The stage was set up on the evening of the first day after the group arrived. The Village Head said they could start performing the opera the next day after slaughtering the pig.
"Slaughter a pig?" Liu Ming'an asked in surprise. Wasn't pig slaughtering supposed to happen on the 24th day of the last lunar month? Why now?
Cui Shan explained, "This is Zhuangzhu Village, it's different here. First, he's the Village Head, so he starts the New Year celebrations by slaughtering his pig first, to liven up the village. Second, it's also a way to celebrate his grandson's one-month birthday, for good luck. People in this village hope their children will grow up as fast as piglets, eating and sleeping well."
Liu Ming'an felt he had learned something new again.
In the evening, the Village Head arranged for the opera troupe members to stay with different villagers, repeatedly instructing them to treat the performers well. He then enthusiastically invited Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning to stay at his home, saying he had prepared a room for them.
"Go on, go on! The Village Head has a big house!" Cui Shan said with a smile, looking at Liu Ming'an.
Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning followed the beaming Village Head to his house, thinking they were just staying for the night. It wasn't until the Village Head placed a small infant wrapped in a flowery cotton blanket in their arms that Liu Ming'an realized he had underestimated the situation.
The baby, only a few dozen days old, lay in Liu Ming'an's stiff arms, looking curiously at the strangers holding him with bright black eyes. His little fists waved about as he made cooing sounds.
Liu Ming'an held the tiny bundle, looking as if he was facing a formidable enemy. He didn't dare move an inch and quickly turned to the Village Head for help: "Village Head, please take your grandson back. I'm afraid I might accidentally drop him..."
"Oh, don't worry, Liu the scholar! Hold him with ease. My wife and I are watching, and so are the child's parents. Let my Little Grandson soak up some of your scholarly aura!" The Village Head waved his hand dismissively, his entire face crinkling with his smile.
Liu Ming'an turned to look at Jiang Ning, only to see her take two steps back, clearly not wanting any part of this.
Left with no choice, Liu Ming'an continued holding the baby while negotiating with the Village Head. After much back and forth, he finally managed to hand the child back after a quarter of an hour.
"Phew!" Liu Ming'an let out a long sigh of relief. Although the baby was light as a feather, he felt as if he had been carrying a large rock.
When they finally got to bed, Liu Ming'an complained to Jiang Ning, "That Village Head really scared me..."
Jiang Ning chuckled and agreed, "Some people are like that. They think their children are perfect and assume everyone else will love them too."
Liu Ming'an sensed something in her words and, remembering her earlier avoidance, hesitantly asked, "Jiang Ning, do you... not like children?"
Jiang Ning wanted to say yes, she didn't like children. In her longstanding impression, children were creatures that wailed at the top of their lungs and couldn't communicate. But thinking of the quiet, well-behaved infant from earlier, Jiang Ning realized her view was a stereotype.
"They're okay when they're not crying," she said after a moment's hesitation.
Liu Ming'an responded with a "hmm," saying nothing more. But he silently told himself that if he and Jiang Ning ever had children, he would make sure to carry them far away when they cried, never letting the little ones disturb Jiang Ning.
Early the next morning, just after Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning had finished breakfast, they saw several men coming towards the Village Head's house carrying ropes and wooden poles.
"Uncle Gui, we're here!" shouted one burly man.
The Village Head's family came out to greet them, all smiles, and led them towards the pigsty. Not long after, Liu Ming'an heard a series of pig squeals and the men's voices.
"Hey, hey, hey! Hold it down, hold it down! Grab the front legs, not the tail!"
"Bring the rope! Quick, tie up these trotters... Where's the pole? Thread it through, thread it through..."
"Ready? Okay, on three! One, two, three!"
When several men emerged carrying a large, trussed-up pig, it was Jiang Ning's turn to be out of her depth. The modern woman had never seen anything like this before and, full of curiosity, she pulled Liu Ming'an along to follow.
The pig looked to weigh about 300 pounds. Its four legs were tied, and it was suspended from a wooden pole with ropes. It squealed pitifully all the way, but the four men carrying it seemed to enjoy the noise, shouting as they walked: "Time to slaughter the pig! Time to slaughter the big fat pig!"
The village children all came out, following along, clapping their hands and jumping as they echoed: "Time to slaughter the pig! Time to slaughter the big fat pig!"
When Jiang Ning and Liu Ming'an reached the village entrance, they found quite a scene already set up.
In the center of the area, a large cauldron had been set up, filled to the brim with boiling water. Next to the cauldron was a simple platform with a wooden board about the size of a door on top, and a wooden basin beneath it.
Under a tree to one side, a bare-chested man was sharpening a knife on a stone pedestal. The blade was as long as a forearm, narrow at the tip and sharp along the edge, looking quite hefty.
"That's a good knife for stabbing people!" Jiang Ning commented in her mind.
The men carried the pig onto the wooden board, untied the ropes from its trotters, and each held down a leg firmly. The man who had been sharpening the knife stood up, walked over to the pig with the knife in hand, and seemed to be considering where to make the first cut.
Jiang Ning was watching intently when suddenly her vision went dark. A warm hand covered her eyes, and Liu Ming'an's clear voice sounded in her ear: "Jiang Ning, it's going to be bloody. Maybe you shouldn't watch."
Jiang Ning: "..."
Jiang Ning pulled Liu Ming'an's hand away without a word, only to find him averting his gaze, looking uncomfortable.
"Are you scared?" Jiang Ning belatedly realized that scholars advocated "gentlemen stay away from the kitchen," which essentially meant they couldn't bear to see animals being slaughtered.
Liu Ming'an said nothing, so Jiang Ning thoughtfully suggested, "It's okay, why don't you go find Master Cui? I'll come find you later."
Jiang Ning was genuinely curious about how the pig slaughter would unfold. After sending Liu Ming'an away, she found an empty spot to sit and focused intently on the butcher's actions.
The butcher kicked the wooden basin, positioning it just right under the pig's head. He called out, "Hold it tight, boys," and then plunged the sharp knife at an angle into the pig's neck.
Blood gushed out instantly. The butcher slowly withdrew the knife while using his hand to prevent the blood from spraying everywhere. The blood was caught in the wooden basin as the pig convulsed a few times before dying.
After the blood was drained, the Village Head's wife came over cheerfully to take away the wooden basin. Then several people gathered around the pig, each holding a black iron scraper.
"What are those?" Jiang Ning wondered, resting her chin on her hand as she pondered.
She then saw someone use a ladle to scoop boiling water from the cauldron and pour it over the dead pig. Another person immediately scraped the area with the iron tool, efficiently removing the pig's hair.
So that was their ancient "hair removal tool"!
Several people worked together, and after about half an hour, the cauldron of hot water was used up, and all the pig's hair had been removed.
Just as Jiang Ning thought the process was over, she saw the butcher cut off the pig's head and then start to gut it. At this point, she remembered they still had to deal with the internal organs.
But thinking about the smell of processing the innards, Jiang Ning lost interest. She got up to go find Liu Ming'an.