How did hiring someone to press a pig image during Chinese New Year become a top trend?

"Gulp."

Xu An swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

The wind was biting cold.

But he felt as if he had been thrown into a steamer, with sweat streaming down his spine.

The man in front of me, named Da Biao, was at least 1.9 meters tall, with a shiny bald head and a faint scar at the corner of his eye.

The two butcher knives he carried gleamed with a chilling light in the morning glow.

This isn't about helping out.

This is clearly a gangster returning to the underworld, and the kind who's here to clean house.

"Brother, brother..."

Xu An pulled his hand halfway out of his sleeve, wanting to shake hands but not daring to, frozen in mid-air like a beckoning cat.

"Oh dear! Teacher Xu!"

Da Biao tucked the butcher knife under his arm and grabbed Xu An's hand with his large, fan-like hands.

With that grip, Xu An felt as if his hand bones were about to crack.

"Why call me 'brother'? Call me Da Biao! Or Biaozi!"

Da Biao grinned, his face full of fat, and his voice was as loud as a bass cannon.

"I've watched your video over and over again; it's so real! It's just like me!"

"These thirty people in the back are all from our Raptor car club. They don't have many hobbies, just love off-roading, eating meat, and making friends!"

With that, Da Biao turned around and roared, "What are you all standing there for? Call for help!"

"Hello, Teacher Xu!!!"

Thirty burly men in windbreakers bowed in unison.

The sound shook the Taihang Mountains.

The early-rising chickens in Xujia Village were so frightened that they flapped their wings and flew onto the roof.

Xu An's legs went weak, and he almost knelt back to them.

"Don't...don't shout..."

Xu An pointed tremblingly to the main room: "Grandpa...Grandpa is still sleeping in the room."

Da Biao immediately covered his mouth and whispered like a thief, "Got it! Got it! We can't disturb the old man! Let's be quiet!"

The group of "thugs" instantly turned into stealthy cats, following Xu An into the small courtyard.

Upon entering the courtyard.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Xu An's family courtyard is not big; usually, it's just him and his grandfather.

Now, more than thirty burly men suddenly squeezed in, making it instantly crowded.

The most crucial thing is—there's nowhere to sit.

There were only two wooden benches with broken legs and a small stool used for peeling garlic in the yard.

"that……"

Xu An scratched his head awkwardly, his face turning bright red.

"The house... is a bit messy."

"There aren't that many benches..."

He was genuinely panicked.

People travel all this way in luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands, only to find that there's not even a place to put their butts down when they arrive.

That's incredibly rude.

Xu An first went back to the house to put on his clothes and shoes.

Then I wanted to find some tea leaves, but after searching through the cabinets, I only found half a packet of old tea crumbs, and not even a disposable paper cup.

There were only a few enamel mugs with chipped porcelain.

"I'm so sorry."

Xu An brought out a kettle of boiling water and an enamel mug, not daring to look at Da Biao.

"I want to go to the village store to buy some sunflower seeds and drinks, but... the village store has been closed down for a long time, the nearest one is in town."

"It's only a little past five o'clock, and they're not open yet."

"Only plain water is available."

Xu An lowered his head, like a child who had done something wrong.

He was waiting for this group to lose their temper.

We'll wait for them to say, "What kind of ridiculous conditions are these?" or "Are you kidding us?"

however.

The air was still for a few seconds.

Da Biao looked around.

Looking at the peeling red brick wall, the neatly stacked firewood in the corner, Xu An's faded military overcoat, and the pot of steaming hot water.

There are no supplementary lights.

There was no teleprompter.

There was no film crew hiding in the corner.

The poverty here is very real.

It's also very clean and authentic here.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Da Biao suddenly laughed, a hearty laugh.

He didn't mind that the ground was dirty, and plopped down on the bluestone slab by the threshold.

"Brothers! Stop standing there!"

"The ground is our bed, the sky is our blanket! Sit wherever you like!"

As he spoke, Da Biao took the enamel mug from Xu An's hand and, without even noticing how hot it was, gulped down a large mouthful.

"ha--!"

"happy!"

Da Biao wiped his mouth, looked at Xu An, and his eyes showed less mockery and more respect.

"Brother Xu, to be honest..."

Before my brother came, I was actually a little worried.

"These days, there are too many scammers online. I'm afraid that if I get here and see a bunch of influencer companies posing for photos, I'll just turn around and leave."

"But when it comes to you..."

Da Biao pointed to the dilapidated courtyard.

"This is life."

"This is the kind of lively, down-to-earth atmosphere we've been looking for!"

The other thirty strong men nodded in agreement, some sitting on the pile of firewood, others squatting in the corner.

They're clearly a group of big bosses driving raptors.

At this moment, however, they looked like a group of rural men waiting for a feast, without any sense of incongruity.

"The water tastes sweet, is it spring water?"

"The air here is much better than the stench in the city."

Xu An was stunned.

He looked at the group of people, holding a glass of plain water in his hands, but his face was beaming with a genuine smile.

My tense nerves gradually relaxed.

"It's well water."

Xu An explained in a low voice, "It was brought up last night."

"That's right!" Da Biao slapped his thigh. "Brother, don't feel like we didn't treat you well."

"We're here to help, not to act like royalty!"

"What time should we slaughter the pig? Just give the order! My knife is itching for a fight!"

Xu An glanced at the sky.

I glanced at my phone again.

It's only six in the morning.

According to the customs in Henan, the time for slaughtering the pig for the New Year must be chosen carefully, usually around 10 a.m., when the sun is strong and the yang energy is abundant.

and……

Xu An glanced at his two black pigs, who were still fast asleep in the pigpen.

"Um...we'll have to wait a bit."

"We have to wait for the sun to rise."

"And..." Xu An hesitated, "There are only two pigs, but we have over thirty people here, plus..."

He pointed to his phone.

On the screen, the number of followers is slowly but steadily approaching 350,000.

In private messages, at least several hundred people said they were already on their way.

"This little bit of meat probably won't even be enough to fill a tooth gap."

Xu An was truly troubled.

We can't let people who come to help go hungry, can we?

Da Biao was also taken aback.

This is indeed a problem.

There are too many wolves and not enough meat.

Just then.

A low engine sound came again from the dirt road outside the yard, which had just been flattened by a road roller.

It's not a sports car.

It's a heavy truck.

"drop--!"

A loud whistle rang out.

Immediately afterwards, the familiar black Passat led the way, followed by two vans with the words "Huixian Material Support" printed on them, and slowly came to a stop at the gate of the courtyard.

The car door opened.

Director Wang Xingbang, sporting dark circles under his eyes and hair as messy as a bird's nest, jumped down in a flurry of activity.

He was also holding a walkie-talkie.

"Attention all units! Attention all units!"

"The ingredients must be fresh! Hygiene standards must be met!"

After saying that, Wang Xingbang rushed into the courtyard.

Upon seeing the courtyard full of burly men, he was taken aback at first, but then immediately switched to the warm and hospitable face of a "hospitable Henan".

"Wow! These must be the heroes online!"

"I'm Xiao Wang from the Huixian Culture and Tourism Bureau!"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

After shaking hands, Wang Xingbang turned to look at Xu An, who looked completely bewildered, and waved his hand dismissively.

"Xiao Xu! The county has taken into consideration that our Xujia Village has limited reception capacity."

"We've specially allocated a batch of supplies for you!"

The voice just fell.

Several workers opened the cargo compartment of the first truck.

Good guy!

Five thousand sets of disposable bowls and chopsticks!

Sunflower seeds, peanuts, candy, oranges—a full fifty boxes!

There were even two commercial water boilers and a full ten boxes of premium Xinyang Maojian tea!

"this……"

Xu An's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Chief, how much will this cost? I... I don't have the money to give you."

Wang Xingbang put on a stern face and pretended to be angry:

"Talking about money? That's so vulgar!"

"This is called embracing traffic! Embracing the internet!"

"These were all sponsored by several leading enterprises in the county! They're free!"

After saying that, Wang Xingbang smiled mysteriously and pointed to the second truck.

"Besides, I know you're worried that two pigs won't be enough to eat."

"Experts from the county's breeding base held a meeting overnight."

"With special approval, we've sent you two 'unofficial staff'!"

The carriage doors suddenly opened.

"Hmph hmph hmph—!!!"

A pig squeal, louder than a tractor, rang out.

Two enormous, shiny black pigs, even larger than Xu Anjia's two pigs, were being herded off the hill by several workers.

Each one looks to weigh over 400 pounds!

That's a real tank among pigs!

"This was also...sponsored?"

Xu An felt his brain wasn't working properly.

"right!"

Wang Xingbang patted Xu An on the shoulder and spoke earnestly:

"Xiao Xu, this isn't just about you anymore."

"This is a vanity project for the entire county."

"Even if we have to slaughter every pig in the county, we can't let our netizens go home hungry!"

Da Biao watched in stunned silence.

He had seen official disaster relief efforts.

I've never seen an official bailout.

It's still this kind of "nanny-level" rescue.

"Awesome!"

Da Biao gave a thumbs up and exclaimed sincerely.

"Brother Xu, I've never seen anything like this in all my years on the internet!"

Xu An looked at the mountain of sunflower seeds and drinks.

Look at those two "official pigs" who started rooting around the cabbages as soon as they got off the bus.

I glanced at Director Wang again; although he hadn't slept well, he looked energetic.

He suddenly realized.

This matter seems to have truly become a battle that must be won.

He silently pulled his hand out of his sleeve, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the box, and handed them to Da Biao.

"Um... Brother Biao."

"Let's eat some sunflower seeds first."

"This pig... I think it's probably enough to kill."