No other noise could be made when the sow was giving birth, so the three people didn't dare to make any noise and just squatted down next to her with tense expressions.
Bai Jiaojiao guessed, "It's too hot now, it might be out of energy. Uncle Xu, could you sprinkle some water around the pigpen to cool it down?"
"Okay." Forget about sprinkling water to cool it down, I'd even have Old Xu fan the pigs with a fan right now.
Starting around 6 a.m., this sow kept giving birth until midnight. Before that, Da Hua kept grunting and didn't give birth, but after the first piglet was born, the rest of the piglets followed.
"If all else fails, use oxytocin."
But this time she gave birth to three, and the sow wouldn't give birth any more; she clearly had no strength left.
If we don't take action quickly, the remaining piglets might suffocate in the womb.
Because of the difficulties Da Hua had with her last birth, Bai Jiaojiao went to the veterinary station this time to get two vials of sodium cloprostenol, just in case. Unexpectedly, it actually came in handy.
"Prick me with a needle!" Old Xu was particularly afraid of that. "Who could be so cruel? Besides, we wouldn't know how."
In the past, pricking someone with a needle was considered an extreme form of torture. At most, Old Xu would only dare to use a needle to pick at blisters and remove thorns stuck in his hands.
"I'll do it."
There's nothing wrong with intramuscular injections; you just stick it in wherever there's flesh.
Bai Jiaojiao immediately went to the drawer in the feed room, found the medicine, and came over with a syringe.
"Where should we go?" Old Xu asked.
"thigh."
"I'll do the stabbing myself, so you don't get kicked," Shen Heng said.
“Let her prick it, it sounds painful just hearing you prick it,” Old Xu said from the side. “You come over and help me press it.”
Bai Jiaojiao was exasperated by Lao Xu: "Alright, Uncle Xu, you two hold it down, let's hurry up and do it."
Without hesitation, Bai Jiaojiao injected the needle into the sow's body without even trembling.
"If that doesn't work, we'll have to deduct it."
Sows rarely experience dystocia. Once they start giving birth, they usually deliver smoothly, like passing gas.
But that's exactly what happened to them; where can they go to seek justice?
Old Xu's face scrunched up.
Just as Bai Jiaojiao was about to administer the second injection of oxytocin, the sow's grunting grew louder, as if she was straining. Soon after, a piglet emerged.
"It's out!" Old Xu lowered his voice, but you could hear the joy in his words.
One, two... plus the three that were born before, ten more came out!
Old Xu's eyes were blurry from counting: "So many! I'll have to explain this to the captain tomorrow!"
"Uncle Xu, tonight has been a real haul!"
With a total of eighteen piglets added to the pigpen, Zheng Xu said that the matter of expanding the pigpen should probably be put on the agenda as soon as possible.
"Quickly get some feed, let them eat more and produce more milk. We can't let so many piglets go hungry!"
Old Xu was all smiles, no longer sleepy at all, busy in and out of the pigsty.
The next day, when Zheng Xu heard the news, he almost wrote a certificate of merit for the sow who had given birth to ten piglets in just seven months and posted it on her pigpen.
"I'll find someone to build a pigsty tomorrow. There's plenty of space in our village!"
Bai Jiaojiao suggests that pigs kept for breeding and those intended for meat can be raised separately. One reason is that uncastrated pigs have a body odor, and another is that pigs used for breeding don't have as much need to grow fat, so they can be fed more robust feed. Raising them separately is more convenient.
After Zheng Xu went back and discussed it with Li Shiqing, they decided to build a pigpen three times larger than the original one on the open space next to the pigpen, so that it could hold eighteen more pigs!
The location was marked out in the afternoon, and we immediately went to find people to start work.
Bai Jiaojiao and Shen Heng took turns working with Lao Xu in the pigsty for more than a month. Once the piglets stopped nursing and the sows no longer needed to take care of them, they could be separated into different pens, and they no longer needed to take turns worrying about them.
During this time, Zheng Xu wanted to transfer Shen Heng to plant wheat for two days, but Lao Xu was not happy. With Shen Heng there, he and Bai Jiaojiao took the night shift, and he slept soundly.
If Shen Heng wasn't there, he wouldn't want Bai Jiaojiao, a woman, to work the night shift alone. It wasn't that the village was afraid of any danger, but if something happened in the pigsty, Bai Jiaojiao might not be strong enough to handle it alone.
Shen Heng stayed in the pigsty and made rapid progress in his studies with Bai Jiaojiao.
On October 21st, the notice to resume the college entrance examination was issued.
Newspapers were printed with the news, and various media outlets were reporting on it. Bai Jiaojiao paid special attention to this news, and she was almost the first to hear about it on the radio.
Even the village secretary hadn't been notified before Bai Jiaojiao went to tell Zheng Xu about it.
"Captain, I just heard on the radio that the college entrance examination will be reinstated this December, and everyone, regardless of their diploma, can apply to university!"
Even though it was something she knew from her past life, Bai Jiaojiao was still very excited to say it out loud.
Zheng Xu thought he had misheard: "What did you say?"
Then she suspected Bai Jiaojiao had misheard: "Did you misunderstand?"
Bai Jiaojiao said, "Captain, there's absolutely no mistake! You'll see, the commune will notify you and the Party Secretary to attend a meeting today! It's been announced on the radio several times, I heard it clearly!"
Zheng Xu's eyes widened: "We've been on the wrong path for the past ten years. I knew it! It's only right that those people were exonerated and the college entrance examination was reinstated!"
"Captain, you should go and inform everyone first. There must be someone in our village who wants to take the college entrance exam. We should earn as much money as we can!"
The main problem is that learning materials are hard to find these days. If you wait even a moment, you might not be able to find the learning materials you could have found.
Besides the educated youth, there were also a few people in Shili Village who had graduated from high school or dropped out of school. Knowing this news, they would definitely want to give it a try.
When did you say the exam would be?
They said it would be a month from now, but there's no specific date yet!
Zheng Xu nodded, taking half a step: "Then you'll be taking the college entrance exam too, right?"
"Of course, Captain. To be honest, I've always believed that the college entrance examination will be reinstated someday, and I'm always ready."
Zheng Xu was happy for Bai Jiaojiao, but also felt a pang of regret: "It's truly a waste of talent for a young person like you to stay in our village. How's your teaching of Shen Heng going? Is he confident about the exam?"
"I don't know, we'll both do our best to take the exam."
To be honest, Bai Jiaojiao was very confident.
After all, this year's college entrance examination was unexpected by everyone. Although the competition was fierce, the opponents were not strong. She and Shen Heng studied intensively and did better than those who just wanted to get a diploma in high school.
But in front of Zheng Xu, they could only keep a low profile.
Zheng Xu encouraged Bai Jiaojiao for a couple of minutes, then went to the brigade to make a public announcement via loudspeaker.
He had just finished speaking when the brigade received a call saying that all brigade cadres were to attend a meeting at the commune office.
Now the whole village was bustling with excitement.
Especially those educated youth, who had no intention of working at all, kept asking Zheng Xu about the details.
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