Chapter 52 Killing Pigs

There was no noise outside the door. After dinner, Li Shengli washed the dishes and read a book for a while. When the fire got smaller, he replaced it with two pieces of honeycomb coal to boil hot water, then washed up and prepared to go to bed.

The next day, I went to work early, prepared breakfast, and almost prepared lunch. Now I was just waiting for the pork.

Director Xu from the canteen didn't come to look for him in the morning. He probably thought that no one in the third canteen knew how to kill a pig. Li Shengli thought, it's hard to say about others, but he and squad leader Wang Tiezhu know how to kill a pig. Li Shengli has learned it but is not that proficient. Squad leader Wang Tiezhu is from Northeast China, and the pig-killing dishes in Northeast China are very famous, so he should know how to kill a pig.

"Squad leader, they're going to slaughter pigs in the canteen. Let's go and take a look." A kitchen helper couldn't help but say to Wang Tiezhu when he saw everyone going to the canteen to join in the fun.

"Let's go and see if Sha Zhu knows how to kill a pig." After hearing this, Wang Tiezhu also shouted that he wanted to go up and join in the fun. Killing a pig is not a common thing.

Li Shengli followed Wang Tiezhu and several kitchen helpers from the third canteen to the first canteen. They were going to watch the fun under the guise of helping out.

When he arrived at the cafeteria, Li Shengli found that it was surrounded by people. As expected, there was no shortage of people watching the fun everywhere.

I saw several kitchen helpers tied up four pig's trotters with ropes and put two wooden sticks through them. Four people each held one side and worked together to carry the pig into the yard. The onlookers also followed into the yard. The table had been set up and the hot water in the kitchen was boiled. They were going to remove the hair later.

Several people worked together to put the pig on a platform that was at least knee-high. The butcher tried it with his hands and felt that it was tied quite tightly.

"It's not Shazhu who's killing the pig." Someone in the crowd watching the excitement whispered to the person next to him.

"No, Shazhu has never worked in a slaughterhouse. This is Master Wang from the Second Canteen. He is said to be an expert at slaughtering pigs."

Master Wang walked forward, knelt on the pig with one leg, held the pig's chin with one hand, and pulled it straight back to highlight the throat area. With the other hand, he held the sharp knife and stabbed it straight into the pig's heart. Then he turned the knife over and pulled it out, and blood gushed out immediately.

There was a large basin under the shelf. Pig blood was a good thing. Master Wang held the pig's chin with one hand and shook the pig's head, squeezing the pig's abdomen hard to drain the blood out of the stomach.

After a long while, the pig's blood stopped dripping, and it was time to shave the pig's hair.

Untie the ropes that bind the pig, cut a hole about an inch long on the upper side of the pig's hind leg, and then poke the "rod" into the hole.

First, push it straight up to the base of the ears, then pull it back halfway and push it up the back and abdomen. After pushing the top, pull the stick back along the skin of the back crotch to the lower leg. Turn the pig over and push up the other half of the body, pull the skin of the pig alive, and pull out the stick.

Blow air into the pig's body from the opening of the pig's butt, and hit it with a wooden stick while blowing. The pig will become fat and round like a balloon, making it easier to scrape the hair. Tie the air-blowing opening tightly with a hemp rope, lift the pig onto the stove, put the pig into a pot of hot water, quickly turn it over, scald the whole body, pluck the bristles and hair separately while they are hot, and scrape the rest clean with a "scraper".

Several men worked together to lift the pig onto the prepared long table, ready to gut it.

Before opening the pig, several people first wash the pig's body with clean water, scrape it clean with a knife while washing, and make an incision from the anus to cut open the pig's abdomen, being careful not to cut the intestines and belly (stomach). They pause at the diaphragm of the chest cavity and quickly cut off all the "white offal" from the rectum, i.e. the large intestine, small intestine, and stomach. Then, they cut open the chest cavity and take out the "red offal", i.e. the heart, liver, lungs, etc., and then rinse the entire pig cavity with clean water.

After the whole process, the pig was already placed quietly on the table. They used a sharp knife to circle along the pig's neck, had someone hold the pig's body, and held the pig's head and lifted it down to remove it.

As for the pig offal, someone had already cleaned it up. Apart from what was left for Master Wang, the rest of it was the food for the canteen staff.

Except for those who were left behind for special meals, the rest were divided into three portions, one portion for each canteen.

After watching the excitement, Li Shengli and Wang Tiezhu returned to Canteen 3 carrying the meat that was assigned to Canteen 3. It was almost time to make lunch.

Today's meat dish is cooked by Li Shengli.

Li Shengli first cut the pork into slices. This step requires special attention. The slices must be more than the ration allowed in the three canteens. Otherwise, when people go to get their meals, if there is no meat in their dishes, there will definitely be a quarrel in the canteen.

While the other kitchen helpers were cutting and preparing vegetables, Li Shengli chopped the big bones and added some white radish to make a big pot of bone soup. He made the rest of the meat into pork stewed with cabbage. There was not enough meat to share, and it was nice to have some meaty flavor in the cabbage.

As for other offal, Li Shengli fried some nine-turn large intestine as a meal for the employees.

When it was almost time for dinner, the aroma wafted out.

"Serve the food." Wang Tiezhu looked at the food in the pot and saw that it was almost done, so he shouted loudly.

The dishes were served and some were put on plates. Several people had a staff meal with Li Shengli's fried large intestine.

After dinner, everyone started to prepare the meal. Several people carried basins of food to the window. As the bell rang, a group of people squeezed into the cafeteria, smelling the fragrance.

"Slow down, slow down, everyone is there." Wang Tiezhu looked at the crowded crowd and began to maintain order.

"Hurry up and get in line."

After the queues at the window and the front row were full, Wang Tiezhu signaled for everyone to start getting their meals.

"It smells so good. I want one serving of potatoes, one serving of this pork stewed with cabbage, and three steamed buns." The first worker who squeezed in couldn't wait to say, "What kind of soup is this that smells so good?"

"Pork bone and radish soup." Li Shengli picked up a large spoon and raised a spoonful from above and slowly poured it into the bowl. The clear soup with oil and aroma made people very appetizing at first glance.

"Another bowl of soup." The worker added decisively, and of course the soup was free.

Li Shengli picked up the big spoon and scooped a spoonful of soup into the worker's other lunch box.

Without Li Shengli saying anything, the worker in line behind him quickly stepped forward and ordered the dishes he had already prepared.

"Hey, don't say that. No matter whether it's cabbage or radish, it's delicious when stewed with meat." The worker who had finished his meal in front took a bite of the cabbage stewed with pork and then took a bite of the radish in the pork bone and radish soup.

"This is nonsense." The worker sitting next to him complained, "This is meat."

The people who had just finished their meal were reluctant to eat the pork and cabbage stew, so they put it in a lunch box and prepared to take it home. They dipped the steamed buns in the pork bone soup and took a bite of the shredded potatoes. Now the shredded potatoes tasted like meat.

Qin Huairu took two tickets and ordered two servings of pork stewed with cabbage. She couldn't bear to eat it herself and planned to take it back for Bang Geng. Sha Zhu felt inexplicably distressed when he saw it. He waved his hand and poured her two full spoonfuls. When Qin Huairu was eating, she aroused the doubts of her colleagues in the workshop. Why did she order so many dishes?

(End of this chapter)