allonlinenovel Chapter 39 Preparing Pig Feed
Chapter 39 Preparing Pig Feed
While the braised pork was cooking, Zhou Jiefang was in charge of tending the fire, and while doing so, he also looked at his college entrance exam materials.
Zhao Yuan, on the other hand, devoted himself to translation work.
The two sisters were overjoyed to see their new desks and started doing their homework at their respective desks.
After feeding and putting Zhao Nana to sleep, Lin Fangfang took over Zhou Jiefang's task of tending the fire, and told Zhou Jiefang to go outside to read in a well-lit place.
Zhou Jiefang didn't stand on ceremony. He knew that Zhao Yuan had asked him to help him, which was actually to help him, so he didn't hold back.
The house instantly became a quiet, bookish place.
As evening approached, the ham sausages and braised pig intestines were ready.
Dinner is ready.
As the light gradually dimmed, the house began to come alive, and everyone put down their books.
Zhao Yuan seasoned the braised pig ears, braised pig face, and braised large and small intestines separately and plated them. He also cut a section of sausage and plated it. For dinner, he stir-fried some hand-torn cabbage and then they started eating.
Tonight's feast is truly magnificent.
There were four meat dishes alone: braised pig ears, braised pig cheek, braised large and small intestines, a cold ham sausage platter, and a hand-shredded cabbage. Compared to the usual meals that only consist of one vegetable dish, this was an incredibly luxurious meal.
The lunch had already surprised Zhao Zhaodi and Zhao Laidi, who ate to their hearts' content, and dinner was even more lavish.
Ever since my sister was born, my parents had a huge fight, and things have changed at home.
My parents have never argued again. They are often seen smiling. And whenever my father is home, the food at home is never bad. Life at home has become even better since my father came back from Huacheng.
The two sisters were immersed in happiness. Looking at the table full of meat and dishes, they couldn't wait to start eating, especially Zhao Laidi, whose mouth was practically watering.
At that moment, Zhao Yuan said:
"Eat up, everyone, try it and see how it tastes?"
Zhao Yuan took the lead and picked up a piece of pork cheek with his chopsticks and started eating, and everyone else also began to pick up the dishes closest to them and start eating.
"Wow, this is so delicious! I've never eaten such delicious pig ears in my life, and this pig face, and these intestines, such tender things, are so delicious after you've cooked them like this. Brother Zhao, your cooking skills are absolutely top-notch."
Zhou Jiefang looked on with admiration, and while eating, he didn't forget to give a thumbs up.
"Mmm, this is so delicious! Daddy, will we have to eat this often in the future?"
Zhao Lai Di ate and talked at the same time.
"Everyone, please give your opinions on which one tastes the best."
Zhao Yuan asked.
"They're all delicious, they all taste great, they're definitely the best I've ever had."
Lin Fangfang echoed her sentiment.
“Then I’ll go with it. Once this busy period is over, I’ll get the braised food business sorted out.”
Zhao Yuan said.
"Ah, I really want to start a braised food business."
Zhou Jiefang asked.
"Yes, my family didn't farm this year. I've been thinking about this for a while now."
Zhao Yuan answered.
"Dad, what's this called? This one tastes even better. All of these are delicious, but this is my favorite."
Zhao Laidi said.
"This is a sausage."
Zhao Yuan said.
Upon hearing what Lai Di said, everyone reached for the bowl of ham sausages with their chopsticks.
"This is my favorite too."
Zhao Zhaodi also chimed in.
"Mmm, so delicious! I'm really in for a treat today. I've never had such a good meal even back in the city."
Zhou Jiefang stared wide-eyed at Zhao Yuan, nodding repeatedly.
"I think your idea is worth a try."
He then gave Zhao Yuan a thumbs up.
After finishing your meal, clean up the dishes.
Zhou Jiefang is getting ready to go home.
Zhao Yuan escorted Zhou Jiefang to the door.
“Jiefang, come help me again tomorrow. Come often in the future. Look at all these piglets I have. I’m also planning to make braised dishes and sausages. I’ll definitely need people. I don’t know how the business will go at first. You can come and help out first. It’s tentatively 20 yuan a month, including meals. You can go back to Chijiaopen Village to live. Is that okay?”
Zhao Yuan said this to Zhou Jiefang when he saw Zhou Jiefang off.
"No need for so much. I'm just here to help out. I don't need wages; you can just provide meals."
Zhou Jiefang said.
"It's settled then, you'll come help me from now on, the salary is tentatively set at 20 yuan a month. Just come tomorrow, and get the pig feed ready."
Zhao Yuan bid farewell to Zhou Jiefang.
After seeing Zhou Jiefang off, Zhou Zhaodi and Zhou Laidi went to wash the dishes and feed the pigs. Although there are many pigs at home now, they don't need to chop too much pig feed, so it's not much harder than before, just that the feeding time is a little longer.
Zhao Yuan then began translating documents by lamplight. He hadn't even started translating the documents he brought back last time, and he had to finish translating them within a few days. He also needed to arrange everything related to the pigsty by tomorrow.
The next day, Zhou Jiefang arrived as usual, just as dawn broke.
The two men started preparing pig feed. Zhao Yuan and Zhou Jiefang chopped dry straw and sweet potato vines for half the morning, but they only managed to chop less than half a vat. Both of their hands were blistered from the effort. They both realized that at this pace, they couldn't keep up with the work. Preparing pig feed like this was too labor-intensive, and they had to find a solution.
The two stopped and thought about how to save manpower and make the work more time-saving and labor-saving. Zhou Jiefang took out a pen from his bag and began to draw on the paper.
After a while, Zhou Jiefang put down his pen and handed Zhao Yuan a piece of paper, saying:
"Brother Zhao, look at this thing I drew."
In my past life, solving this problem would have been incredibly easy, but right now I can't afford such a high-quality shredder. Even if I did, I couldn't afford it given my current financial situation. In this era, there are many things you can't buy even if you have the money.
Zhao Yuan took the paper from Zhou Jiefang, looked at it, and the two discussed it for a while, making some revisions in some places before finalizing the draft.
"Alright, let's go to the blacksmith in town and see if we can get it done today."
As they spoke, the two of them pulled the cart toward the town.
The best blacksmith in town was Yao the blacksmith who lived at the end of the town. Zhao Yuan and Zhou Jiefang went straight to Yao's house when they arrived in town.
Zhou Jiefang took out the blueprints and explained to Yao the blacksmith how to forge it. Yao the blacksmith understood Zhou Jiefang's meaning and began to forge it.
After working for about two hours, the finished product was finally completed. Zhao Yuan shook it and found that it was indeed much easier.
The two paid and loaded the hand-cranked cutting machine onto a cart, then hauled it home.
With this, cutting dry straw, dried sweet potato vines, corn stalks, corn cobs, and the like becomes much faster. After a whole day of work, the two finally filled two large vats with various mixed hay and feed, then covered them with the lids that Zhao Sihai had rushed to make yesterday, and waited for them to ferment.
Zhao Yuan then went to his backyard and cut down a few large bamboo stalks.
Zhao Yuan skillfully split the bamboo, removing the branches and cutting it in half lengthwise. Each bamboo stalk became two split water pipes. He then overlapped the smaller ends of the pipes with the larger ones, creating a continuous water pipe. He then made an opening near the entrance to each pigpen, inserting a small bamboo tube to form a network of interconnected pipes. This made watering much easier.
After finishing these tasks, Zhao Yuan and Zhou Jiefang dragged some sawdust from Zhao Sihai's house and spread it all over the pigsty.
The pigpen is basically done; now we just need to start fermenting the feed.
Tu Chenglong had just returned from a meeting in the provincial capital at the Xinhua Bookstore in the county.
Tu Chenglong went into his office, put down his things, and without even taking a sip of tea, went to the telephone room and dialed the number for Daguang Commune.
As evening approached, a bicycle pulled up in front of Zhaoyuan's house, and a man in a Zhongshan suit got out. Upon closer inspection, it was Liu Wenbo, the commune director.
"Zhaoyuan, I just received a call from Director Tu of the county Xinhua Bookstore. He wants you to come to the county Xinhua Bookstore tomorrow; it's important. I rushed over as soon as I got the call."
"Thank you, Director Liu, for making the special trip. Please come in and have a cup of tea before you leave."
Zhao Yuan warmly welcomed Director Liu in.
Lin Fangfang had already brewed a cup of fennel tea and brought it over.
Director Liu sat down, finished his tea, and rode away on his bicycle.
After dinner, Zhao Yuan instructed Zhou Jiefang on what to do for the next few days: cut more straw. After seeing Zhou Jiefang off, Zhao Yuan then devoted himself to the translation work.