The happy little days of the Ye family

There are currently six large pigs and six half-sized pigs at home. These 12 pigs eat four pots of pig food every day.

Originally, Mr. Ye thought there were too many sweet potatoes at home, but now he feels there are too few.

Bean dregs are cheap, but these 12 pigs eat a lot, and a little adds up. The money spent on bean dregs in the past two months adds up to a lot.

In the evening, Mr. Ye was discussing with Mrs. Ye in the house, "It's time for the six big pigs at home. If we continue to raise them, they won't be able to grow much meat."

Old Mrs. Ye: "The two largest ones weigh two hundred and twelve kilograms, and the smallest one weighs more than 190 kilograms. You can go find butcher Zhang to kill the pigs tomorrow."

"What are your plans for the six big fat pigs at home?" Mrs. Ye looked at Mr. Ye and asked.

Mr. Ye: "Kill five of them to make bacon during this period, and save the remaining one for later years."

Mr. Ye: "Fengshou and I plan to send these five big fat pigs to Dashan Village and ask the village chief to help them make bacon."

Old Mrs. Ye asked in confusion: "Didn't you mention buying spices from Dashan Village before and making bacon yourself? Why now have you asked the village chief of Dashan Village to help make bacon?"

Mr. Ye: "The spices for making bacon are the secret recipe of Dashan Village. I don't want to sell the spices for fear that other people will know the secret recipe."

"Furthermore, the bacon process in Dashan Village is relatively complicated. The bacon we make ourselves is not as delicious as other people's. So we have to pay the village chief to find someone to help make the bacon."

Old Mrs. Ye: "The weather is getting cold. Recently, many people in the village have asked Butcher Zhang to kill pigs. You can go find Butcher Zhang tomorrow and see when he is free to come to his house to kill pigs."

Mr. Ye went to Butcher Zhang's house early in the morning. Unfortunately, Butcher Zhang went out to kill pigs for others early in the morning.

Mr. Ye had no choice but to tell Butcher Zhang’s daughter-in-law that the family wanted to ask Butcher Zhang to kill pigs. When Butcher Zhang came back, he told him to come to Ye’s house.

In the evening, Butcher Zhang, who had just finished killing the pigs, came to Ye's house.

Butcher Zhang's eyes widened when he saw the six fat pigs in the pig pen. "Uncle Ye, these six big fat pigs of yours are incredible. These pigs are so well-raised. Look at how fat they are."

Butcher Zhang excitedly took Mr. Ye's hand and said, "Uncle Ye, your pigs used to cost 11 cents per catty in the past. If I pay 12 cents, I want all six pigs."

In addition to killing pigs for others, Butcher Zhang also has his own pork stall in the town. The eldest son usually takes care of the butcher stalls in the town, while Butcher Zhang kills pigs for others and collects the pork to sell in his butcher shop.

Mr. Ye was a little surprised when he heard that the price of pigs was 12 yuan per kilogram. After all, the lean meat was only 12 yuan per kilogram. The price of 12 yuan per kilogram of pigs was really very high.

Butcher Zhang is smart. The price of buying a pig is indeed higher than the normal price, but the pig is full of fat. If Butcher Zhang sells the meat in the market, the price will definitely go up.

"These pigs this year are planned to be kept for bacon and not sold. You can come and kill the pigs when it is convenient."

Mr. Ye looked at the big fat pig that was stronger than in previous years, and he was very happy in his heart.

Butcher Zhang also knew that the Ye family was now running a small business, but it was a pity that these big fat pigs had no fate with him.

Butcher Zhang sighed. From the corner of his eye, he saw six fat, white and half-sized pigs in the pig pen next to him, and felt happy.

"These six and a half-year-old piglets won't be ready for slaughter until early summer, and we won't be able to make bacon by then. Why don't you just give these six pigs to me."

Mr. Ye said cheerfully: "Okay, these six pigs will be sold to you by then. However, these six small pigs will probably be bigger than the current ones. We will discuss the price again when the time comes. ."

"The price is easy to talk about. I will definitely not treat you badly, Uncle Ye. I am free tomorrow. Come and kill the pigs tomorrow morning. How many pigs do you plan to kill?"

"Kill five of them, and save one for later years."

"Okay, I'll come over early tomorrow."

Butcher Zhang was very happy. He usually kills pigs for 20 cents per pig, and 5 pigs is 100 cents. This is more money than the butcher stall earns in a day.

Early the next morning, Mr. Ye boiled two large pots of hot water and waited for Butcher Zhang to come and kill the pigs.

Butcher Zhang came a little late, "Uncle Ye, I'm sorry, something happened on the way and I was delayed for a while."

"It's okay, I just boiled the water and I'm about to kill the pigs." Mr. Ye smiled and took a cup of hot tea to warm up Butcher Zhang.

The Ye family, father and son, and Butcher Zhang went to the pig pen in the backyard, picked the largest pig and dragged it out of the pig pen.

"This pig is really strong." Father Ye was the weakest of the three and was almost kicked over by the big fat pig.

This pig was very big and strong. In order to drag this big fat pig out of the pig pen, the three of them were so hot that they were sweating.

Butcher Zhang took out a knife that shone with silver light. This was Butcher Zhang’s ancestral knife. Butcher Zhang raised his knife and skillfully bled the pig.

Old Mrs. Ye held a wooden bucket to fill the pig's blood. The warm pig's blood filled a large bucket.

After the blood was bled, the pig skin had to be scalded to remove the hair. Mr. Ye and his father helped Butcher Zhang, and the three of them quickly shaved the big fat pig clean.

The big fat pig, which had been scraped clean and white, was carried on a long wooden board. Butcher Zhang took a knife to cut the fat pig into small pieces.

"It is indeed a big fat pig weighing more than 200 kilograms. The fat is at least two fingers thick." Butcher Zhang has been dealing with pork all year round, and this pig is the fattest he has ever seen.

The white layer of fat meat made the Ye family and his son and Butcher Zhang more and more happy as they looked at it. Everyone was short of oil and water these days, and they couldn't walk when they saw the fat meat.

Common people like to buy pork with a lot of fat. It is generally difficult to sell the bones and lean meat.

Butcher Zhang was very skilled at cutting up a pig into many small pieces of about two kilograms in less than a moment.

The three of them killed three pigs in one morning. Mr. Ye left the butcher at home for lunch. After lunch, the three of them sent the remaining two big fat pigs on the road.

Butcher Zhang has been dealing with pork all year round, and he can cut the pork into the same size even without weighing it.

Father Ye praised: "Brother Zhang's skills are really amazing."

Butcher Zhang wiped the props clean and put them away one by one, and said naively: "Practice makes perfect, it all comes from practice."

Butcher Zhang is good at his craftsmanship and pays fairly. People in the village like to call him butcher butcher.

Butcher Zhang relied on his ancestral pig-killing skills to build a brick house in the village early, and his children were all fat and healthy.

Mr. Ye gave Butcher Zhang a large bunch of copper coins, and then took half a bucket of pig blood and a pair of pig urine and handed them to Butcher Zhang. "It's been really hard on you today."

"I received a salary of 100 Wen. If it wasn't hard work, I wouldn't be able to bear the salary."

Butcher Zhang knew that the Ye family sold braised pork in town. They made braised pig offal and pig head meat. He only accepted half a bucket of pig blood, but he refused to accept the offal.

Mr. Ye patted Butcher Zhang on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I won't say much about the other uncles. I'll keep all the six piglets at home for you."

"Uncle Ye, I'll go back first, and I'll come back next year to get the big fat pig." Butcher Zhang walked out of Ye's house elegantly, carrying his ancestral knife.