Rebirth: Don't Be the Best

Zhang Shu and Grandpa Zhang walked around the surrounding villages a few times, and quickly picked out a big black pig, which had just been bred for a year and weighed about one hundred and ten catties.

The market price of pork is fifteen cents a catty, but it is slightly cheaper for them to buy a whole pig at twelve cents a catty.But it also cost them nearly three taels of silver.

The farmers don't use silver often, so they ask to pay in copper plates.Recently, the number of silver for copper plate has fluctuated. It used to be only 760, but now it can be exchanged for ten more, which is beneficial to Zhang Shu and the others.

There were too many coins, and they carried them in their panniers to pay the bill.Grandpa Zhang was worried for a while, afraid that someone would come to snatch it.But the atmosphere here is not too bad, at least in broad daylight it is impossible for someone to rob.

As soon as the copper plates were in place, the pigs drove home.

There will be a wedding banquet in two days, so the pig can be slaughtered tomorrow.

Butchering pigs is a big deal in the eyes of farmers, and they usually invite relatives and friends to have a meal and help them clean up, and the Zhang family is no exception.

Apart from Zhang An and Zhang Yun, the Zhang family has no other relatives.It's time for Zhang Shu to marry his husband soon. Even if there was a bit of tension before, it's still time to notify about the wedding and funeral.Whether they come or not is their business, if they don't notify, it will be their fault.

He also told his close neighbors about the slaughter of pigs tomorrow, and asked them to have a meal at home.

In fact, Zhang Shu and Li Yan agreed to let him come to help butcher the pig tomorrow.Except for Li Mujin who is about to get married to avoid suspicion and cannot come, everyone else in the Li family can come.

……

Before Maoshi arrived, Grandma Zhang lit a candle and went to the kitchen.The weather in November is already very cold.Not long ago, Xiaoxue just passed, and when Zhang Shu gets married, it will be heavy snow.

Grandma Zhang is wearing a floral jacket, the color is not too bright, it should be an old dress.But there are no patches or anything like that on it. In the eyes of the farmers, this is already a relatively decent piece of clothing.

Although it's not yet dawn outside, it can already be seen that some whiteness is coming. It hasn't snowed yet, but the frost is still there.

She put the candle on the stove, and after licking her hands, feeling warmer, she pulled a handful of straw from the stove to start the fire.

These things are all sun-dried, so it is very convenient to start a fire. The orange-red flame is the size of a bean at first, and then it burns more and more vigorously, shining brightly in front of the entire stove.

She added a few more pieces of firewood to stabilize the fire in the stove, and then added a few ladles of water to the pot for soaking pigs later.

Zhang Shu walked over while yawning, "Grandma, why don't you sleep a little longer, we can do these things."

"I'm getting old and feel less sleepy. Your grandfather has also gone to the pigsty." There will be a big happy event at home soon, and the two old people have always been restless these days.Yesterday the old man wiped his tears when he woke up at night. She asked him what was going on, and he said that he had dreamed about the boss.

The tragedy of the white-haired man sending the black-haired man back is still vivid in my mind. The white cloth was covered on their swollen bodies. As soon as they heard the voice of the old man and her, the blood immediately flowed out, dyeing the white cloth red.Others said it was strange that after two or three days, nothing happened, but the relatives began to bleed as soon as they arrived.

If it wasn't for the boss and the eldest daughter-in-law who left them a single seedling to raise, they would have followed suit if they wanted to, so the filial son and daughter-in-law would be gone like this!

The old man said that he dreamed of their family and Pingping said, thank the second elder for helping them grow Zhang Shu, now that he is going to marry his husband, he can feel relieved as a father. baby.

This remark made her cry as well, and the two of them cried on the bed for most of the night before they stopped.

It's not good to say this to Zhang Shu, lest he think of his parents.

"I asked my grandfather to go back to the house to rest. I called someone to help butcher the pig. I see that the time is coming soon. Don't freeze my grandfather."

"Then let him come and help me boil the water, and have a companion to chat with."

Zhang Shu nodded, the fire in the stove was burning brightly, the kitchen was a little warmer than the outside, even than their room, it would be fine to ask his grandfather to come here.

Not long after Zhang Shu went out, Grandpa Zhang was brought in to start the fire. The two were relatively silent, one lighting the fire and the other washing rice. The tacit understanding cultivated over decades spread in this small kitchen.

It is very lively outside now, because all the people called by Zhang Shu have come, first of all is Li Yan, although he does not have a special knife for killing pigs, but his knives for killing prey are polished brightly, and at first glance they are no worse than Butcher's knife is poor.

Then came Laiwang, Yu Xiaoliu and Zhou Da.

The chopping boards have been laid in the yard outside. It is made of two benches and a broken door board. The door board has been washed clean, just waiting for the pigs to lie on it.

Three or four people dragged the pig out, and the pig probably sensed the danger, so it clung to the pigsty and howled continuously, which could be heard at least one or two miles away in this quiet night.

But no matter how much it howled, it couldn't withstand the strength of three or four adults. It was pressed to the ground, its four hooves were tied, and then it was lifted out with a long bamboo pole and placed on the door panel.

With a serious face, Li Yan scooped up a ladle of cold water and poured it on the pig's neck. Without even saying hello, he used the sharp knife in his hand to pierce a hole in the pig's neck. After pressing and turning it, the pig died instantly.

The others stared at Li Yan in admiration, and the move was quicker. He really is a capable person in their village!Zhang Shu hurriedly put the bucket of pig's blood that Grandma Zhang had given him under the pig's neck. After Li Yan drew out the sharp knife, the pig's blood flowed down.

Zhang Shu came to the kitchen with a bucket full of pig blood. Grandma Zhang sprinkled some salt in it, and then put it in the pot to cook into pig blood clots.

Zhang Shu took two more buckets and brought out two buckets of hot water, pouring them into a big wooden basin.Others carried the pig in together, and then watered the pig with a ladle to prevent it from getting stiff so quickly.

When the water cooled down a bit, Li Yan stretched out the knife to shave the pig's hair. He moved his hand quickly and up and down a few times, and the hair on one side was completely shaved. They turned the pig over again and asked him to shave the other side.

Someone has washed the chopping board with water, and after the pig hair is shaved, rinse it with water, and then put it on the chopping board.Li Yan cut open the pig's stomach with a sharp knife, then took out the pig and threw it into the big basin, and then chopped it with a machete, and the pig was divided into two pieces.

After a while, the big pig was divided into several large pieces by Li Yantou as the head and feet as the feet.

Zhang Shu told those who helped him butcher pigs to go back to take a shower and change clothes, and then come to his house for breakfast.Before leaving, he brought two catties of meat to everyone.

Li Yan didn't want that portion, he had meat at home, so he had to come to eat at noon anyway.

After they left, Zhang Shu and Grandpa Zhang cleaned up the yard together, and some messy things were shoveled up and piled up in the backyard to be buried.

By the time they cleaned up, it was almost dawn.

Lai Wangfulang and Zhou's daughter-in-law spontaneously came to help Grandma Zhang, and then Aba Li also came to help.The hands of a group of daughters-in-law and brothers were quick, and in a short while, a pot of fragrant lean meat and egg flower porridge was cooked.

The men and some children who had changed their clothes were already hungry, so they picked up a bowl and drank a few big bowls.After the porridge was finished and the steamed buns were steamed again, they ordered some side dishes from Zhang Shu's family and continued to eat. A group of people ate and drank in this small courtyard full of pork aroma, which immediately heated up the atmosphere.

The pig-killing rice at noon, the people who were invited came to help early, and the men who didn’t help sat in the yard and chatted. It happened that the melon seeds for the wedding banquet had also been bought at the Nantong grocery store a few days earlier. I heard that Zhang Shu wanted to hold a wedding, and the shopkeeper gave them a lot of discounts!

Everyone drank tea, kowtowed melon seeds, and watched the children chasing around in the yard. The joyful atmosphere made them forget the sadness of paying taxes not long ago. Farmers are so simple and content.

A large pot of stewed pork belly with sauerkraut was served, which was full of oil, plus a platter made of offal and pig's head marinated together, and a few small dishes to relieve the greasy, everyone was happy to eat this meal He was happy, so naturally no one asked why the second and youngest of Zhang's family didn't come back.