Chapter 91 Handsome man and beautiful woman repay the life-saving grace
"The water is almost ready, let's take it to Dad and the others."
After putting the fish away, Xiulan walked into the house and looked at Lin Heng and said.
"Okay, you hold our daughter, and I'll fetch water." Lin Heng nodded.
"Wait a minute, I'll go into the house and change my clothes, you should change too, you've been wearing this dress for a few days."
Xiulan added that there were many people in the yard over there, so we should pay attention to our image.
"Okay, you look after our daughter, I'll go out and take a shower."
Lin Heng thought it was right, so he took the basin and soap and went out.
After taking a cold shower, rubbing his body and hair with soap, he felt much fresher.
After changing into shorts and short-sleeved shirts and the cloth shoes Xiulan made for him, he suddenly looked much more handsome and pleasing to the eye.
Xiulan also put on lipstick, a high ponytail, and a middle-parted bangs, which was a gentle and capable sister next door.
"Wife, you are so beautiful." Lin Heng couldn't help but kiss her.
"Let's go." Xiulan glanced at him unhappily.
Xiulan held her daughter, while Lin Heng scooped the boiling water into a wooden bucket and carried it to the old house on a shoulder pole.
At this time, half of the sun had fallen below the ridge, and the entire western sky was blood red.
There were fewer people watching at the door of the old house, but there were still 20 to 30 people, which seemed very crowded.
"Make way, be careful of scalding from the boiling water."
Lin Heng shouted and walked over with the bucket.
"Lin Heng is here, and he looks so good."
"Hey, he not only looks good, but also has excellent hunting skills."
"That's right, otherwise he wouldn't be able to hunt such a big wild boar."
"A talented man and a beautiful woman, look at Xiulan, they are really a perfect match."
Lin Heng and Xiulan dressed up, and they were a perfect match.
The Lin family had good genes, and Lin Heng, who was short of food and clothing, was 1.78 meters tall, with regular features and sharp edges.
Xiulan is from Lushui County, where water nourishes people. She is 1.68 meters tall, with a slim figure and beautiful appearance, and has the delicate and gentleness of a Jiangnan woman.
The two of them together can definitely be regarded as a perfect match.
There are many other women present, including Jin Yan.
They used to look down on Lin Heng. When Xiulan married, they all felt that she was pitiful and was deceived without knowing it.
Even if they are not as beautiful as Xiulan, they are often proud of their husbands who are down-to-earth and hardworking, and look down on her.
But now, these women are extremely envious. Lin Heng has come back to live a down-to-earth life. It has only been more than a month, and the situation of the Lin family has changed dramatically.
Liu Lan, Li Caifeng and others all want to replace Xiulan's position. After dinner, they will wonder why they didn't see Lin Heng's potential at the beginning. What a luxurious life it would be to eat meat every day.
After all, he has a junior high school education, and he is indeed different from such uneducated men in the village.
Jin Yan stood aside, looking at Lin Heng and Xiulan, regretting not marrying him.
She thought Lin Heng would look at her and show off to her how well he was doing.
In the end, he didn't even look at her, his eyes were on his wife, children and the wild boar. When he looked over, he was calm and indifferent, without any showing off or other emotions, as if he was looking at a passerby.
This made her feel a little uncomfortable. After all, he had proposed to her before, so why did he look at her without any waves now, as if she was just a gust of wind.
"Dad, the water is here, let's start to boil the pig."
Lin Heng didn't have as many complicated thoughts as others, and didn't know what they were thinking.
"Pour it into the bucket, the one in the house is also boiled."
Lin's father nodded.
Lin Heng poured the water into a large wooden barrel with a diameter of two meters, and then turned back to fetch the remaining boiled water at home.
Xiulan went into the house to chat with Bi Caiyun.
The eldest brother Lin Yue's family also boiled water, and it was enough to pour all the water from the three families into it.
"Dad, have you weighed the pig? How much is the pig?" Lin Heng asked as he put down the wooden barrel.
"We weighed it, it's more than 250, 280 kilograms."
Tian Baishun said with a smile.
"No wonder it's so heavy, I can't lift it." Lin Heng chuckled.
"Come, help lift the pig into the wooden barrel for soup."
Butcher Li Niu looked at the crowd and shouted, a noose had been put on the pig's nose.
Lin Lin's father and four or five others walked over to hold the pig, shouting: "Come, one, two, three, go!!"
The big wild boar was lifted into the wooden barrel in one breath, and then one person pulled the noose on the nose, and one person pulled the tail and boiled it in boiling water.
This step is to scald the pig hair. After scalding one side, several people helped to turn the other side and continue scalding.
Normally, it takes about ten minutes to scald it. Because it is a wild boar, it took twenty minutes.
When it is almost scalded, you can start to remove the pig hair. The rural area uses a fist-sized black volcanic stone with many small holes on it, which is very rough.
With hands on the pig skin, the pig hair and the old skin were rubbed off, revealing the snow-white fur.
"Come on, everyone, work hard."
All the pig hair was removed, and everyone worked hard to lift the pig out.
Use a stick to support the middle of the wooden barrel and put the pig on it, with its head and tail resting on the edge of the wooden barrel and its waist resting on the stick. The pig is placed straight and crawling belly down.
If it is a home-raised pig, firecrackers should be set off at this time, and a small bowl is placed on the pig head to offer to the Kitchen God.
For wild boars, this process is naturally omitted. The butcher picked up a meat-cutting knife and first cut along the pig's spine. This step is called looking at the fat.
"This pig is fat, three fingers wide fat." Li Niu said with a smile.
"This big boar eats a lot, so it must be fat." Tian Baishun said with a smile. The thicker the fat, the more oil it has, which means that the pig is fat enough.
After checking the fat, the butcher cut off the pig's testicles, cut open the anus, took out the large intestine and tied it with a rope to prevent shit from coming out later.
Then he chopped off the pig's head. Watching the butcher easily cut the meat and chop the bones, there was a sense of beauty like a butcher cutting a cow.
After the pig's head was cut off, the tail was cut off. Putting the tail in the pig's mouth was called having a head and a tail.
Then the meat around the pig's neck had to be cut off. They called it "traveling circle" here. Half of it, five or six pounds, was directly sent to the kitchen to eat enough today.
At this step, the operation was considered to be initially completed. The butcher took out two iron hooks and hooked them on the pig's chest.
"Come, help lift it."
Butcher Li Niu said, and Lin's father and others came to help, lifting the pig and hanging it vertically on the rack they had built.
Then the butcher took out the bone-cutting knife, cut open the belly first, and took out the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and other internal organs one by one.
"Give me the large intestine, I'll turn it over." Li Baiquan took over the job of turning the large intestine with a smile.
This is a technical job, which requires turning the large intestine over to clean it, and most people really can't turn it over.
"I'll deal with the small intestine." Lin's father took over the job of dealing with the small intestine.
The small intestine is the same, it needs to be turned over to clean it.
"You hit it too hard, the intestines and liver are broken."
Li Niu shook his head and said as he looked at some feces flowing in the pig's body.
"Hey, you don't know how fierce this wild boar is. It didn't die after two shots and two arrows. Old man Tian was almost knocked down by it."
Tian Baishun shook his head.
"That's because you don't have good skills. If it were me, I would have shot it in the head with one shot."
Li Niu said loudly with a smile.
Lin Heng smiled and said nothing. This butcher was used to bragging, and he didn't know how fierce a wild boar weighing more than 200 kilograms was.
"Hmph, it's good if you don't get scared to the point of weakness." Tian Baishun looked at him with disdain.
"Hehe, I've killed five or six hundred pigs, what's there to be afraid of about a wild boar." Li Niu didn't care.
Tian Baishun was too lazy to argue with an outsider.
Although Li Niu was not experienced, he was very good at killing pigs. The pigs were cut into pieces like art in his hands.
Lin Heng took a fancy to the two large pieces of fat, while Tian Baishun was drooling over the pig eggs and pig guns.
In half an hour, the pork was chopped, and the ribs, pork legs, and pork belly were clearly divided.
"Okay, now the pork is chopped, how do you divide it?" Li Niu said to Lin Heng after he finished his work.
Everyone's eyes were also gathered, and Xiulan, Caiyun, Liu Juan and others also came to see.
"According to what we agreed, take them one by one. Li Baiquan, you choose first, Lin Heng second, Lu Honghai third, and I fourth."
After Tian Baishun finished speaking, he asked Lin's father to bring four dustpans from the Lin family to everyone.
"Then I won't be polite." Li Baiquan said, and first picked up a pig's hind leg.
Among all pork, the hind leg is definitely a good part.
"Then I'll take a pig's hind leg too." Lin Heng also took one.
Without the pig's hind leg, the remaining two front legs were taken by Lu Honghai and Tian Baishun.
"I'll take this pig's liver." Li Baiquan chose the pig's liver second.
After taking the pig's leg, the other meats were about the same, so it was naturally the most cost-effective to take the internal organs.
"I'll take a piece of pork fat." Lin Heng chose the fat.
"I want a piece of fat too." His uncle Lu Honghai took another piece of pork fat.
Tian Baishun chuckled: "I'll take the pig's egg and pig's gun, the old man likes this."
"You old man are good at choosing."
"When people get old, eating can't make up for it."
The people watching nearby laughed and made a noise.
"Hey, I'm an old man with a golden gun." Tian Baishun sneered.
At the beginning of the third round, Lin Heng's uncle-in-law set his sights on the pig's heart.
Since the total weight had to be weighed at the end, it was economical and cost-effective to take the pig's heart.
Lin Heng looked at the remaining internal organs, pig's large intestine, small intestine, pig's stomach, pig's kidney, and pig's lung.
No one eats the pancreas, it has been fed directly to the dog.
Lin Heng wanted to choose the pig's kidney, he likes to eat this, but he was afraid that someone would take the large intestine, Xiulan likes to eat this.
"I'll choose the pig's large intestine." Lin Heng still chose the pig's large intestine.
Then his uncle chose the small intestine, and Tian Baishun chose the pig's kidney.
Then Li Baiquan chose the pig's stomach, leaving only a pig's lung.
"I'll take a piece of meat." Lin Heng gave up the pig lungs and didn't want to take the pig head either. Although the ears, pig tongue and pig tail were delicious, the pig head was too heavy and there was not much meat.
"I want meat too."
There was no good stuff left, so everyone started to pick meat. Soon the pork was all divided, and there was only one pig head and one pig lung left.
"No one wants it. Let's weigh the total weight and make up for who is not enough."
Tian Baishun said.
Bring the scale and everyone started to weigh. The wild boar was 280 catties in total, and each person should weigh 70 catties.
Because there was pig hair and some meat that was taken away for eating, each person reduced 5 catties and calculated it as 65 catties.
Lin Heng's 63 catties, Li Baiquan's 75 catties, his uncle's 58 catties, and Old Man Tian's 50 catties.
"This pig head and pig lungs add up to about 25 catties. It's yours, Old Man Tian."
Lin Heng handed the meat to him.
Li Baiquan also gave some meat to Lu Honghai, and the weight of the four people was about the same.
The sun has completely set, leaving only a little afterglow for those who have not yet returned home.
The villagers who were watching the pig slaughtering in the yard also turned and left, carrying complex emotions such as envy and jealousy.
If they didn't leave, they were afraid that their saliva would flow from the smell of fried meat and their stomachs would make embarrassing noises.
Lin Heng and others were just being polite. In this era, they didn't have enough money to treat so many people to dinner. Everyone was living a very difficult life.
"Lin Heng, how much does it cost per pound? Sell me five pounds." At this time, Jin Yan walked up and said with a smile.
"The price of domestic pork has recently increased to 80 cents per catty, and wild boar meat is not much. Will you buy it for 90 cents?" Lin Heng looked at her and asked.
"Buy it, four and a half yuan, right?" Jin Yan took out a handkerchief from her pocket with scattered money wrapped in it. She found four and a half yuan and handed it to Lin Heng.
Lin Heng weighed five pounds of pork belly for her and asked her to look at the scale herself.
"No need to look, I trust you, I'm leaving." Jin Yan said, turned and left.
Lin Heng entered the house carrying the meat without paying much attention.
The dishes at Mother Lin's side have been prepared, and Xiulan and others have already started wiping the table and getting chopsticks.
"Li Niu, do you want money or pork?" Lin Heng asked.
"If you want money, just give me 80 cents." Li Niu said. He charges 80 cents to kill a pig, which is relatively expensive. A normal day's work in rural areas only costs 50 cents.
"Here." Lin Heng took eight cents and gave it to him.
"Okay." Li Niu grinned and took it.
"You can't give it to me. I already have the most meat, so I'll give it to you and cut off another two pounds." His uncle Li Baiquan said.
"Uncle, just sit down and eat. It's just a few cents, there's no need to worry about it." Lin Heng waved his hand and said.
After some pulling and pulling, Li Baiquan cut off two kilograms of meat for Lin Heng. Although eighty cents didn't seem much to him, it was a lot for farmers.
"Have a meal!"
Father Lin said with a smile. The food was served and the wine was warmed.
There were adults sitting on the table. Caiyun and Lin Wei were in the kitchen, where there was a pot of meat, enough for them to eat.
Lin Heng took a bite of wild boar. This was an uncastrated male wild boar. The smell was still very strong, and the smell could still be smelled despite Mother Lin's handling.
The meat was a bit difficult to chew, because this male wild boar may have lived for many years, especially the skin, which was impossible to chew through.
The taste of the meat can only be said to be unique, which is far inferior to that of domestic pigs. However, some people think it is delicious, which may have something to do with personal habits.
Of course, in rural areas of this era, meat is delicious, and quality is not a consideration.
"Come on, drink!"
Father Lin held the wine glass and said that wild boar meat goes very well with wine.
At dinner, everyone was so happy eating meat that they didn't even eat much in the end.
After dinner, Lin Heng's uncle Li Baiquan carried the meat back. He was anxious to take the meat back and rub it with salt and smoke, otherwise it would spoil easily.
"Uncle, your honey." Lin Heng chased him out to deliver the honey. Everyone had already reached the river dam.
"You guys take it and eat it. I have bees at home, so that's all." Li Baiquan said with a smile on the other side of the river.
Lin Heng had no choice but to leave it at home until he could take it home next time.
"I'm leaving too. I haven't been back for many days." Lu Honghai also packed up his things and left, unable to stop him.
In the end, only Tian Baishun was left. He picked through the meat and packed the pig eggs, pig gun and two kidneys.
For the other meat, I only took a pig's head and a small piece of meat, and left the rest in the dustpan.
He turned around and looked at Lin Heng and said with a smile: "Lin Heng, these are all for you. Thank you for saving my old man's life twice. Thank you very much."
"I didn't save you because of your little flesh. Take it back as soon as possible." Lin Heng shook his head, not wanting to take advantage of this.
"I said this is a little gift. It's not a question of whether you want it or not. It's not a question of whether you want it or not." Tian Baishun shook his head and turned around to leave.
Lin Heng was speechless, holding the meat and stuffing it into his backpack.
As a result, Old Man Tian ran away without even catching up.
"What to do with this meat?" Mother Lin and the others were applying salt to preserve the meat and asked when they saw the remaining meat.
"Put some salt on it first and leave it there." Lin Heng thought about it and decided to accept it.
By accepting this meat, even if Tian Baishun repays the favor of saving his life, he won't have to worry about it anymore.
I saved two of his lives, and no one dared to gossip even with this little thing.
Sister-in-law Liu Juan drooled when she looked at the meat in the dustpan, and regretted more and more that she didn't insist on letting Lin Yue follow, otherwise how could she have shared a little.
"Dad, brother, each of you has one piece of these two pieces of meat."
Lin Heng picked two pieces of meat weighing 11 or 12 kilograms and handed them to his father and elder brother.
"Why do we need this from you? You can take it home and eat it yourself." Father Lin refused.
"Yes, you worked so hard for it, we can't take it." Lin Yue yelled and couldn't accept it.
"Take it, you have done so much farm work, you should, I will be angry if you don't take it." Lin Heng forced it on the two of them.
This amount is enough for the time being. More than ten kilograms of meat is worth ten yuan. They will definitely not accept any more. This amount is the most appropriate.
"Xiulan, let's go home." Before the two could refuse, Lin Heng packed up the other meat and carried it home.
"This is too much, Lin Heng, you can give me a small one." Lin Yue was still a little uneasy. Lin Heng gave too much, and he was the elder brother, so there was no reason to take so much.
"Just keep it, he doesn't need this little meat, otherwise he will be embarrassed to be lazy in the future." Father Lin stopped his eldest son.
"Dad is right, big brother, you keep it. You have helped with too much work." Lin Heng said with a smile. Giving meat is nothing. What he wants to do is to lead everyone in the Lin family to live a life of worry-free food and clothing without worrying about money.
Lin Yue looked at the meat in his hand and nodded helplessly: "Okay then."
After returning home, Xiulan coaxed Xiaoxia to sleep, walked into the main room and saw that there were more than 100 kilograms of pork in the backpack. She was grateful and a little unreal.
In the next six months, the family will not have to worry about not having meat to eat.
"Can you take Tian Baishun's meat?" Xiulan asked a little worriedly.
"I saved his two lives. Everyone in the village knows that it is normal for him to give meat. It's nothing. It just happened that he returned the favor and I got pork. It's the best of both worlds." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Then how should this meat be handled? Fatty meat is fine, but lean meat may be stinky. The temperature is too high in summer." Xiulan didn't expect that there would be a day when she would worry about how to preserve the meat that she couldn't finish eating.
"I have an idea." Lin Heng said, he had already thought of a way.