Chapter 699 704: Guess the Riddle
Lin Wu replied weakly, "It's time to surround them. It's good that they got hit by a stick this time. If they got hit by a knife, they wouldn't be able to survive for a year."
"Puh, puh, puh!" Ma Chunhua spat a few times, "You are already in your forties, and you still don't pay attention to what you say. It's no different from farting."
Lin Wu smiled at her, "Sister Ma, don't worry, good people don't live long, evil people live for thousands of years, and the King of Hell doesn't want evil people like me."
Zhou Huaian looked at the two of them and felt that they actually had a good relationship. This shows how much water is in the words of those gossipy women in the village!
At this time, the noise of a tractor was heard outside. Zhou Huaian said to Lin Wu, "Come, I'll help you out and go to the town to check."
Lin Wu thought that going to the hospital was just about money. "No need, right? The bleeding has stopped. You also said it was a minor injury. It will be fine after two days of rest."
"Lao Lin, you just woke up after being unconscious for a long time. Now the tractor is here, you should go check it out!" Ma Chunhua took the shoes and put them in front of the bed. "Hurry up and get up. There's such a long cut on your head. You need to go to the hospital to see a doctor for some stitches!"
Lin Wu glared at her and said, "You bitch, I told you I was fine. If I needed stitches, I would go alone after dawn. Why did you let Zhou Laoyao and the others suffer in the middle of the night?"
Ma Chunhua also widened her eyes, "I..."
Seeing that the two were about to fight again, Lin Xiaolan, the eldest daughter of the Lin family, hurriedly pulled her back and said, "Mom, I will accompany the old man to see a doctor in town tomorrow."
"Zhou Laoya, is Lao Lin awake? The tractor is waiting outside." Ye Laoya walked in while shouting.
"You're awake. Brother Lin said we'll go to the hospital early tomorrow morning." Zhou Huaian put the hemostatic medicine on the cabinet. "Sister Ma, I'll save the hemostatic medicine and iodine for you. Have a good rest. I'm going back."
"Then I'll leave too. Just give me a shout if you need anything." Ye Laoya followed Zhou Huaian out.
"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Ye, thank you so much, thank you so much!" Ma Chunhua sent the two of them outside gratefully, "Thank you so much, everyone."
"It's okay!" Zhou Huaijun turned around and drove the tractor towards Zhou Huaian's house.
"Brother, have you checked? Is there anything missing from the house?"
"Everything is there, except for the latch on the door to the backyard of my eldest brother's house, which is a little off. He's still fixing it."
"I think you should wait until tomorrow morning and bring all your valuables, such as sewing machines and bicycles, to my house."
"My elder brother and I have already carried it to your house. Tomorrow we will put some new cotton quilts and blankets here." Zhou Huaijun said, "There is a family in Baicaopao whose dog just gave birth to puppies. I heard that their dog is also a mountain dog."
"Then go catch a few and bring them back for Lai Fu and Wang Cai to take with them."
"That's what my eldest brother said. Let me see and give him some money. I'll buy them all and give two to the third brother as well."
Zhou Huaijun parked the tractor and Zhou Huairong also came back. The two brothers went back to their rooms for a nap.
The next morning, Zhou's father and grandfather built a simple earthen stove outside Zhou Huairong's yard, and Zhou's mother fetched boiling water from the oven and poured it into the big pot.
Thinking about the five big fat pigs they were going to slaughter today, the old men couldn't stop laughing.
Yang Chunyan got up. Zhou Yumei and Luo Haili had already prepared breakfast. "Huai'an came back last night and turned off the alarm clock. I accidentally overslept."
Zhou Yumei smiled and said, "I knew you didn't sleep well last night, so I didn't call you. Is Lin Wu okay?"
Yang Chunyan: "I was hit on the head with a stick. Huai'an gave me some blood-stopping medicine and said it was not serious."
"There are a lot of thieves who steal chickens and dogs at the end of the year, so you have to be alert at night."
"Sister, you were here last night. Who did you ask to help look after the shop?"
"I put the cigarettes and alcohol in a locked cabinet in the house, and Aunt Li slept in my house at night to help watch over them."
"That's good, otherwise I would be worried."
Yang Chunyan helped bring the food to the table. Several children also got up and stood in a row by the sink with bamboo cups in their hands, chirping. The house suddenly became as lively as if a group of ducks had arrived.
After the family had finished their meal, the butcher with a ruddy face came with his helpers pulling a cart. He took the butchering stool and all the tools from the cart and set them aside.
Yang Chunyan and Li Qiuyue also took out all the large wooden basins in their home, waiting to collect the pig's blood.
The four Zhou Huaian brothers and the helpers brought by the butcher drove the big fat pig from Zhou Huairong's house out of the pig pen, grabbed the fat pig and pressed it onto the butcher bench. The butcher held up a butcher knife that was shining coldly...
Zhou Xiaoqian and others hid behind the courtyard gate, covering their eyes with their hands, wanting to see but not daring to. Zhou Jiaming's hands were held tightly by Zhou Jiakang and Zhou Jialiang. They watched nervously as the butcher raised his knife and the bright red pig's blood gushed out like a spring and flowed into the large wooden basin.
Zhou Jiakang tightly grasped Zhou Jiaming's hand, "Brother, the big fat pig is so pitiful!"
Zhou Jiaming said like a grown-up: "Ha'er, what's so pitiful about it? We raise pigs to kill them for meat. If you feel pity, don't kill your big fat pig later."
"Let's kill them!" Zhou Jiakang thought of the preserved food for the New Year and swallowed his saliva. "If we don't kill them, there will be no sausages to eat during the New Year. I like grilled sausages the most. They are spicy and numbing. They are delicious!"
"Greedy cat!" Zhou Jiaming and his brother slapped him each.
After the butcher cleaned the fat pig, Zhou's father and his brothers carried the clean white fat pig into the yard and placed the pig's head facing the door of the main room.
Zhou's mother, together with Yang Chunyan and Li Qiuyue, placed the wine and food that had been prepared in advance on the Eight Immortals Table at the entrance of Zhou Huairong's main hall, inviting the mountain gods and ancestors to enjoy them.
Accompanied by the old man and Zhou's father, the butcher entered the yard and said, "Uncle, you are so lucky! I have been visiting villages and households for so many years, but I have never seen a family like yours. The brothers have all started their own families and they are still as harmonious and united as before."
"These children of the Dasong family have been united since they were young!" The old man happily gave the cigarettes prepared by Zhou Huairong to the butcher and the helper, and pushed the snacks in front of him, "Eat snacks and drink tea!"
"Great! Great!" The butcher happily took the cigarette, ate some snacks, drank some tea, and rested for a while. The sacrifice was over, and the helpers brought by the butcher took out the pig's internal organs and began to cut the pork.
The butcher followed Zhou Huaian and his brothers to Zhou Huaijun's house in high spirits and started to kill the second big fat pig.
Zhou Yumei and Luo Haili were preparing fried meat, bacon, sausages and other New Year's goods at Zhou Huairong's home.
Yang Chunyan, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were preparing wine and food for the ancestors while Zhou Huaijun was preparing the wine and food for the ancestors. The fat pig was cleaned up and the wine and food were ready. Then they went to Zhou Huaishan's house and finally it was Zhou Huaian's turn.
After slaughtering three big fat pigs in a row, there were still two to go. The butcher and Zhou Huaian were a little tired, so they had an extra meal and continued...
It was already noon when they finished. Zhou Yiding's family, Zhou Datian's family and Secretary Xu's family were all slaughtering pigs for the New Year. Zhou San's aunt's family was busy digging truffles and grinding tofu, so they sent Zhou San's father and grandson and granddaughter to come as representatives to enjoy the pig-slaughtering wine.
The children were sitting at the table, each holding a big bone and gnawing on it with their mouths full of oil. Lai Fu and Wang Cai were also using their two front paws to hold a big bone and gnawing on it diligently.
Zhou Xiaolin held a pig's tail and said, "Sister, this is delicious. I like it."
Zhou Xiaoqian rolled her eyes and said to everyone, "Let me tell you a story. Can you guess what I'm talking about?"
Zhou Jialiang looked at her, "Xiao Qian, do you want us to guess a riddle?"
"Yes!" Zhou Xiaoqian shook her head and said, "It is said that four scholars went to take the imperial examination that day. When they passed by a small country restaurant, they ordered four dishes.
They are Pi Da Pi, Pi Li Pi, Pi Wai Pi, and Pi Gong Ni. Now the requirement is to solve four riddles, all of which are about pigs!"
Zhou Jiaming and his friends scratched their heads but couldn't figure it out. They looked at Zhou Xiaoqian with suspicion, "Are there these things on pigs? I think you are just making it up to fool us."
"My sister doesn't know how to trick people." Seeing that Zhou Jiaming and the others were stumped, Zhou Jiakang looked at Zhou Xiaoqian with admiration, "Sister, you didn't lie to them, did you?"
Zhou Xiaoqian nodded calmly, "When have I ever lied to anyone?"
Zhou Xiaowen pulled Zhou Xiaoqian and said, "Sister Qian, tell us which part of the pig these are from?"
"Listen carefully!" Zhou Xiaoqian picked up a pig's tail and looked at them proudly, "Skin on skin is a pig's tail, skin inside skin is a pig's belly, skin outside skin is a pig's ear, and skin sticking out of the mud is a pig's snout."
Zhou Jiaming thought for a moment and said, "Oh~ That's true! Xiaoqian, who taught you that?"
Zhou Xiaoqian chewed on the pig's tail and said, "I listened to the stories told by Grandma Lin in the mountains this time. She has many stories, some of which are about mountain spirits and ghosts. They sound a bit scary."
Zhou Jiaming and the others gathered around her, "Tell us quickly, what mountain spirits and ghosts are there?"
"Ahem! Ahem!" Zhou Xiaoqian cleared her throat, "Listen carefully..."
Seeing that the children were standing around without eating, Zhou Huairong hurriedly said, "Hurry up and eat. After you're done, we'll set off back to Bailing Mountain!"
"We're leaving today? We want to stay at home for a few more days."
"The purchasing point is very busy, you have to go and help."
"Good grandson, be obedient and help your mother and the others to work hard. Grandma will give you lucky money during the Chinese New Year."
"Yes, there will be lucky money for the New Year!" For the sake of the money, they all sat down and started eating.
After dinner and seeing off the butcher, Zhou Huaian and his brothers, Zhou Yiding and Xu Laosan decided to take Zhou Huairong and the others to several purchasing points.
As soon as Xu Laosan and Secretary Xu arrived, they asked Zhou Huaian, "Youngest, have you picked out the Ganoderma lucidum?"
"I'll get them for you right away!" Zhou Huaian went to the wine cellar and picked out a few Ganoderma lucidum and handed them to him. "Look, these are top-grade purple Ganoderma lucidum, perfect for soaking in wine."
Secretary Xu also thought it was of excellent quality. "It looks really good! How much is one pound? I know that high-quality goods like this are not cheap!"
Zhou Huaian looked at him with a smile, "You're still talking about money with me, you always look down on me!"
Secretary Xu laughed and said, "You little bastard, you were bought with money, not picked up from the mountains."
"Picking Ganoderma lucidum is no problem. You know my luck in the mountains. The mountain god is looking after me!" Zhou Huaian said with a smile, "Uncle Xu, I've prepared everything. You don't have to worry about it. I'll send it to Wang Zhen to help soak it, and then you can send it to Uncle Xu."
(End of this chapter)
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