?Chapter 40: Choosing 40 piglets Chapter 40: Choosing 40 piglets Some were unloading from the truck, others were receiving, and some were delivering to the ‘temporary pigsty’…
A bustling scene at the entrance of the village.
On the other side, the brigade cadres were busy with registration work.
The women, after registering the number of piglets they had collected, signing, or making a thumbprint, left in turn, cradling the piglets.
Lin Tang glanced at Fang Zhitong, whose spirit and energy set him apart from the villagers, and nodded slightly, smiling,
“I heard the Captain call you Comrade Fang, so thank you for making the trip here today.”
The connections from the county transportation team were right before her eyes.
If she didn’t make herself known at a moment like this, it would be a complete waste.
In those times, news traveled slowly, and networks of relationships were more important than anything else.
Fang Zhitong hadn’t expected this pretty girl to strike up a conversation with him.
He grinned from ear to ear, puffing out his chest.
“No trouble at all, serving the people!”
Lin Tang, of course, knew the man was just being polite and laughed softly.
She took the initiative to introduce herself to get familiar.
“I’m Lin Tang, just an ordinary member of the Shuangshan Brigade.”
“Hello, Comrade Lin! My name is Fang Zhitong, from the county transportation team.” Fang Zhitong gave her a look and quickly averted his gaze.
Lin Tang?
The name sounded quite nice.
Nothing like those village girls named after flowers and grass.
They had only exchanged a few words when Li Xiuli caught sight of them from not far away.
Xiuli’s heart skipped a beat, sensing a threat, and she called out to Lin Tang in a loud voice.
“…Tangtang…”
Lin Tang heard her mother calling her and nodded at Fang Zhitong.
She jogged toward her mother.
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
Xiuli quickly masked her emotions and asked, “Tangtang, what were you talking to that young man about?”
Her gaze at Lin Tang was curious, yet subtle.
Her daughter was still too young to even think about dating.
She should wait until after she was twenty to consider romantic relationships.
“We were just chatting casually,” Lin Tang replied while looking at the piglets in the pen.
A casual chat to get acquainted might come in handy one day!
Seeing that her daughter seemed to have no special intentions, Xiuli took a distant glance at Fang Zhitong and dropped the subject.
“Tangtang, it’s almost our turn.
Your brother Baoguo said we could choose ourselves, does that book of yours say anything about how to choose piglets?” she asked in a whisper.
It wasn’t that she was stingy about sharing with others, but she didn’t want to cause trouble for her daughter.
Whether the book Tangtang was reading was reliable or not was still uncertain.
If it turned out to be unreliable and led others astray, it would not be good.
Xiuli spoke very softly, but Zhao Honghua overheard her.
“What book?” Honghua asked quietly.
Her eyes were intense as she looked at Xiuli.
The woman’s eyes sparkled with a certain eagerness.
Xiuli trusted Aunt Honghua very much.
She leaned in, avoiding others, and replied, “Tangtang said she had read a book about raising pigs before, so I was just asking if there was a trick to picking piglets.”
Her family was getting three piglets, so of course, they needed to be very careful.
Honghua’s eyes brightened immediately, and without hesitation, she said, “Tangtang, could you… also help Auntie choose a piglet?”
She had an inexplicable confidence in Lin Tang.
Tangtang was the only high school student for miles around.
Well-read and intelligent, the young girl must have a method if she said she did.
Lin Tang couldn’t help but smile wryly, but she didn’t refuse.
“Sure!” she said crisply.
Honghua smiled.
That sincerely grateful smile made the woman’s weathered face seem much brighter.
“Tangtang, are you sure you can do it?” Xiuli asked with worry, pulling on Lin Tang.
She feared she was overextending herself.
Lin Tang shook her head, giving Li’s mother a confident look, and stepped into the pen.
Choosing piglets, the key was to listen to their voices, look at their bellies, examine the piglets’ energy, and also their ears.
Lin Tang glanced over and found that this batch of piglets was all quite spirited.
But out of the shortest, it was still possible to pick out a tall one.
She would choose the best among the best, the most spirited ones.
Only when she chose with care would her mother and Aunt Honghua feel at ease.
Lin Tang first observed for a while and, after preliminarily making her choice, walked toward the group of piglets.
She caught two with the loudest squeals.
Then, she looked at the bellies of the little piglets.
The two in her hands had clear blood vessels on their bellies, loose skin, and large veins, indicating they were in good shape.
Through the fence, Lin Tang handed one of the piglets to Zhao Honghua.
“Auntie, I think these two are not bad, what do you think?”
Zhao Honghua didn’t picky, happily taking one and looking it over admiringly from left to right.
“Of course, how could they not be? Auntie trusts you.”
Lin Tang’s eyes curved, her face filled with a smile.
She handed the remaining one to her mother.
“Mother, hold this one for now, I’ll go catch two more.”
Li Xiuli couldn’t see any difference between this one and the other piglets, but that didn’t prevent her from being happy.
Like Zhao Honghua, each holding a piglet, they were beaming with joy.
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The piglets in the pen let out a series of loud squeals.
Lin Tang’s target was clear, aiming for those with reddish skin, bright fur, and lively eyes, she grabbed them up.
In her hands, the squeals of the two piglets became even more distinct.
You’re the ones!
Lin Tang, carrying two piglets, left the pen.
“All set!”
Li Xiuli, noticing that others had already started looking their way, raised her voice slightly.
“Honghua, once we’ve picked, let’s head back.
Choosing piglets is a matter of luck, but raising them can’t be left to chance.
We must be meticulous, this is all money after all!”
Zhao Honghua, in perfect sync with her, quickly repressed the smile in her eyes, her expression turning a bit anxious.
“Of course, if there were someone knowledgeable about raising pigs to guide us,
we’d feel much more at ease, but now… it’s all so uncertain!”
The curious women who had been watching turned their gaze away.
Indeed, it was all so uncertain.
If one could raise pigs successfully, it could become an additional income for the family.
But if not done well, it could lead to debt.
Li Xiuli saw that everyone had looked away and called Zhao Honghua, taking Lin Tang with her to head home.
Once they were away from the crowd, walking on the village road,
Zhao Honghua looked hesitant and glanced sideways at Lin Tang.
“Tangtang, Auntie has a favor to ask of you…”
“Auntie wants to know if I know how to raise pigs, right?” Lin Tang asked with a smile.
Zhao Honghua fell silent for a moment before saying, “Yes, indeed, that’s what I wanted to ask.
Auntie knows you have concerns, but you know me.
I’m not the type to impose on others, and your mother knows this too.
So, Auntie wants to ask if you’d be willing to join me in raising pigs, alright?”
She had never raised pigs before and was very anxious about it.
Lin Tang understood her concern, “Sure, why not? As long as Auntie trusts me, that’s fine.
I’d love it if everyone in the village raised pigs with me.”
She was very confident in the knowledge in her head.
Plus, she had received the “Beginners’ Guide to Raising Pigs” the night before from signing up.
If she couldn’t do well with that, it was time to rewire her brain.