The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

In the past, if one of them had something to do the next day, Chu Yu and Shi Man would simply close the shop for a day. They would post a notice at the butcher shop entrance the day before so that regular customers wouldn’t come waiting for meat in vain.

Shi Man had something to attend to tomorrow morning, but he had already made an appointment with a client to slaughter a pig. Chu Yu certainly couldn’t handle it alone. Shi Man said he could get up earlier to help with the slaughter, but he would have to leave as soon as the pork was transported to the shop.

Watching the young girl counting copper coins at the table, Chu Yu’s heart stirred. She kicked her stool and said, “Little Wood, come with me tomorrow to slaughter a pig.”

Mu Dingxiang looked up, staring at her blankly: “But I’m not strong enough. Can I really help?”

“Shi Man has to rush off to other business after the slaughter. You’ll come with me to sell the meat; just help me collect the money.”

Hearing this, Mu Dingxiang’s eyes lit up: “Is that really okay?”

“Of course. Otherwise, I’d have to find someone else to help. Since there’s someone ready at home, why bother others?” Chu Yu squinted and smiled.

“Then, I’ll go with you tomorrow morning.” Mu Dingxiang swallowed. Now that the crops in the fields had sprouted, there wasn’t much busy work to do. She felt excited at the prospect of being helpful to Chu Yu. Moreover, she wanted to go out and see how Chu Yu usually slaughtered pigs and sold meat.

“Then you’ll have to get up very early with me tomorrow.”

“Just call me when it’s time.” Mu Dingxiang stood up to prepare her clothes for tomorrow so she wouldn’t spend too much time getting ready upon waking.

“Wherever Mother goes, I want to go too, I want to go too.” Zhu-er hopped out from nowhere. Hearing that both Mothers wouldn’t be home tomorrow morning, she clamored to follow.

“We’re going to slaughter a pig. Don’t you dislike that?” Mu Dingxiang asked.

The moment Zhu-er heard they were going to slaughter a pig, her excited expression collapsed. She pouted in silence, turning her back to the two of them looking utterly aggrieved.

Chu Yu found it funny. She poked her little bottom and said, “How about you plug your nose, and I’ll carry you along in the bamboo basket?”

“Hmph—” As a plant spirit, she couldn’t stand scenes of killing. No matter how much Chu Yu teased her, it was useless. But her heart was still very hurt, and she even began to drop “golden beans” (tears).

Seeing her pitiful little appearance, Mu Dingxiang stroked her little green skirt and said, “Zhu-er, be good and wait at home. Help Mother guard the money jar. When Mother comes back, I’ll buy you something fun. Quick, tell me, what does Zhu-er want?”

Only then did Zhu-er stop sobbing. Her two eyes opened wide, still slightly red: “I want that little sugar person.”

“Alright. When Mother comes back tomorrow, I’ll bring you a sugar person.”

The little bamboo sprite finally broke into a smile. She hopped into Mu Dingxiang’s arms and rubbed against her chin to act spoiled, making Chu Yu secretly envious.

The next day, before dawn, Mu Dingxiang was woken up in a daze. Seeing Chu Yu already fully dressed before her, she snapped awake, hurriedly threw on her clothes, and rushed to wash her face.

Seeing her frantic pace, Chu Yu hurriedly said, “Don’t rush, it’s still early.”

Once they were ready, Chu Yu took the cloth bag containing the slaughtering tools and the money pouch, then pulled Mu Dingxiang onto the horse. Although it was summer, the sky was not yet bright, the dew was heavy, and there was a slight chill in the air.

Chu Yu pulled the girl halfway into her embrace and asked, “Are you cold?”

Mu Dingxiang was too excited to feel the cold. She shook her head, looking forward to arriving quickly at the client’s home.

The horse ran fast, and they arrived in about an hour. Shi Man was already there waiting, but his horse was hitched to a flatbed cart used to transport the pork to the county meat shop.

The host had already boiled the water. In previous years, they always called Chu Yu for the slaughter, so they were very familiar with both her and Shi Man. Seeing a new face today, they couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Chu Yu explained with a smile, “My cousin. Shi Man has business later, so she’s coming with me to sell the meat.”

Hearing this introduction, Mu Dingxiang felt a slight nuance in her heart. She thought everyone in the county rumored that Chu Yu liked women, and Chu Yu herself never refuted it. Since they were now together, why did she still not dare to admit it?

In Mu Dingxiang’s mind, from the moment she left the Mu family, she was Chu Yu’s person—unless Chu Yu explicitly stated she didn’t want her.

But today Chu Yu called her “cousin.” Although she knew Chu Yu simply didn’t want to over-explain, she couldn’t help but feel a bit dejected.

But now was not the time for dejection. Chu Yu and Shi Man had already entered the pigpen, each holding a set of ropes. The large fat pig was still sleeping, its four legs spread out on the ground. The two directly looped the ropes around its four legs. By the time the pig woke up grunting, it had already been pulled outside. Dazed, it followed the direction they tugged. The whole process took no effort at all; it was incredibly easy.

Next, they drove the pig up a step. Chu Yu and Shi Man each pulled their ropes, and the pig fell onto the platform instantly. Chu Yu took a prepared long wooden board and pressed it hard against the pig’s belly; the large pig was instantly unable to move.

Shi Man sat his weight down on the board. Chu Yu firmly tied the four ropes from the pig’s legs to the four corners of the platform. The pig was bound so tightly that it had nowhere to use its strength to struggle; it couldn’t even let out a squeal. It looked quite obedient.

It wasn’t until Chu Yu opened her set of knives that the fat pig realized something was wrong. However, before it could scream, Chu Yu pressed down on its front hoof with one hand, and the arm holding the sharp blade thrust forward. Bright red pig blood gushed out instantly. The host hurriedly pushed a wooden basin underneath to catch the steaming blood.

There was none of the imagined chaos of people being flipped or horses rearing. Just two people had killed the pig so neatly and easily. This was completely beyond expectation; Mu Dingxiang was utterly impressed by Chu Yu and Shi Man.

The big pig soon stopped grunting, its head hanging powerlessly to the side. Shi Man stood up from the pig and went to get the scale to weigh it.

Reasonably, it should have been weighed before the kill, but according to past experience, weighing a pig beforehand usually startled it, making the slaughter less easy. Thus, Chu Yu always arranged with the host to weigh it after the kill, settling the payment for the blood together as well.

Next, they began to scrape the hair. Each took a small water jug, each responsible for one half. They poured the hot water themselves and then scraped with the knife. Half of the pig’s hair was cleaned off in one go. Then they flipped it over to scrape the other side. The whole thing took less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. It was simply magical.

Mu Dingxiang had seen pig slaughters at the Mu house before, but it was nothing like this. A dozen people would mess with one pig for half the day, and they wouldn’t even eat until the afternoon.

Fearing she was bored, Chu Yu beckoned to her: “Xiangxiang, come help me pour the hot water.”

Having work to do made Mu Dingxiang happy instantly. She followed behind Chu Yu, helping with whatever small tasks she could.

When it came time to disembowel the pig, they asked the host if they wanted to keep the offal. If kept, the price was deducted from the pig’s total weight; if not, they would take it to the meat shop to sell.

But regardless of whether the host kept it, the two had to clean the large and small intestines and the stomach before they could leave. Fortunately, Shi Man had the self-awareness of a man; he knew Chu Yu loved cleanliness, so he took over all the work involving the intestines and stomach. Chu Yu took this time to clean the fine hairs off the pig’s head. By the time both sides were finished, they were about done.

As the two moved the cleaned pig onto Shi Man’s cart, Chu Yu said to Mu Dingxiang, “Little Manager-Wife, go settle the money with the host.”

Hearing this, Mu Dingxiang took out the money pouch and followed the host.

By the time the three returned to the meat stall, Mu Dingxiang was still in a daze. How did a two-to-three-hundred-catty pig get slaughtered so quickly?

Shi Man and Chu Yu lifted the two halves of the pig onto the counter. Shi Man said to the two, “Then I’ll head back first. You two will have to work hard.”

Chu Yu waved him off: “Busy man, go on then. Don’t miss your ‘good news’.”

Hearing Chu Yu say this, Mu Dingxiang hurriedly asked what the good news was.

Chu Yu, while processing the meat on the counter, replied, “Someone introduced this little fool to a girl. He’s going on a blind date today.”

Mu Dingxiang finally realized: “Brother Shi Man is quite responsible. He’s going on a blind date today yet he still got up early to slaughter the pig first.”

“No choice. In our line of work, we have to get up early. We just earn a living through hard work.” Chu Yu was long used to it. Besides, sleeping early and rising early was good for the health, and she would nap when she returned at noon, so she didn’t find it hard.

But these words made Mu Dingxiang feel a pang of pity for Chu Yu. A woman doing such heavy physical labor meant for men though the work looked easy this morning, it was only because of years of practice. She must have suffered a lot in the beginning. Moreover, moving the pork up and down required a lot of strength; how could it not be hard?

Seeing Mu Dingxiang’s face full of pity, Chu Yu’s heart felt warm. She had been alone for so many years; she didn’t expect that today, someone would soothe her with such a tender gaze. She enjoyed it immensely.

No wonder these men think about getting engaged as soon as they reach the age, whisking a beautiful wife back home.

“Usually, if something comes up, we just take the day off together. But that host is going on a long journey soon and couldn’t keep the pig, so we had to handle it today.” Chu Yu comforted her.

Mu Dingxiang gave a soft “un.” She watched the agile movements of Chu Yu’s hands removing the ribs, placing the pork belly together, setting the leaf fat aside, and arranging the four trotters neatly. The entire counter looked very pleasing to the eye.

No wonder their meat shop was so popular; it looked very comfortable, let alone that Chu Yu pre-selected the pigs, ensuring they were good pigs with fat, thick meat and bright color. Even the raw meat could make one salivate.

By now, the sky was completely bright, and people were starting to come out to buy groceries. Chu Yu took this time to shave the skin off the pig’s head and carefully trim any remaining hair on the trotters.

By the time she finished, the pedestrians on the road gradually increased, and people began walking toward their meat shop in twos and threes.

“Chu Yu! Good timing. Weigh me a strip of pork belly and two kidneys. I need to nourish myself—a man’s vigor depends on the kidneys! Oh! Shi Man isn’t here today? Who is this little beauty? A very unfamiliar face.”

Chu Yu looked up at today’s regular customer, a man known as the local playboy, Ximen Liangcai. Then she looked at the flower-like Mu Dingxiang beside her. Her eyes darted slightly before she spoke:

“This is my wife.”

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