Meat?
Li Long was a little surprised. He glanced at Li Juan and asked:
"Didn't you slaughter a pig this year?"
He remembered that his brother and sister-in-law had been raising a pig.
Farmland hadn't been contracted out to individual households yet, but each family was still allowed to raise pigs, just not too many.
His brother and sister-in-law were both hardworking. A couple of years later, after the household contract system came into effect, his brother Li Jianguo had even become the production team's Specialized Pig-Raising Household. The team had set aside a plot of land for their family specifically to grow pig feed.
Every winter, before the heavy snow came, families would slaughter their pigs and freeze the meat in the snow, letting them eat it all the way through to spring.
His brother's family wasn't well-off, but surely they could still have pork now and then?
Li Juan didn't answer. She just stared silently at the nearly dissolved rice-paper candy wrapper.
Li Qiang jumped in:
"Uncle, our pig... it was a measly pig. We couldn't eat it, so we buried it."
A measly pig? Li Long suddenly realized what he meant. Right, he remembered now.
In his previous life, the family had raised a pig that year. When they slaughtered it in early winter, they discovered that the meat was full of parasite eggs like tiny grains of millet.
Naturally, they couldn't eat that, so they had no choice but to bury it.
As a result, they'd barely eaten any meat that winter.
When he looked up at Li Juan, he happened to catch a trace of guilt on her face.
Li Long quickly understood. After school, Li Juan would cut grass in the fields for the pig, carry it home, chop it up, and mix it with bran and husks before cooking it for feed.
Perhaps she thought she was largely to blame for their pig becoming infected?
"Juan, don't overthink it. There are all sorts of reasons pigs get infected. Drinking water and food are some of them, of course, but a bird might have dropped some poop into the pigpen, and the pig could have caught it while rooting around."
"Uncle, is that true?" It was the first time Li Juan had spoken to Li Long, and he could clearly see the glimmer of tears in her eyes.
His niece took things so much to heart. How much pressure had she been carrying?
"Of course it's true. Your uncle came back from Wu City, remember? I worked in a food factory, too. The experts there taught us all about this."
"Then..." Li Juan looked much more at ease. "Then it really wasn't just because of what it ate?"
"Of course not. Even flies can carry parasite eggs and bacteria. There's no way to say for sure." Understanding what was on her mind, Li Long reassured her. "Besides, even if we don't have meat, there's still fish, isn't there? Tomorrow I'll break a hole in the ice and catch some. I promise we'll have plenty of fish for New Year!"
"But I want some today..." Li Qiang said quietly.
Li Juan's opinion of Li Long had changed considerably. She scolded her little brother:
"Want, want, want! You won't die without meat! It's nearly dark. Hurry back and get ready for bed!"
The room had indeed grown dim. The production team didn't have electricity yet, so they used kerosene lamps at night. The Li family had a relatively fancy one with a thin glass chimney. When Li Long came home, Li Jianguo had brought over their other lantern for him to use.
Li Long looked outside, then said with a smile to Li Juan and Li Long:
"Wait here a moment. I'll catch a few sparrows and roast them for you."
"Really?" Li Qiang sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve again. "Uncle, can you really catch them?"
"Yes." Li Long looked at Li Qiang's green jacket. The sleeve had been wiped so often it shone as though it had been polished with grease. He said helplessly:
"Qiang, go blow your nose. Look what you've done to your sleeve..."
"It's fine, Uncle. When are you going to catch the sparrows?"
"Right now. Just wait."
"I'll come with you," Li Qiang said eagerly.
"No, it's too cold outside."
"I'm not scared. I spent all day outside playing tops."
These were homemade spinning tops the village children called "old oxen." For the more elaborate versions, they hammered a steel ball the size of a pigeon's egg into a truck wheel nut to make a large top. For smaller ones, they used spark plugs, knocking off the porcelain and punching out the central electrode before hammering in a small steel ball.
The better whips used to spin these tops were made by twisting together three strands pulled from a tractor's rubber belt. The poorer ones used nylon cord or twisted strips of cloth.
In winter, apart from skating and one-legged hopping battles, this was all the production team's children had to play with.
"Then go put on a hat," Li Long said after a moment's thought.
Country children grew up in the cold. They really weren't all that afraid of it.
"Uncle, I'd like to come too," Li Juan said quietly.
"All right, you can come too. Go put on something warm first."
Li Long took his only household electrical appliance-a flashlight-out of his shoulder bag, put on his fur hat, and walked outside.
The fur hat was a military-style one that had cost him more than half a month's wages. It looked much smarter than the hats the villagers wore.
So when Li Juan and Li Qiang came out dressed for the cold, their eyes lit up as soon as they saw him.
His padded rubber shoes were much better than their padded cloth shoes, too. That was where most of his wages had gone.
"Juan, where's our scoop net?"
"In the shed." Li Juan pointed to the thatched shed built against the east side of the eastern room. They kept tools there that didn't need to be brought indoors.
Li Long went over and found the scoop net by flashlight. It was dark now, just the right time to catch sparrows. Locals called them "old birds," though Li Long had no idea why.
There were no animal protection laws yet. In winter, sparrows ate only grain and grass seeds, so country people considered them fair game for eating. In summer, when they ate insects, people wouldn't eat them.
"Uncle, how do we catch them? We can't even see any!" Li Qiang's padded hat was a size too big and nearly covered his eyes. He adjusted it, wiped his nose on his sleeve again, and asked.
Li Juan also watched Li Long curiously. His explanation had lifted the weight from her heart, leaving her with a much better impression of her youngest uncle.
"Come with me." Li Long pointed to the stack of grass on top of the shed and said:
"Sparrows don't build nests in winter. They hide in here. Shine a flashlight on them, then sweep the net over them, and you can catch them. You'll have to help hold things in a minute."
As he spoke, he began searching the grass stack with his flashlight.
The grass on top of the shed was stacked neatly. It was used as kindling for the stove in winter. If they borrowed livestock from the production team, they also needed it for feed.
"Uncle, have you seen any..." Watching Li Long search with the light, Li Qiang grew impatient and asked.
"Be quiet!" Li Juan gave him a smack. "Can't you see Uncle's looking?"
It had been a long time since Li Long had done this, too. He was incredibly glad his eyesight was so good after being reborn!
Soon, he spotted a pair of gleaming eyes. Found one!
"Here, Juan, shine it right where I'm pointing now," Li Long said, turning toward her. "I'll cover it with the net."
"Okay." Li Juan took the flashlight. Its beam wobbled before she aimed it at the grass stack and asked:
"Uncle, is this the spot?"
"Yes. Don't move, and no more talking." Li Long picked up the scoop net, took two steps forward, and carefully raised it. He slowly brought it up from below toward the spot lit by the flashlight, then, just as he drew close, thrust it upward!
Flutter-flutter!
A sparrow flew up in panic and darted straight into the scoop net.
"We caught it!" Li Qiang clapped his hands excitedly.
(End of chapter)
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