1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 72 Easy to handle
When Qiao Weixing and his wife arrived at their good friend Qiao Erhe's house with gifts, the scene that greeted them left them speechless.

Qiao Erhe grabbed the pig's hind leg with his left hand and its front leg with his right, carrying the over 200-pound fat pig from the pigsty in the backyard to the door of the house, and then with a forceful shove, he threw the fat pig onto the table.

In fact, this scene not only stunned Qiao Weixing and his wife, but also Qiao Erdie, Qiao Sandie, and the Qiao siblings.

After all, they had never seen anyone catch pigs like that before.

After Qiao Erhe pressed the pig onto the table, he saw his childhood friend looking shocked and couldn't help but greet him with a smile, "Weixing, when did you guys arrive?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Weixing snapped out of his daze and said, "We just arrived, Erhe, when did you become so strong?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "This is a long story. You two should keep an eye on it for now, and we'll talk about it after we slaughter the pig."

Qiao Weixing nodded and said, "Okay, you guys go ahead and slaughter the pig, don't worry about us."

At this time, other villagers who heard the pig squeals also came over one after another to see what was going on.

Under the watchful eyes of the villagers, Uncle Qiao picked up the pig-slaughtering knife and said to his nephew, "Erhe, I'm about to start. Should I ask your third uncle and eldest brother to help hold the pig down?"

"No need, I can manage on my own."

As he spoke, Qiao Erhe firmly held down the pig's four legs amidst the pig's squeals, rendering the pig's struggles futile.

It wasn't that Qiao Erhe wanted to show off or insist on displaying himself in front of the villagers. He did it for a reason: to establish his reputation for great strength and thus deter certain people with ill intentions.

After all, being a rural person, Qiao Erhe knew all too well that in the 1980s and 90s, or even the early 21st century, in order to get ahead in the countryside, the intimidation of force was indispensable. This intimidation of force included, but was not limited to, having many brothers, being strong, being good at fighting, and being willing to fight and kill.

While being strong doesn't equate to combat prowess, the reality is that strong people are often looked up to, and no one wants to provoke them unless absolutely necessary.

Once you have enough prestige in the countryside, you can get things done much more easily.

Upon hearing his nephew's answer, Uncle Qiao no longer hesitated. He took the sharp pig-slaughtering knife, aimed it at the pig's throat, and swiftly stabbed it in.

When the knife was pulled out, pig's blood gushed out and fell into the prepared salt water basin.

Once the pig's blood has drained away, the pig will be dead beyond any hope of survival.

Next, Qiao Erhe was no longer needed. He washed his hands and came to Qiao Weixing and his wife, smiling, "Weixing, you two have come at just the right time. Have lunch at my house. This fresh pork will definitely taste good."

Qiao Weixing laughed and said, "It seems we're in for a treat today."

Lu Yueying handed over the gift in her hand and smiled, "Brother Erhe, this is a small token of our appreciation. Please accept it."

Qiao Erhe didn't stand on ceremony. He accepted the gifts and asked Sanduo to take them back and put them away. He then invited Qiao Weixing and his wife, as well as the other villagers, to sit down and have some tea.

Today, we slaughtered a pig at home, and Qiao Sanduo had already brewed tea so that guests could have tea whenever they came.

In those days, there was really not much entertainment in the countryside. When villagers came to watch the pig slaughter, it wasn't just to see the pig being stabbed to death. They would stay and watch how the slaughterer used hot water to scald the pig to remove its hair, how he gutted the pig, and how he butchered it.

Most people have seen this kind of pig slaughtering scene before, but they still find it fascinating.

The villagers only dispersed after Uncle Qiao Er and Uncle Qiao San had almost finished cutting up the big fat pig.

……

noon.

The Qiao family (including the second uncle and the third uncle) and the Qiao couple stayed for dinner.

Today's dishes are naturally pork-based, including braised pork ribs, stir-fried pork with pepper, stir-fried pork with pickled mustard greens, stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts, stir-fried pork with dried beef skin, and pork blood soup. Other dishes such as fish, shrimp, and side dishes will not be mentioned.

Of course, the most attractive thing was that Qiao Erhe took out two jars of sweet glutinous rice wine.

Everyone present had tasted sweet glutinous rice wine before, so they were familiar with its flavor and effects. When they saw Qiao Erhe bring the wine to the table, their eyes lit up.

Normally, minors shouldn't drink alcohol because it's very harmful to people who haven't fully developed. However, Qiao Erhe's sweet glutinous rice wine is brewed with diluted spiritual spring water, so drinking it only has benefits and no harm to the body.

Therefore, Qiao Erhe did not stop his younger siblings from drinking alcohol, but only the alcohol he brewed; they were definitely not allowed to touch any other alcohol.

The details of the drinking are omitted. After they had drunk enough, the Qiao family and the Qiao family each carried more than ten kilograms of pork home.

The Qiao siblings, having eaten and drunk their fill, gradually left the table.

Qiao Erhe then turned to his childhood friend and asked, "Weixing, now everyone in Qiaojiawan is planning to start egg-laying chicken farming like our family next year. What are your plans for next year, you and your husband? Have you thought about starting any side businesses?"

Qiao Weixing pondered for a moment and said, "Erhe, we are actually inclined to raise egg-laying chickens, after all, we have your successful example here. But I am a little worried. Next year, so many people will be raising egg-laying chickens, and the number of eggs produced will definitely be astonishing. What if we can't sell the eggs?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "There's no need to worry about that. If the huge market of Shashi can't consume so many eggs, we can sell them directly to the supply and marketing cooperative. Although the price will be much cheaper this way, at least we won't have to worry about where to sell the eggs."

Qiao Weixing nodded and said, "That's true."

"Actually, besides egg-laying chickens, you can also raise egg-laying ducks, or dig fish ponds to raise fish, which is also a good option."

At this point, Qiao Erhe changed the subject and reminded them, "However, on the other hand, no matter what you raise, you have to be extremely careful. The risks of raising livestock are very high, especially for poultry like chickens, ducks, and geese. Once they are infected with a disease, everything will be lost."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yueying asked with concern, "Brother Erhe, is there any way to prevent this plague?"

Qiao Erhe shook his head and said, "I don't have any good ideas either."

Lu Yueying looked at her husband and said, "Honey, how about we raise fish? The risks of raising fish shouldn't be as high as raising chickens and ducks."

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "Indeed, compared to raising chickens and ducks, raising fish is much less risky. If you want to play it safe, I would also suggest you raise fish. Our Cenhe is a historically famous land of fish and rice, and there is great potential in raising fish well."

Alternatively, I have another suggestion: you could set up a family workshop specializing in making preserved eggs; that would be a much less risky business.

Qiao Weixing looked at his wife and asked, "Honey, what do you think?"

Lu Yueying said, "I think what Brother Erhe said makes a lot of sense. It's just that no one in our family knows how to make preserved eggs. But we could try raising fish instead."

Qiao Weixing nodded and said, "Okay, then let's dig ponds to raise fish, and at the same time raise two or three hundred laying hens or ducks. Then we'll find someone to learn how to make preserved eggs. If we do it separately, the risk should be much lower."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Weixing, it's good that you two are able to do things so steadily. Raising so many laying hens like I do is too risky. Although it's true that you can make money quickly, you can lose everything if you're not careful. So I don't recommend that you follow my example."

Qiao Weixing said, "I understand. There's nothing I can do to help you with this. You can only be careful yourself."

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "Don't worry about me. I have many ways to make money. Even if something happens to me, I will still have a chance to make a comeback."

Qiao Weixing said, "As long as you know it, that's fine."

Qiao Erhe reminded him, "By the way, when you raise chickens, fish, or make preserved eggs next year, remember to apply for an individual business license. This thing is our talisman, you must apply for it, don't forget."

Qiao Weixing asked in surprise, "A sole proprietorship business license? What's that for?"

Lu Yueying was also completely baffled; she had never heard of this thing before.

Qiao Erhe explained, "This is the official certificate we receive. We need this to do business. With it, our business is legal. Without it, we might be accused of speculation and profiteering by some people when we go out to do business."

In short, this self-employed business license is our safeguard.

Qiao Weixing suddenly realized and said, "I see. So where do I apply for this individual business license?"

"Go to the local industrial and commercial bureau to apply."

"clear."

Seeing that they had finished their conversation, Qiao Weixing pulled his wife to her feet and said, "Erhe, we just arrived today. We came over as soon as we heard your pigs squealing. We haven't had a chance to have a proper chat with our parents yet, so we're heading back now."

"Then you should go back and spend some time with your parents!"

Qiao Erhe also stood up and said, "Wait for me a moment, I'll get a jar of glutinous rice wine to take back for you."

Qiao Weixing's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he chuckled, "Erhe, then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

Hearing this, Lu Yueying was overjoyed, for this glutinous rice wine was indeed a rare delicacy.

Soon, Qiao Erhe walked up to Qiao Weixing and his wife carrying a jar of sweet glutinous rice wine and a large piece of pork. He handed the items to them and said, "I have to go to the commune to take care of things later, so I won't see you off this afternoon."

Qiao Weixing took the things and said with a smile, "Okay, you go and take care of your business. See you next year."

"Okay, see you next year."

After Qiao Weixing and his wife returned home, Qiao Erhe rode his bicycle and dragged the pig's head, tail, feet, and all the internal organs, which were already packed in a bamboo basket, to the noodle shop in the commune. He handed them to the noodle shop owner and said, "Boss Chen, these are for you."

Mr. Chen took the bamboo basket and said, "Okay, Comrade Qiao, it can be braised before seven or eight o'clock tonight. When that time comes, bring a clean bamboo basket or other basket to put it in."

Qiao Erhe nodded and said, "Okay, I'll come over around 7 or 8 pm. Thank you, Mr. Chen."

Mr. Chen smiled and said, "No trouble at all, I'll get back to work now."

"Um!" ……

As the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month arrived, the festive atmosphere in the entire Cenhe area grew stronger and stronger.

In later generations, people online often lament that the atmosphere of the Spring Festival is fading.

The increasingly weak atmosphere of the Spring Festival is due to a variety of reasons.

First, there is an improvement in the material standard of living.

In the 1970s and 80s, due to the scarcity of resources and the fact that most rural people were struggling to make ends meet, let alone eating meat, even rice was not something they could afford whenever they wanted. New clothes were out of the question, as the saying "new for three years, old for three years, and patched up for another three years" was not just a saying.

In later generations, with economic development, people's daily needs for food and entertainment have been met, and the delicacies and entertainment that can be enjoyed during the Spring Festival have become commonplace. Various kinds of meat and new clothes, which were scarce in the past, can be purchased at any time in later generations, which has greatly reduced the sense of anticipation for the Spring Festival.

Secondly, there is a change in lifestyle.

In later generations, accelerated urbanization led to the alienation of neighborly relations, and traditional customs such as pasting Spring Festival couplets and visiting relatives and friends were greatly simplified due to time constraints or space limitations.

At the same time, younger people prefer online communication and have reduced face-to-face interaction; even New Year's greetings are now sent via video.

Finally, the sense of traditional ritual has diminished.

The fast pace of modern life has left insufficient time for traditional activities such as preparing for the New Year and family gatherings. In addition, the ban on fireworks and firecrackers in some areas has further diminished the festive atmosphere.

There are also some traditional activities for celebrating the Spring Festival in rural areas, such as the famous lion dance, dragon lantern dance, lotus boat dance, clam spirit dance, and stilt dance in Cenhe area. These are all celebrations spontaneously organized by villagers in various villages during the Spring Festival.

It gradually disappeared in later generations as fewer and fewer people participated.

my country is a vast country with diverse customs for celebrating the Spring Festival in different regions.

For example, in Bobai, Guangxi, as the year draws to a close, people perform year-end rituals, offer blessings, and worship local deities such as the Earth God, Huaguang Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and various other gods. On New Year's Eve, they also make offerings to their ancestral spirits. These are all things that must be done.

During this period, people also make rice cakes, such as ash water rice cakes, sweet rice cakes, rice-filled rice cakes, and fermented rice cakes. The first two, in particular, are essential for the Lunar New Year.

However, the customs for celebrating the New Year are different in the Cenhe area.

In the Cenhe area, there's no need to worship various gods; simply lighting lamps for ancestors on New Year's Eve is sufficient.

In addition, there is a custom in Cenhe area called "family reunion" (团年).

In many regions, "reunion dinner" refers to the meal that family members eat together on New Year's Eve.

However, in the Cenhe area, the reunion dinner does not refer to just New Year's Eve, nor does it refer to just one's own small family. Instead, it includes the families of one's brothers, and the date of the reunion dinner is arranged according to each family's circumstances.

Take the Qiao family as an example. The deceased Qiao father had three brothers, so the family reunion dinner is moved back from New Year's Eve. Each family chooses one day to host a dinner party. This is a common family reunion dinner custom in Cenhe area.

It was already arranged beforehand that we would have our New Year's Eve dinner at Qiao Erdie's house today, at Qiao Sandie's house tomorrow, and at Qiao Erhe's house the day after tomorrow.

Families in the village with many brothers had already started their reunion dinner several days earlier.

This year, Uncle Qiao spared no expense for the family reunion dinner, preparing a much more lavish meal than in previous years, with plenty of chicken, duck, fish, and meat on the table.

After a few rounds of drinks, Uncle Qiao looked at his nephew sitting next to him and said with deep emotion, "Your old man really had a bad life. He worked hard all his life and passed away without ever enjoying a day of happiness with his children."

Qiao Erhe recalled his old man's voice and smile, and said with regret, "Yes, if the old man hadn't passed away a few years later, he could have enjoyed a good life with us."

Uncle Qiao sighed, "Your old man is reluctant to eat and does manual labor for a long time. Even a person made of iron couldn't endure it."

"It's all in the past, why bring it up again? Today is our family reunion, let's talk about something happy."

At this point, Aunt Qiao changed the subject, saying, "Dajiang, when do you plan to set a wedding date? You're really not young anymore, you need to hurry up."

Qiao Dajiang replied with a smile, "Second Aunt, after the New Year, we'll find someone to choose a wedding date. The main thing is that we're thinking of bringing my wife back after the new house is built. Otherwise, we would have set the wedding date long ago."

Aunt Qiao nodded and said, "That's true, your house is indeed a bit cramped. When do you and your siblings plan to build a new house?"

Qiao Erhe continued, "Second Aunt, because my brother and I didn't build a new house here at the old house, but moved to that piece of land at the entrance of the village. The original plan was to build the new house after the wheat harvest."

But in order for my older brother to marry his wife as soon as possible, I decided to discuss with the team leader and the others after the New Year to give them the highest yield of wheat from the fields, and then harvest the wheat early to feed the chickens. This way, the house construction could be arranged in advance.

Aunt Qiao asked, "Erhe, your old house has such a large plot of land, why don't you build the new house here?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "We raise chickens here in the old house, and with so many chickens, the air is polluted. If we build a new house here, we'll have to smell the strong chicken manure every day, and it won't be comfortable to live here."

That's why I decided to build the new house at the entrance of the village; it's close to the highway and convenient for getting in and out.

Aunt Qiao suddenly realized, "Oh, I see! I thought you siblings were complaining that there wasn't enough space here!"

Aunt Qiao looked at Qiao Erhe and asked, "Erhe, how are things going between you and that pretty city girl?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else also looked at Qiao Erhe, as this was the topic they were most interested in.

Qiao Erhe smiled and asked in return, "Second Aunt, how's everything going?"

Aunt Qiao laughed and scolded, "You're still pretending with us. She's such a pretty city girl, I don't believe you don't have feelings for her."

Qiao Erhe blinked and said, "Second Aunt, you said it yourself, she's such a beautiful city girl, do you think she would be interested in a country bumpkin like me?"

Aunt Qiao San chimed in, "Erhe, you're so capable, and now your family is making money. There's not a single junior in the entire Hongshan Brigade who can compare to you. Even if your background isn't as good as theirs, it doesn't mean you have no chance at all!"

Qiao Sihai couldn't help but expose him, saying, "Second Aunt, Third Aunt, Second Brother is just fooling you. He has a great relationship with my future sister-in-law!"

Qiao Erhe glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense. We're just friends right now."

Qiao Sihai shrank his neck and muttered, "I'm not making this up."

Qiao Erdie took a sip of wine and asked curiously, "Erhe, is there any chance between you and that city girl?"

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "Second Uncle, it's hard to say about this now. Let's talk about it after the new house is built next year!"

Uncle Qiao nodded and said, "That's true. We don't even have a place to live yet, so it's a bit early to talk about this."

Qiao Erhe said, "Second Uncle, Xiangdong is of marriageable age. What are your thoughts on this with Second Aunt?"

Qiao Xiangdong laughed and replied, "Brother Erhe, you're two months older than me, and you don't even have a girlfriend yet, so why should I be in a hurry!"

Aunt Qiao said, "We already have plans. Once we make money raising chickens next year, we'll ask a matchmaker to help Xiang Dong find a partner."

The group ate, drank, and chatted.

Besides lunch, there's also dinner. In the Cenhe area, each family is responsible for the entire day's New Year's Eve dinner.

After having their New Year's Eve dinner at Uncle Qiao's house, the group went to have their New Year's Eve dinner at Uncle Qiao's house the next day.

With Uncle Qiao's example set yesterday, Uncle Qiao's New Year's Eve dinner this year was also much more lavish than in previous years, with dishes that were in no way inferior to those at Uncle Qiao's house, clearly showing that he had spared no expense.

During this time, everyone in Qiaojiawan is having their New Year's Eve dinner, but there are very few families that can compare to the families of Qiao Erdie and Qiao Sandie.

After finishing the reunion dinner at Uncle Qiao's and Uncle Qiao's families, it was New Year's Eve.

This day is both Lunar New Year's Eve and the last day of the family reunion dinner, making it the center of attention at the reunion dinner.

In previous years, when the brothers had their New Year's Eve reunion, Qiao Erhe's family had limited resources, so the meals were never very lavish. If they could find chicken, pork, or fish, that was considered quite good.

Of course, this wasn't just the case for Qiao Erhe's family; there were other families in the village in the same situation, and everyone's life was far from good.

But this year is different.

Qiao Erhe and his sister made ample preparations for today's reunion dinner. In addition to the essential chicken, duck, fish and meat, they also specially prepared mooncakes, glutinous rice balls, bean cakes, glutinous rice balls, sesame cakes, sponge cakes, snow dates, fried dough twists, roasted dumplings, cloud cakes, linked rings, and sesame leaves, among other pastries and snacks.

Other dishes include fish cake, braised pork belly, and steamed preserved vegetables.

The drink is a sweet glutinous rice wine with exceptional taste and health benefits.

Such a lavish reunion dinner was unprecedented. If it were in later generations, it would definitely garner countless likes and comments when posted on social media.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they began to set off firecrackers as a gesture of gratitude.

This was Qiao Erhe's first New Year since his rebirth, and seeing the lingering smiles on his siblings' faces, he was also very happy.

In this life, thanks to his intervention, his elder brother's life trajectory has undergone tremendous changes, and he should no longer have the same irritable and unreasonable temper as in his previous life.

The harmonious relationship between the siblings is likely to become the norm.

(End of this chapter)