Chapter 3: Satisfying the Craving First

Eat meat?

Li Long was a bit surprised. He looked at Li Juan and asked

"Didn't the family slaughter a pig this year?"

He remembered that his brother and sister-in-law’s family kept a pig.

Although the household responsibility system hadn't been implemented yet, every family was still allowed to raise pigs, just not too many.

His brother and sister-in-law were hardworking people. Two years later, after the household responsibility system was implemented, his brother Li Jianguo even became the production team’s specialized pig farmer, and the team specifically allocated a plot of land to the family for growing pig feed.

Every winter before the heavy snows, every household would slaughter their pigs, and then they could freeze the meat in the snow, which would last them until early spring.

Even though his brother and sister-in-law weren't wealthy, they should still be able to eat pork occasionally, right?

Li Juan didn't speak; she just stared at the glutinous rice paper that was about to melt, remaining silent.

Li Qiang blurted out

"Uncle, the pig at home... it was a 'superstition pig.' We couldn't eat it, so we buried it."

A superstition pig? Li Long suddenly realized. Yes, he remembered now.

In his past life, during this year, the family had raised a pig. When they slaughtered it in early winter, they discovered the meat was full of worm eggs that looked like tiny millet grains.

Naturally, this stuff couldn't be eaten, so they had no choice but to bury it.

And so, they basically didn't eat any meat that winter.

When he looked up at Li Juan, he happened to see a trace of guilt on her face.

Li Long quickly understood. When Li Juan came home from school, she would go to the fields to cut pig grass, then carry it back, chop it up, and mix it with some bran and chaff to boil for the pigs.

She probably felt that the reason their pig had become a "superstition pig" was largely her fault.

"Juan, don't overthink it. There are many reasons for a superstition pig. Drinking water and eating certain things are certainly among them, but it’s also possible that some bird just pooped in the pigsty, and the pig rooted around and got infected."

"Uncle, is that true?" It was the first time Li Juan had spoken to Li Long, and he could clearly see a crystalline glimmer in her eyes.

His niece was so sensitive; she must have been under so much pressure!

"Of course it's true. Your uncle here just came back from Wucheng, and I worked at a food processing plant. The experts at the factory talked about these things."

"Then..." Li Juan felt much more relaxed. "Then it wasn't entirely because of what it ate?"

"Of course not. Even flies can carry worm eggs and bacteria; it's hard to say." Li Long understood Li Juan's thoughts and tried to comfort her. "Besides, if there's no meat, isn't there fish? Tomorrow I'll go break the ice and catch some fish. I guarantee we'll have plenty of fish to eat for the New Year!"

"I want to eat it today..." Li Qiang whispered.

Li Juan’s perception of Li Long had changed significantly. She scolded her younger brother

"What are you thinking about? You won't die if you don't eat meat! It's getting dark, go back and get ready for bed!"

The room had indeed grown dark. In this day and age, the team hadn't installed electricity yet, so they used kerosene lamps for lighting at night. The Li family had one relatively high-end kerosene lamp with a thin glass chimney. When Li Long returned, Li Jianguo had brought over the family's other hurricane lamp for him to use.

Li Long looked outside and said to Li Juan and Li Qiang with a smile

"You two wait a moment, I'll catch some sparrows for you to roast."

"Really?" Li Qiang sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Uncle, can you really catch them?"

"I can." Li Long looked at Li Qiang’s green clothes, the sleeves of which were already so caked with grime that they were shiny, and said helplessly

"Qiang, go blow your nose. Look at your sleeves..."

"It's fine, Uncle. When are you going to catch the sparrows?"

"Right now. You two wait here."

"I'll go with you," Li Qiang said excitedly.

"No, it's too cold outside."

"I'm not afraid. I spent the whole day outside playing with the spinning top."

Playing with the "old ox," as they called it, was spinning a top. It was a toy handmade by the village children. The more elaborate ones used a steel ball the size of a pigeon egg hammered into a nut from a truck tire; the smaller ones used a spark plug, knocking out the ceramic and using the ignition head inside to hold a small steel ball.

The whips used for the tops were made by twisting three strands of thread pulled from tractor rubber belts for the better ones, or just nylon rope or strips of cloth for the worse ones.

In winter, besides ice skating and cockfighting, this was the only thing the children in the team could play.

"Then go put on a hat," Li Long said after thinking for a moment.

Children in the countryside were raised in the cold; they really weren't that afraid of it.

"Uncle, I want to go too," Li Juan said softly.

"Alright, you come along too. Go put on your thick clothes first."

Li Long took his only household appliance—a flashlight—out of his satchel, then put on his leather hat and walked out.

The leather hat was a military-style one that had cost him more than half a month's wages, and it looked much more impressive than what the villagers wore.

So, when Li Juan and Li Qiang came out dressed, their eyes lit up the moment they saw him.

The cotton-padded rubber shoes on his feet were also much better than the cotton-padded cloth shoes Li Juan and Li Qiang were wearing. Most of his wages had basically been spent on these things.

"Juan, where is our landing net?"

"It's in the shed." Li Juan pointed to the grass shed built on the east side of the east room. This was where they kept some tools that didn't need to be brought inside.

Li Long went over and used the flashlight to find the landing net—it was already dark, and now was the perfect time to catch sparrows. People here called them "old sparrows," though Li Long didn't know why.

At this time, there was no animal protection law. And in winter, sparrows only ate grain and grass seeds, so in the eyes of rural people, they were edible. By summer, when sparrows ate insects, they couldn't be eaten.

"Uncle, how do we catch them? We can't see anything," Li Qiang asked, wearing a cotton hat a size too big that almost covered his eyes. He adjusted the hat and wiped his nose on his sleeve again.

Li Juan also looked at Li Long curiously. Li Long's explanation earlier had successfully relieved the pressure in her heart, so her impression of this young uncle had improved quite a bit.

"Follow me." Li Long pointed to the haystack stacked on top of the shed and said

"In winter, sparrows don't build nests; they all hide in here. As long as you shine the flashlight on them, you can catch them with one swoop of the net. You two need to help me hold it later."

As he spoke, he began to search the haystack with the flashlight.

The haystack on top of the shed was neatly stacked; it was used for starting fires in the stove during winter. If they borrowed the production team's livestock, they would also need to use this fodder to feed them.

"Uncle, did you see any..." Li Qiang asked impatiently as he watched Li Long shining the light.

"Don't talk!" Li Juan patted him. "Can't you see Uncle is looking?"

Li Long hadn't done this work in a long time. He was incredibly grateful that his eyesight was so good after his rebirth!

Soon, he spotted a pair of shiny eyes. He found one!

"Come, Juan, shine the light exactly where I'm pointing," Li Long said, turning his head to Li Juan. "I'll cover it with the net."

"Okay." Li Juan took the flashlight, shook it a bit, then aimed it at the haystack and asked

"Uncle, is it here?"

"Yes. Don't move, and don't talk." Li Long picked up the landing net, took two steps forward, carefully raised it, and slowly approached the spot illuminated by the flashlight from below. Just as he got close, he lunged upward and covered it!

"Flap, flap, flap!"

A sparrow flew up in a panic and dove into the landing net.

"Caught it!" Li Qiang clapped his hands excitedly.