The Game of Life

Chapter 96 - 95 Slaughter the Pig

In no time, the kitchen came alive with activity.

“Hand-pulled noodles!” Jiang Jianguo said with utter certainty, “Dad must be in a good mood today, but I don’t know if he made any ‘saozi.’ If he could pour a big spoonful of ‘saozi’ over the noodles and top it with four big pieces of stewed beef, with some fat and tendons, that’d be perfect.”

“Dad didn’t make ‘saozi,'” Jiang Jiankang interrupted Jiang Jianguo’s daydream.

“He didn’t?” Jiang Jianguo was a bit disappointed. “Well, even without it, adding some stew sauce will do, along with some pickled long beans.”

“We finished the pickled long beans last night,” Jiang Jiandang threw in another wet blanket.

“I saw a big bowl of them on top of the photo cabinet the day before yesterday; how did you finish them so quickly?” Jiang Jianguo was annoyed.

“Feng came home, and Mom said to feed Sanhua well for the next few days. Dad has been busy boiling pig feed. Last night he stir-fried some vegetables, but other times he just made stomach-friendly congee, which tastes like nothing. We’d slurp down over a dozen bowls of it as if it was water, so we had no choice but to eat pickled long beans,” Jiang Jiankang said a bit aggrieved. “This wouldn’t have happened if Feng didn’t leave without a word, otherwise Dad would have at least let us have some solid food.”

Jiang Feng:…

He felt like a huge pot had just been placed upside down on his head.

Wearing an invisible heavy lid, Jiang Feng maintained an awkward but polite smile all the way until Sir called them to serve the noodles.

The three brothers, with a speed inversely proportional to their size and weight, snatched a bowl of noodles each and dashed off to grab the beef, encircling the stewed beef pot so tightly that Jiang Feng and Jiang Zaidi, who were a tad slower, couldn’t squeeze in.

By the time Jiang Feng’s fourth and fifth uncles and their families arrived, everyone was already sitting at the doorstep with chairs, belching from fullness. Without wasting time on conversation, the latecomers quickly headed to the kitchen to grab the leftover beef.

The Jiang Family’s annual New Year battle for food had officially commenced.

After ten minutes, eight more chairs appeared at the doorway, with Jiang Feng’s twin cousins collapsing in them to the left and right, mimicking each other’s slumped posture perfectly.

The victorious comrade Jiang Jianguo leisurely asked, “Which pig are we slaughtering for the New Year this time?”

“Probably Sanhua. Dad said he’s doing it this afternoon, and everything with the butcher Wang was arranged yesterday; Old Sir Wang himself will take care of it,” Jiang Jiandang replied.

“Old Sir Wang? Isn’t he retired and his son Da Hua doing the butchering?” Jiang Jianguo perked up immediately.

“Wang’s not good enough, how could we let him butcher the New Year pig? His cuts are all wrong, and he doesn’t even blow up the pig properly, it’s got to be Old Sir Wang who does the job,” Jiang Jiandang explained.

“Hey, Junior, we haven’t seen Sanhua since we got back, right? Let’s go and take a look in the pigpen?” Jiang Jianye suggested.

“Sure, last time I saw Sanhua it was still just a piglet; I’m curious to see how big it has gotten,” Jiang Jianshe stood up, going with Jiang Jianye to the pigpen.

Jiang Junlian and Jiang Junqing hadn’t seen a live pig much, so they also ran to join the excitement. Jiang Feng thought he ought to go and take a look since he had fed Sanhua for over ten days and today it was to be turned into a pork dish. Jiang Zaidi and Jiang Shoucheng followed suit and headed for the pigpen as well.

Seven people surrounded the pigpen so tightly that not even light could get through, leaving Sihua and Wuhua, who were not used to such commotion, cowering in the corner, squealing in fear.

“Hey, Sanhua looks pretty good!” Jiang Jianshe complimented, “this wide back, smooth and firm! It would be perfect for making garlic white meat.”

“The rear is great too, round and full, must be a lot of muscle there. When it’s sliced up for roasting, one portion honey-glazed, one spicy with extra cumin…” Jiang Jianye’s eyes were glistening.

“Spine meat for pot-roasted pork. If only Dad would add a bit more white vinegar for a sweet and sour flavor and skip the cilantro, that taste…” Jiang Jianshe was daydreaming.

“It’s alright if we don’t add cilantro, Dad doesn’t like vinegar, so a touch is the absolute limit. What I can’t predict is how the blood sausage will turn out this year.” Jiang Jianye smacked his lips, “Sauerkraut blood sausage stewed with pork, tsk tsk, just unbeatable.”

As the two brothers critically appraised Sanhua, Mrs. Jiang, who had originally gone to consult with Old Sir Wang about the pig slaughtering, stormed back in anger and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Jianguo, Jiandang, Jiankang, Jianye, Jianshe, drive Sanhua out nowand take her over to MasterWang’s place for slaughtering!”

Jiang Jiankang was shocked, “Mom, didn’t Dad say we’d do it in the afternoon?”

“We can’t wait till the afternoon. Just now, Li Cuihua from next door also went to see Old Wang. With Old Wang’s age, if he slaughters their pig, where will he get the energy to deal with Sanhua? Quick, quick, quick, where are those two little twerps? Call them over, and get Sanhua there for me!” Mrs. Jiang said as she headed toward the pigsty.

Under Mrs. Jiang’s command, the five brothers worked together seamlessly; with Sanhua running in front and the brothers chasing behind, they finally arrived before the pig from the neighboring house did.

The father and son from the neighboring house resentfully took their pig back home to wait till the next day, and amidst Sanhua’s several wails, Old Sir Wang used his expert pig-slaughtering skills to clearly arrange each part of Sanhua.

“Dad, Sanhua is squealing so tragically.” Jiang Junqing, who was in junior high, couldn’t bear it.

“It’s okay. The more tragically she squeals, the more delicious the dishes will be later on,” Jiang Jianshe consoled.

Jiang Feng: ???

After the pig was slaughtered, Master Wang left the rest to them. Slaughtering pigs was tough physical work, and he wasn’t young anymore, so he went inside to change clothes and rest.

“Quickly, Zaide, Shoucheng, take the pig’s blood back home for Grandpa to make blood sausage,” commanded Mrs. Jiang as the overall director.

The basin had already been filled with saltwater to prevent the pig’s blood from coagulating. Jiang Zaidi and Jiang Shoucheng picked up the large basin and sprinted home with the speed of a 100-meter dash.

“What are you idiots standing around for? Master Wang has already divided everything up. Hurry up and pack it to take home,” Mrs. Jiang barked, “And when you go, make sure to pass by Li Cuihua’s front door. She thought she could cut ahead of me, as if she didn’t know her fat pig couldn’t outrun our Sanhua.”

Whether they could outrun Jiang Feng or not was unknown, but they definitely outran them now, since Sanhua was already in the basin. Even if she had all four hooves, she couldn’t run anymore.

The Jiang family was large and strong; in one trip, they brought everything home.

Once all the goods were gathered, they got busy. Sir made the blood sausage, Jiang Jianguo and Jiang Jiankang took care of the pig’s offal, while everyone else helped chop and distribute the meat.

After dealing with all the pork, dumplings were the main dish for the evening. The tedious job of mincing, kneading dough, rolling skins, and preparing dumpling filling had everyone, including the females who didn’t usually cook, bustling non-stop until night fell before they finally could rest.

For dinner, they had pork dumplings and sauerkraut stewed with blood sausage and white meat.

The blood sausage was freshly cooked, making it the most tender meal of the day. Sir didn’t stint and used the best part of Sanhua’s meat, the five-layer pork, with a proportion of thirty percent fat to seventy percent lean, combined with sauerkraut, and Sir cooked two large bowls. Jiang Feng also brought out the pickles Jiang Weiming gave him. Although there was only one dish for the meal, it was lively, almost feeling like New Year’s Eve.

“It’s practically New Year,” Jiang Weiming sighed.

“On New Year’s Eve, I’ll make you chopped pepper fish head,” promised Jiang Weiming with a beaming smile.

“Great!” Jiang Jiankang immediately got excited, “Uncle, the village head said they would drain the village pond on New Year’s Eve morning and distribute the fish to the families. After the New Year, they need to clean out the silt at the bottom of the pond. No need to buy fish, there’s a huge carp down there. My second brother and I have been trying to catch it for half a month without any luck!”

Jiang Weiguo was too lazy to scold him and began seriously pondering what to eat on New Year’s Eve. This year there were many happy events in the family, so it was fitting to prepare a lavish New Year’s Eve dinner to cap off the year.

*Beep beep beep, the Jiang family’s New Year’s Eve menu is hotly under collection!