My 1995 Small Farm.

"Why has pork prices suddenly risen so much this year? Six yuan a pound, and even more than six yuan in some places?"

"I think it's still the same reason: when the weather gets warmer, meat doesn't keep well, so households need less meat, and not many people are willing to sell it, so the price of meat is rising rapidly."

"Huh? That doesn't make sense. Why are prices getting higher when fewer people are buying?"

"I don't understand this; I'm not an economist."

Chen Ling and Zhao Dahai chatted casually, while many young people followed to watch the pig slaughter.

Wang Lixian came here on his own after hearing the news to help.

Because the pig slaughtering takes place in the village courtyard, it's not done at the farm so that it's easier to boil water and remove the pig hair, and everyone lives nearby.

Chen Ze and Chen Yuqiang also came over.

Anyway, there's strength in numbers, and everyone's busy.

Some laid tarpaulins on the ground, while others carried door panels and benches. Before Chen Ling could even lift a finger, the pig had already been brought down by the crowd.

And it was quickly placed on the door panel.

Wang Lixian even brought a pig-slaughtering knife with him; he had a 'tool bag' for holding the knife.

It contained hunting knives, castration knives, skinning knives, and even pig-slaughtering knives—a very complete set.

Now he picked out a sharp knife and began to swing it around, the knife and the sharpening rod making a clicking sound.

"Brother Xian, let me do it this time. I've killed plenty of wild boars, but I've never killed a domestic pig before."

Chen Ling naturally wanted to cook the pork himself, since it was for his own family's consumption.

"Alright, then you can do the killing!" Wang Lixian smiled, feeling that Chen Ling was starting to have some of the bad habits of those rich people in the city.

He couldn't understand why they insisted on doing so many tasks themselves.

Chen Ling didn't care what he thought, and happily took the pig-slaughtering knife: "Yu Bin, quickly go to Yu Qiang's house and find a basin to collect the pig's blood."

Chen Yubin quickly ran to the front yard and grabbed a large basin.

It was placed under the pig's neck.

Then they dispersed with the others.

"You've got it down!"

As Chen Ling spoke, the sharp knife in his hand flashed and plunged into the pig's neck with a "plop".

After stabbing the knife in, he gently shook his hand.

Instantly, a white knife went in and a red knife came out.

Bright red pig's blood began to gush out along the wound.

At this moment, the pig on the door panel squealed terribly, screaming like a pig being slaughtered.

However, the young man is quite strong.

It only took four strong young men to firmly press the pig against the door panel; Wang Lixian and Zhao Dahai didn't even have to lift a finger.

Until no more blood could be seen flowing from the pig's neck.

"Goodness, this pig doesn't look that big, but it's almost as strong as a wild boar from the mountains. I almost couldn't hold it down!"

Yu Bin's brother, Guang Bin, panting, and the other three young men who were holding the pig down easily let go, and couldn't help but say something.

"What you're saying is ridiculous. If a pig knows it's going to be killed and doesn't put up a strong resistance, that would be abnormal."

Zhao Dahai said with a smile.

Then he and Wang Lixian went to fetch firewood to boil a large pot of water in preparation for removing the pig hair.

Chen Ling then drove his tractor to load another load of wheat straw.

After scalding the pig hair with boiling water, burn some wheat straw, add water to the ash, and apply it to the pig.

Pork with the skin on tastes better.

Actually, this is an old method used by our ancestors to deal with wild boars and to dispose of dogs after killing them.

Yellow-haired wild boars are sub-adult wild boars that haven't yet reached adulthood and haven't yet smeared their skins.

The yellow hair on its body hasn't completely disappeared yet.

If you catch one of these little yellow-haired pigs that is about three months old, even its skin smells delicious.

So this method was used to singe off pig bristles.

Otherwise, the wild boar's fur is too thick, making it difficult to deal with.

The same applies to dogs; those like Liu Guangli from Kinmen Village who skinned their dead dogs are extremely rare.

Most people don't have that skill.

Moreover, most hunters don't have the heart to eat dog meat.

After loading the wheat straw at the threshing ground, Chen Ling returned home and everyone helped him finish most of the work.

The woodpile was stacked neatly and orderly.

Then, idly standing outside the door, they set off firecrackers of all sizes.

It really feels like Chinese New Year! This year, every family in the village has some money in their pockets and is really willing to spend it on firecrackers.

The adults and children went crazy.

Chen Ling also saw Rui Rui and the other two by the big pond, hanging firecrackers on trees and throwing them into the water.

With Heiwa and Xiaojin keeping an eye on him, and all the village elders and children watching him closely, Chen Ling didn't want to spoil their fun.

They busied themselves in the yard, removing the pig bristles and piling wheat straw all over the pigs until it was completely covered, then lit it.

This also burns away any remaining pig hair in the smallest areas and removes any unpleasant odor. Once one side is burned through, you switch to the other side and wait for the straw to burn completely.

Just then, the aroma of roasted pork wafted out.

Chen Yuqiang and the others filled half a bucket with water and started rinsing it on the pig, while Chen Ling and Wang Lixian began scraping the areas that had been rinsed with a knife.

After scraping it clean, the charred black residue disappeared, revealing the golden-yellow pigskin that emitted a faint meaty aroma.

"That's a brilliant way to handle it! Using the same methods for wild boars on domestic pigs—only someone as wealthy as you would have the leisure to do that. But the color is really beautiful; it makes my mouth water just looking at it!"

"That's right, I'll give it a try next year too..."

They don't plan to slaughter any pigs this year; they'll just buy a few pounds in the county town, enough for stewing.

After inspecting the pig, Chen Ling changed to a different knife and stabbed it into the pig's two front legs. Then, with a swift pull, he split the pig's belly open.

"Hey, this meat is great, and the fat is thick too! No wonder Fugui specifically chooses to buy Yongsheng's pigs!"

"The rich are offering high prices; I heard they'll even charge six yuan per jin for the whole pig..."

A whole pig is very different from pork. In later generations, if it was a black pig or a Tibetan pig with a lot of hype, the price of a whole pig could be almost half that of pork.

Because a whole pig includes various parts such as internal organs and the head, and even a lot of feces.

Naturally, it cannot be calculated based on the market price of pork.

"My family will raise pigs next year too, and we'll wait for Fugui to come and buy them during the Spring Festival, hehehe."

"Come on, those rich folks in the village who want pork usually offer pretty high prices. Can you really resist?"

"That's another story, hehehe..."

While everyone was discussing, Chen Ling waved to them and said, "I've prepared a new way to eat pig's head this year. Come find me tomorrow night for drinks and meat."

After offering sacrifices to the local earth god and setting off firecrackers, they'll come.

Tonight we're replacing the statue at the local earth god temple. After that, regardless of whether it's the first day of the Lunar New Year or not, we'll start burning incense and making offerings every day.

It didn't stop until after the Lantern Festival (January 15th of the lunar calendar).

Everyone was extremely excited when they heard this.

Everyone applauded.

Chen Ling said it's a new way to eat it, so it must be delicious.

It's definitely worth looking forward to.

"What about today? Can't you get it done today?" Zhao Dahai, who was also very hungry, quickly asked.

"I can't finish it today. It needs to be braised, and the other steps will take overnight. Let's just stew the meat and make soup today."

Chen Ling smiled and shook his head, wiped his hands, then wiped the somewhat slippery knife, and continued to butcher the meat.

However, just as the pork was cut up, Qin Rong rode his bicycle over from the farm and took out his phone: "Fu Gui, Yue Min, call."

"Ok?"

Chen Ling was taken aback, then quickly took the phone, and Liang Yuemin's voice came from the other end.

Liang Yuemin said that he would finish his work and head back tomorrow, which is the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Then he added that there would be happy events this year.

The leader highly praised their instant noodles and repeatedly commended Chen Ling for doing a good job in the village.

The reason is that Hong Kong Island returned to China this year.

The higher-ups thought of bringing together actors from mainland China and Hong Kong to co-star in a TV series.

No actor from Hong Kong Island was interested in her.

To put it bluntly, actors over there are more concerned about their pay, while the pay for celebratory TV dramas in mainland China is definitely not that high.

They just gave a token amount and that was it, because it was a political task.

Naturally, the actors on Hong Kong Island weren't too happy about it.

As a result, after the exchange group arrived, no one expected that after just visiting Chen Ling's hometown and Liang Yuemin's instant noodle factory, they would actually change their tune.

Zheng Shaoqiu and the others agreed to star in the film.

Upon hearing Liang Yuemin mention the TV series, Chen Ling immediately asked who the mainland actors were.

As soon as I heard that Grandpa Jiao Huang was in it, I immediately knew which TV series it was.

"So it turns out that 'Return to Glory' was filmed ahead of schedule. Great, great, that's a good thing."

In Chen Ling's memory, there was a script for this TV series long ago, but filming didn't begin until the end of 2005. In the end, it could only be broadcast under the pretext of celebrating the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

Now that Hong Kong Island has just returned to China, it is naturally a great thing that this matter has been accomplished.

The key is that Chen Ling felt involved.

Liang Yuemin said that he could pick any role, and Heiwa and Xiaojin could all get involved.

They could even write a story specifically for him.

You can create a separate subplot.

It's fair to say that his superiors greatly admire him.

"No wonder, it explains why Zheng Shaoqiu and his group suddenly brought so many veteran actors from Hong Kong. They don't get along very well with each other and don't interact much in private. I thought they were just traveling together because they were from our village..."

I didn't expect it to be a leader who was extending the invitation.

Chen Ling finally understood: "I might skip the Spring Festival Gala, but I absolutely must participate in a TV series like this one, which involves historical events." (End of Chapter)