Undercover - In China - Book 7

Part 25 - Here Piggy

I climbed up onto the second set of pedals but, as soon as I put a foot on one, it moved down and I fell off. I grabbed a hand rail and managed three steps before I slipped off again. I began to get the knack of climbing the pedals and, for a few minutes, it was fun but then I started to get tired. 'Does anyone else want to try this?' I gasped.

Miguel took my place and promptly fell off. Licia kept laughing until we insisted she demonstrate her superior skill. Meanwhile, Miguel and I figured out that the endless wooden chain pulled the square plates up the trough. The space between the plates was filled with water and as the water reached the top of the trough, it spilled into a ditch and ran away into the field. 

 Yu Ging shouted in alarm as mother pig trotting passed us heading for the creek, closely followed by her frolicking piglets. We all chased after them as they ran into the creek. I called, 'Here, piggy, piggy,' and Licia howled with laughter as she tried to translate that into Mandarin.

 Yu Ging was up to his waist in water wrestling with the grunting sow as Miguel waded into the pool, tucked a piglet under each arm and carried them, wriggling and squealing, to the bank. I tried to reach one of the piglets without getting my feet wet but slipped and fell on my knees in the muddy water. Licia was no help at all. She was rolling on the grass helpless with laughter.

 The old man trotted down the bank, slipped a loop of rope around the sow's hind leg and growled at Yu Ging as Licia translated. 'You forgot to close the gate. And you'd better pull the tusks out of the piglets jaws before your uncle finds you.' 

 We followed as he hauled the squealing sow back up the hill with the piglets romping after her. A few passing farm workers laughed to see the mud-covered Yu Ging, Miguel and me and the squealing pigs. 

 And, that set Licia off laughing again. 'They want to know which ones are the pigs. It's hard to tell the difference.' 

 Miguel and I followed Yu Ging into the kitchen where the two girls were working a hand loom and chatting with two ladies. One of the ladies gave us hot tea and went to get some dry clothes for us. 

 As we warmed ourselves at the fireplace a small child tottered across the room. 'What a cute little boy,' Licia cooed.

 'Careful! Licia,' Miguel warned. 'You're not supposed to sound like a girl. How do you know it's a boy?' 

 Licia pointed out that his trousers lacked a crotch thus exposed his private parts.

'I guess that solves the diaper problem,' I said, 'but it must be cold around the butt.'

The lady returned with quilted trousers and coats which Miguel and I quickly exchanged for our wet trousers after thanking the lady. She stared at my blue eyes and said, 'No need for thanks. Very old clothes,' and then hung the wet clothes around the fire to dry.'

'That reminds me,' I whispered. 'Where's the washroom?' Licia relayed my question to one of the ladies who told Yu Ging to show me outside to a tiny hut, with a bamboo pole floor, where he pulled down his trousers and squatted over a hole in the middle. When he had finished, he cleansed himself with straw and poured a scoopful of ashes into the hole. I did my tinkle and returned to the kitchen where I told Licia and Miguel about the dry pit toilet.

 'Surprisingly, it doesn't smell totally gross. But, I wish I remembered to bring toilet paper and soap.' Miguel rummaged in his bag and produced a bar of soap. 'Ta-da! I brought some toilet paper too.'

'Fantástico!' Licia exclaimed. 'Miguel, you're a total genius.' 

 Later, Dr Zhang explained that the dry wood ash was sufficiently alkaline - like bleach - to kill the smell. Also, if the wood  was cooked with fat or oil, the mixture turned into soap. That evening, we ate a delicious meal. My favourite was called sticky rice, small packages of meat, egg and sausage wrapped in rice with an outer covering of tough bamboo leaves. Licia pointed out that after boiling they would keep for weeks. She showed us how to unwrap the bamboo leaves so we could eat the contents.

Licia told us that Kongming had sent his whole family south. He sure Cho Cho, the northern warlord, would invade Jingzhou and was afraid Cho Cho would take them hostage.

 It was getting dark when an old servant brought in straw mats and blankets so we could sleep on the floor. Miguel, Licia and I used toothpicks, Chinese style, to clean our teeth and then Licia dissolved a small packets of salt in a cup of water which we used as a dental mouthwash. Licia insisted we rinse our mouths with fresh water so we didn't pickle our mouths. 

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