Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 215 - . Master Zhang Swine Castrator_1
Chapter 215: 215. Master Zhang, Swine Castrator_1
Chapter 215: 215. Master Zhang, Swine Castrator_1
Shocked by the pig slaughtering, Song Tan was much more rough and ready when picking out seedlings, adding in everything from sponge gourds to hyacinth beans.
The shop owner saw her as very straightforward and a good customer, so he earnestly suggested, “I see your vegetable garden isn’t small. It’s fine in spring and summer, but what about autumn and winter? Will you set up a greenhouse? If you’re considering a greenhouse, come to me, my family specializes in that.”
Greenhouses…
Song Tan hadn’t decided yet.
It’s pretty tiring all year round, and she planned to let her family rest in winter. However, the resistance to resting likely came from her grandparents and parents.
After all, if there’s money to be made, they would never want to miss out.
After being home for a while, she had seen through her family’s money-grubbing mentality, so she didn’t make any firm statements right now.
She only asked in advance, “What’s profitable to grow in a greenhouse during winter?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” The vegetable seller was very animated:
“Fruits, you should grow strawberries! The strawberry farms next to our city charge thirty to fifty yuan per catty during the New Year, you tell me if that’s profitable!”
“As for other vegetables, any green leafy ones are good, except for Chinese cabbage – they all work in winter.”
Of course, as a businessman, he’d talk up the positives, like how he didn’t mention what to do if the strawberries didn’t sell or if the roads got blocked.
However, for Song Tan, with enough food for twenty-odd people at every meal at home, whatever doesn’t sell can just be tidied up and used to make dried vegetables or sauces.
At most, she wouldn’t make money, but she definitely wouldn’t incur a loss.
She took note of this and decided to consider it after the busy autumn and winter seasons were over.
Right now, the priority was to bring Master Zhang, the Swine Castrator, over.
Master Zhang was fifty-seven this year. In the city, at this age he would have just retired, in the prime of life; but in the village, he could be considered an old man.
He used to ride his bicycle between villages to find work, but as households stopped raising pigs and he got older, he moved to the town with his son.
Now hearing that someone was looking for him, the old man was quite pleased:
“Aren’t you not allowed to raise pigs at home? Your family raised some? Secretly, right?”
Song Tan let out a laugh, “No, we registered. Didn’t raise them by the main road, but behind the mountain, out of the way.”
Family farms are allowed to apply for pig rearing.
Master Zhang has a small bag tied to his waist, really not large, just about the size of a palm.
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.
Song Tan glanced at it a couple of times, which Master Zhang noticed, now proudly patting the bag: “All the tools I need for eating are in here, been with me for over forty years.”
“Just that these recent years, there’s hardly any work, feels like my hands are getting rusty—what’s the situation with your pigs?”
What could Song Tan say? That our dog stole a piglet and brought it back?
She glossed over the details: “We’ve castrated five pigs at our house, but recently, a little wild boar ran down from the mountain. We’ve kept it in the pen, thinking of castrating it to prevent fighting.”
That made sense as the wild boar would charge around in the pen, and the domestic pigs with their good temper and docile nature could get affected in their appetite and not put on weight, which wouldn’t be good.
But Master Zhang felt it was a pity: “Your family is so lucky, a wild boar piglet, you can’t even catch one in the mountains, why not keep it as a breeding pig?”
Song Tan was at a loss for words.
Why? Because Wu Lan didn’t want to buy another sow.
Based on her experience, “We haven’t raised pigs for several years. Rearing so many this year is quite risky already, and if we got a sow to breed piglets, what if something went wrong on our end? Wouldn’t we just be losing money for nothing?”
“First year, better play it safe.”
Moreover, both Wang Lifan and Wu Lan at home felt that wild boar meat wasn’t tasty.
With the decision-making power in their hands, Song Tan made up her mind to give the wild boar the chop.
Once castrated at a young age, and raised for another year, the gamey smell by year’s end might not be as strong, and it might even taste better!
Oh, Fairy Tan has suffered long and hard!
Master Zhang nodded, “That’s true, wild boars have good physiques, and castrating them improves their temperament; otherwise, they become difficult to handle when they grow up.”
He was quite happy, “I haven’t castrated a wild boar in all these years.”
After thinking it over, he took out his phone, “Can I post this on social media later?”
Song Tan: …
Well, he’s certainly more trendy than her.
But she also reminded him, “Be careful, it might not pass the review because of the bloodiness.”
“That’s alright,” Master Zhang was quite nonchalant, “I can just post it to my friends’ circle.”
“By the way,” Song Tan hadn’t asked yet, “How much do we charge for swine castration around here?”
Master Zhang thought for a moment, “It should be twenty, but since this is a wild boar, and I’m quite fond of it, plus you’re providing transportation… let’s make it ten yuan.”
Song Tan: …
If she weren’t cultivating immortality, her hands on the steering wheel would probably be trembling.
Is it her wild boar and the transportation that are worthless, or the pig’s ‘valuable parts’?
Master Zhang didn’t notice her shock; this price was just the going rate in the village. After all, within a ten-mile radius, there were only two or three people who could castrate pigs. In the past, every household used to raise pigs, and he could earn three to five thousand yuan for one job.
Of course, these prices haven’t changed in at least a decade—because there’s nobody left in the village, and people don’t raise pigs anymore!
He, now, is a retired craftsman, not too concerned about money – having some is good enough.
However, now that he had something to look forward to, Master Zhang was quite excited, “In the future, if your family has piglets, call me as soon as they’re born, and I’ll come over to perform the castration!”
Absolutely!
Song Tan originally hadn’t considered raising a sow to have piglets, but now that it had been brought up, it was bound to be arranged sooner or later next year.
But by then, the pigsty on the back hill would need to be reorganized.
Um… she wondered if Zhao Fangyuan, who designed houses, could also fit in a chicken coop and pigsty?
Master Zhang was also quite satisfied.
But quickly, he remembered something, “Who are you planning to hire for the pig slaughter?”
Song Tan: …
It wasn’t so urgent; they would have to wait until autumn or winter at least. Otherwise, if the pig hadn’t grown enough, eating the meat would be like eating Wu Lan’s money, which she absolutely could not allow!
“Master Zhang, you know how to slaughter pigs too?”
Master Zhang sighed wistfully, “Ah, why wouldn’t I? I used to do it with my brother—he specialized in pig slaughtering.”
“He was strong and could hold the pig down. As for me, my hands were steady, so I handled the killing stroke. Actually, I know he did it because back then my kids were in the hospital, and I had run out of money. He deliberately took me along so that my family could have some meat to eat.”
“It’s not possible now, these past few years with his hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, and him not paying attention… he’s gone.”
As he spoke, he rambled on, “When you get older you have to watch yourself, eat just a small bowl of food, no matter how tasty, you can’t overeat.”
“My brother, he had all the pig slaughter dishes from every household and would get leftovers, living well with meat every meal, growing broad and stout.”
“As he got older, he never slimmed down, and then his blood pressure spiked…”
Mentioning this, he wiped his eyes, “Now, I see things clearly – never overeat, not even a single bite.”
