TIPS – Chapter 80

Song Jingwei consciously moved as quickly as possible so as not to delay their progress. Once he was done, he said, “Let’s go. Don’t keep your father waiting.”

Outside, it was still dark. He couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have to kill pigs this early?”

“Hmm…” Shen Junxi thought for a moment, then gestured, “After killing the pig, we take the pig’s head to compete for the first incense offering.”

It was only around four or five in the morning. Song Jingwei confidently said, “Then you must be the earliest every year.”

Shen Junxi gestured, “It’s ‘we.’ This year, we are the earliest too.”

In the courtyard, Shen Dongming had already set up the slaughtering rack and was just waiting for his son to help drag the pig over. Shen Junxi and Song Jingwei walked together under the corridor. Shen Junxi gestured to Song Jingwei, “You stand here, don’t come close.”

Once his wife nodded, he walked over, picked up a thick hemp rope, and went with his father into the pigpen.

Song Jingwei waited for a while, then saw the father and son working together to drag out a pig. The little black dog excitedly followed behind, wagging its tail. The fat pig struggled fiercely, twisting and grunting loudly…

When they dragged it to the well, Shen Dongming let go, picked up a long, sharp knife that had been prepared earlier, and said, panting, “Hold it down, I’m going to stab it.” He found the right spot and plunged the knife into the pig’s throat.

The pig let out a loud, piercing, and miserable scream—so sharp and shrill that it could scare a young child to tears.

It was Song Jingwei’s first time witnessing a pig slaughter live, and he found it hard to endure the pig’s prolonged and ear-piercing screams. But they quickly collected the pig’s blood while Yang Shi came out carrying a steaming bucket of hot water, using a gourd ladle to pour it over the pig’s body.

Shen Dongming then switched to a short knife and tried scraping the pig’s skin. It wasn’t quite ready, so he had Yang Shi pour another ladle of hot water.

“All right.” The entire pig was scalded with boiling water, and now its bristles could be scraped off.

Shen Junxi picked up a short knife and helped his father scrape the pig’s bristles. His skilled movements showed that this was far from his first time doing such work.

After having seen Shen Junxi’s graceful way of writing and making tea, watching him slaughter a pig and scrape off its bristles made Song Jingwei feel a little conflicted and somewhat melancholic.

If Shen Junxi had been born into a wealthy family, he would have been a refined and noble gentleman, someone who never had to dirty his hands, only needing to read, write poetry, and enjoy a leisurely life. He wouldn’t have to do all these laborious tasks—slaughtering pigs, digging up water chestnuts in the fields, picking tea leaves, roasting tea in a hot kitchen, carrying a bamboo basket to cut pig feed, or feeding pigs in a smelly pen.

Scenes of Shen Junxi’s life flashed through Song Jingwei’s mind, and he suddenly realized that this young man had unknowingly integrated into his life.

Before he knew it, the two-hundred-pound pig had been hoisted onto a wooden rack, belly facing Shen Dongming, ready to be gutted.

Shen Junxi stood beside him holding a wooden basin, ready to collect whatever his father removed.

First came the pig’s liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach. Shen Dongming chuckled and said, “Hey, this pig stomach looks nice—save it for your wife.”

As for the intestines, there were small intestines and large intestines. Shen Dongming said, “The large intestine can be stir-fried with pickled cabbage, and the small intestine can be used for blood sausages. How about that?”

This was their yearly tradition. Shen Junxi smiled and nodded, swapping out a different basin to hold the intestines. This pig was so fat that even its organs were unusually large.

“Let me see… Ah, here are two pig kidneys.” Shen Dongming grinned at his son. “You can fry these for yourself.”

Being teased by his father, Shen Junxi’s smile widened. He couldn’t help but glance back at his wife. Seeing Song Jingwei looking in his direction, his heart felt warm.

Soon, all the internal organs were cleaned out. Shen Dongming said, “All right, let’s finish up quickly. Dawn is approaching.”

Father and son worked swiftly, processing the organs and cutting away the unwanted parts to feed the little black dog.

“Let’s fill the blood sausages while we’re at it.” Shen Dongming quickly prepared the small intestines, tying off one end with string. Before pouring in the pig’s blood, he blew into them to check for leaks.

After filling the blood sausages, they left them in a wooden basin to set. Then, they took down the pig, chopped off its head, and handed it to Yang Shi, who briefly boiled it to half-cook it—just enough to be taken for the ritual offering.

“Go on now,” Yang Shi said, handing them the prepared items. “Here are the incense, candles, and firecrackers. That should be enough.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Shen Dongming carried a shoulder pole, with the pig’s head on one end and the incense, candles, and firecrackers on the other.

Before leaving, Shen Junxi ran over to his wife, wanting to say goodbye.

“You smell so strong…” Song Jingwei took a step back as the overwhelming scent of blood and pig odor hit his nose.

Hearing that, Shen Junxi immediately stopped in his tracks. He lowered his head and sniffed himself—indeed, he didn’t smell pleasant. Looking up, he gave an apologetic smile, then stood a few steps away and gestured, “I’m heading out now. Stay home and take care of yourself.”

“Mm.” Song Jingwei replied, “Go on, be careful on the road.”

He saw the young man’s face light up with a delighted smile before he hesitantly nodded and reluctantly turned to leave.

At this time, Yang Shi was in the kitchen, cooking a large pot of porridge. On the stove, there were sliced pig liver, powdered sausage, a small bowl of pig’s blood, and a dish of chopped scallions and ginger.

Every year on this morning, they had this same porridge—fresh and delicious.

“Jingwei, are you hungry? The porridge will be ready soon. Just wait a little longer.”

Song Jingwei shook his head and said, “I’m not hungry right now. Let’s wait for them to come back and eat together.” He felt a bit embarrassed seeing Yang Shi preparing a separate meal just for him.

“Alright, but if you get hungry, just let me know. No need to wait for them,” Yang Shi said with a smile. She looked at her daughter-in-law, noticing his good complexion, then glanced at his belly with a loving gaze. In just three months, her eldest grandson would be born.

“Okay,” Song Jingwei nodded and watched as Yang Shi prepared the blood sausages. Seeing his curiosity, Yang Shi chuckled and said, “You’ve probably never had this before, right? This is pig’s blood sausage. In the evening, we’ll cook it with pickled cabbage—it’s delicious.”

Song Jingwei was originally from the south and had indeed never eaten it before.

By the time daylight fully broke, Shen Dongming and Shen Junxi finally returned. They walked in with big smiles, laughing, “Once again, we’re the first ones!”

Yang Shi, hearing this, was delighted. “Our family is always the earliest!” As she busied herself preparing breakfast, she murmured superstitiously, “The temple god is surely watching over us. He will bless our family with safety, prosperity, and wealth.” She had made similar prayers every year, but life had remained difficult. This year, however, things finally seemed different.

“That’s right,” Shen Dongming agreed. “Next year, with a new baby on the way, we’ll slaughter another pig as an offering to the temple god.”

Even the usually frugal Yang Shi readily agreed. “Yes! We will!”

The whole family happily sat together, drinking hot pig’s blood porridge while chatting and laughing. Even though only one new person had joined the household this year, it somehow felt livelier than ever, with laughter filling the air.

Song Jingwei picked out a piece of pork liver from his bowl, then dropped it to the ground for Xiao Hei, their dog, to eat.

“You don’t like pig liver?” Yang Shi asked upon noticing.

“It’s too gamey. I don’t really enjoy it,” Song Jingwei replied. He ate the small intestines and pig’s blood but found the liver unappetizing.

Shen Junxi put down his chopsticks and gestured, “You can give it to me. I like it.”

Passing food from one’s own bowl into someone else’s was something Song Jingwei had never done before. But Shen Junxi wasn’t just anyone—he was someone who would never mind such things and would even be happy about it. So perhaps, there was no need to hesitate?

“Then here, you can have it,” Song Jingwei said, picking up a piece of pig liver and placing it into Shen Junxi’s bowl.

“Mm.” Without hesitation, Shen Junxi picked up the liver and ate it.

Xiao Hei wagged his tail eagerly by Song Jingwei’s feet, watching helplessly as the tasty morsel that should have been his ended up in someone else’s mouth. He let out a pitiful “Awoo…” in protest.

Feeling bad for him, Song Jingwei picked up a piece of meat and gave it to the dog, which made Xiao Hei wag his tail wildly, barking excitedly.

“I like eating meat too,” Shen Junxi nudged his bowl forward, signaling that his wife shouldn’t hesitate to serve him.

Song Jingwei shot him a sidelong glance. “I like eating it too.” He had only given a few pieces to Xiao Hei—what was the problem?

Shen Junxi simply smiled and lowered his head to continue drinking his porridge.

After a busy morning, Song Jingwei almost forgot to share some good news. He said, “Hongxuan is pregnant. He’s on leave and resting at home these days. Should we invite them over for a meal, or should we visit them?”

Yang Shi was taken aback. “Hongxuan is pregnant?”

“They’ve been married for two months now, so it’s normal for them to have a child,” Shen Dongming said with a smile. It was good news.

“That’s true,” Yang Shi nodded. After her initial surprise, she beamed and said, “Let’s invite them over for lunch. I’ll make a nice meal for them.”

Song Jingwei agreed. Since they were hosting, it was naturally Shen Junxi’s job to go and invite them. He instructed, “Go call them over for lunch.”

Shen Junxi nodded to show he had heard.

With the temple festival over, the New Year was just around the corner. Song Jingwei considered giving the hired farmhands an early break since most of the work was already done. The only task left was planting in the spring. Keeping them working at this point would only mean more expenses. It would be better to send them off early and save on wages.

Once he made up his mind, he asked Shen Junxi to help check the payroll. On the fifteenth of the twelfth month, they began distributing wages. Since it hadn’t been a full year of work, the wages weren’t much, so Song Jingwei paid them in full without holding anything back.

Shen Junxi recorded each expense in the ledger—every line was a payment going out. The fact that they had no income this year worried him.

“It’ll be fine next year,” Song Jingwei reassured him. Without investment, there’s no return. He had already calculated that as long as the weather was decent, they would recover most of their investment in the first year, and by the second year, the profits would be significant.

“Mm.” Shen Junxi trusted his words and stopped worrying.

With the workers’ wages settled, it was time to prepare for the New Year. In addition to their homemade cured meats, pickled vegetables, and other preserved goods, they also needed to buy supplies from town.

Song Jingwei took out ten taels of silver and handed it to Yang Shi, saying, “I don’t know much about what’s needed for the New Year, so I’ll leave it to you. Thank you for handling it.”

Yang Shi quickly said, “What are you talking about? This is nothing difficult. We do this every year.” She and Shen Dongming were always the ones driving the ox cart to prepare for the New Year.

“Yes, and this year, our family has its own ox cart, so we can go whenever we want.”

“That’s right.” Yang Shi smiled, thinking of the hardships of borrowing an ox cart in previous years—it wasn’t always easy to borrow one. Things were much better now.

Since they had already agreed with Pei Hongxuan to help prepare the New Year’s goods, Song Jingwei mentioned it to Yang Shi, who readily agreed. “That’s no trouble at all. We’re going anyway.” The ox cart was spacious, so there was no worry about fitting everything.

In previous years, when they went to town to prepare for the New Year, Shen Junxi would go along. But this year, he had to stay home to watch over the house and accompany his spouse. It was only a day’s trip, and by the afternoon, Shen family’s couple returned with a fully loaded ox cart. They divided up the goods and set aside a portion for Shen Junxi to deliver to Wu Xi’s family.

After delivering the New Year’s goods, the festive atmosphere grew stronger. Yang Shi started distributing the cured pork she had prepared earlier, visiting different households to strengthen ties and offer help where needed. She had become somewhat of a celebrity in the village this year. Housewives from all over greeted her warmly, gladly accepting the cured meat she gifted.

“If you need help with anything, just let me know! I’ve got free time these days.”

“That would be great! I’m making glutinous rice cakes tomorrow. Want to come help?”

“Of course! I’ll definitely come over tomorrow,” Yang Shi agreed happily, chatting and laughing with the villagers. Regardless of past relationships, everyone was polite now. Maintaining good relations benefited everyone.

Of course, there were also those who accepted her cured meat but then gossiped behind her back—nothing serious, just petty jealousy. After all, why was it that only their family managed to marry a wealthy spouse?

Speaking of marriage, the Shen family’s treasured son, Shen Junhe, was rumored to be getting married.

Ever since he was beaten up last time, Wang Shi had held a deep grudge against the Shen family’s eldest branch. Now, hearing that Yang Shi was generously distributing cured meat to all the households, she was sure that their side of the family wouldn’t receive any. Yang Shi wouldn’t even bother visiting them—not because she was afraid, but because she looked down on them now.

Thinking about their wealthy daughter-in-law, Wang Shi’s face darkened. “Now that they have some money, they’re pretending to be rich landowners. Such typical upstarts!”

Originally, Shen Junhe’s wedding was supposed to happen before the New Year, but due to delays on his side, it was postponed until the following year. His fiancée was from a well-off scholarly family—respected, with a solid financial background. If she weren’t already a bit older than Shen Junhe by one year, she wouldn’t have even considered marrying him, as he had no title or wealth.

Initially, the Shen family’s elders were against this match, thinking the bride was too old.

But Wang Shi insisted. She valued the woman’s family wealth and reputation. They were a prestigious family in their village. If Shen Junhe married her, he wouldn’t be considered much worse off than Shen Junxi. On the other hand, if Shen Junhe married a poor girl, how could Wang Shi swallow her pride?

After Shen Junhe was beaten up last time, the matter was left unresolved—there was no proof that Shen Dongming had done it. But Wang Shi didn’t care. She had already decided that she hated the Shen family’s eldest branch. The real reason made her even more furious—she had once overheard her son sleep-talking, muttering, “Jingwei, Jingwei…”

She had been so enraged that she slapped him awake on the spot. But Shen Junhe was still in a daze, holding onto her hand, mumbling sweet nothings as if she were his beloved. Wang Shi was so disgusted she nearly vomited blood.

No wonder her son was beaten up—he had been coveting Shen Junxi’s spouse! That meant the person who beat him must have been from the Shen family’s eldest branch!

But knowing this, what could she do? They could only suffer in silence. No matter how badly Shen Junhe was beaten, they couldn’t speak out. How shameful would it be if people found out he had been longing for his cousin’s spouse? If word spread, the entire Shen family would be disgraced.

Even if outsiders never found out, what if the Shen family elders did? Wang Shi shuddered at the thought of how they would react. She had no doubt that if a scandal broke out, the elders would use Shen Junhe as a scapegoat to protect their own reputation. They had done it before—Shen Junxi was living proof. Wang Shi didn’t dare take the risk.

So, she quickly arranged a good marriage for Shen Junhe, ordering him to get married and have children immediately. If he didn’t listen, she would ruin his reputation and let him fend for himself.

Shen Junhe had a guilty conscience but no courage. Hearing her threat, he didn’t dare resist and reluctantly agreed to delay the marriage until next year. He still harbored feelings for Song Jingwei, but what could he do? The man was already married.

Wang Shi, seeing her son pining over a married man, was beyond frustrated. The more frustrated she was, the more she hated the Shen family’s eldest branch. And now, with Yang Shi attracting attention, the villagers flocked to her like bees to honey. Wang Shi was so furious she couldn’t eat or sleep.

Frustrated, she constantly complained to the Shen family’s grandmother, grumbling about how Yang Shi was showing off and how well the Shen family’s eldest branch was doing. Then, she would sigh about her own family’s hardships. “Look at them, living so well. Meanwhile, we can barely afford to put food on the table.”