Zhao Xiulan was still lying on the ground, moaning and groaning. Old Mrs. Ming stood nearby, not daring to step forward. Hearing this, she was both furious and resentful, wanting to throw another tantrum.
"Mom seems to have raised three chickens, and she kept one."
Ming Erde added another comment.
Of course, the one kept was a rooster—worthless, at least far less valuable than the egg-laying hens.
Old Mrs. Ming’s tantrum, which was about to erupt, immediately choked back in her throat. She was terrified that Ming Erde would suggest taking all three chickens. Looking at her eldest grandson, who was held by Xu Cuihua and didn’t dare to cry, then at the useless Zhao Xiulan on the ground, and finally glancing at the silent house behind her, Old Mrs. Ming finally gave in for the sake of her grandson.
She had realized that Xu Cuihua, that crazy woman, really dared to drag Jin Dan and Yin Dan deep into the mountains, and Ming Erde, her own son, didn’t care at all that both were his own nephews.
When she went to catch the chickens, Old Mrs. Ming’s heart felt as if it were bleeding. Hens were extremely important assets for them—not only did their eggs provide nourishment, but they could also be sold to the Gongxiaoshe for money, serving as a crucial source of household income. Now, she had to give two hens to Ming Erde.
But she didn’t dare provoke Xu Cuihua, that crazy woman, fearing she might beat them all up again.
The two hens were in the chicken coop, and their feet were quickly tied before they were grabbed and thrown to the ground by Old Mrs. Ming. "Take them and get out!"
"Ming Erde! When you were born, I should have drowned you in the chamber pot! That would have been better than raising a beast like you. Get out!"
"For the sake of a woman, you don’t even care about your own parents. You unfilial wretch! Don’t call me Mom anymore—I don’t have a son like you!"
"You deserve to have no sons, to die without descendants, and to have no one to mourn you when you’re old. I’ll see what kind of end you’ll meet, letting this woman trick you into abandoning your parents and nephews!"
If it were the original Ming Erde, hearing Old Mrs. Ming curse him like this might have hurt a little. But now, her words couldn’t even scratch Ming Erde’s defenses.
"Dad, does that mean you’ll call her Auntie from now on?" Ming Erde didn’t care, but Ming Fei wasn’t willing to let him be bullied like this. She asked innocently, "Can I just call her Old Mrs. Ming?"
"I’ll mourn you when you’re old. In the future, I’ll earn money to build big houses for you and Mom, and we’ll have malted milk and meat every meal! I’m not like Jin Dan, who only thinks of himself when it comes to good things."
"When we get back, let’s kill the chickens. You and Mom can each have a drumstick!"
Ming Erde bent down to pick up the two chickens and nearly laughed at Ming Fei’s childish words. "That’s right. From now on, Feifei can just call her Old Mrs. Ming. Let’s go. Two chickens, four drumsticks—just enough for the four of us, one drumstick each!"
Seeing that the two hens were already in hand, Xu Cuihua simply tossed Jin Dan onto Zhao Xiulan, went over to take the chickens, and said, "Second Brother, don’t tire yourself out. I’ll carry them."
Ming Erde: "…"
The good mood brought by his daughter instantly vanished halfway because of these words. Still, he didn’t argue. He took Ming Fei’s hand and didn’t forget to turn back and say goodbye to Old Mrs. Ming, whose face was dark with anger. "Auntie, we’ll be leaving now. These chickens need to be stewed for a long time, so we’d better hurry back."
The word "Auntie" made Old Mrs. Ming’s face turn a colorful array of shades, looking absolutely splendid.
"Auntie, thank you for the chickens. Also, keep an eye on your children. If there's a next time, it won't be as simple as just two chickens." Xu Cuihua held a chicken in one hand and, with the other, led Ming Fei by the hand. She turned back to issue a warning, her gaze lingering pointedly on Jin Dan.
Noticing her stare, Jin Dan shrank back, his face filled with terror.
He absolutely did not want to know what Xu Cuihua had left unsaid!
"Goodbye, Grandma Ming! Thank you for the chickens. I'll eat them well when I get back, and I won't let them die in vain!" Ming Fei, holding one parent's hand with each of hers, didn't forget to add fuel to the fire before happily following her parents home.
Once the family of three was out of sight, Old Mrs. Ming slumped to the ground, wailing loudly. Behind her, the previously quiet house finally stirred. Yin Dan timidly poked his head out, asking, "Brother, are you okay?"
At the sight of his younger brother, Jin Dan's anger flared up. He had been bullied outside, yet Yin Dan hadn't even dared to show his face, safely hiding inside.
And yesterday too—Yin Dan had been part of tricking that wretched girl Ming Fei into going up the mountain, but when Jin Dan was getting beaten, Yin Dan and Baodan had hidden to the side, completely unscathed, while he had nearly been beaten to death. Why?
Thinking of this, Jin Dan rushed over in a few quick steps and raised his fist at Yin Dan.
Zhao Xiulan watched her two sons fighting and thought of the loss of the two precious hens. A wave of sorrow washed over her, and she couldn't understand how things had come to this.
Her husband was utterly useless. At least Ming Erde knew how to stand up for Xu Cuihua, but Ming Dade didn't know how to protect her—and she had borne three sons for the Ming family!
After beating up Yin Dan, who didn't dare fight back, Jin Dan turned around with a dark expression. "If you had just killed the chicken yesterday when I wanted to eat it, it wouldn't have been taken today! And why didn't you give it to them right away? Then we would have only lost one, and I could have eaten the other!"
"It's all Mom and Grandma's fault! I don't care—I want to eat chicken too! Why does that little brat Ming Fei get to eat chicken, but I don't?"
Ming Fei had no idea that after they left, Jin Dan had forced Old Mrs. Ming to kill the last rooster. She was happily fantasizing about eating chicken at noon.
Xu Sulan looked at the two hens her daughter was carrying and was astonished. "How did you manage to get two hens? Did your mother-in-law allow it?"
If she remembered correctly, those two hens were still laying eggs!
"Mom, I won't have a mother-in-law anymore."
Xu Sulan: "What do you mean?"
"She said she doesn't have a son like me anymore, so from now on, just call her Auntie, not Mom." After walking all this way, Ming Erde was tired. He found a stool to sit on and explained.
But his explanation only made things worse.
Xu Sulan looked at her daughter, who nodded in agreement, and felt both exasperated and amused.
"Grandma, can we hurry up and kill the chicken?" Ming Fei didn't care about titles. All she wanted to know was when she could eat the chicken and drink the soup. Staring at the lively hens, she was practically drooling.
"Mom, these two hens are still laying eggs. It's a shame to kill them, but our family already has three chickens—we can't keep more. Why don't you take them to exchange for roosters with other families in the Dadui? I'm sure they'd be willing."
In any case, the chickens had to be killed today.
Otherwise, given that family's nature, they might show up later with the Daduizhang, claiming their family had too many chickens.
Ming Erde had never intended to let the two chickens survive the night—after all, their family was definitely going to slaughter two.
Ming Fei looked at the still-clucking chickens, then at the pheasant feathers on the ground, and suddenly understood why Ming Erde had taken them to Ming Dade’s house to demand chickens after Xu Cuihua had brought back the pheasant.
This way, the chickens their family ate would be from Ming Dade’s household, so even if the neighbors smelled the aroma, there was nothing to fear—unlike if they had been caught from the mountain, which was collective property. Being newcomers, they still had to be cautious.
Xu Sulan also felt it was a pity to kill two egg-laying hens. Upon hearing this, she immediately nodded, took the two chickens outside, and returned shortly with two roosters.
The two roosters were no smaller, with much more meat than the two hens, and she even brought back four eggs.
“Mom, you rest. I’ll handle the slaughtering.”
“Alright, then I’ll go boil some more hot water.”
Ming Fei couldn’t bear to leave, so she simply squatted nearby and watched. When the chicken went into the wok for stir-frying and the aroma wafted out, she was even more reluctant to step away.
It smelled so good!
She hadn’t eaten chicken in years, and the original owner of this body only got to eat meat during festivals.
Originally, Xu Sulan thought cooking just one chicken would already be extravagant enough—the other could be saved for the New Year, since the weather was cold and it wouldn’t spoil. But both Xu Cuihua and Ming Erde strongly insisted on cooking two, so the whole family could have a proper meal.
With the pheasant included, that made four chickens in total. The whole family was lacking in nourishment and needed a good replenishment. They could always find more later.
Once the chicken was cooked, Xu Sulan noticed Ming Fei watching eagerly from the side. She smiled, picked up a piece, and stuffed it into Ming Fei’s mouth. Then, she took a small bowl, added a few more pieces of chicken, extra wood ear mushrooms and regular mushrooms, and ladled in a spoonful of broth, filling the bowl to the brim.
“Feifei, take this bowl to Zhu Xiaoqi. He brought you down yesterday, which essentially saved your life. We must repay kindness with kindness.”
As for the sweet potatoes Ming Fei had given as compensation that morning, Xu Sulan felt it wasn’t enough.
Nothing was more important than her granddaughter. If Zhu Xiaoqi hadn’t brought her out, she didn’t dare imagine whether her sickly, frail granddaughter would have survived coming out of the mountains.
“Oh, okay.” Quickly finishing the chicken in her mouth, Ming Fei nodded eagerly, picked up the bowl, and prepared to leave.
“Wait, Feifei, take some coarse rice too.” Xu Cuihua remembered the situation of the Zhu family child and filled a cloth bag with some coarse rice. Seeing her daughter’s small frame, she felt a bit uneasy. “Never mind, I’ll go with you.”
Her daughter was so young—what if she got tired carrying all these things?
“Go quickly and come back soon so we can eat!”
“Got it!”
Zhu Xiaoqi now lived alone, quite far from the Ming household. Both Xu Cuihua and Ming Fei were thinking of the cabbage, dried mushrooms, and braised chicken waiting at home, so they walked quickly and soon arrived at Zhu Xiaoqi’s doorstep.
“Brother Xiaoqi, are you home?”
Ming Fei stepped forward and patted the courtyard gate while calling out. The next moment, the wooden gate suddenly collapsed in front of her.
“…”
Hearing the noise, Zhu Xiaoqi came out and saw Ming Fei frozen in a knocking posture, while his gate had vanished.
Well, not exactly vanished—several wooden planks were scattered on the ground.
He paid no attention to the collapsed gate but instead looked warily at the mother and daughter at the entrance. “What’s the matter? Those sweet potatoes were the reward you promised me. Even if you want them back, I won’t give them to you!”
They were rightfully his.
"No, we came to bring you something. Thank you for taking Feifei down the mountain yesterday. A few sweet potatoes were too little." Xu Cuihua entered the room holding a bowl, carefully avoiding the wooden planks on the floor.
After all, they didn’t look very sturdy. What if she stepped on one and it broke right away?
She still had to fix the door for him later.
"Where’s your bowl?" Afraid it would get cold on the way, Xu Cuihua had covered it with another bowl. It was still steaming when she removed the lid, and the rich aroma of mushroom stewed chicken immediately filled the air.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Cuihua immediately heard two gulps.
Author’s Note:
The way this family of three talks is really infuriating.