Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

After the food was ready, everyone sat together and had a delicious meal.

"Grandpa, how long does it usually take for Xiaohu and the others to come back after hunting?" He Lai asked.

"It depends. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow. They will come back after they catch their prey." Grandpa He said.

Over the past year, the two golden eagles that He Lai gave to Xiaohu and his family have grown up and can help them hunt.

Although this golden eagle is not as big as the two ones brought by He Lai, it has no problem finding prey and catching hares.

"Oh, okay." He Lai nodded and said nothing.

Everyone chatted for a while, and then the village chief He Genshui came over with a bottle of wine.

"Oh, it's Genshui. Why are you here? Is there something wrong?" asked Mr. He.

"Uncle, I heard that Xiao Laizi brought guests here, so I specially gave you a bottle of 56-proof Erguotou. It smells delicious."

He Genshui picked up the Erguotou in his hand and explained with a smile.

People in the countryside don’t care about so many things. It’s already very good to be able to take out a bottle of Erguotou. After all, a bottle of Red Star Erguotou costs 1.5 yuan!

"Okay, come and sit down, and eat together." Grandpa He didn't say anything and asked He Genshui to sit down directly.

Although Erguotou is a good wine, He Lai brings him good wine every day. He brings several bottles every month, and he can't drink them all. He also has a lot of Moutai, Wuliangye, Fenjiu, Xifengjiu at home.

"Okay." He Genshui didn't act pretentiously. He put down the wine and sat down.

He opened the wine he brought and poured it for a few people.

As soon as He Lai saw He Genshui's appearance, he knew that he had something to worry about, so he asked, "Uncle Genshui, if you have something to worry about, just tell me. You, an elder, are pouring wine for me, a junior?"

"It's okay, it's okay, your uncle Genshui just came to take a look, you guys drink, you guys drink."

He Genshui greeted with a smile.

"Uh..." He Lai saw He Genshui looking flattering, so how could he dare not drink it? If he finished drinking and he said something he couldn't do, would he be able to spit out the wine?

He could only hold up the glass and look at Mr. He. How could he drink this wine?

Mr. He also noticed He Lai's embarrassment and glared at He Genshui: "If you have to fart, fart now, or get out of here with your wine!"

When He Genshui heard what Grandpa He had said, he had no choice but to say, "Little Laizi, I really have something to ask you. I wonder if you can help me?"

"Uh...Uncle Genshui, what do you think? As long as it's not something too difficult, there shouldn't be any problem."

He Lai asked, thinking that maybe he wanted to find them some jobs. That would be difficult for him, because once this door was opened, relatives would come to him endlessly.

"I heard you can cure cows, is that right?"

"Well, is that true?"

"Then can you treat pigs?"

"What? Treat pigs? What diseases do pigs have?" He Lai was stunned by He Genshui's question.

"I'm not sick, but will you castrate the pig?"

He Genshui asked embarrassedly.

"What? Castration, Uncle Genshui? Is there no one in your village who knows how to castrate pigs?"

He Lai asked doubtfully.

"Hey, Xiao Laizi, to be honest, no one in our village knows how to castrate pigs. We used to ask a veterinarian from the neighboring village to do the castration, but that veterinarian has recently seen that the life in Hejia Village is getting better and better, so the salary he offered is a bit high!

So I thought since you can cure diseases, you should be able to castrate pigs too! Can you help me?"

He Genshui said truthfully.

Nowadays, everyone knows that castrated pigs not only have no fishy smell, but also grow faster and heavier.

That's because the boar is missing two testicles and the sow is missing ovaries, so they have no sexual desire and become eunuchs. From then on, they spend all their time eating and sleeping and don't like to run around. They naturally gain weight. There is a saying in later generations that goes, "Pigs will not get fat unless they are castrated!"

Generally, a castrated pig can grow to two to three hundred kilograms after one year of feeding, which is much faster than a non-castrated pig, and it is also a hundred kilograms heavier than a non-castrated pig. Therefore, under normal circumstances, boars will be castrated and sows will be sold to people who want to raise pigs.

"Uh... I can give this castration a try, but you need someone to teach you. It's not that difficult. Just remove the two testicles. I don't know how to castrate a sow."

He Lai said.

Castration of boars is relatively simple, but castration of sows is a bit complicated, so let's just forget about it.

"No need for sows, no need for sows, boars will do." He Genshui said quickly. Are you kidding? Sows are used to give birth to piglets, how can they be castrated!

"Do you have any knives prepared?" He Lai asked.

"Yes, yes, we have a knife!"

"Then come on, I'll teach you how to castrate!"

……

In this way, He Genshui led a group of people towards the pigpen.

He Lai walked to the pigpen and found that there were many wild boar babies in the pens, and of course there were also a few domestic piglets.

Several grown men were already waiting here, with a washbasin, a kettle, two knives, and needle and thread next to them.

"Uncle Genshui, ask someone to get a candle." He Lai ordered.

"Oh, okay, okay." He Genshui quickly agreed and asked someone to get candles.

He Lai had no choice. Originally, after castration, all the boars needed to be disinfected with some iodine, and no stitches were needed. It was obviously a bit difficult for He Genshui to get iodine and alcohol in this era, but the sterilization work still had to be done. Without alcohol, he could only use fire to sterilize the knives.

He Lai first poured some hot water, washed his hands, then changed the water to wash the knives and needles and thread.

"Catch a little boar and put it here," He Laixian ordered.

Upon hearing this, several villagers immediately went to the pigpen to catch piglets. They quickly got one and tied it upside down on a small stool. It was obvious that they had often helped the veterinarian do this before.

He Lai took a piece of cloth, dipped it in hot water, and wiped the piglet's penis. Then he took a knife, burned it on a candle, and then cruelly took out the piglet's two testicles. Finally, he took the needle and thread to suture the wound.

While doing it, He Lai explained to the villagers the precautions of castrating pigs. Although pigs have strong vitality, they should also be careful about wound infection. After the castration operation, the piglets should be placed in a clean pigsty and raised for a few days. The wounds should be checked every day. If infected, they should be dealt with immediately without delay.

It was actually He Lai's first time to undergo castration, but his extensive medical experience made this minor operation not difficult at all.

After completing the first one, He Lai's hands and feet became more nimble. He cut with great speed, accuracy and ruthlessness. The whole process took less than a minute.

He Lai still admires the way a pig can be castrated in ten seconds on a certain audio video.

As one piglet after another was castrated, He Lai simply let the villagers do it themselves for the last few, and he just stood by to provide guidance.

Although the villagers were a little nervous at the beginning, after completing it once, they found that castrating a pig was extremely simple and anyone could do it!

Seeing that the castrated piglet was still alive and kicking, He Genshui was very happy. Now he no longer had to worry about being bullied by the veterinarians.

However, He Lai still reminded the villagers that they must make sure to castrate pigs cleanly to prevent bacterial infection, otherwise the piglets will easily die.

The villagers nodded in agreement. After all, the piglets were their lives! They would never let anything happen to them.