Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

Zhang Baoqing was somewhat persuaded. He turned to look at the knife in the short, stocky man's hand, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Let's wait a little longer." If they killed him now, what would they do with the extra meat? They wouldn't be able to sell any of it.

Seeing the pig's poor condition, Ji Yongling was anxious and helpless. What to do, what to do? Her grandfather used to be a veterinarian, and he had a complete set of equipment and a medicine box. Now she had nothing, and could only watch the pig die?

No, she can't do it.

If only I had a scalpel!

A scalpel? Ji Yongling suddenly thought of his steel needles and instantly had an idea.

She quickly pulled out a thick, long steel needle, pinched the pig's ear, located the three veins on the back of the ear, and swiftly used the needle to make a small incision to bleed it.

Watching Ji Yongling deftly draw and prick with the needle, Niu Lao Er asked in confusion, "Yongling, what are you doing?"

Ji Yongling didn't have time to answer, and then did the same to the pig's tail tip and nose tip, making incisions to bleed.

Old Master Ji understood somewhat and answered for Ji Yongling, "This is bloodletting, releasing the poisonous blood so the pig recovers faster."

Niu Lao Er suddenly realized and exclaimed admiringly, "Isn't this just like a doctor treating patients by drawing blood? Wow, Yongling is so clever, he even came up with this prescription!"

The onlookers outside the pigpen whispered among themselves: "Poking the pig's throat doesn't seem to be working. Look, the pig has vomited several times, but it's still the same..." "That girl seems to be poking the pig's ears and tail again. What is she trying to do?"

The short, stocky man in front of the pigsty ground his teeth and glared fiercely at Ji Yongling. He said to Zhang Baoqing, "Brother Baoqing, let me tell you, if you're reluctant to kill this pig now, you'll have that girl torture it to death later, and then I won't care about this knife anymore."

Zhang Baoqing gritted his teeth and said, "So what if I die from all this trouble? I'm going to die anyway! I don't blame that girl. She's a young woman who didn't mind the dirt and stench to save my pig. If I blame her, would I even be human?"

After a short while, the pigs in the sty recovered somewhat, their breathing became much more natural, and they changed from lying on their backs to half-lying down.

Niu Lao Er exclaimed happily, "Brother, this pig looks much better!"

Grandpa Ji nodded, his tense heart easing slightly, and said, "It looks much better."

Ji Yongling turned her head and called out to Zhang Sheng outside the pigsty, "Uncle Zhang Sheng, have someone bring over more warm salt water."

Zhang Sheng readily agreed and called Zhang Baoqing's wife to fetch warm salt water.

The short, stocky man sneered, "It's been dragged on for so long, there's no need to keep going! This pig is beyond saving, the sooner we kill it, the sooner it's over."

Zhang Baoqing's wife, who was sitting on the ground cursing and pointing at the sky, immediately jumped up upon hearing this and shouted at the short, stocky man, "My pig was perfectly fine yesterday, but it's already like this this morning! Maybe some bastard poisoned it! Tell me, did you poison my pig?"

The short, stocky man wiped the spittle that had splattered on his face, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes. He said, "You woman, why are you slandering me like this? I came here out of kindness to help you, saying I wanted to kill this pig while it still had a breath left. I was doing it for your own good! And you, you silly woman, are throwing mud at me! In my opinion, since this pig is going to die sooner or later anyway, we might as well kill it now."

Zhang Sheng's cousin's wife spat and cursed as she went to fetch warm salt water.

After the pig was given warm salt water several times, it gradually recovered and actually stood up, startling everyone in the yard.

When Zhang Baoqing saw his pig stand up, he excitedly grabbed Zhang Sheng's hand and even shed a few tears.

Seeing that the pig's condition had improved, Ji Yongling whispered a few words to Grandpa Ji, and then they both left the pigpen.

Zhang Sheng gratefully stepped forward and grabbed the hands of Grandpa Ji and Niu Lao Er, saying, "Uncle Ji, Uncle Niu, we really owe you a lot this time! I just don't know what's wrong with my brother's pig, why did it suddenly fall ill?"

Ji Yongling had just discussed this issue with Grandpa Ji and Niu Lao Er in the pigsty. She guessed at the time, "This pig is vomiting bubbles and defecating, so it's probably either been fed a lot of croton seeds or given a lot of veratrum powder."

Farmers are familiar with both of these medicines and know their effects, especially the latter. Adults often warn children not to eat it because it is poisonous.

When Zhang Sheng asked this question, Grandpa Ji answered truthfully: "Your brother's pig should be poisoned, and it was poisoned by someone."

"Poisoned?!" several voices exclaimed in unison.

"Which son of a bitch poisoned my pig? If my pig doesn't live today, you son of a bitch don't expect to live either. I'll make sure your whole family dies with my pig!" Zhang Baoqing's wife cursed through gritted teeth, her face dark with anger.

"Don't let me find out which damned bastard poisoned my pig! If I ever find out, I'll make you know what it's like to die by my knife!" Zhang Baoqing's wife cursed incessantly as she scanned the crowd gathered in the courtyard with her bloodshot, large eyes. Everyone looked like the poisoner to her.

Zhang Sheng nudged his cousin and gestured to him with his eyes, telling his wife to behave herself, since there were outsiders present.

Seeing that the pig had come back to life and was not in any serious danger for the time being, Ji Yongling and the others washed their hands in a basin of water and prepared to leave.

Zhang Sheng and Zhang Baoqing refused to let them leave without even having a meal. Finally, after Zhang Sheng's repeated entreaties, Ji Yongling and the others had no choice but to have a meal at Zhang Sheng's house.

The next day, Zhang Baoqing and Zhang Sheng came to the door again, carrying two pieces of white pork. Only then did everyone realize that Zhang Baoqing's pigs had indeed been poisoned, and the murderer was the short, stocky man who shouted "slaughtering pigs" in front of the pigsty.

Because some children in the village saw this man sneak into Zhang Baoqing's house that morning, everyone guessed that his reason for poisoning the pig was simply to take advantage of the pig slaughtering to get some pork to eat. However, thanks to the help of Ji Yongling and others, the pig was saved, and the plan failed.

At first, the short, stocky man denied it, but after the child testified and the village head intervened, the short, stocky man had no choice but to admit that he had indeed fed Zhang Baoqing's pigs with wild onion powder in order to get some pork to eat.

Because in the village, people usually only invite close neighbors or immediate family members to slaughter pigs, short, stocky men who want to eat pork from Zhang Baoqing's family can only buy it or steal it.

However, what Zhang Baoqing and Zhang Sheng didn't mention was that before they arrived, Zhang Baoqing's wife had already taken a kitchen knife to the short, stocky man's house to show off her skills, just to scare his family.

However, ever since that incident, every household within a radius of dozens of miles suspected that the short, stocky man from Zhangjiapan had poisoned their pigs if they were unwell...