Chapter 3 Killing Pigs for the New Year (1/2)

There is only one day left before the Chinese New Year. Probably to add some atmosphere to the New Year, heavy snow fell in the past two days, and water turned into ice.

In the severe cold, those who were lying in bed waiting to die in the village did not let God waste the already limited rations. Three people died in one day.

Those families whose relatives died only cried perfunctorily, then rolled them up with straw mats and buried them in the mass grave.

The lives of the poor are cheap, just like weeds. Every winter, they will die. Everyone has long been numb.

However, Ergouzi's uncle's family is happy today.

The cousin who studied martial arts in the county town came back, and the private school where the cousin went to school had already been closed.

The big black pig that Ergouzi had raised for two years finally died today and was slaughtered for the New Year.

The pig's hair weighed 83 kilograms. After washing and scraping it clean, there was still 50 kilograms of meat with the internal organs, enough for the whole family to have a fat year.

Er Gouzi did not go to collect firewood today. He was busy boiling water, scraping hair, turning intestines, and shoveling pig manure.

He thought that he had worked hard for two years to raise pigs.

Even if his uncle did not care about the blood relationship, he would give him two pieces of fat meat to satisfy his cravings for his contribution.

So Er Gouzi was also very happy today.

Today was destined to be a big day of harvest. The rice seedlings in the room were all mature, and the rice ears were heavy and the grains were full.

Er Gouzi picked all the millets and put them in the room to dry, intending to keep them for seeds.

In addition, the rice seedlings secretly planted on the mountain had also eared and could be harvested soon.

Er Gouzi was squatting beside the earthen stove and burning the fire. The pot was bubbling with white steam, and an attractive meaty aroma came out, which made him swallow his saliva.

At this time, his cousin brought a large plate, and his aunt used chopsticks to scoop out the meat in the pot piece by piece and put it on the plate.

The fat was white and tender, shaking like tofu pudding, and oozing with oil, and the aroma of meat went straight into my nostrils.

"Enough! Enough!"

Seeing that the meat in the wooden plate had piled up into a small hill, my cousin hurriedly stopped him and said that it was enough.

"My son, eat more. You eat a lot when you practice martial arts. How can you have the strength if you don't eat enough!"

As my aunt said this, she added a few more pieces of fat to the plate and pressed it, making the oil flow out.

"You two brothers are the hope of the whole family. If you can pass the exam to become a scholar or a juren in the future, our family will be prosperous!"

After my aunt filled a large plate of fat for my cousin, she began to take out pieces of fat and put them on my cousin's plate.

"Mom, I want to eat lean meat!"

My cousin looked at the fat in the plate and wanted to eat lean meat.

"What do you know, kid? Fatty meat is so delicious. Fatty meat is the best meat. Lean meat is the cheapest meat on the pig. It is woody, has no oil, and gets stuck in your teeth."

"You look so thin and weak, like bean sprouts. You need to eat more fatty meat to make up for it."

The aunt didn't care about anything and scooped out a large plate of fatty pork belly for her cousin.

The pork belly was her biggest concession.

After dividing the meat between the two brothers, only some ribs, leg bones, and lean meat were left in the pot.

These inferior meats were left for the old couple and their cousin to eat.

Er Gouzi looked at the remaining bones and lean meat in the pot. His dream of eating a piece of fat meat had been shattered.

But it was not bad to eat a piece of lean meat, or to gnaw on a bone to satisfy his craving.

The aunt took out all the remaining bones and meat in the pot and looked at the remaining broth in the pot, which was still covered with a lot of oil.

"Er Gouzi!"

"Hey! Auntie!"

Er Gouzi looked at the pork in his auntie's hand, and his response was very loud, with a bright smile on his face. The New Year is about celebrating.

"Add some more water to the pot, and then cook a big pot of dried wild vegetables."

"Also, there is so much pig manure on the ground, you don't even know to clean it up!"

Er Gouzi just watched helplessly as his auntie took all the meat away.

She didn't even leave him a bone, but only a bunch of chores.

Alas! People who live under someone else's roof will never eat meat.

Er Gouzi could only add some water to the broth as she said, and then throw several bundles of dried wild vegetables into it to cook.

The wild vegetables cooked in the broth tasted very fragrant.

After he finished his work, he went to the living room to take a look with a fluke mentality.

Sure enough, his auntie didn't even leave him a bone.

He could only eat some wild vegetables to deal with this pig-killing feast.

At night, he returned to his sleeping room and closed the door.

He took out the dried rice and counted them one by one.

It is better to rely on oneself than on others. These seeds and the yellow gourd in his arms are his hope to eat meat in the future.

This time, a total of 355 rice grains were harvested.

Farmers need one or two dou of seeds for one mu of land, and can only harvest two shi of grain in a good year. (One shi is equal to ten dou, and one dou is equal to ten liters)

He only harvested four shriveled rice grains, but he harvested more than 300 grains, and the return ratio far exceeded normal farming.

In addition to these rice grains, there were two pairs of new straw sandals on the wall, and more than a dozen coins were pressed at the foot of the bed.

Er Gouzi gently moved the foot of the bed and took out a small cloth bag pressed underneath.

He opened the cloth bag and found more than a dozen copper coins in it.

"One, two, three... sixteen!"

His fingers rubbed on the copper coins one by one. This was all the money he had secretly saved by making straw sandals and selling them.

Every once in a while, he would take them out, touch them, and count them, feeling very at ease.

"Dong dong dong..."

At this moment, there was a small knock on the door.

"Brother Gouzi! Open the door quickly!"

It was my cousin's voice.

Ergouzi quickly pulled over the straw mat and covered the money and rice.

When he opened the door, he saw his concubine wearing a thin coat, shivering in the snow outside the door, her upper and lower teeth chattering from the cold.

"Xiao'ezi, what are you doing so late?"

"Brother Gouzi, look!"

As the cousin spoke, he rummaged around inside his clothes and finally took out a small bag tightly wrapped with tung tree leaves and stretched it out in front of Er Gouzi.

Two or three feet away, Ergouzi smelled a rich and alluring aroma of meat.

"Hurry up and eat. I'm going back to sleep. Don't let my mother find out."

"Thank you!"

When Er Gouzi took the small bag and said thank you, his cousin had already turned around and left.

In the uncle's house for so many years, this cousin was the only one who treated him as a relative and often took care of him secretly.

There was still a hint of warmth in the bag in my hand. I opened the several layers of leaf leaves to reveal the pork that had long been squeezed and deformed.

Tear off a piece of lean meat and throw it into your mouth, chewing it carefully.

It smells so good!

Pork is so delicious!

If he could eat two mouthfuls of pork every month, he would be willing to work as a cow or a horse for others.

"Bang!"

Just as he was enjoying the delicious pork, the door was kicked open.

I saw my aunt was furious and holding a stick of firewood in her hand.

"You're a murderer! How dare you steal it!"

Auntie rushed in and hit Er Gouzi with the firewood stick in her hand.

At the same time, he reached out and snatched the pork from Er Gouzi's hand.

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Ergouzi protected the pork with all his strength, turned his back to his aunt, and stuffed the pork into his mouth with all his strength.

Anyway, this beating is unavoidable and cannot be in vain. Eat the meat you get.

"Bang bang bang..."

"You murderer of a thousand cuts, give me back your meat!"

Ergouzi endured the pain and finally stuffed a large piece of meat into his mouth. He choked and rolled his eyes and couldn't breathe.

Fortunately, the firewood stick in the aunt's hand hit him on the back several times, and the large piece of meat was removed from his stomach.

Er Gouzi felt comfortable, but his behavior completely angered his aunt.

"You are a murderer. If you dare to steal meat today, you will steal the gold and silver from home tomorrow."

The aunt was scolding and chasing her, but Ergouzi didn't dare to talk back, let alone fight back. He could only dodge and suffer silently.

He has been used to it since he was a child, and he just tolerated it and passed it.

If he dared to talk back, he would be beaten even more severely, and he wouldn't even be given scraps to eat.

At this moment, Ergouzi was forced to the edge of the bed and had no way to retreat, but the aunt still refused to let him go. She pushed him down on the bed and continued to beat him.

She just wants Er Gouzi to have a better memory and never dare to eat things he shouldn't eat in the future.

Suddenly, the aunt stopped what she was doing and stared at the corner of the straw mat.

Under the straw mat, several copper coins were exposed.

Ergouzi secretly thought that something was wrong, and wanted to reach out to protect him, but it was too late.

The aunt opened the straw mat, revealing the copper coins and rice covered underneath.

"Okay! I have provided you with food and drink, and have raised you for more than ten years. In the end, I have to steal my money and food, and I have raised such a white-eyed wolf like you!"

"This is mine!"

Ergouzi covered the copper coins and rice scattered on the bed with his hands.

This is the fortune he has saved for a long time, and it is where his hope lies.

When he was protecting the money, he pushed his aunt out, knocking her down to the ground.

His face was scratched on the wall, and there was a trace of blood.

"Ahhhh..."

"Hitting someone..."

Auntie howled loudly. The black pig she killed during the day was not as ferocious or as powerful as hers.

The previous noise had alarmed everyone, but when they heard the aunt's howl, the whole family immediately rushed here.

The first one to come was the cousin. After he entered, he kicked Ergouzi in the chest and knocked him to the ground.

Martial arts practitioners are extremely powerful. After Ergouzi received this kick, his vision turned black. He held his belly and couldn't exert any strength.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that his stomach and intestines twitched, and he vomited out all the meat he had just eaten after being beaten.

But his cousin still didn't intend to let him go. He stepped on his head so hard that it felt like his head would burst.

At this time, the cousin who had read poetry and books rushed forward and took the opportunity to kick Er Gouzi.

"Big brother! Second brother! Stop fighting, I stole the meat!"

The cousin tried to grab the two brothers, but was pulled away by her aunt and thrown aside.

"Kill this white-eyed wolf!"

"If I hadn't been kind enough to take you in, you would have starved to death!"

"Kill you ungrateful thing!"

"Hit me!"

The aunt stopped howling at this time, placed her hands on her hips, and cursed at the side.

Ergouzi only felt dizzy and confused. From childhood to adulthood, the experiences he had experienced over the years were still vivid in his mind.

Both his parents died when he was five years old, and his only brother died when he was six years old. From the age of six, he had to do heavy work every day and lived worse than a dog.

I am hungry, cold, and have to eat leftovers and pig food. I don't even have a pair of complete pants.

A wave of grief and anger surged in my heart.

"You are the ungrateful ones!"

"You are the ones who occupied my parents' inheritance!"

In the midst of grief and anger, Er Gouzi suddenly got a force from nowhere and shouted loudly.

After shouting, the room suddenly fell into silence!

Aunt, cousins, all stared at Er Gouzi quietly.

After shouting these words, Er Gouzi knew that something bad had happened.

This was a secret that he had been holding in his heart for a long time, and he never dared to say a word.

Over the years, he has been pretending to know nothing, muddleheaded, working hard, and not fighting back when being beaten or scolded.

"Ahhh..."

"You are such an ungrateful bastard!"

"I have raised you for 10 years, and now you are repaying kindness with hatred!"

"Bang bang bang..."

The aunt's dry howl seemed to be a command, and the cousins ​​punched and kicked Er Gouzi fiercely again.

This time they did not hold back at all and beat him to death.

Er Gouzi felt his ribs were broken, he could not breathe, and his head was buzzing.

This time he was probably dead...

"Stop!"

"That's enough!"

A strong male voice came, and the cousins ​​stopped immediately.

Er Gouzi saw his uncle walk into the room in a daze.

"Stop it all, someone will die if you continue to fight!"

"But..."

The cousin wanted to speak, but was stopped by his uncle.

"We are all family, and if someone dies, it will inevitably be gossiped about. We are all from the same hometown, and it will be embarrassing, and we will inevitably have to go to court."

It turned out that the uncle did not really care about Er Gouzi's life.

Rather, they were afraid of beating someone to death, which would be spread out and gossiped about, which would make them look bad, and they would have to spend money to bribe the government.

"Er Gouzi, I have raised you from the age of 5 to 13 this year, which is already 8 years. As your uncle, I have done my best."

The uncle squatted on the ground and said some high-sounding words to Er Gouzi, then signaled the cousins ​​to carry Er Gouzi and walk out the door.

"Dad!"

The cousin grabbed the uncle's sleeve.

"Dad! It's freezing outside now. If Gouzi goes outside alone, he will freeze to death!"

"Pa!"

A crisp slap hit the cousin's face, and the aunt pulled the cousin aside.

"Your father and brother have their own decisions on family affairs. When is it your turn as a woman to speak!"

"Dad and mom, can we wait until the spring..."

"Pa!"

Another slap hit the cousin's face, and then the aunt forcibly pulled the cousin away and locked her in a room.

The held Er Gouzi looked back at his imprisoned cousin, and then he was pushed out of the door.

"Er Gouzi, from now on, you will go your own way, and your life or death has nothing to do with my family!"

"Squeak~~Ah~Bang!"

After the cousin threw out a word, he closed the door.

In the ice and snow, only Er Gouzi was left lying on the ground shivering!