Local prose, killing pigs in the production team when I was a child.

Figure/from the network

When I was a child, I loved and hated You Zhu. Love food tastes delicious, and hate it often runs in circles. My family keeps two piglets every year. They often climb fences and destroy vegetable fields. They are out of breath with fatigue. In the countryside in the 1970s, it was organized by counties, communes, brigades and production teams. Our family belongs to Chenwan Production Team of Chenwan Brigade, and the branch secretary of the brigade is our eldest brother Shouhai. At that time, the production team had a pig farm with dozens of black pigs, which was the expectation and hope of the whole production team for one year.

In the past, eating pork was not a particularly easy thing. You can't eat one or two meals a month. Hunger can only be ended if we have a holiday during the New Year or go home to visit relatives. I remember my mother was beating meat at the pork stall at the east end of Qiaodong, trying to buy fat meat. At that time, I didn't understand. I didn't know until I grew up that life was too bitter at that time, and food and cooking oil were very tight, because buying fat meat can not only refine some lard, but also make braised pork soup and bibimbap, and eating braised pork can be good for several days.

The pig farm of the production team is on the threshing floor in the northwest corner of my home. There are more than a dozen home-made pigsty, and each pigsty has three or five black pigs. The breeder is an old man specially appointed by the production team who has experience in raising pigs. The feed is mainly rice bran and pig grass cut by some members. We children look forward to the pig growing up every day. As the year is approaching, the pig has become a chubby pig, which indicates that there is pork and meat.

The collective pig raising of production teams is mainly to solve the problem that members eat meat, and it is the busiest time for pig farms near the end of the year. When the pig was killed, there were nearly 30 production teams, and each household would send a representative to the scene. Generally speaking, the male labor force is the majority. The female workers mainly help to boil water, cook the head and clean the house in the big iron pot. The main task of male labor is to catch big fat pigs in the pigsty and assist the pig killer to kill pigs and other heavy physical labor.

The scene of killing pigs is bloody enough, and we children are so scared that we can only watch from a distance, for fear that the pigs will run away and bite ourselves. It is not easy for men to drive pigs in pigsty. In order to catch pigs easily, pigs will be fed a full meal before going to the slaughterhouse. While the pig was eating sweetly, several male laborers with big arms and round waist jumped into the pigsty. When the pigs are unprepared, it's too late, but it's almost there. Two big men, one holding the pig's ear and the other holding the pig's tail tightly. At this time, pigs will bark and bark.

When the pig howled, the experienced butcher hooked the pig's mouth with an iron hook, and with the cooperation of others, Qi Xin pushed the big fat pig down on the bench and tied it up. At this time, the pig killer was holding a bright pig knife and putting it under the pig's neck. The white knife goes in, the red knife comes out, and the bright red pig blood splashes out and puts it in the lead bucket that has already been prepared. Pigs will try their best to howl at the top of their lungs until they can't make a sound. Confirm that the pig is dead, then stick a long iron bar into the pig's hind leg and poke it, and then the pig killer will blow air at the gap between the pig's legs with his mouth until the pig is round, and then carry it into the vat. It is said that it is easy to lose pig hair.

Pigs put in big wooden barrels are not for sauna enjoyment, but for full bathing with boiling water. Female players are responsible for carrying buckets to open water, and pig killers carry buckets to pour boiling water for pigs. Someone nearby helped to keep swinging the pig in the big bucket with an iron hook. The pig killer will use an iron scraper to fade the pig hair while it is hot. Three times five divided by two, the big black pig was turned into a big white pig in ten minutes. At this time, several strong laborers lifted the pig and hung it upside down on the stump. The butcher began to gut the pig, take out all the internal organs, and then cut the pig into two pieces, and the task of killing the pig was completed.

Pigs are distributed equally among the population. Basically, everyone has about 1 kg of meat, which is chopped by the pig butcher and numbered by the production team cadres. In order to ensure the relative fairness of distribution, nearly 30 families each sent a representative to draw lots, put numbered small notes in an empty carton, shake them, grab them blindly, and take meat according to the number of the notes. The scene of meat sharing is very noisy. Those who get a piece of fat laugh, and those who get more lean meat only blame themselves for their bad luck. Because people at that time had a soft spot for fat meat. When I take the pork home, my mother will carefully classify it, refine the fat, leave some salt to make bacon, and make the rest into dried meat, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork with arrowheads as meat for New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year. It is the happiest thing when I was a child to think that there are big fish and big meat to eat during the Spring Festival.

It's good to have water on the pig's head. After cleaning, the members pour them into a large iron pot and cook them, and then divide a large iron spoon from door to door. Every time we go into the water separately, my second sister Xiufeng and I will grab a small aluminum basin. Finally, under the mediation of our parents, * * * will get it. The water on the head just made is steaming, fragrant and drooling. On the way home, my second sister and I secretly ate a few pieces of pork liver and pork strips, which we thought were the best. When we got home, we unconsciously wiped our mouths with our sleeves, but our parents had already seen the little secret of stealing vegetables, but they just didn't reveal it.

Now, when I think of my childhood, the production team divided the meat in the pig, which can be said to be deeply touched. After more than 40 years of reform and opening up, people's living standards have undergone earth-shaking changes. I seldom eat meat before, but now every meal is big fish and big meat. Eating meat has become a burden. I just want to eat vegetables and wild vegetables. From the past to the present, from bitter days to good days. If my parents were still alive, I would sleep.

It's easy to live from bitter days to good days, but difficult to live from good days to bitter days! As a rich man, you should know how to cherish and be grateful. Do not forget your initiative mind, forge ahead and create a better tomorrow with hard-working hands!

The manuscript was completed at the foot of Yangshan Mountain on February 23rd, 2020, 65438.