On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Jin family invited a butcher to slaughter a pig.
Chongcheng County is located in the south. Even in winter, fresh meat cannot be kept for long. Therefore, people are accustomed to pickling "New Year's meat" in the early or mid-twelfth lunar month, and this meat is often eaten from New Year's Eve to the tenth day of the first lunar month.
Villagers usually slaughter pigs in the middle of the twelfth lunar month. It is rare for the Jin family to wait until the 28th day to slaughter pigs. But there are also benefits to slaughtering pigs on this day. On New Year's Eve, there is fresh pork to eat.
Aunt Jin chose this day to slaughter the pig because Uncle Jin just came back that day.
As for Jin Xiaoshu... He had been very busy in the past few days, and only became free in the past two days and no longer went out on the boat.
The butcher agreed to come in the morning, so the Jin family began to make preparations early in the morning, such as moving a large vat to the doorstep, and fetching more water and boiling it.
After killing the pig, it must be placed in a large vat and soaked in boiling water for a while before the pig's hair can be shaved off.
As the Chinese New Year was approaching, Li Qingzhi told Zhao Xiaodou that he didn't need to come for the time being. Now that he and Jin Xiaoye were at home, they could look after Li Damao and Li Ermao.
Jin Xiaoye was very busy some time ago, so the two children didn't have much time to spend with Jin Xiaoye. Now that Jin Xiaoye has some free time these days, they all stick to Jin Xiaoye and don't even care about Li Qingzhi as their father.
Li Qingzhi woke up early that morning.
Since Jin Xiaoye didn't have to go to the county town today, he didn't rush to get up, but instead hugged Jin Xiaoye and kissed her.
He really likes it, he really likes touching Jin Xiaoye!
Jin Xiaoye: “…” She still wants to sleep for a while longer!
The two were being intimate when there was a knock on the door. Li Damao and Li Ermao shouted from outside, "Dad! Mom! Get up!"
Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye, who originally wanted to stay in bed, looked at each other and quickly got up and put on their clothes.
Because it was cold, they covered themselves with two quilts. When they took off their clothes the day before, they put their inner clothes between the two quilts so that they would not have to wear cold clothes in the morning.
After putting on his inner clothes and cotton-padded jacket, Li Qingzhi went to open the door.
Then two children wearing only their underwear rushed in.
"Why don't you wear more clothes?" Li Qingzhi said helplessly.
"Dad, we are not cold." Li Ermao said this, but he suddenly climbed onto Li Qingzhi and the others' bed and got into the quilt.
Li Qingzhi followed them and touched them, and found that their hands were as cold as ice.
He could only hold the two children in his arms, but the two children twisted and turned restlessly, broke free from his arms, and burrowed around in the quilt.
They have taken away all the warmth in the quilt!
Li Qingzhi couldn't lie down anymore, so he could only say: "Hurry up and put on your clothes. After you're dressed, I'll take you to watch the pig slaughter."
"Watch the pig being slaughtered! Let's watch the pig being slaughtered!" Li Damao and Li Ermao were very excited and ran back to their room to put on their clothes.
Children in rural areas like to watch pigs being slaughtered. When the Yao family next door slaughtered a pig, the two children went to watch.
They were probably used to seeing chickens and ducks being slaughtered, so they didn't think there was anything wrong with the bloody scene of pigs being slaughtered. They were just arguing about how to cook pork to make it delicious.