??Chapter 542: 542. Slaughter the pig, right?_1
Chapter 542: 542. Slaughter the pig, right?_1
Actually, the quality of the ly grass this year was extraordinarily good, so good that Song Youde had never seen its like in all his years.
But when it cos to things grown in the fields, aside from ticulous cultivation and managent, there often remains an elent of unpredictability. Therefore, while everyone was initially amazed, no one really took it seriously.
Not until Song Tan priced the cheapest straw mat at 999, and the most expensive at 1599…
It’s just a straw mat, after all!
This truly shocked Old Song so much that he beca extra cautious when selecting materials for weaving mats.
Now he regretted not being careful enough when splitting the ly grass, as a small portion of the stalks had been split crooked.
These stalks, being a bit harder in texture, felt different from the grass leaves when woven, and if they were just a thin strand, they could be incorporated to add toughness.
But for the thicker ones, there was no choice but to split them again and shave off the tough stalks.
And there he was, grimacing every ti he had to pick through them.
When Song Sancheng went to gather them, there actually wasn’t much left in the corner, only about an armful’s worth.
And yet, Song Youde was sowhat reluctant to part with them.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have bothered to pick them out. But because his granddaughter was selling the items for such a high price, he had to constantly keep the quality in mind, fearing that others would find fault and accuse them of lacking conscience…
Feeling this pressure, even though he had made a fair amount of money from weaving grass mats, he hadn’t dared to brag about it in front of Wang Lifan.
It was fortunate he didn’t brag, or else he’d have had to face his wife’s hamring, and he surely would have been forced to keep honest.
Moreover, in previous years, when they wove straw mats, the ly grass would be just yellow after drying, only acquiring an unremarkable green tint when dried in an oven.
Now, even the discarded stalks were lush with a glossy green.
…
Song Sancheng didn’t think that much about it.
No matter how green and glossy, wasn’t it just leftovers ant to line the pigpen? Only their household was still so frugal.
In the heat, a few pigs would find shady spots on the hillside to rest, returning to the pigpen only when it was ti to eat.
The floor of the pigpen had to be sprayed with a hose every night to cool it down, and no more straw was laid underneath.
Yet, with seven pigs and just a small bundle of grass, Sancheng saw that it barely covered their sleeping area, making it extrely cramped.
But that was all there was.
He didn’t mind. Instead, the pigs started calling out imdiately upon seeing soone, their bellies seemingly bottomless pits. Sancheng evenly scattered the ly grass inside and turned around to fetch another bucket of water.
However, in just this short ti, two slightly smaller wild pigs got up from under the shade of the trees and scurried towards the pigpen.
When he brought the water over, he discovered the ly grass he had just laid down was being chewed up by the pigs with noisy crunches…
Sancheng was taken aback and instinctively thought of intervening:—
Not sure if this grass is even edible, better stop them quickly!
But then he took another look!
Well, with only half-chewed remnants scattered all over the ground and not a single whole strand in sight, what was there to stop? Let them eat if they want to.
As he stared a mont longer, he suddenly realized: Wait a second… sothing about these pigs doesn’t look quite right, does it?
Aren’t they a bit too big?!
Indeed, the family was raising a couple of Big Whites, a breed known to grow fast—by year’s end, probably reaching 300 pounds, but of course, that required scientific farming.
What does scientific farming entail?
Keeping them in a pen, endlessly eating, with no space to move around, with feed that’s rich in fats and nutrients…
So breeds of pigs can weigh over 300 pounds in a year!
For their kind of Big White pigs, reaching 300 pounds is definitely doable.
But their pigs run around the hills and fields all day long, and when it rains, they seem to hope they could dig a pit in the mud on their own, getting more than enough exercise… How could they develop that much fat?
Yet these pigs, having been raised for 6 months now, that Big White pig looks to be well over 200 pounds, fat and fit, much fatter than the pigs from his childhood mories!
If you put this pig back a few decades to when the brigade reared pigs, this one alone would have been carried off to a county exhibition!
He looked at the ladle in his hand again—just so wheat bran and rice bran added daily, the rest all leftover vegetables, wild greens, water plants from the pond, and so broken old pumpkins… These are hardly things that fatten you up!
Then he looked at the three black pigs they had bought, which were clearly a bit smaller in size, but their bodies looked firm and tight, their hooves stomping on the ground with extra force.
Even though they didn’t look fat, they surely weren’t light in weight either.
And then there were the last two boars to enter the scene; they were even smaller, at this mont charging through the hills, nudging each other with the chewed-up reed grass in their mouths, any bit of fat they had would surely be run off…
But isn’t the strength a bit too much?
The mont one of them bumps into a tree, the whole tree trembles as if it’s going to break…
…
As he went ho with these thoughts, Seventh Uncle couldn’t help but be tempted, “Then you say, each pig is about 200 pounds now, why not butcher one first?”
No other, just that Big White pig.
It has plenty of fat, and when you cut a piece of lard and put it in the pan to fry until it’s crispy golden brown, fragrant, and then sprinkle just a little salt on it…
Wow! That would be so delicious it could knock your teeth out!
Song Sancheng: …Slurp.
Then you collect the oil, wait for it to solidify into white, and scoop a spoonful for each ti you cook…
No kidding, cooking with lard, especially stir-frying veggies, is absolutely mouth-watering! The lard bits can also be used for stir-frying and stewing, and even to make stead buns…
But, right now the pig is only 200 pounds. What if you raise it more, and by the end of the year it really reaches 300 pounds?
“No, no, it’s not worth it to eat it now,” he said.
Turning his head, he suggested, “Don’t we also have soybeans? How about I take them to town to make soybean oil? That should sll good too.”
Seventh Uncle gave him a glance, “We’ve got less than three acres of soybeans in Chestnut Garden, and how much do you harvest from three acres? A family can almost consu half a bag just eating pig’s trotters, and you’re thinking about making oil?”
Song Sancheng: …
Anyway, pigs are not an option.
So, he suggested again, “Don’t we also have sesa seeds? Sesa seeds are good too… After the harvest next month, we can make oil, it’ll surely be very fragrant!”
“Oh please!” Seventh Uncle couldn’t help but mock, “Half an acre of sesa seeds, you might harvest a big basin worth, enough to make thirty or forty pounds of oil—what, do you think thirty or forty pounds of oil will be sufficient for cooking?”
Seeing that Seventh Uncle was determined, he could only make another excuse, “No, no! Experts have said, lard is unhealthy, eating it can cause diseases!”
This left Seventh Uncle speechless.
Unhealthy lard?
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Guo Dong entered the yard, “Uncle, you can’t just listen to experts blindly! What do you an lard is unhealthy? Lard is perfectly healthy!”
“Not only is it healthy, it can even cure illnesses! We who study Chinese dicine often use it for treatnt! Plus, it’s extrely nutritious!”
“The main thing is moderation in all things. If you eat rich foods every day, overdosing on lard would be like eating too much Flat Peach and causing problems. You can’t bla the lard for that.”
It was only after finishing speaking that she rembered her purpose, “Hey? Where’s Song Tan? Are my Golden Sakura dried yet? I’m waiting to start cooking the rice!”
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