Linbiangui Village-Infinite Streaming Chapter 3
byRaw Pork Blood Feast 1 (Revised)
The next day, Chen Jin woke up early. Firstly, to avoid Wu Zeng’s persistent attempts to cling to him, and secondly, to get some work done before his supervisor arrived. He couldn’t afford to waste time.
The border region is predominantly inhabited by ethnic minorities, but within the same village, Han people and minorities usually live in separate areas. Chen Jin’s first target was the You ethnic group’s settlement on the east side of the village.
Before heading there, however, Chen Jin took the letter stamped with the school’s official seal and walked toward the village office. Being unfamiliar with the area, showing up unannounced would certainly not be the right approach.
“Too busy, I’ll take you to investigate later when I have time!” Elder Sister Wang Mei from the village office rushed out the door, holding a stack of cheap plastic bowls and chopsticks. She glanced casually at the official letter Chen Jin handed her and immediately refused.
It was a rough start, hitting a wall first thing in the morning, but seeing how rushed Elder Sister Wang Mei was, Chen Jin couldn’t say anything. He clutched the wrinkled paper in his hand and silently retreated to the entrance of the village office. Although he never showed his emotions, Chen Jin looked somewhat dejected at that moment, his retreating figure casting a fragmented shadow on the ground.
Perhaps feeling a pang of sympathy, seeing the well-behaved and lonely young man before her, Elder Sister Wang Mei didn’t want him to have woken up so early only to be disappointed. She lifted the door curtain with one hand, suddenly clapped Chen Jin on the shoulder, and said in a loud voice, “Hey! Young man, we’re having a pig-slaughter feast on Wei Mountain this morning. Just go join that! Lots of people from the village head over there, and you’ll have a chance to ask whatever you want!”
With that, she shoved a flyer into Chen Jin’s hand—identical to the one Wu Zeng had yesterday. A pig-slaughter feast, or shazhuke, refers to a family butchering a pig and inviting guests to eat the meal, a common activity in the border region.
Wu Zeng’s messages from last night flashed through Chen Jin’s mind.
“Want to come to the pig-slaughter feast with me tomorrow? [Cute emoji]”
“Are you asleep? [Cute emoji]”
“I’ll come find you early tomorrow morning! [Cute emoji]”
“Rest early! [Cute emoji]”
Chen Jin hadn’t replied to him. He couldn’t understand why such a grown man could be as clingy as a piece of dog-skin plaster, sending messages he didn’t seem embarrassed by. He had woken up early precisely to avoid him. If he went to this pig-slaughter feast today, wouldn’t he run right into him again?
But Elder Sister Wang Mei wouldn’t allow Chen Jin to refuse. She shut the door and urged Chen Jin to go with her, like shooing a chick. “Let’s go, let’s go! There are lots of young people like you over there. It’s fun to drink and eat meat together!”
Chen Jin was half-pushed and half-coaxed out of the village office by the Elder Sister’s enthusiasm. As soon as they stepped out, the aroma from the breakfast shop across the street snuck in. Chen Jin looked up, and there was Wu Zeng, standing inside the breakfast shop opposite the village committee. He had a steamed bun dangling from his mouth and was enthusiastically waving in Chen Jin’s direction.
He was inescapable!
“Good morning, Chen Jin!” Wu Zeng, a large man, instantly slid over like a sticky rice ball, bringing with him a steaming hot bun. “Have you tried brown sugar crispy buns?”
“…” Chen Jin was truly defeated.
The pig-slaughter feast was held on Wei Mountain, quite far from the village office. Chen Jin lagged slightly behind Elder Sister Wang Mei, the small mountain path in the plateau region leaving him a little breathless. Wu Zeng, however, seemed to be in good shape, maintaining a steady pace and walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Chen Jin the entire time.
“Ah, we’re here, it’s right behind the Reservoir.” Elder Sister Wang Mei hurried ahead with her belongings, occasionally shouting back to the two of them, afraid someone would fall behind.
“It’s because of you that Elder Sister is so enthusiastic!” Wu Zeng muttered softly, holding the soy milk Chen Jin didn’t want.
Chen Jin treated his words like nonsense; saying anything more would be a waste of effort.
Mengle Village has one large and one small Reservoir. The small Reservoir is nestled on Wei Mountain, and the large one is dug at the foot of the mountain; they are connected in a stepped fashion. The pig-slaughter feast area for tourists was set up on a flat area halfway up Wei Mountain, not far from either Reservoir.
Along the way, Chen Jin saw many locals carrying unopened barrels of bottled water, suggesting that the Reservoir water was not piped into the feast area.
“Hey! Hehe!” The sound arrived before the people. From far away, the border region folk songs rushed into their ears and started stomping, the sound deep and powerful, stirring up resonance inside the skull, making the body involuntarily excited.
The park was large. A wooden sign reading “First Pig of Southern Yunnan” in faded colors hung on the bamboo fence gate. Inside the park, near the mountain, stood a giant yellow earthen mud cellar. Its shape was truly unattractive, looking distinctly like a hastily made grave mound from a distance.
The park was surrounded by low-growing green vegetation, common roadside varieties, but their branches were densely wrapped in dodder vines. The park was backed by the mountain, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, allowing the dodder vines to thrive particularly well. Some even extended outward, detached from the vegetation, as if they were about to cling to someone’s legs and wrap tightly around them.
“Pay here first.” The fee-collecting auntie sat behind a chipped wooden table, waving vigorously at the two of them, urging them to pay, afraid someone might sneak in unnoticed.
“Auntie, busy!” Elder Sister Wang Mei greeted the fee-collecting auntie, dropped a sentence to the two men, and carried her things inside. “I’m going in first to set up. You two have fun later! You can try all the delicious food Master recommends!”
“Twenty-five yuan per person.” The fee-collecting auntie, or Ya Niang, registered the payment with a chipped ballpoint pen in a notebook. A red plastic bucket beside her was half-filled with change, clearly indicating a cash-only policy.
Chen Jin truly hadn’t expected to be disadvantaged twice over the issue of paper money.
Wu Zeng pressed a fifty-yuan bill forward with his index finger. The bill was old, its edges slightly curled up like a cigarette burn.
Ya Niang took the money, looking Wu Zeng up and down with suspicion. She initially didn’t want the old bill, but after inspecting it for a long time and finding nothing wrong, she could only grumble, “Young man, why are you using such old money!”
Wu Zeng forced a helpless sigh: “Sister, I had to turn my house upside down to find this money. I really had no choice but to use it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to attend the pig-slaughter feast today, and we’ve been looking forward to this for ages.” His voice was sticky and sweet like honey, drawing out a crystalline thread in the air, clearly laced with playful pleading.
“How about WeChat?” Given the chance, Chen Jin naturally didn’t want to be associated with Wu Zeng anymore.
“Yo yo yo… yo!” The music in the park suddenly amplified, likely because the event was about to start.
“It’s starting, let’s go in!” Wu Zeng smiled, waved goodbye to Ya Niang, then grabbed Chen Jin’s shoulder, spun him around, and pushed him toward the park entrance.
“WeChat?” The auntie showed a suspicious expression, but the two had already walked away.
“Don’t push me!” Chen Jin’s voice rose three octaves. Wu Zeng instantly raised both hands in the air, signaling his innocence.
The inner area of the park was crowded. Diners gathered under makeshift awnings. The wooden tables were covered with clear plastic, and disposable bamboo chopsticks were stuck into greasy iron buckets.
Outside visitors gathered in small groups of three to five. The miniature tour groups wearing red and yellow hats were particularly conspicuous: a Grandpa, Grandma, and Little Grandson sat at a table. The Little Grandson was restrained on the stool and couldn’t move, currently crying and kicking, demanding to find someone to play with. Young couples held old-fashioned camcorders, filming the surroundings. When the lens swept over the slaughtering table, they couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.
The local men, meanwhile, gathered in a cluster, loudly playing finger-guessing games in dialect, drinking and playing cards happily.
In the distance, the butcher uncle sharpened his knife, preparing to start.
“Jueeeeee~” A fat, strong pig was jointly held down by several dark-skinned men. It struggled restlessly, letting out sharp squeals, but ultimately couldn’t resist the strength of the people and was pressed onto the octagonal table.
The turban-clad butcher held a sharp pointed knife. With a “pfft,” the blade accurately pierced the pig’s neck. A woman nearby immediately pushed forward a prepared iron bucket. Fresh blood quickly filled the bucket, and the brown wooden table was stained black-red by the blood.
Master Wu Qi, who was tending the fire, took two unknown fruits and placed them in the earthen cellar. He aimed a stone at them and smashed it hard. Flames instantly “whooshed” out, igniting the dry branches, dead leaves, and old miscellaneous items near the cellar. The hungry flames devoured the fuel, raising waves of scorching heat.
Once the pig’s fresh blood was drained, the whole pig was pushed into the earthen cellar. The steaming heat mixed with the scorched aroma of burning straw scattered around, causing a sense of unease. After only about ten minutes of roasting, the charred, half-cooked pig was pulled out.
After several rounds of scraping and washing, the pig skin was sliced and plated; the pork fat was cut off for rendering oil; the three-layered meat was diced and packaged, either for stir-frying or roasting; the lean meat was minced into a paste, seasoned, and served cold; the pig intestines were cleaned separately, waiting to be cured into sausages.
“Aunt Jiu! Stuffing sausages!” An apron-wearing auntie shouted toward the awning.
“Coming.” Aunt Jiu, sitting next to Wu Zeng, responded and slowly got up, walking forward reluctantly.
The surname was quite unique; generally, only ethnic minorities have such distinct surnames. Chen Jin subtly looked up and observed her. Besides her obviously skilled movements while making sausages, there was nothing else special about her.
The pig skin was quickly brought to the table, with scorched dry chili powder placed nearby for dipping. Locals skillfully picked up the skin, dipped it in the seasoning, and took a sip of liquor, their expressions blissful.
Wu Zeng pulled his stool closer to Chen Jin’s side, instantly breaking the rigid social distance. “Quite a spectacle, wouldn’t you say?”
Wu Zeng took a new pair of chopsticks and transferred some pig skin into Chen Jin’s bowl. The action was so natural it felt almost abrupt. Chen Jin’s pupils widened slightly, but due to the crowd, he couldn’t flare up and only subtly shifted his body to create distance.
Villagers were busy at the cutting board in the distance, various internal organs being taken out in sequence. Chen Jin truly couldn’t bring himself to eat the half-raw pig skin.
“Eat a bite to line your stomach first. The meat close to the skin is cooked.” Wu Zeng picked up a piece himself, chewed it with wide eyes, signaling that it was safe to eat. Then he leaned close to Chen Jin’s ear, his soft, warm breath brushing past: “Later, there will only be raw meat left. The people here are enthusiastic…”
Wu Zeng’s voice was unusually serious this time, completely unlike his usual joking manner.
Chen Jin immediately understood his meaning. The locals were enthusiastic. If he sat there for a long time without eating anything, there would only be one outcome—being surrounded and urged to eat. If he became the target of their persuasion, he wouldn’t have the easy choice he had now.
Chen Jin picked up his chopsticks in a gesture of compromise.
“I’ll roast it again.” Before Chen Jin could put the chopsticks down, Wu Zeng picked up the pig skin and walked toward the roasting stall, his voice carrying a faint, knowing chuckle.
After Wu Zeng left, Chen Jin realized that the entire table was filled with strangers, a fact that had been obscured by Wu Zeng’s constant interaction just moments before. Now, a group of unrelated people were inexplicably gathered at one table. Chen Jin felt an awkward sense of loneliness and instinctively wanted to take out his phone to pass the time, but regrettably found that the 3G signal couldn’t even support refreshing a webpage.
The few members of the tour group were eating happily. Judging by their accents, they seemed to be from the north. These items were all novelties to them—they chased after every activity and every dish, filming for half an hour.
“Try it.” Wu Zeng returned with a plate. The pig skin had been re-roasted until it was glistening with oil.
Perhaps Wu Zeng’s conspicuous figure drew attention, as the locals at the table noticed the action of re-roasting the pig skin, some expressing heartache: “Ah, young man, it doesn’t taste good if it’s too cooked!”
“My little brother likes it roasted.” Wu Zeng bent down and scooped the pig skin into Chen Jin’s bowl, his eyes lowered as he watched Chen Jin’s tense face.
At this point, refusing to eat would be pointless. Chen Jin picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The taste was actually quite good.