Chapter 339: Slaughtering the fragrant pig
The early morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year was different from the previous few days.
Amidst the crowing of roosters, Zhang An got up from the bed and saw the sunshine on the earth through the window.
Although it was already past seven o'clock in the morning, the sun in the sky looked like it had just emerged from the ground.
The red sun, the size of a cart wheel, illuminated the clouds on the horizon red, shining its dazzling light on every corner of the earth.
Zhang An was not too surprised, because after the news broadcast last night, he paid special attention to the weather forecast.
Although in this three-thirds of an acre of local land, the TV station’s weather programs are not very accurate.
But from the weather forecasts of several surrounding cities, we can infer the general weather of this place.
"Hey, why did you get up so early?"
After Zhang An got up, he found that Chen Ze had gotten up earlier than him. When did this guy become so self-conscious.
"The plan for a day begins in the morning, and the plan for a year begins with spring. It is the morning of spring, which is especially critical. So naturally I have to get up earlier, otherwise it would be a pity to waste such a good time."
Chen Ze chuckled and then started to warm up on his own.
After finishing a complete set of Baduanjin, I started to raise my hands and start practicing boxing.
Zhang An looked at this guy while washing up, and he was very curious, when did this guy become so persistent.
When Chen Ze was pestering him to learn boxing, Zhang An thought he was just shaving his head and picking a new head.
I didn’t expect that after so long, this guy could still persist, and even gave up his favorite laziness.
Watching Chen Ze finish a set of punches, Zhang An knew that this guy was not slacking off during the Chinese New Year holiday.
Because his movements at this time are much more skillful than before, it seems that he has been practicing during this period.
After washing up, Zhang An also started practicing boxing.
"Zhang An, please tell me more about this movement. I always feel that something is wrong when I practice it, but I can't tell what is wrong."
After watching Zhang An finish washing, Chen Ze pulled Zhang An and started asking.
"Okay, then you play a set carefully for me to take a look at, and I will correct you."
Chen Ze nodded, took a deep breath, bent his body slightly again, and started the starting pose. .
Half a quarter of an hour later, Zhang An knew what the problem was after watching Chen Ze play it carefully.
"Your problem is not big, it's just that your movements are stiff and not natural at all."
"That's right, I just feel something is wrong. It turns out that my movements are unnatural."
Chen Ze suddenly realized that he couldn't see his own movements and felt something was wrong, but he couldn't explain the feeling.
"Then what should we do about this?"
"It is very simple to solve this. Your movements are stiff because you pay too much attention, which is not natural. The more you pay attention, the more The more unnatural it is, so you just need to empty your mind, distract yourself, and practice it a few more times when boxing.”
Sometimes the action is like this, the more you focus on the mistakes, the more mistakes you make. The worse the performance.
"Okay, follow me and do it again, and let your attention go."
After that, Zhang An took a deep breath, raised his breath, and then led Chen Ze through the entire set of boxing techniques from beginning to end.
"Yes, as long as you don't stare all the time, it will become natural if you practice a few more times."
Chen Ze is very attentive to boxing training, so there are no mistakes in his movements. .
According to what Zhang An said, after he practiced it a few more times, those awkward feelings disappeared.
"I feel something is wrong at home. Why is Aze, such a lazy person, getting up early in the morning to exercise? It turns out I learned it from you."
Chen Cheng, who had just gotten up, started to fight. Yawning, he walked into the yard and saw Zhang An and Chen Ze practicing boxing.
He used to feel that he knew this younger brother very well, but this time when he came back, he found that Chen Ze had become a stranger to him.
And the most outrageous thing is that this guy would take the initiative to exercise with the old man in the courtyard every morning.
Especially the Tai Chi technique, this guy practiced it so well that Chen Cheng was stunned for a moment.
"Hey, people will always change. Look at how energetic I am now. Look at your empty face. Why don't you follow suit?"
This is still true. That's right. During this period of time, Chen Ze seemed to be very full of energy.
“Forget it, I have to go to work every day, where will I find the time?”
Chen Cheng was a little moved when he heard this. He knew that his body was no longer as good as when he was young. .
But when he thought about having to go to work every day, he shook his head. Going to work was already tiring enough, and he felt that he couldn't persevere.
“There is no need to learn anything else, just learn Baduanjin. Taking a few minutes to move every morning is still good for the body.”
Workers still can’t afford to get hurt. In the past, Zhang An When I was still a social animal, I couldn't get up in the morning and couldn't sleep at night. It was really painful.
Every morning I long to sleep for a few more minutes, but I don’t want to get out of bed to exercise.
"Oh? It only takes a few minutes? That's not impossible."
Chen Cheng thought, it only takes a few minutes every morning, can't this time be taken out casually?
"It really only takes a minute. Just watch me do it for you once and you will know."
Chen Zegang has mastered the Baduanjin taught to him by Zhang An, and now he has to show off in front of his brother.
“Look, do each movement four times, and a set can take up to ten minutes. Didn’t you say that you often have back pain and swelling, and you can get better after practicing for a few days.”
About ten minutes. In less than a minute, Chen Ze skillfully showed Chen Cheng the movements of Baduanjin.
"Come on, come on, it's very simple, I'll teach you."
When Chen Ze started learning boxing from Zhang An, it was just to show off to others.
During the time when he returned home for the New Year, he became very addicted to showing off in front of Mr. Chen, and he became more and more obsessed with this feeling.
But in front of the old man, he did not dare to be too presumptuous.
If he can show off in front of Chen Cheng today, he will definitely not let go of this opportunity to be a teacher.
At the moment, he didn’t care whether his elder brother Chen Cheng agreed or not, so he just pulled Chen Cheng and started teaching.
Chen Cheng's movement coordination is relatively stiff and clumsy, and it took him a long time to learn it.
But Chen Ze didn't say anything offensive, because he knew his eldest brother's temper. If he said a few more words, Chen Cheng would immediately quit.
So Chen Ze plans to slowly encourage his eldest brother to learn, and when he has learned a little but not completely, he will come to him to ask.
That's when he started dressing up in special costumes.
“Huh, these movements seem very simple when others practice them. I didn’t expect them to be difficult to learn, and they are so tiring.”
After half a day in a row, Chen Cheng felt tired after not exercising for a long time. If it doesn't work, I will be sweating profusely and panting.
"Your body is not good enough. You have to exercise regularly in the future. Otherwise, in a few years, you may not be as good as grandpa."
Finally, Chen Ze caught the opportunity , pretended to be a little bit.
However, this is true. For people like Chen Ze who sit in the office all year round and do not exercise regularly, their bodies collapse very quickly.
When I got married a few years ago, I was still a handsome and elegant young man.
Now that the child is only four or five years old, Chen Cheng has already begun to have a belly.
According to this progress, in a few years the belly fat will definitely be bigger than that of someone who is pregnant with Liujia.
"Hey, when did you come? Acheng is here too."
While the three of them were resting and chatting in the yard, Li Hongbin's family came back.
When I saw brothers Chen Ze and Chen Cheng, I stopped the car and said hello.
"I heard that you accompanied the old man to your hometown. I thought you would not come back for a few days."
Chen Cheng and Li Hongbin are old acquaintances, and they are college classmates.
"Li Yao was not used to staying there and kept clamoring to come back every day, so we stayed for two days and then came back." When Li Hongbin was in the second year of junior high school, his family went to his hometown in the countryside.
Neither he nor his son Li Yao had a good impression of that place.
If they hadn't been told to accompany the two elders back, they wouldn't have gone back themselves.
After staying for two days this time, Li Yao didn't like the people in the village over there, so he wanted to come back and play with his friends.
So after staying for two days, I couldn't stay anymore, and Li Hongbin was the same, so he simply came back with his son.
As for the two elders, Li Hongbin's eldest and second elder brothers stayed here for a few more days. Li Hongbin planned to go over and take the two elders back after fifteen days.
"Then you two chat first, I will drive the car home and then come here."
This is the road at the entrance of the village. It is not very wide. If it is blocked by this car, it will There's not much room left.
At noon, Wang Fang made some lunch casually, and everyone ate a little and kept their stomachs full.
Because I have to have a barbecue at home in the afternoon and my stomach is full, I can only watch others eat in the afternoon.
Zhang An has always wanted to have a barbecue after the Chinese New Year. After finally waiting until the sun came out today, he would definitely not let this opportunity pass him by.
After lunch, everyone took a short rest and then started to get busy.
Wang Fang and Wu Qiuping took Su Ying and their sisters to take out the meat at home and cut it into pieces and skewer them.
Zhang Jianguo caught a few rabbits and native chickens and slaughtered them. Zhang An’s rabbits and native chickens were excellent at roasting them.
And Zhang An is not idle either, he has more important things to do.
There is still a lot of meat left at home, especially the sheep slaughtered years ago and the beef and mutton sent by Li Hongbin.
It has always been placed in the space by Zhang An. When he got up this morning, he took it out from the space.
There is a lot of mutton today, and I will be able to put on a lot of mutton skewers later, and I can also grill two more lamb legs.
So Zhang An had no intention of roasting the whole sheep today, and the black goats in the pen also escaped.
And there is another reason, that is, today is the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the birthday of the sheep.
According to legend, in ancient times, the goddess Nuwa created all living things.
Chickens were created on the first day, dogs were created on the second day, pigs were created on the third day, sheep were created on the fourth day, oxen were created on the fifth day, and horses were created on the sixth day.
It was not until the seventh day that man was created, and on the eighth day the grain was created.
So today, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, is the birth of sheep. Although killing is not taboo these days, Zhang An has no intention of killing sheep.
In this area of Hongyan Town, the days when killing is taboo are the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year.
Especially on the first day of the Lunar New Year, not only should we avoid killing animals, but we should also eat vegetarian food.
So every year during the Chinese New Year, on New Year's Eve and the 14th, everyone will kill chickens and ducks to prepare the dishes for the next day.
After the first grade of junior high school, there are not so many taboos from the second to the fourteenth grade.
Of course, it is not without taboos. The Miao villagers in the village still have many taboos.
Basically, it starts from the first day of the Lunar New Year and lasts until the Lantern Festival.
However, these customs are not in line with the Han people in the village. Everyone respects each other. You avoid yours and I avoid mine, and do not interfere with each other.
Of course, the sheep in the pen escaped because Zhang An did not want to roast the whole sheep, and also because today was their birthday.
But the other fat little pigs are not as lucky as the black goats.
The few piglets Zhang Jianguo bought by the way were kept at home for a whole year.
Zhang Anke never slaughtered a pig during this period, and now there are more than a dozen small fragrant pigs in the pig pen.
Their plump appearance was so pleasing that Zhang An was really moved when he looked at them.
So today the King of Heaven came and couldn’t stop Zhang An’s decision to roast suckling pig.
After raising them for so long, it’s time for them to contribute themselves.
Soon, the water in the big iron pot was boiling and bubbling, and it was turned over.
Zhang An walked into the circle, selected it, and grabbed a small fragrant pig weighing forty or fifty pounds and brought it out.
The local fragrant pigs can grow up to seventy or eighty pounds, but Zhang An didn’t pick the biggest one to roast.
If it is too big, the meat will be a little burnt when grilled, and you will not be able to finish it later.
It's too small, not enough for everyone, and the meat is too tender.
Forty or fifty pounds, neither big nor small, just right.
"Come on, come on, you guys hold the pig down, and I'll do the knife."
Although Zhang An is not a pig butcher, he learned a few tricks from Lin Youde years ago.
It might not take much time to slaughter a normal fat pig, but for this small pig of 40 to 50 pounds, it is easy.
The Chen Ze brothers, wearing aprons and sleeves and fully equipped, came to press the pig.
“Hey, this fragrant pig doesn’t look big and its legs are so short. How can it be so strong?”
Chen Cheng pressed the pig on its feet and was kicked accidentally. His feet, if he hadn't shrunk quickly, would have been kicked hard.
Although this fragrant pig is not big, it is much stronger than ordinary fragrant pigs.
After all, it is a fragrant pig that has entered space, and it is still different from ordinary fragrant pigs outside.
"Hey, we have to kill a pig today."
When they were about to kill the pig, Li Hongbin came over from their house.
"Hurry up, I'm waiting for you. Haven't you been salivating looking at my fragrant pig? Today, your wish is granted."
This local fragrant pig, even if you don't use it, Let's roast suckling pig, just use the normal method, it is more delicious than ordinary pork.
So when Li Hongbin was killing pigs during the Chinese New Year, he had already set his sights on the fragrant pigs in Zhang An's pig pen.
It was only after the Zhang An family killed three big fat pigs that he let these little guys go.
"Hey hey hey, here it comes."
When he heard that it was the fragrant pig that he had been craving for a long time, Li Hongbin picked up an apron and tied it on before joining the pig-pressing team.
"Hey, Xiao An, why are you using such a big knife? This pig is so small, change it to a smaller one."
Zhang An had no experience in killing pigs for the first time. The butcher's knife requires direct action.
The butcher's knife in his hand was used to kill big fat pigs, and it was fine for slaughtering cows.
But if you want to kill this little fragrant pig, the knife is really too big, giving people the feeling of using a butcher's knife to kill a pig.
If this knife goes in, I'm afraid the pig's neck will be pierced.
"Hey, I didn't pay attention, I'll change it."
Zhang An changed to a new knife before he was ready to start.
Chinese people kill pigs mainly for the purpose of bleeding. Only when the blood is drained clean will the meat be delicious.
Zhang An found the place Lin Youde had told him, found the exact location, and stabbed the knife in.
Although it was a stabbing, Zhang An did not stab him to the end all at once.
"Come on, come on, bring the basin."
Only the edge of the knife, deep red and hot pig blood dripped down.
Xiangzhu, who was being held down by everyone, tried to struggle but couldn't.
The fragrant pig is not big and does not have that much pig blood, so after Zhang An saw that there was no blood, he took out the knife and breathed its last breath.
Wang Fang took a basin of pig blood and sprinkled some salt water to speed up the solidification.
(End of this chapter)