The two young maids had been staying at Lin He's house for some time now, and Lin He was extremely satisfied with their performance. Zi Qing was the elder sister, more composed and quiet in temperament. Besides martial arts, she was skilled at embroidery, producing work even finer than Old Madam Huang's, and she also knew how to tailor and sew clothes. Her younger sister, Zi Yu, was livelier and bolder, enjoying conversation more. Her foundation in martial arts wasn't as solid as her sister's, but she was very quick-witted, and the younger ones, Xiao Bao and Chen'er, particularly liked her.

Moreover, both girls were diligent and highly adaptable. By the second day, they had taken over all the household chores, even managing the task of looking after the younger children, which freed up Lin He considerably. Even Xiao Bao, who constantly called out "Sister, Sister," was now constantly shouting "Zi Qing, Zi Yu."

However, Lin He hadn't spent enough time with them yet to place complete trust in them; she felt they needed a period of observation. For the time being, the preparation of medicinal pastes remained a task she shared only with Old Madam Zhou and Hong Yun. Lin He felt this was a matter requiring some caution until things were more settled.

After a while, it was almost time for the Beginning of Spring (Lichun). Around this time, the temperature began to rise, no longer as biting as winter, and the snow and ice melted away. Wild grasses and flowers sprouted in the fields. Everyone who owned land picked up their tools, ready to work the fields. The farm implements prepared for Lin He's hired laborers were all ready, and the workers were already out in the fields, busy with the land allotted to them.

Old Man Qin led the laborers in working the original eight mu of fertile land belonging to the Lin He household. Tasks like fertilizing, watering, and weeding all needed to be done at this juncture. There were still quite a few weeds in the wheat fields—things like shepherd's purse and wild chive grass (Mai Hao). Mai Hao grows incredibly fast; as soon as the temperature rises, this weed seems to explode in growth, outpacing the wheat itself. Still, it made weeding slightly more convenient, as the pulled weeds piled up nicely. Old Man Qin and the workers took all the piles back; they could feed the family pigs or be thrown into the pond to feed the fish.

The Da Jiang family, who also owned a few mu of land, sent over substantial amounts of these weeds daily. Lin He, seeing the sheer volume, told them not to dump everything at once. They could put some aside by the pond each day to feed the fish, and a considerable portion also went to the family's two very large, fat pigs.

Old Madam Huang and Er Niu looked at the two hefty swine and considered slaughtering them soon, replacing them with a couple of piglets. Since these were not sows, feeding them for so long was wasting grain. They decided that once the laborers finished preparing the fields in a few days, they would butcher both pigs.

Ordinarily, these fat pigs should have been slaughtered around the New Year, as meat would fetch a better price then. But during the New Year period, the Lin He family was occupied with buying land, building the house, and managing the fish sales, leaving no time.

Lin He, however, suggested that Er Niu slaughter the pigs in the next few days. Spring plowing was approaching, and everyone would be working hard. Butchering their own pigs meant they could keep some meat for themselves. With such a large household—family members plus laborers—they would need to buy a significant amount of meat anyway. It was better to keep more at home and save the expense of buying it elsewhere.

Er Niu agreed that Lin He had a point. He picked a market day, called the laborers to help, and found a worker named Gou Zhu who knew how to slaughter a pig. Er Niu asked him to take care of both pigs, intending to keep half of one for the family and take the rest to sell in town.

Early on the morning of the slaughter, the villagers came to watch. Since it wasn't a holiday or festival, Er Niu butchering two large pigs at once was quite a spectacle. Some people also lined up, hoping to buy some cuts of meat. When both pigs were processed, the offal alone filled two large basins, and there were two massive pig heads. They didn't sell much of the meat at home; after selling only about ten jin, they packed up and headed to the town. Er Niu insisted they leave early to sell the meat in the bustling market.

Er Niu and Da Jiang, along with a few laborers, used the ox cart to transport the meat to town. Back at home, Lin He, Old Madam Huang, and the maids, Zi Qing and Zi Yu, went to the riverbank to clean the offal. Fortunately, with so many hands, it only took just over an hour to clean everything. The offal from two pigs was substantial; Lin He wondered how long it would take them to eat it all.

Back at the house, after categorizing the cleaned offal, they cooked the livers and kidneys right away, knowing the large group could consume those easily. For the intestines, hearts, and tongues, Lin He prepared some brine and pickled them, as this preserved better and would last several days. The trotters and heads still required careful preparation.

Removing the bristles alone was a major undertaking. Some had been scalded off with boiling water during the slaughter, but Lin He had Zi Qing and Zi Yu heat up tongs until red-hot to singe off the remainder. Once that was done, Lin He planned to smoke the head meat and ears into cured meat (larou). Lin He remembered tasting fire-cured, smoked pig head and ear meat once when she was little, and the memory alone made her mouth water.

Old Madam Huang, Lin He, and the maids worked on the butchery clean-up all morning until they were nearly done. For lunch, they fried some of the offal. Lin He instructed Zi Qing to take the remaining cleaned offal to the hired laborers, asking Hong Xia to cook it, as the pieces were already prepared, so Hong Xia just needed to cook them through. Near the afternoon, Er Niu and the others returned from selling the meat. They reported that they still had half of the second pig left; it simply wouldn't sell, so they had brought it back.

Old Madam Huang looked at the meat spread around the courtyard and became distressed. She lamented not slaughtering only one pig at a time, worrying about what to do with the unsold portion. Lin He smiled and comforted her. "Killing one pig wouldn't free up the sty anyway. I'll figure out what to do with this meat; nothing will go to waste. At worst, we'll cure it all into larou. Since we have so many laborers and family members, this meat will be eaten quickly. If we didn't have it, we'd have to buy it. This way, the meat is essentially free, right?"

Old Madam Huang conceded the point. Besides, once the family slaughtered a pig, her maiden family, her in-laws' family, and other relatives would certainly expect gifts. In the past, when they were poorer, it might have mattered, but now they weren't relying on the income from selling meat. There was no use worrying about what hadn't sold.

So, Old Madam Huang set aside portions, planning to send four jin each to her parents and her husband's parents, and two jin to the brothers and sisters-in-law, leaving the rest for Lin He to manage.

In the afternoon, Er Niu took the ox cart to deliver meat to his mother-in-law's side. Hong Xia took some back to the in-laws' home. Hong Yun, whose pregnancy was advanced, was not doing strenuous work but sweeping the courtyard and similar tasks while staying there. As for Da Jiang's family, they had gone to town with Er Niu to sell the meat and hadn't come back, so Lin He would have to deliver their share herself.