Bab 9: 9. Do you raise pigs?_1
When she got home, Wu Lan indeed asked about every detail of the money, and with each item that Song Tan reported, a vein in Wu Lan's forehead throbbed.
That made Song Tan's heart flutter with anxiety: she didn't want to be a mama's girl, but she truly had no other choice!
At this point, it was time to use the tactic of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao": "Mom, I'm thinking of raising a few pigs, what do you think?"
The price of pork was up and down, but no matter the price, there was always a market for home-raised pigs; it seemed sensible to raise them.
"How many?"
Wu Lan snorted coldly, thinking that her daughter was truly a princess who had never been troubled with household chores: "Now the price of pork is high, and so is the price of piglets, hundreds of yuan each. Bringing them home means setting up a separate stove to cook pig food, and in this cold weather, you still need to buy wheat bran, rice bran, and corn kernels..."
Not to mention other things, a hungry pig grunts, and a few of them oinking away meant setting up a pigpen... as if there wasn't enough work in the fields already!
To Wu Lan, Song Tan seemed like she wanted to fly before she'd learned to walk, which was quite unreliable in her eyes.
"Besides, wealth in minted coins counts but wealth in livestock does not; if they get sick..."
But Song Tan was longing for it!
She was now able to cultivate, and without saying anything else, surely she could improve the quality of their food – the pork would taste so good!
She said, "Mom, raising our pigs is safe and delicious. The pork from outside doesn't taste as good as what we had in childhood. And with pork being so expensive, if we raise it ourselves we can sell some too..."
"Once we slaughter a pig, we can stew pork dishes, fry a dish of pork scratchings, and later stew cabbage and make buns – how delicious that would be!"
Indeed, fresh pork would be so tasty!
As a qualified farmer who had raised pigs for many years and only stopped in recent years, Song Sancheng too was clearly tempted, now completely forgetting his earlier refusal, and he chimed in:
"Yes, yes, how about we raise one..."
By the side, Song Qiao, who was looking at Peppa Pig on her phone, suddenly looked up: "Mommy, you're my Pig Mommy!"
"Sister, can I live with Peppa?"
Wu Lan quickly took a deep breath — oh my, this silly son, always causing worry!
And thinking about the future and the significant expenses for their silly son's care, considering the current high price of pork, she gritted her teeth:
"Let's raise them!"
"The village doesn't allow pigs to be raised at the front of the house, but we could just secretly build a pigpen behind ours. Our house is only visible after turning into a side road anyway, so it won't affect the appearance. But the pigpen has to be small, big enough for at most two pigs."
How could that be acceptable?!
A rural pigpen is a square courtyard enclosed by walls, with a shelter in the corner and a pit for the manure, followed by a small space where the pigs can move around...
Their house was a bungalow, with the bedroom window facing the back hill – if they built a pigpen there, the smell would be... indescribable!
Song Tan quickly interjected, "Let's use some wire fencing or something to enclose part of the back hillside. We could raise a few more pigs and let them roam freely in the woods."
Domestic pigs weren't that destructive; a simple enclosure should be enough, and the hillside provided plenty of room for them to roam.
"Besides, the back hill is close by, so if there's any noise we'll be able to hear it."
Now even Song Sancheng looked at Song Tan with disbelief: Who raises pigs like this?
Those pink pigs running all over the hillsides – never mind the risk of them breaking a limb or encountering snakes, insects, and pests – how would those pigs running around the mountains gain any weight?!
"No white pigs, let's raise black pigs! They might be more energetic and not gain much weight, but they are pricier and tastier!"
Just as he thought to object, he saw Song Tan grab Wu Lan's hand:
"Mom, please let me try! I really have a plan!"
And looking at Song Sancheng, "Dad, I've always been obedient, just this once, listen to me, okay?"
Silence spread throughout the room.
After a long while, Song Qiao suddenly said softly, "Listen to me, okay?"
Song Tan almost laughed out loud!
Wu Lan also laughed out of exasperation, "Fine, I've raised two debt collectors! I'll listen to you; I'll listen to everything you say!"
Turning her head huffily, she said, "I'm going to make a call to check the current price! Old Song, you go clean up the back hill!"
After she left, Song Sancheng then added, "Tantan, if you're raising pigs on the mountain, you have to get a couple of big dogs to watch them, otherwise you can't keep them safe."
It's not just to guard against weasels and wild dogs or the like, but mainly to guard against people.
Don't think the village is all peace and harmony. Years ago, someone would even steal cabbages from the fields despite everyone having them!
And once, a few years back, there was an incident in the neighboring village where a dispute over a pumpkin led to someone poisoning a few of the neighbor's pigs!
Having dogs is mainly to ensure that if anything stirs, they can hear it at home, which is reassuring!
Song Tan fell silent for a long while before suddenly asking, "Dad, since we'll have dogs and also raise pigs on the mountain, why don't we raise some chickens and ducks too?"
Set the ducks in their own space, let them wander to the pond in front every day, and it shouldn't be too much trouble... right.
Song Tan thought to herself that she had finally convinced her parents, and if she didn't get it all done in one go, it would be troublesome to do it bit by bit later!
Song Sancheng: !!!
How come there are pigs and dogs already when nothing is settled yet?
Song Sancheng, remembering how his daughter spent money today, even felt that the ten-yuan pack of Emgrand Cigarettes in his hand was expensive. Huffs puffing and sighing, he finally said:
"You're grown up now, do whatever you want. While we can still move, even if you lose money, we can still support you."
"But there's one thing, the money you have, plus the sixty thousand yuan we can give, you're not allowed to borrow money! Not even a penny."
After speaking, he sighed again, "Otherwise, I'm afraid if you lose money, I won't even be able to afford my cigarettes."
Song Tan then sighed, "It's not easy for me either, why don't you quit smoking, Dad? You could save a hundred or two hundred a month, which could add up to two thousand yuan for me in a year!"
She had long wanted Song Sancheng to quit smoking, but such things had been unsuccessful despite her efforts for many years—not to mention anything else, her grandfather had smoked his entire life, and when his lungs were found to be unhealthy, did he quit?
No!
He valued cigarettes over life!
Her dad was the same.
Song Sancheng loved his daughter dearly, but... but those cigarettes...
He whispered, "I only smoke half a pack a day, and sometimes when I'm really tired from working, smoking one does relax me…"
Having said that, Song Tan had no more arguments.
But quitting smoking was definitely necessary!
Song Tan pondered from every aspect, "Then Dad, try to cut back a little more, how about one pack every three days? That way, a hundred yuan a month sounds fair!"
Anything else is negotiable, just not this.
Song Sancheng glared, "Fair? Do I need you to support me now? Look at your granddad, now he smoke pipe tobacco to save money! Why don't you say that's even more harmful?"
Song Tan thought to herself, both are six of one and half a dozen of the other, whether it's pipe or rolled tobacco, could any of it be good?
She kept this issue in mind and then started to look through the snacks and treats she had bought in town:
"I'm going to check on my grandparents."
"Qiaoqiao, come with me!"
Song Sancheng nodded, "Go ahead, their spirits have not been too good lately... they're getting on in years."
Then he reminded her:
"If your grandparents offer snacks to Qiaoqiao, keep an eye on it. Taking them is fine, but she can't eat them!"
Qiaoqiao heard the word "snacks" and looked up, "I want to eat…"
"No way!" Song Sancheng flatly refused, "Your grandma hoards things, every year there's something new, and we're still eating the old—last time she gave us snacks that were expired by over half a year, you can't eat those!"
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