Chapter 31: Slaughtering Pigs and Dividing Meat (Part 2)

  The three of them were delighted and, with beaming faces, went over to Liu Jian's side.

  Zhī xiǎo zài yī páng mó zhe yá, cè de yī liū yān yě gēn shàng, tā dào yào hǎo de tīng tīng, cháng cháng jiàn shí.

  Translation:

  Zhi Xiao was grinding her teeth on the side, and with a whoosh, she also followed up. She wanted to listen carefully and broaden her horizons.

  Mù tiān yě xué zhe zhī xiǎo de mú yàng yǒu yàng xué de jiào zhe jiǎo shàng yī fèn zi.

  English Translation:

  Admire the sky and learn to know its appearance, with a similar appearance, learn to tiptoe and add a share.

  The two of them curiously tilted their heads, moving back and forth on the faces of these four adults.

  She knew that this honest and kind father would be misled by their coaxing and persuasion, and when his wife returned, he would be scolded again. She was completely considering for him, without any selfishness in her heart.

  "Brother Liu Jian is great, haha..."

  One of them finally spoke up, but after catching a glimpse of the unfriendly stares coming straight at him, he faltered and intentionally coughed, nudging Liu Quan beside him to take over.

  Liu Quan was originally a local tyrant in the village, and for him, this was all just a matter of course. What's more, Liu Jian's family didn't have much of a foundation in the village anyway, they had gone out to make a living and then come back, now after these years looking at them, they really aren't doing well, so what else did he have to worry about?

  "I'm telling you, Liu Jian, we're from the same village, we can't avoid each other even if we want to. How about I give you an even better deal?" Liu Quan said, looking at the somewhat simple-minded Liu Jian.

  Knowing that one listen to explode hair, angry twisted mouth biting lower lip, slanting towards him glanced, thought: Then you might as well go rob, so much cheaper, a whole half price, what are you not satisfied with, when I was driven up the mountain, didn't see you guys speak for my family, now give her this set again.

  Knowing in his heart, he kept winking at her silly dad, hinting that he shouldn't agree.

  Liu Jian glanced at Liu Quan who was looking down, continued to sharpen his knife and asked in a low voice, "So what do you mean..."

  Liu Jian actually has some regrets, he shouldn't have made such a big show of inviting Liu Er Can to the mountain in the village just now, and should have avoided these villagers, now it's another thing, this group of people.

  So it makes sense when others say that wealth should not be revealed to the public eye.

  All he saw was Liu Quan's sly smile, not responding to him but just staring at him, waiting for Liu Jian to speak up first.

  "My wife Lan Niang probably won't agree, or you can wait for her to come back and ask her yourself?"

  Liu Quan hesitated for a moment, knowing that Liu Jian had brought back an old wife from outside ten years ago. It was estimated that Liu Jian was not doing well outside and had brought his wife to this poor mountain village to live a poor life. Lan Niang was probably so bold because she usually had to suppress the honest Liu Jian, which was also what the villagers guessed.

  Liu Quan felt a bit helpless and sympathetic towards him, and his eyes looked different then.

  Liu Han, who was on the side, helped to say a word: "Forget it, since we are from the same village, you can't just take it for nothing. What you said earlier is ten taels cheaper, that's okay, Liu Jian?"

  Knowing that her father Liu Jian thought for a moment, seeing that it wasn't excessive, nodded and agreed, although the three of them were still somewhat disappointed, they didn't say anything else and busily ran to ask Liu Erkuai to cut the meat.

  Zhi Xiao and Liu Jian exchanged a helpless glance, shrugged their shoulders, feeling utterly powerless.

  Knowing that the fire that had just been ignited was extinguished, forget it, don't bother with them, even if it means losing a little money, this group of people is rarely seen.

  The three who came to buy pork each carried their pork and walked down the mountain with a smile. Liu Er, following Liu Jian's instructions, cut off several large pieces of pork and put them aside.

  Liu Jian was also busy, sweating all over, muttering to himself: "Wait for Lian Niang to come back and pickle them. These will be kept for our own family to eat slowly in the future. The rest will be taken to the city to sell tomorrow."

  Liu Er pointed at the internal organs of the pork, somewhat at a loss for what to do. City people didn't eat this sort of thing, but in their rural area, they didn't have such niceties. Sometimes they were lucky if they got a full meal, and having a meaty dish like this was quite good, but opportunities like this weren't often had.

  Then he asked Liu Jian: "How can this be handled? This is delicious, but it takes a lot of effort to make, especially the pig intestines."

  "What's this?" Liu Jian furrowed his brow deeply. Actually, he had eaten this thing before and thought the taste was okay.

  "It's a pity to throw this away, let's keep it for now and ask Lan Niang when she comes back if we can make something edible out of it. Don't rush today, just stay here and have dinner with me before you leave, and keep me company for a drink."

  Liu Jian invited him, and he had a good impression of this Liu Er Can. The whole village, from top to bottom, left and right neighbors, only his family wouldn't gossip about their own affairs, he was not a big mouth.

  "Let me try it first, I'll drink with my brother." While saying that, he reached into his abdomen and pulled out a pig's gallbladder, cutting off the connecting part with force, and tossed it into the woods. Then, slowly, he and Liu Jian began to dissect and clean it one by one.

  Qianyun and Erni were carrying the clothes they had just washed by the river, when they saw that all the wild boars had been killed. They laughed and said: "Liu Er, your skills are really impressive! You're so quick and efficient, it's like magic!"

  "That's it, this live depends on the strength of the hand, the degree of force used with the knife. Don't be like some people, whose excessive force makes the internal organs rot and mix together, that's the work of an amateur." Liu Er Can heard Lan Niang's praise and began to show off.

  Liu Jian was boiling a pot of hot water on the stove outside, Mu Tian was busy adding fire to it, which was used to clean the pig intestines. Liu Er Zhu first washed them clean, then removed the excess oil and fat from the outer layer, and then took them to the clear water to wash them four or five times. After peeling off a layer of oil, he put the whole thing into a large basin, added two handfuls of salt and two handfuls of flour, and kneaded and squeezed repeatedly to remove the dirty things inside.

  Zhī xiǎo and Mù tiān gazed at each other with interest, occasionally reaching out to grab a handful, hehe laughing as they rubbed vigorously. Liú Jiān simply let them go first, seeing that it was almost done, he joined in again, repeating the process several times with clear water, finally directly throwing the already nearly boiling large pot, covering it with a lid and using boiling water to rinse off the smell.

  Lan Niang looked at the many internal organs left on one side, Liu Jian was still asking her if she would do it, but she was getting a headache, she had never seen such things before, let alone think about eating them.

  But it's not like the old days now, although things have improved a bit at home, where did all these good things go to waste? If they were given away for free, people from down the mountain would probably rush up and grab them in no time.

  Lan Niang frowned, staring at these things, which are not easy to keep for a long time and will spoil easily. They're harder to handle than solid meat. Lan Niang thought about discussing it with Liu Jian. These can't be eaten in a day or two, so she asked Liu Er Zhuo if he wanted some. If he did, she'd take some back and also start curing the dozens of kilograms of pork that had just been chopped down beside her to make cured meat.

  Liu Jian came over to ask, Liu Erbie naturally did not refuse and smiled with gratitude.

  Lan Niang laughed and called him over to divide his share first, took a few lotus leaves and let him wrap them up himself.

  She was about to start preparing for the pickling, leaving a little fresh, and the rest with Zhi Xiao Er Ni moved out two large jars, washed clean after applying salt around the jar, then a layer of meat and a layer of salt and mixed chili pepper Sichuan peppercorns and other seasonings evenly applied on top, put in and found a large bluestone to press tightly.

  The whole family, including Liu Er, was busy until almost dark, and finally finished cleaning up the things that needed to be put away, and storing the things that needed to be stored. Erni had also finished cooking dinner, with a big pot of braised pork simmering on the stove, filled with all sorts of seasonings like scallions, ginger, and garlic, emitting a savory aroma. There was also another pot of creamy white broth stewed with dried mushrooms and bok choy, as well as two stir-fried dishes made with freshly picked vegetables from the field, served with steaming hot white rice. Everyone sat around the table eating until their mouths were watering, and only reluctantly put down their chopsticks when they were stuffed to the brim.

  Liu Jian and Liu Er were drinking wine on one side, eating dishes, while Lian Niang was sitting on the edge with her children after finishing their meal, occasionally refilling the two men's wine.

  "His dad will arrive at Liu's house early tomorrow morning to borrow the car. Let's go to town together and sell this meat."

  Liu Jian lowered his head and thought for a moment, "Wait until we finish eating, then chop up a few more catties and send them to Old Man Liu and the village chief. We borrowed his car, after all. This Liu Gui is the leader of the whole village, our family still lives in this village, so we should avoid some trouble..."

  Liu Jian's words didn't go on, but his meaning was clear.

  Liu Jian continued: "Since our family got this mountain pig, we should at least show some respect."

  Lan Niang put down the meat dish she had served him and looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and hatred, as if seeing him for the first time.

  Has he forgotten that it was Liu Gui who forced them to move up the mountain? Has he forgotten the humiliation she suffered last time, inflicted by Qin Lan, the daughter-in-law of Village Chief Liu Gui? This grudge has not been avenged yet.

  Does Liu Jian want to go and reason with their family?

  He was confused and disoriented, but Han's daughter slammed her chopsticks on the table and stared at him intensely.

  Knowing also made Liu Jian secretly resentful