Bai Fumei in the 70’s

He Songbai carefully studied these pig breeding books with his grandmother for a long time. After reading them, the first thing he did was to change the pig feed.

Nowadays, most of the feed in pig farms were mostly hogweed, which was very cheap, mixed with a little rice bran and corn. However, the book said to feed them some high-protein foods, such as various beans, soybean cakes, frying residues, and leftovers from oil extraction. Tea oil seed cakes were very cheap, and those who can't eat meat or oil at home sometimes took some to eat. But it was used to feed cows and pigs in the old society. He Songbai's family used to use it to feed horses.

He Songbai calculated the cost, and the figure was still within the acceptable range. He did not hesitate to go to the black market to find an oil seller and ordered a month worth of soybean cakes.

He mixed beans and cakes with water and cooked them, and fed a portion to the pigs every day.

Li Zhong watched He Songbai throw money without blinking. He couldn't help but said, "Pigs are animals. What good will it does to eat such a good thing?"

He Songbai said, "Just wait and see."

He did not rush to refute Li Zhong, but let Gou Sheng measure the weight of the piglets every day. The original scale from the old pig farm was still there. They would know how many pounds the piglets weighed as soon as they drove them up the scale.

After a few days of feeding, Gou Sheng narrowed his eyes and looked at the scale, "I'll be damned, the pigs grow fast."2

He Songbai listened to his grandma and used a small notebook to record the piglet's changes every day. It was reasonable for piglets to gain an average of 0.6~1 pound per day. When they were a little older, they would grow faster. After it turned into a medium-size pig, at its peak, it could grow as much as a pound and a half per day. It takes less than half a year for the farm to produce a pen of pigs.5

After a while, Li Zhong looked at the figures in He Songbai's book and was dumbfounded.

He Songbai explained to him while he was watching, "The protein content of soybean cake is 40~50%, and other nutrients are also sufficient, like lysine, which is very helpful for the growth of pigs. Don't regret this money for feed. You have to spend money to make money. Pigs eat these feeds and grow fast. According to the current increase, the first pigs can be killed in the spring... You think about how other pig farms produce one or two batches a year. We can produce at least three batches, so much money."

Li Zhong listened to He Songbai's explanation, and his eyes darkened.

But he understood that the pig farm could make money in the spring, which was undoubtedly exciting news.

"In the end, there is a bit of ink in his belly. He is different from us."3

At this time, Li Zhong's mind remembered He Songbai's slogan, "Picking peach blossoms for wine." Hey... Educated people were different. They were even raised pigs faster than others.

Li Zhong's heart was warm when he heard it, and listening to He Songbai's almost boastful imagination. He couldn't help but took out another five hundred yuan for pig feed.

"Let's work hard and make a lot of money."

He Songbai put the thick banknotes in his pocket silently and decided to use the money to buy more food to feed his piglets.

In the middle of winter, He Songbai braved the cold wind every day to go to the pig farm to work. He was so busy, but he was very happy in his heart. The white piglets gradually grew up so that they were smooth and shiny all over. They were full of energy after each meal.

He treated his piglets as if they were his children.4

He bathed them, sang songs, raised them carefully, and dug some mud to support them. If it wasn't for the winter was too cold to grow vegetables, he even wanted to grow some melon next to the pig farm for the pigs to chew.8

Sometimes Zhao Lanxiang would go to the pig farm to see him and saw that he was holding a sick piglet to administer medicine while sweating profusely, and some pig excrement was on his arm. She couldn't help but admire him in her heart.

He did this work like he did his business. The novice pig boy had become experienced and sophisticated after a month of refining!

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, He Songbai brought a dozen pounds of pork back to Zhao Lanxiang.

Zhao Lanxiang was surprised and blamed him, "Good little piglet, but you are willing to kill it?"

He Songbai scratched his head, revealing his white teeth.

"No, they are all little pigs now. They are very precious. It's a pity to kill them. I got these from somewhere else."

The pig farm in Yangbao mountain had been closed, and the meat prices on the black market were in chaos. Had it not been for the fourth uncle, pork could have been priced at sky-high prices. Anyway, Zhao Lanxiang couldn't afford it. The price of pork for one and a half or nearly two yuan per catty was three times the price in the store. On the weekends, she would queue before dawn to buy some pork and fight through the teeth.

In addition to bringing pork back, He Songbai also had a pot of pig blood and a few pounds of offal, which is extremely rich in style.

Zhao Lanxiang carried the heavy pork and smiled. She liked all kinds of pork with rich styles, and she can cook it with all sorts of tricks.

"Ah, you also bought casings back. With so much pork, let me make some sausages for you. It won't be bad for a month or two. You can eat it after cutting it and putting it in the rice and steaming it. It is flavorful and delicious!"

He Songbai nodded. In the past, he envied the richest family in the brigade. Sausages and bacons hung in their yard every year.

As soon as the meat was steamed, it was so fragrant that even though he was full, but he felt that his stomach felt hungry again.

He helped his girlfriend cut the meat. He worked for nearly half a year on the pig farm, so his knife work was not bad. The white and fatty meat was cut into thin and even slices under his knife, so that the salt grains could fully saturated and it would be more delicious.

Zhao Lanxiang cleaned the casings with salt and mixed the meat with soy sauce, salt and sugar. Cardamom, cloves, aniseed, cinnamon, pepper, ginger slices were mashed into powder. White wine was mixed into the meat, soaked for a while, and poured into the casing. The thin casing is filled with fat, full and lovely.

She tied it with hemp rope, and she said to He Songbai, "Tomorrow, when you go to the pig farm, pick some pine wood and bring it back. We can't leave the sausages in the yard to dry, but the sausages smoked with pinewood taste better!"

He Songbai said that he couldn't help but look forward to it.

He can't imagine the taste of smoked sausage. He hadn't even known the taste of sausage in his life! But the next day, he cut back a piece of pinewood as he promised.

Zhao Lanxiang smoked the sausages for a little for a while until it was almost cooked. The oil of the sausage dripped, the pine branches squeaked, the oil droplets splashed on the fire. The aroma of the meat was mixed with the fragrance of the pinewood and turn into a unique fragrance. He Songbai couldn't help but glance at it a few times.