Chapter 12: Killing the New Year Pig
After the Little New Year, all things were deemed auspicious, with no taboos: weddings, business transactions, Buddhist and Daoist rituals were all held within these few days. The festive and lively atmosphere made it the busiest time of the year.
Sun Xingweng’s son-in-law, who ran a horse ranch on Wolf Heart Mountain, recently sent his father-in-law a bristly wild boar using a tall cart. The beast had crashed and collided through half of the Sun family’s courtyard wall. Taking advantage of the clear skies and that the snow and wind had stopped, he summoned a group of men from the camel and horse caravan to butcher the boar for the New Year.
Jiayan was extremely excited. In his childhood, he had thought that wielding a sharp blade as a butcher made someone an exceptionally powerful character. As he chased after Helian Guang to follow him out, Lu Mingyue stopped him.
“Such a bloody scene, what is there to see? You’ll just end up having nightmares tonight.”
“Mother, just let me go take a look,” Jiayan tugged at Lu Mingyue’s sleeve.
Lu Mingyue refused to budge and said sternly, “Go back inside and study. If you cannot recite your lessons, you’re not leaving the house.”
“Mother, mother, I promise you, I’ll come back and study as soon as I’m done watching.” Jiayan stretched out his hand. “Just half an hour, I swear!”
“I’ll watch over Jiayan, and make sure he only stays in the courtyard and doesn’t get near the blood.” Helian Guang wanted to side with his nephew, but Lu Mingyue didn’t even spare him a glance, her face cold as ice.
Ignoring his suggestion, she turned back to Jiayan, advising, “Has Mother not let you run wild enough these past few days? You’re always out playing, do you still want to study? Watch less of this fighting and killing, it’ll only spoil your nature. Is it not good to be gentle and polite like Changliu?”
Jiayan, unable to sway his mother, holding back his anger, went off to plead with his uncle instead.
Helian Guang, unable to resist the boy’s coquettish act, sought out Lu Mingyue. “We Bailan Qiang people grow up on horseback. When boys get older, they need to learn how to tame horses, hunt eagles, butcher sheep, and fight wolves. Blood and hardship are part of life. Today is merely going to enjoy the festivities, what harm is there?”
Still not looking at him, Lu Mingyue lowered her head to focus on her needlework ,”Do whatever you like, but what’s so great about watching this violence and bloodshed every day? Besides, Jiayan is my child that I raised and educated. He doesn’t know anything about your Qiang people, he’s just Han.”
“Oh?” Helian Guang’s pale eyes narrowed, and he let out a cold laugh. “How is he a Han? His surname isn’t Helian? Does he look like a Han? Does his blood not carry the Qiang lineage?”
That remark struck Lu Mingyue to her heart. Jiayan indeed resembled his father—tall, with defined features, light hair, and pale eyes. If one looked closely, he also bore a striking resemblance to Helian Guang. Because of his appearance, Jiayan had often been chased and bullied by other children when he was younger.
“Heh,” Lu Mingyue pointed at Helian Guang. “What Qiang people? The Bailan tribe has long gone extinct. Decades ago, you were slaves to the Tuyuhun. Now, you’re slaves to the Tubo. The land around Lake Qinghai that you are so proud of is Tibetan territory now. You have nothing left, and you are nothing.”
Helian Guang’s face turned icy cold in an instant. He stared at Lu Mingyue’s flushed face and scowled deeply before coldly saying, “We Bailan Qiang people may be slaves, but you still married one of us and became the widow of a Bailan man.”
Lu Mingyue shot to her feet, her eyebrows arched sharply, and glared at him coldly..
Helian Guang said nothing and turned to leave.
“Mother, please don’t be angry,” Jiayan said, now frightened as he watched his mother’s expression. “I won’t go, okay? Don’t quarrel with Uncle Guang.”
Lu Mingyue’s chest heaved as her face flushed with anger. She commanded Jiayan, “Go back inside. Stop trying to imitate that uncle of yours who came out of nowhere.”
Meanwhile, at the Li Household, Li Wei wrapped his head in a scarf and changed into old clothes, preparing to head out. Seeing his father about to leave, Changliu insisted on going along. Madam Li had no choice but to help dress him properly.
As they were about to leave, Li Wei noticed Chun Tian sitting alone under the west wing window, working on her needlework. Knowing her wounds had healed and she could now move freely, he recalled how she had been cooped up at home for three months. He asked, “Since old injuries are healed, how about getting some fresh air outside?”
Chun Tian, who had never ventured farther than Blind Alley, had just been about to step out. She nodded unconsciously at his suggestion, and with Li Wei’s encouragement, they brought Xianxian along. The four of them, two adults and two children, set off together.
The children had never witnessed a pig being slaughtered, let alone Chun Tian, who had never heard of such a thing. When they arrived at Old Man Sun’s family home, the men were gathered outside while ten or so women and children were seated indoors, creating a lively atmosphere. Shu’er was also there, waving at Chun Tian and the others. “Come sit here.”
The women present were mostly relatives of the caravan men and familiar acquaintances, many were familiar to Chun Tian. Chun Tian, Changliu, and Xianxian greeted each of the madams politely, one by one, until their arms quickly filled with handfuls of sweets. A boisterous woman named Madam Guo, smiling broadly, pressed the children onto the kang to sit.
Madam Sun carried a copper teapot to serve tea to her guests, saying with a smile, “Let the men handle the dirty work outside. We’ll sit here and drink tea.”
Someone peeked at the pigpen and shouted, “What a fellow!” It was a wild boar with a shiny coat and sharp tusks. Snorting heavily, it was massive and strong like a yellow ox, weighing at least 400 or 500 jin. Looking at the crowd, The animal rested anxiously at the dirt, and the rope that had bound the hind hoof had loosened, creating a large pit as it tugged.
Among the eight or nine strong men present, Qian Qing, a man from Sichuan, was too squeamish to deal with the pig, frowned at the pig and instead went off to sharpen his knife. Danati, a Hu man, refused to participate as he disliked the pungent smell of pork and naturally refused to eat it.
Shen Wen and Helian Guang, rolling up their sleeves, leapt into the pen. The wild boar, hearing the sharp scraping of knives being sharpened, its eyes become bloodshot as it let out frantic cries, snorting and charging wildly within the pen, attempting to break free. Spotting the two men entering, it lowered its back and charged straight at them.
“Aiyou, that wild boar is ferocious.” The women, snacking on sunflower seeds, were clearly already enjoying the show.
Waiting for the wild boar’s charge, Helian Guang sidestepped, grabbing its tusks with both hands and forced its head downward. Shen Wen moved behind it, gripping its thick hind legs and pulling back to halt its momentum. The wild boar let out a shrill cry as the two men slammed it to the ground, struggling fiercely. The beast, immensely strong, made it difficult for the men to hold it down. They shouted, “Bring the rope!”
Li Wei stepped forward with a rope to tie the boar’s hind legs. Unexpectedly, the beast struggled even harder, trying to break free of its restraints. Helian Guang and Shen Wen, straining to maintain their grip, were clearly starting to lose control.
Li Wei had a dagger at his waist. With his shoulder and elbow, he pinned the wild boar’s massive ear. The handle of the dagger was made of cast iron. It fiercely slashed at the wild boar’s neck causing the boar to let out a piercing squeal and struggled for a moment, giving the others the chance to finally bind all four of its legs.
Some bold children ran outside to watch the commotion. Changliu, who had always idolized his father’s strength and had never seen such a scene before, peeked out to catch a glimpse of his father. Tugging on Chun Tian’s sleeve, he sneaked outside as well.
The courtyard had a large pot already set up, boiling snow water. The wild boar, though its legs were tightly bound, thrashed on the ground desperately with its tusks out, letting out desperate howls. Its struggle dug at the earth that the ground beneath it into a muddy mess as it grunted.
The knife was freshly scalded in hot water. Two men pressed the boar down as Li Wei knelt on the ground, plunging the sharp blade into the animal’s neck. The watching children gasped audibly, and Changliu instinctively shrank back. Chun Tian pulled him close, covering his eyes with her sleeve and his ears with her hands. “Don’t look.”
Changliu smelled a sweet fragrance that distracted him momentarily, and he could not help but cling tightly to her sleeve.
A gush of fresh blood sprayed into the air as the boar’s screams pierced the sky. It struggled violently, its cries growing louder and more blood-curdling, making everyone’s scalp feel numb. The warm, metallic smell of blood wafted into the cold wind, nauseating when it rushed into the nose. Streams of bright, red hot blood flowed across the ground, pooling into small rivulets. Several people clenched their fits and pressed down on its dying body. A wooden basin was hastily brought over to collect the blood, the bright red blood flowed into the basin, gradually turning scarlet, which bubbled and gradually thickened into a cold coagulated mass.
The scene of blood all over the ground was a sight hard to bear. It was Chun Tian’s first time witnessing such a thing, and her heart trembled with unease, her back cold.. She wanted to look away, but her gaze was fixed on the vibrant scarlet before her. The boar’s intermittent wails felt unbearably cruel to hear, making the once lively atmosphere lose its charm.
Changliu was a little anxious and tugged on Chun Tian’s sleeve. “Is it over yet?”
The wild boar’s cries gradually grew hoarse and weak, and it finally stopped struggling, though its limbs still twitched. Everyone sighed in relief and waited for the blood to drain completely. Chun Tian lowered her sleeve, holding Changliu as they silently watched. Li Wei and the others, let go of their grip and now waited for the wild boar to die, calmly preparing their tools for butchering.
Standing in the dirty pigpen, clad in their simple work clothes, the men’s expressions remained stoic. Chun Tian suddenly wondered, these men who roamed the vast deserts and wilderness, had they killed people before? What motions did they use to take a life? Did they feel fear when faced with the blood pooling on the ground?
She recalled the day she encountered the bandits. That group of people had ferocious eyes, and their long and cold blades had chopped down at her.
This was a world entirely foreign to the one she had known.
It was not a pretty sight to disembowel and pull out the intestines and the smell in the boar’s stomach was not very pleasant. Hence, the women retreated indoors, leaving the men to divide their tasks. Once everything was finished, the men washed their hands under the eaves.
Chun Tian had been standing outside for quite some time, her cheeks flushed red from the cold, and her fingers numb. Li Wei looked up, noticing her reddened nose and the way she stared blankly at her hands. He asked, “Did you see it all?”
She nodded.
“Not scared?”
She shook her head, her pale face lingering for a moment before she nodded again.
Li Wei smiled.
It was a beautiful smile, the kind that belonged to a man no longer too young but not yet old—a smile like this on a cold winter day, clear and warm, stripped of any pretense of status, character, or circumstance, revealing an original, pure brilliance like jade.
He lowered his head to wash his hands. Those hands when dipped in soap powder, lathered and foamed, washed away the blood and revealed their true form beneath. The palms were broad as cattail leaves, fingers straight and well-defined, calloused in varying thicknesses on the fingertips and palms. Looking at it, they were perfectly suited to wielding reins, swords, or daggers.
Chun Tian stretched out a finger, gesturing to her own cheek. “There.”
He raised a sleeve and wiped the bloodstain off his own face with his sleeve and replied, “Many thanks.”
Once everything was cleaned up, Madam Sun wrapped the wild boar meat in dry cattail leaves, pasted red paper seals on the packages, and distributed portions to everyone. Li Wei carried his bundle of wrapped meat and led the children back home. Along the way, a street vendor with a bamboo basket was selling candied hawthorn skewers (tanghulu). Li Wei stopped, took out his coin pouch, and bought one skewer for each of them.
Chun Tian stared at the bright red sugar-coated hawthorn Li Wei handed her, her throat constricted as though something was stuck there. She bit her lip and shook her head. “I don’t want it.”
“Scared?” Li Wei looked at her pale face. “That’s my fault.”
Changliu held his own skewer, his expression holding a little bit of embarrassment. “Papa, I don’t really want to eat it either.” The bright red candy inevitably reminded him of the wild boar’s violent death earlier. Only Xianxian seemed oblivious, forgetting everything when seeing the candy.
“Father, maybe we should not eat meat.”
“No meat? Then what would you eat?” The north was not like the south. In the northern plains, vegetables were scarce, and in the depths of winter, the land was covered in ice and snow, leaving only pickled radishes and salted vegetables.
Changliu thought for a long while. Without meat, starvation seemed inevitable. That’s why books said, A gentleman stays away from the kitchen. But then he reconsidered—if everyone stayed away from the kitchen, then the whole world would starve.
That night, the creaking of the courtyard gate and familiar heavy footsteps told Lu Mingyue that Helian Guang had returned. She felt a weight lift from her heart and unconsciously exhaled a deep breath. After he had stormed off earlier, Jiayan, rarely tearful, shed a few drops. As a mother, the sight filled her heart with bitterness.
At twelve years old, her family had been exiled to the borderlands because her father’s article offended a local magistrate. Her mother passed away before they even reached Hexi. Left alone with her father, they settled in the Shaliu Encampment, where convicts from across the provinces were sent to till the land. An old father and a young daughter, they endured much suffering. Men in the camp frequently leered at and harassed her, and she was often on the verge of losing her chastity.
There was a slave in the camp named Helian Bo, whose job was specifically to collect manure for fertilization. He was a Qiang person of the Bailan tribe who had committed a crime. His face was marred by several scars, making him look fierce, but he was tall and incredibly strong, and his solitary nature inspired fear among the other convicts.
Though his status was lowly, Helian Bo looked out for her in small ways. Compared to the foul-mouthed, stinky, ill-intentioned camp men, he was far kinder. After her father passed away due to illness, leaving her completely vulnerable in the encampment, like a sheep in the mouth of a tiger. Lu Mingyue, out of desperation, married Helian Bo.
In those times, those of Han ethnicity were valued and Hu were despised. Helian Bo was a slave, making him even lower in status. Men in the camp looked down on her for marrying a slave who hauled manure for a living, spitting at her as she passed and ridiculing her.
After Helian Bo’s death, during an imperial amnesty, she took her two-year-old son, Jiayan, to Ganzhou. With its bustling Hu-Han trade markets, it bustled with people from various ethnic groups and life for Jiayan became much easier there.
A few years later, Helian Guang came to the Shaliu Encampment searching for his elder brother and eventually found his nephew and sister-in-law in Gongde Alley.
The Bailan Qiang people once lived beside the sacred Qinghai Lake, considering themselves the sons of heaven. Their cattle and sheep were healthy and fat, boundless salt fields and paddies. But all of this was taken by the Tuyuhun and Tibetans. The Bailan Qiang people were enslaved, massacred, and humiliated. In the end, they could not escape a life of being enslaved by various powerful non-Han groups. Children of the Bailan Qiang people were considered the lowest class of humanity, labeled as mongrels, bastards and dog slaves.
She only wanted Jiayan to have a better life, to be more like a Han child. Was that so wrong with that?
TN: Hope everyone is doing well! I’ve never celebrated Little New Year, so this is quite interesting!
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