The happy little days of the Ye family

The five pigs killed today included one weighing 5 kilograms, one weighing 220 kilograms, two pigs weighing 210 kilograms and one weighing over 200 kilograms.

After removing pig blood, pig heads, pig trotters, pig tails, offal and large bones, the five pigs produced a total of 720 kilograms of pork and 80 kilograms of ribs.

While it was still early, Father Ye pulled out the donkey cart, put the pork and ribs on the donkey cart, and planned to take him to Dashan Village to make bacon.

When Butcher Zhang and the Ye family were killing pigs, Mrs. Ye and Mother Ye began to clean the pig wastewater with plant ash. The wastewater had a strong smell and the house smelled bad if they were not dealt with early.

Mother Ye put the prepared pig offal and a big pig's head into the pot for braising. Tomorrow is not a big market, and Ye’s mother plans to let Ye’s father take the braised meat to the county to sell.

The remaining 4 pig heads, 5 pig tails and 16 pig trotters are left to be braised slowly.

Fortunately, the weather is cold and the meat can be stored above the well for a few days. If it's summer, the meat won't be stored at all.

Mrs. Ye only kept a small part of the pig blood and big bones, and distributed the rest to familiar families in the village. She also gave some more to those who encountered difficulties at home. Although it was not very good, even if it was stained with meat, it was OK

Although only a small half of the pig blood and bones were left, there were 5 pigs, so there was a lot left.

There was a large bucket of pig blood left, and Mother Ye made it into blood sausages, and sent some to Ye's mother's family and the village chief's family. The rest was enough for the family to eat several meals.

The big bones weighed more than ten kilograms. Old Mrs. Ye put the big bones, pig trotters and pig tails into a large basket, and then placed them above the well for storage. The temperature of the well was low and it would not go bad if left for several days.

The pig's head is too big to be put into a well to keep it fresh. It will be marinated tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and sold in two days. It will spoil easily if kept for a long time.

Father Ye has already informed the village chief of Dashan Village that pork will be shipped to make bacon in the near future. He asked the village chief to arrange the manpower to make bacon in advance and prepare spices in advance.

The spices are bought from the village for 40 Wen per pound. Making bacon costs 1 cent per pound of fresh meat.

The village chief specially selected four poor families in the village to make bacon together, two families provided spices and the other provided labor.

People in Dashan Village couldn't walk when they saw the pork that Ye's father pulled over. The fat meat was two or three fingers thick. Even the village chief was greedy for the white fat meat.

Although there are many hunters in Dashan Village, pheasants and wild rabbits can be seen everywhere, and from time to time you can hunt wild boars back from the Wild Boar Ridge, but most of the prey you hunt is for selling money, and you are not willing to eat it.

There is little arable land in Dashan Village, and the money earned from hunting has to be sold in grain, making life difficult for the villagers.

叶父带来的800斤肉，需要12斤左右的香料，光卖香料的钱就要480文。800斤新鲜猪肉就是800文的工钱。

In order to make bacon, Ye's father gave out a total of 1280 yuan.

Father Ye gave the pork to the village chief, along with 1280 Wen of spice money and wages, and made an appointment to come over and pull the bacon in half a month.

叶父顺便把李猎户他们第二次进山打的5头野猪做的腊肉也拉走，这次叶父收了410斤的腊猪肉、45斤的腊排骨、60斤的腊鸡和80斤的腊兔子。

It's the twelfth lunar month, and the weather is cold. There are many fewer merchants on the pier, but in the next few days there will be temple fairs in the town and county, which will be very lively.

When the time comes, I'll get some cooked bacon to try, and I won't have to worry about selling the bacon.

And everyone has some money at the end of the year, which is when restaurants are busiest.

Ye's father plans to sell two-thirds of the bacon to restaurants in the county, and keep the rest to sell slowly during temple fairs.

Father Ye took the bacon away, and Dashan Village began to make bacon in full swing.

Two middle-aged men cut the meat into 30 cm long and 3 to 5 cm wide strips with knives, and then used bamboo skewers to poke some small holes in the meat, which makes it easier to marinate and taste.

Two thin women stir-fry together spices and coarse salt.

The processed meat is rubbed with fried spices and salt. After rubbing, it is put into a large vat, skin side down and meat side up. The meat is stacked layer by layer, and the top layer is pressed down with a heavy object.

Turn it over every 2 days. After marinating for 1 days, take it out and tie it with hemp rope. Then smoke it with pine leaves and cypress leaves until it is half dry.

Finally, hang the bacon in a ventilated place and expose it to the sun for seven or eight days to dry it out before it is ready.

The meat is marinated and then smoked, grilled and sun-dried, which adds the aroma of pine and cypress. It also has strong antiseptic ability and will not deteriorate after being stored for a long time.

When Ye's father came back from Dashan Village, it was already dark. Before he even got close, he smelled an overbearing smell of meat. Needless to say, it must be the braised pork made by Ye's mother.

Seeing that Ye's father was back, Ye's mother cut a plate of pig head meat and a plate of pig meat, leaving the rest in the pot to soak overnight. The soaked braised pork will be more delicious and taste better.

The braised pork made by Ye Mu is as delicious as ever. Although now they have a braised pork business and they braise the meat every few days, the little ones in the family still never get tired of it.

That night, Father Ye got up in the middle of the night.

Nowadays, there are fewer people on the dock. Father Ye plans to go to the county market to sell braised pork. The market in the county opens relatively early, and it used to take about an hour in the county, so Father Ye had to get up in the middle of the night.

Father Ye came to the county with several hundred kilograms of bacon and two braised pig heads, and his genius was bright.

At this time, people entering the city were already queuing up outside the city gate. Most of the people lining up were going to the city to do business.

There are vegetable farmers who carry vegetables to sell in the city, there are small traders who drive donkey carts like Ye's father, and there are also traders who carry flour and stoves to do food business.

Fortunately, the queue was not long, and Father Ye was soon in line. Father Ye quickly took out the household registration and the fee for entering the city from his arms, and handed it to the official beside him respectfully.

Every time you go into the city, you have to pay two cents for travel, but you don't have to go out of the city. And those driving donkey carts, ox carts or horse carts will be charged an extra penny.

The official on the side took Father Ye's household registration and three copper coins. He carefully looked at Father Ye's face and the information on his registration. After confirming that there were no problems, he went to the donkey cart to check whether there were any suspicious persons. He only let him go after there were no problems. Father Ye enters the city.

During the inspection, Father Ye was cautious, for fear of something going wrong. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he entered the city.

Ye's father came to the market by familiar means, paid the money and picked a pretty good stall.

Father Ye first moved the bacon from the car. This time, Father Ye brought 300 kilograms of cured pork and 45 kilograms of cured ribs. He also brought half of the cured chicken and half of the cured rabbit.

If there is braised pork, Mr. Li’s rice wine must be indispensable. Father Ye also brought over ten kilograms of rice wine.

Then Ye's father lit the fire on the stove for braised pork. As the braised pork was heated, the overbearing aroma of meat wafted out of the pot.