Reborn in 1977

Chapter 34: Killing the Pig

The next morning, Chen Fan got up very early, dressed, and went outside, just in time to see Jiang Lili hanging clothes. He couldn't help but widen his eyes, "You've already finished washing your clothes?"

Jiang Lili smiled, "They're killing a pig at Captain Yang's house today, so I got up a little earlier."

Chen Fan carried his washbasin to fetch water, saying as he walked, "I'm a little curious, how do you keep track of time?"

People say you can tell the time by the sun, but what about cloudy days?

Jiang Lili called out, "There's hot water in the jar, I boiled it this morning, it should still be hot."

Chen Fan raised his hand, "Okay, I won't be polite then."

Jiang Lili watched Chen Fan's back, grinning happily, then said, "It's nothing, I just estimate, it's not very accurate."

Chen Fan walked into the kitchen, loudly saying as he fetched water, "Then why not buy an alarm clock?"

He knew that watches were a luxury item these days, costing over a hundred yuan each, but alarm clocks and wall clocks shouldn't be that expensive, right?

Jiang Lili watched him squatting under the eaves of the kitchen wall to rinse his mouth, and said softly, "The cheapest alarm clock costs 14 yuan and 5 jiao, I can't afford it."

Chen Fan looked up at her, took a mouthful of water to rinse his mouth, spat it out, and smiled nonchalantly, "It's okay, there will be a day when we can afford it."

Jiang Lili watched Chen Fan, who was lowering his head to wash his face again, and couldn't help but smile.

Thinking about it, Chen Fan was rescued by Captain Yang and the others the day before yesterday, he forgot where his home was, who his parents were, and even the clothes he was wearing belonged to others.

But he didn't seem to have any worries, he ate when he was hungry, slept when he was sleepy, and even had the mind to wander around the village and catch soft-shelled turtles to eat.

Looking at him, and then thinking about herself, it didn't seem so bad after all.

Chen Fan quickly and neatly finished washing up, carried the washbasin back to the room, strode out, "Alright, let's go."

Jiang Lili followed behind him, and the two walked quickly towards Captain Yang's house.

They also ran into many villagers on the way, who all greeted them.

"Little Chen, going to watch the pig being killed?"

Chen Fan didn't recognize who was who, but it was always right to be friendly, "Yeah, watching the pig being killed, are you going too?"

As soon as he responded, several middle-aged women started chatting with him.

"Yes, but we're not just watching, we're also helping. Let me tell you, there's a lot to do when killing a pig."

"Is that so? Can you tell me about it?"

"Oh, if you want me to tell you, I won't. Anyway, you'll know when you get there. If there's work to do, you can tell at a glance."

"Oh, so you're an expert. In the eyes of the working people, there's always endless work to do."

"That's right, diligent people tidy up everything they see, and lazy people think they don't need to care about anything. I think you're good, you must be good at work."

"You flatter me too much, I can't carry anything on my shoulders or lift anything with my hands, I have to catch my breath after walking a few steps, I still need to exercise more."

"That's different, you can make soft-shelled turtle. In the captain's words, you're a skilled worker, I'm just a manual laborer."

"How could that be? Mr. Li said that being able to take care of the crops well is a great skill, I think you're also a skilled worker."

"Hahahaha, Little Chen is really good at talking. Alas, did Mr. Li really say that?"

"Can there be a lie? Who doesn't know that Mr. Li cares most about the working people? Back in Xipo, he even taught the farmers how to grow rice."

"Oh my god, really? Mr. Li can grow rice?"

… …

Chen Fan chatted wildly with seven or eight women, and soon arrived at Captain Yang's house.

When they arrived, they greeted the host first, "Captain, we're here."

Captain Yang was very busy, waving his hand at him, "Sit down, there's tea in the house."

Chen Fan watched Captain Yang, who had already turned around to get busy, turned his face and said in a low voice, "Weren't we called here to help?"

Jiang Lili pursed her lips, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, "It's not time yet. Later, after the pig is killed, there will be a lot of things to do, cleaning the site, washing the pig's offal, and chopping firewood, making a fire for cooking. That's when we need to help. Now, the pig butchers are mainly busy."

Chen Fan nodded suddenly, understanding.

Since there was nothing to do, he would take a look around. He had seen pig killings in the village when he was a child, but it was too long ago, and he didn't remember anything except the wailing of the big white pig.

At this time, the empty rice field was cluttered with things.

There were large iron pots, a meter-wide door panel, iron chains, iron hooks, and a large bathtub that could fit an adult.

But the most eye-catching thing was a few gleaming pig-killing knives on a chopping board, including a palm-wide and foot-long pig-killing knife, a half-foot square large cleaver, a slender blood-letting knife, a scraper-like hair-scraping knife, a small horn knife, and a curved meat-cutting knife.

A young man was sitting on the ground, diligently sharpening knives, with another person guarding beside him, not allowing naughty children to approach, "Liu Lao San, Yang Lao Qi, Huang Lao Jiu, pull your sons away, they can't get close to the knives."

Originally, Chen Fan wanted to go over and take a closer look, but hearing the shout, he was too embarrassed.

Turning his head to look, on the far side near the woods in front, several people were building a clay stove.

This should be okay to look at!

Chen Fan walked over and squatted down. This was not the kind of fixed clay stove in the kitchen, but a simple stove surrounded by clay bricks, on which a pot could be placed.

The person who was building the stove saw him and laughed.

One of them said, "Master Chen, haven't seen this before?"

Chen Fan raised his head and smiled, "Just call me Little Chen, no need to call me Master."

Between members of the production team, they usually call each other by name directly, or Lao Yang, Little Liu, etc., but for people with skills, they will respectfully call them Master.

Master is not the same as teacher. Teacher refers to someone who apprentices to learn a craft, while Master is an outsider, with no vested interests.

Like Liu the carpenter, who travels all over the villages, even in front of the brigade leader, they will respectfully call him Master Liu. This is the respect of the people for capable people in this era.

Chen Fan felt that he was too young in the eyes of outsiders and couldn't bear the title.

That person didn't say much, chuckled twice, and said, "Want to try it?"

Chen Fan's eyes lit up, "Can I?"

Another person laughed, "It's just building a stove, what's wrong with that."

He put a clay brick on it and said, "Look, just like this, surround the brick in a circle, leave a gap here, and leave a two-finger-wide gap between each brick."

Chen Fan nodded, "I know, this is to facilitate ventilation, so that the fire burns more vigorously. If the gap is small, less air enters, if the gap is large, the heat easily dissipates, and a two-finger-wide gap is just right."

The two people were immediately surprised when they heard this.

"Oh? There's this reason?"

"People who have read books are different!"

Chen Fan grinned and helped them quickly build the clay stove. Then someone immediately carried a load of water, poured two buckets of water into the pot, and put on the lid. He put a lit straw into the fire pit, added firewood, and soon, a raging fire burned, and the area around the lid of the pot had already begun to emit heat.

At this time, it was time to invite the pig to the stage.