Chapter 203: Pigs and Sheep Sacrificed
“Hey, you also put preserved eggs and meat in it.”
After so many years, the porridge Wang Fang cooked was all white porridge.
Even if you want something salty, you always add salt yourself.
The preserved egg and lean meat porridge that Zhang An cooked directly this time made Wang Fang feel very novel.
“His dad, this porridge is really delicious.”
This is not to encourage Zhang An, but Wang Fang’s innermost thoughts.
Zhang An's cooking skills are not as exquisite as Wang Fang's.
But it was also trained by Wang Fang himself since childhood, and it was only a matter of time.
"Xiao An, call me next time you cook and teach me how to cook."
People in the Southwest have a salty and spicy taste. People who have never eaten preserved egg and lean meat porridge can accept it without any discomfort.
My old mother wanted to learn, so Zhang An naturally would not refuse.
When I was eating porridge, I told my mother how to make it.
After all, it’s just a matter of cooking porridge. It’s not difficult. People who often cook can understand it immediately.
"Jianguo, is anyone home?"
After breakfast, when Zhang An was putting away the dishes, someone from the village came to his door.
Zhang An and his father went out and saw that it was someone from the village who came to see them.
Zhang An was not familiar with this man. He only knew that his name was Chen Zhihe and that he was about the same age as Zhang Jianguo.
"It's Zhihe, why are you so anxious?"
Chen Zhihe's family is also an aborigine of Changqing Village, which is somewhat different from those who moved in later.
Among the aborigines, Zhang Jianguo and his generation basically knew each other when they were children.
After all, when Zhang Jianguo was a child, Changqing Village was not very big, and there were not many children, so he could meet them everywhere.
Chen Zhihe’s brows were furrowed and his forehead was covered with sweat, which made it obvious that something was urgent.
"There are some things. My old grandmother was frustrated last night. I came here today to buy a sheep from your family."
Chen Zhihe and Zhang Jianguo said a little more , explaining the reason for coming to the door.
Although it was not complete, Zhang An got a rough idea.
It turns out that Chen Zhihe’s old mother-in-law passed away last night. He came here today to buy a goat from Zhang An’s family.
Zhang An and his friends have some local customs and customs here, whether it is weddings or funerals.
For example, this time in Chen Zhihe’s family, his father-in-law or mother-in-law passed away.
As a daughter and son-in-law, their family had to send pig and goat sacrifices to see the old man off.
Just by hearing the name, you know that a pig and a sheep must be used to worship.
And they must be live pigs and live sheep. On the day of burial, they rush to the old man's tomb to sacrifice them.
Zhang An’s black goats were not originally intended for sale.
But this matter is a big deal for Chen Zhihe and his family, and he cannot get in trouble with others on this matter.
Generally when encountering something like this, those who can help others have to help others.
After all, no one knows whether they will need help from the other in the days to come, so there is nothing wrong with forming a good relationship.
If someone is stuck at this time, if there is no special reason or explanation, then the two families can be regarded as enemies.
So Zhang Jianguo and Zhang An didn't think twice, and while saying their condolences to him, they took him to the mountains to watch the sheep.
Because Zhang An put the sheep on the mountain early in the morning, if he wanted to see them now, he could only go to the woods behind to look for them.
In this day and age, such a ceremony really costs a lot of money, which is a burden for many families.
Moreover, the pigs and sheep should not be too small, otherwise others will have something to say.
You have to do it. If you don’t do it, others will not only make small talk, but also get a bad name if it spreads.
In the future, when the son or daughter of the family talks about marrying someone else, their reputation will be affected.
Rural people are like this. They don’t care about matters that concern themselves. Many people don’t care about the family conditions of others and only care about themselves to watch the fun and make sarcastic remarks.
So those who laugh at others will have no choice but to bite the bullet when it is their turn.
As a daughter and son-in-law, these are the things you should do when you go to a wake to see her off.
But pigs and sheep are often sacrificed, this way or that way.
Zhang An feels that this is somewhat of a moral kidnapping.
Although according to local customs, the daughter and son-in-law’s family come to offer sacrifices, but the maternal family must send them back.
We used to be equal, but then things slowly changed.
It's just a gift, but it's the same way as a gift of hundreds of thousands, but the dowry is a dozen quilts, to give you a name.
There may be a few families where the relationship between uncle and uncle is relatively harmonious.
Or there is a relatively fair old man in the family who makes the decision.
When the old man's affairs are finished, the old man's family will be sent back at the original price according to the price.
But there are very few such families. Zhang An has rarely seen a few. Sometimes it would be great to have half of them.
In most cases, I will give you a few quilts or other things and just go back.
The old man left all his family property and the gifts from the funeral.
In most cases, there is not a penny from the daughter and son-in-law’s family.
Because of the water thrown out by the married daughter.
These things, after taking care of the old man’s funeral affairs, are basically divided equally among the sons.
Now each family has four or five sons. After the old man leaves, they will fight to the death for the family property.
So why would you give up your money to spend it? Most people keep it for themselves.
For people with better conditions, this thing may not be a big deal.
But for ordinary families or families with poor conditions.
If these pigs and sheep are taken down, the family's savings may be drained.
Zhang An has a deep understanding of such things.
Before Zhang An’s grandmother passed away, she thought about Zhang An’s family in her heart.
Because over the years, their family has been a little too harsh on my uncle’s family.
So before leaving, the old man took advantage of the time to reflect in front of all the elders in the village.
Let them witness that Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo are not allowed to offer sacrifices to her. She does not need that scene.
And according to the situation of the two families, if my uncle's family came to offer sacrifices, I might not even be able to get a quilt back home.
With the old man’s last words, no one dares to be presumptuous. After all, there are so many elders who have witnessed it.
So Zhang An’s uncles kept this matter in their hearts.
After two or three years, Zhang An’s grandfather also ran out of money.
I don’t know if it’s the old man who is stubborn, or whether his sons are blowing wind in his ears.
Because these people in their family, headed by Zhang An's grandfather and Zhang An's uncles, have always looked down upon Zhang Jianguo.
Before leaving, the old man asked Zhang Jianguo and his wife to offer sacrifices.
Moreover, they also requested a fat pig weighing more than 300 kilograms and a fat sheep weighing more than 100 kilograms.
Otherwise, he would not be able to rest in peace even if he died.
This made Zhang Jianguo laugh, but it was a bitter smile.
Zhang Jianguo had long known that his family would be in trouble, but he didn't expect that his family would be waiting here.
Although I really don’t want to go, people say it’s scary and you can’t do it even if you don’t go.
Sometimes there are some things that they can do, but they can’t do it themselves. In the end, he had to grit his teeth and comply with the old man's last words.
Especially Zhang An’s uncles saw the big fat pigs and big fat sheep that Zhang An’s family drove over.
Every one of them looked arrogant and arrogant, not looking like their dead father at all.
After all, the pork and mutton were cheaper for them in the end.
What happened next proved that Zhang An’s late grandmother was right.
Zhang An's family went to deliver sacrifices to old man Wang Shiyan, but in the end nothing was sent back.
They have all made preparations. After this vote, they will never interact with each other.
After all, when the old man was around in the past, it was the same as not having any contact with him.
From then on, Zhang Anan's family completely cut off contact with them.
So this is why Zhang An's hatred for his mother's uncles and grandfather in his mother's family has not diminished at all since he was born again.
Because those people really bully others too much. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are bullying.
Not to mention if he had to live over his life again, Zhang An would not choose to forgive them in several lives over again.
The pigs and sheep used for pig and sheep sacrifices must be boars and rams, and Zhang An’s family now only has one big, two small and three rams.
The largest ram was bought from Wang Mingqian’s family at that time.
After Zhang An’s careful raising, he no longer looked as thin and weak as before.
It weighs more than 150 kilograms now. Zhang An is raising it as a male sheep to pass on to the family sheep in the future.
But it is also very powerful. Ever since I became strong and strong, I have become energetic.
Currently, three of Zhang An's ewes have brought their babies.
The other two little rams are the eldest and the third who were just born at the beginning of the year.
The two of them have been growing up for half a year, and the eldest child is already over sixty pounds.
The third child was born thin and had some troubles when he was born, so his health is relatively poor. He only weighs forty or fifty pounds now.
Chen Zhihe thought about it again and again and decided on the one weighing more than sixty pounds.
He doesn’t like the third child who is too small. If he buys it back, he will be laughed at.
And that big 150-pound ram, not to mention how much it costs.
Zhang An just told him that he was the stud sired by someone else.
Generally, no family will sell the breeding sheep that are specially raised.
So he simply didn’t talk to Zhang An about it.
If someone can sell to him, it's already a matter of love, and he can't be picky.
There are only two sheep farmers nearby, Zhang An from this village, and Wang Mingqian who is rushing to your Wang family.
He went to Wang Mingqian's house in the morning, but when he mentioned buying a ram, he refused.
Because Wang Mingqian only has one ram left in his family, and he has to keep it as a stud.
If he had bought a ewe, it would be easy to say that others would not deny him face.
If you forcefully want to buy someone else’s breeding sire, it will ruin the person’s financial path.
And there really aren’t many people raising sheep in Zhang An’s area.
In this pig and sheep sacrifice, the boar required is easy to solve.
Because there are many people raising pigs, you can get it by asking a few more houses, and at most you will spend more money.
But the Ram is different, the difficulty has been raised by more than one level.
Because there are not many people raising sheep, you have to find out who raises sheep.
Even if you ask, it still depends on whether they are willing to sell you.
Just like when Chen Zhihe went to Wang Mingqian's house in the morning, he only had a male, and he was definitely not willing to sell it.
So although the little ram weighing more than sixty pounds is a bit small, it is still passable and won’t make people laugh when you hold it.
After making the selection, Zhang An tied the boss up with the rope brought by Chen Zhihe and handed it to Chen Zhihe.
The price of sheep has increased a lot this year, but they are all from the village, and they can’t be seen when they look up.
Zhang Jianguo charged him two hundred yuan, which was already a very cheap price.
If it were anyone else, I would have to add another 500 at this time.
Although the sheep was not very big, Chen Zhihe did feel the Zhang An family’s thoughts.
So after many words of gratitude, Chen Zhihe took the sheep home.
Zhang An guessed right yesterday that a power outage in the village really takes a long time.
At two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the village had normal power supply.
Not long after the call came in, Zhang Tie led his followers and ran towards Zhang An's house.
They clamored to ask Zhang An to play the TV for them and finish the movie they had not finished watching yesterday.
Zhang An did not make things difficult for them, and let them go as soon as they came.
In the past, there were mandatory requirements because they were still in school and were afraid of affecting their studies.
It’s summer vacation now, so there’s no need to force them to go back to study.
After all, if they don’t watch TV here, they will go to other places to play.
If Zhang An was alone at home in normal times, they would all be screaming when they got excited about watching TV.
But it was very quiet today because Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo were both at home.
Although they are young, they also know that it is too noisy in front of their elders, so they are all more well-behaved today.
Having nothing to do at home, Zhang An planned to go out for a trip to the mountains.
After seeing so many stone pounds in the space last night, Zhang An planned to get some out and try them today.
So Zhang An planned to use the excuse of going into the mountains to get some and take them back later.
Walking to the edge of the drying yard, you can see that Zhou Yang's new house is almost completed.
We are already building the roof today, and we may have to ask someone to help build the house in a few days.
Zhou Yang's family originally planned to build a tiled house, after all, it would save some money.
But it turned out that Zhang An’s house and Li Hongbin’s house were both bungalows, so Zhou Yang gritted his teeth.
Spend more money and just build a bungalow, so that you can dry food on the roof in the future.
If you have money in the future, you can build a second floor yourself.
"Yangzi, when are you going to build this place?"
Zhang An walked over and saw Zhou Yang coming over to deliver tea to Zhang An's uncles.
The construction team of Zhou Yang’s house was not called Li Hongbin because it was too expensive.
Instead, it was contracted to Uncle Zhang An and his group of stonemasons from the village.
Now they have learned how to do it, whether it is brick walls or building roofs.
Second Uncle Zhang An even pooled his own money to buy a complete set of things for bungalows.
“We can finish erecting the shelf tomorrow. If we want to build the cover, my second uncle said to check the weather forecast. If the weather is good the day after tomorrow, we can build it.”
Now Zhou Yang’s family has all the materials ready. Okay, just wait for these shelves to be built.
However, good weather is required for roofing. If the weather is bad, the quality of the roofing will be very poor, and serious water leakage may occur.
Generally, what people are afraid of is that even though the weather forecast says it will be sunny, the sun will shine brightly in the morning.
But if you are afraid that it will rain heavily during the construction process, then it is really God's unkindness.
After all, it often happens that the sun shines and it rains at Zhang An's place.
(End of this chapter)