Chapter 1065: 1045. Pork Butcher
After the Winter Solstice, the days gradually grew longer, and so did the morning sunlight.
At just seven o’clock, golden rays of winter morning sun stread through the lightly-covered curtains inside the room. Bathed in the warmth of dawn, the light carried a gentle golden hue.
Such warm colors on a bleak winter day imdiately lifted everyone’s spirits.
Lao Zhu and a few others rose in the glow of this light, but as soon as they stepped outside, they were t with a sharp sneeze.
“Ah-choo!” Xiaodu hurried over with concern, but Lao Zhu waved his hand dismissively, “It’s nothing, why get so worked up over a sneeze—the air outside is chilly, it wakes you right up once you step out!”
He then muttered to Lao Zhou and the others, “I don’t know why, but I feel like sleeping here in the mountains is a lot better.”
As they grew older, their sleep beca lighter, and waking up a few tis during the night wasn’t uncommon. When they were up in the mountains, they’d often wake on their own around five or six o’clock. But now?
In the countryside, there wasn’t much to do at night. With their eyes faltering and no interest in scrolling through their phones, they went to sleep last night just past nine o’clock.
And now, when they woke up, it was already seven-thirty!
Whoa! That was a proper, restful sleep!
The night before, they’d slept just as well too—right after dinner, they fell asleep all the way until morning… Ah, their drinking capacity was embarrassing, better left unsaid.
In any case, such deep and quality rest had filled everyone with energy and vigor.
Mr. Yang speculated aloud, “Maybe it’s because we were so excited yesterday—it must’ve been exhausting wandering around the market.”
And that was true.
The market wasn’t huge, but wandering about, visiting stalls here and there while also tasting things from different vendors—it was definitely more taxing than life back on the mountain.
Not to ntion, even after snacking enough at the stalls to feel full, they still couldn’t resist grabbing two stalks of sugarcane on the way back, crunching down as they rode along.
Speaking of which, despite sugarcane being quite filling, it didn’t truly satiate hunger!
Though they’d been eating all afternoon, there was still room in their stomachs. Upon returning, Master Jiang had prepared spinach soup with deep-fried wheat ribbons…
They’d watched that spinach being plucked straight from the field. The old variety didn’t have the glistening sheen of the newer ones they’d seen before; its green color was much darker.
Being field spinach, it ca with clumps of dirt still stuck to its leaves—not exactly appealing at first glance.
But the wheat ribbons had been brought back by Qiaoqiao, so not eating it would be impolite, wouldn’t it?
So, while criticizing the ingredients for not being as good as the Song Family’s, they couldn’t help but praise the authentic flavor of the old variety.
And so, everyone slurped down another big bowl.
Even Lao Li remarked, “After all that wandering in the afternoon, then filling your belly at night, digestion kicks in, your brain runs out of oxygen, and you sleep like a stone.”
As they mused on this, making their way toward the cafeteria, Master Jiang’s voice could be heard calling from afar, “Hurry up and co eat breakfast! We’ve got work coming up today!”
“Alright, alright!” Lao Zhu was the first to respond.
Not that they were particularly eager to work—it was just that more labor usually ant more food.
Inside the cafeteria, Master Jiang spoke mysteriously, “Song Tan just sent us a jar of fernted soybeans!”
What?!
The elder crew went wild with excitent, “This has to go with porridge, right? Where’s the porridge?”
“What porridge?!” Master Jiang scoffed, “Porridge doesn’t have enough richness—how are you going to work all morning with that? Today, we’re having egg pancakes for breakfast.”
Eggs with chopped scallions and a pinch of salt were mixed evenly, while a big chunk of lard lted in the pan, coating the dark, battered surface with shimring grease.
Then, the whipped batter was poured in and effortlessly swirled around the pan by Master Jiang, forming a thin farmhouse-style egg pancake in no ti.
By the ti the pancake, with its thirty-centiter diater, crispy edges, and tender center, was out of the pan, he scooped a spoonful of fernted soybeans and rolled them neatly into the pancake…
“Co one, co all! One pancake per person! And have a bowl of spinach soup along with it—Director Zhu said you shouldn’t eat too much, just this much will do.”
What the heck?!
Lao Zhu instantly protested, “Just this bit, who’ll be full from that?”
“Look at that rolled-up pancake in your hand—it’s a hefty lump!” As the resident master chef, Master Jiang was unflinching and retorted,
“Word is, you’ve been eating a lot these days! Secretary Xiaozu said, being older, it’s ti to focus on health—just eat enough to be satisfied, no more!”
He scooped more batter into the pan, “Everyone gets one pancake—that’s it. Xiaodu, you young folks, you can eat more! You’ll get three pancakes since young n get hungry faster.”
This breakfast left the elder team grumbling, but the fragrant scallions in the pancake were irresistible, the freshly-made softness hard to resist, and every bite of fernted soybean rolled inside had an intensely savory taste that captivated them…
Hmph! One pancake it is then! No matter, they’d make up for it at the pig butchering feast later!
After breakfast, the Song Family indeed had work to assign.
“Alright, let’s move this door panel and the big wash tub down—don’t place them on the concrete floor on Laba, the blood will be hard to clean!”
Three burly pork butchers arrived with their gear under Song Tan’s direction. The back of the vehicle was piled high with peculiar tools—iron fras, large hooks, air blowers, and gleaming, razor-sharp knives, cleavers, and bone pickers…
Lao Zhu and the others were visibly ecstatic, “Oh wow! These tools look like the real deal—so much experience in butchering! Xiaodu, you better learn all you can!”
Xiaodu’s expression betrayed mixed feelings.
Lao Zhou also instructed Xiaosun, “Pay close attention, next year if their family slaughters another pig, I’ll send you over, and you can be the butcher—farm rules say the butcher gets a set of pork intestines as a reward!”
Of course, there’d be paynt too.
But to Lao Zhou, the pork intestines were the real prize!
Motivated, Xiaosun declared, “Alright! I’ll learn quickly!”
The butchers overheard this and chuckled, “Learn what? Nah, don’t bother—nowadays, it’s all modernized pig slaughtering. We butchers are out of business.”
The other two burly butchers also laughed, “Yep, don’t learn from us! Our techniques are old-fashioned, too slow, and too much hassle… Mark my words, skip it—it’s not a promising skill anymore.”
“Exactly! In slaughterhouses, it’s either electrocution or a machine ramming in an iron spike—it’s quick and clean. None of this ssy, bloody stuff we do, and you can’t even film it for online videos nowadays.”
“Yeah, village pig farming isn’t allowed anymore; all slaughtering has to be done at facilities… Take the Song Family, for example. If they weren’t following regulations and just planned to keep the at, they wouldn’t be allowed to do it themselves!”
The three equally burly butchers chatted away, full of nostalgia.
With prosperity ca more pigs—and ironically, unemploynt for traditional butchers.
There was genuine sentint behind their words, as Wu Lan erged from carrying a basin and sighed,
“That’s the truth. It’s hard to find anyone to butcher pigs these days. Look, I asked around all the villages, through the entire town, and could only find these three.”
The others laughed and replied, “Exactly—no pigs, no jobs! What’s the point of sticking around? Heading off to work elsewhere earns more anyway!”
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