to bask in the sun, stretching lazily in the yard.
Suddenly, there were hawking sounds in the distance.
"Selling pigs, selling pigs, selling piglets."
Lu Xing went over curiously and found a man pushing a cart and hawking something.
"Fellow villager, why are you here selling pigs?"
In the past, pigs were raised by the public, with each village only raising two or three.
Now every household can raise pigs. Every year around the beginning of spring, people in Xiaoshi Village will go out to buy piglets.
It was rare to see piglets being sold in their village.
"Oh, pigs are hard to sell, and selling them to butchers is too much of a loss, so I can only go to a few more villages. Auntie, do you want to buy a pig?"
"My pigs are all carefully raised and are definitely good pigs. You will definitely not lose out if you buy them."
He opened the bag a little, and inside the bag, two little black pigs were rummaging around, as if looking for food.
"My fellow villager, it turns out that you are selling black pigs. These piglets are not easy to sell."
The black pig is a native breed here. It has black skin, eats a lot but doesn't gain weight, and has thick skin. The only advantage is that black pork is more fragrant than other pork.
White pigs are a foreign breed. They grow meat no matter what they eat. If they are raised casually, they can produce three to four hundred kilograms of meat by the end of the year, which is nearly one hundred kilograms more than black pigs.
In such a comparison, the black pig was quickly eliminated.
"Not many people raise black pigs now. They eat a lot but don't grow meat, so it's a waste to raise them and sell them for money."
The pig seller gave a wry smile and said, "That's right. If it weren't for my child's fondness for this, I wouldn't want to keep it."
"My children are working away from home this year, so I'm going to get rid of the black pigs at home and raise white pigs instead. These are my last two piglets. If you want them, I'll sell them to you at a lower price."
"How much?"
"Two dollars and twenty cents per pound." The pig seller gestured with his hand and quoted this price, feeling very painful.
"Two dollars and two cents?"
Perhaps due to their rarity, black pigs are more expensive than white pigs, but Lu Xing was still shocked by the price. "Nowadays, white pigs are only one yuan and three cents per pound."
"Auntie, two dollars and twenty cents really can't be any less. I always sell it for two dollars and fifty cents. Once you've tasted this pork, you'll know. The flavor is absolutely unmatched by white pork, and there's no pig smell at all. It's also incredibly delicious when pickled."
Lu Xing took another closer look at the piglet in the bag. It looked lively and seemed to be well-fed.
"How about this, two bucks, I'll take both pigs, okay? You've been gone for so long, it's better to sell them sooner, right?"
Lu Xing poured a glass of water for the pig seller and said, "Come on, fellow, take a sip of water and relax."
"There aren't many people in our village further in. It must be tiring for you to carry two pigs for such a long distance, right?"
The pig seller was probably in a hurry to sell the pig, so he agreed to sell it for two dollars.
I weighed the two piglets and they weighed a total of 70 kilograms, which is quite heavy.
The money was settled on the spot.
The pig seller happily took the money and left.
Lu Xing also happily moved the piglet back.
The pigpen at home is relatively small. It was originally built according to the size of an adult white pig, but now it is just enough for two little black piglets to live in.
When the two foxes saw a new animal appear in the house, they came over curiously, but were pushed into squatting by the little piglets looking for food.
The little fox was so angry that he wanted to scratch the black pig with his claws, but he didn't know whether the fox's claws were too tender or the pig's skin was too thick, so he didn't cause any harm to the black pig at all.
Lu Xing watched them fighting from the side and couldn't help laughing out loud. It was so funny.
After feeding the animals at home at noon, Lu Xing strolled to the big tree as usual.
This time she heard Mrs. Lu's voice from a long distance away.
She stood on a stool and said loudly, "I asked Lu Xing yesterday if she could find my daughter-in-law, but she said she couldn't."
"Why, Auntie, you really believed it? Didn't I say it was a joke yesterday?"
"That's right, you don't want us to curse with you, do you? We won't do that."
"What are you talking about? Listen to me." Old Lady Lu interrupted their outrageous speculations. "What he actually said was, 'Where can I find someone who doesn't have one?'"
After she finished speaking she looked at a few people, hoping they would understand her hint.
Several people were already looking at her, wondering why she hadn't finished the next words.
"You don't understand. What you're saying is that there's no one in this county who's worthy of my son. Only people in big cities are worthy of my son."
No. Is that what she meant?
She didn't mean that Mrs. Lu had such high demands that her son would never find a partner in his life?
Several others also questioned, "That's obviously not what you mean, right? Isn't it about not being able to find a wife?"
"What? How could my son not find a wife with his conditions? This woman must not be worthy of my son."
She saw Lu Xing coming over and said, "Lu Xing, it's a good thing you're here. What did you mean by what you said yesterday?"
Lu Xing looked at her and said, "What I meant yesterday was that if you keep picking, your son won't be able to find a wife, and the Wang family and your family will break off the engagement."
"That's not what you said yesterday. You did it on purpose, didn't you? You lied to embarrass me."
"Ah?" Lu Xing felt that since her two sons passed away, Old Lady Lu seemed to be mentally unstable and her speech was incoherent.
"Yes, that must be the case." She muttered to herself as she turned around and went home.
The people standing around her seemed to be ignored by her.
"Auntie, Auntie Lu looks like something's not right." Someone nearby also noticed something was wrong.
"I can't tell. Let's keep an eye on it. If there's any problem, please lend a hand."
There's nothing else they can do to help.
"Auntie, what are you doing here?"
When they asked this, Lu Xing remembered that the purpose of his coming here was to look for someone. "Oh, if you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. I came here to look for Liu Hehua. Where is she?"
"I think Aunt Liu is drying her quilts at home."
"Okay, then I'll go to her house and take a look."
————
When Lu Xing came to the house, Liu Hehua was making sauce at home.
"Will you be using your car tomorrow?"
"It's useless. What are you going to buy in the county town?"
The roads in their mountains are difficult to travel on, and even a tractor can easily get stuck in the mud.
Moreover, many families cannot even afford a bicycle. If they want to buy something big, they have to push their own carts.
Lu Xing's family originally had a cart, but after it broke down, they couldn't find anyone who could repair it.
Fortunately, she doesn't usually need it, so if she really needs it, she can borrow it from her friends.
"I bought two pigs at home, and the vegetables in the garden are not enough to feed them. I plan to go to the city to buy some pig feed and buy some seeds so I can grow more vegetables."
Liu Hehua recalled the hawking voices from before, "Did you buy those two black piglets? They don't grow meat. White pigs are better to raise."
"I heard black pork is delicious. When we kill the pig, I'll give you two pounds to try."
"Okay, then I'll take advantage of you. I'll talk to Zhengde later, and you can just come and pick it up tomorrow."
"Okay."
【Author has something to say】
Old Mrs. Lu: No matter what you say, I will understand it myself.
An adult white pig generally weighs 400-500 jin. The meat refers to the weight of pure meat after removing bones and internal organs.
Piglets generally refer to three-month-old piglets, weighing 30-50 catties
The purchase price of live pigs in 1990 was 1.3 yuan per catty.
Black pigs have a longer growth cycle than white pigs, and their meat is firmer and more fragrant.
I've tried both types of meat, and the black pork is more fragrant, but the difference is not big.
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