When Yue Jiuyue called out “Xiaoman’s mother,” Liu Shi didn’t even realize at first that she was being addressed.
Once she did, she turned her head and saw Xiaoman sitting on the coarse burlap sack, her little head nodding with drowsiness. Liu Shi immediately put down her hoe, hurried over to pick up Xiaoman, said a quick word to Yue Jiuyue, and headed home.
Yue Jiuyue picked up the hoe again, intending to swing it with the same vigor as in the morning.
But with the drought, even weeds struggled to grow in the fields. Her body, which hadn’t done physical labor in a long time, now protested—her arms ached so much they didn’t feel like her own. She could barely lift the hoe.
Though Yue Jiuyue loved money, she wasn’t the type to push herself to the point of suffering. Since she couldn’t swing the hoe, she simply stopped digging. She focused instead on pulling up the above-ground plants, adding to her own little treasure trove.
As she pulled, she suddenly discovered a hole—some kind of small animal burrow. A snake’s? A rabbit’s? Or a rat’s?
Yue Jiuyue peered at it for a while but didn’t spot any animal. Maybe they had moved away because of the drought?
Well, she could still make use of this hole.
“Fourth son, come quick! I’ve caught two little rabbits!”
Yue Jiuyue placed two tan-colored baby rabbits into her basket and threw in a handful of sow thistle for them.
The pair were about a month old, weighing only around eight taels each—one male, one female. Given how quickly rabbits reproduced, generations upon generations would follow endlessly. Before long, she would have an infinite supply of rabbit meat to eat!
“They’re so tiny! Barely enough to fill the gaps between my teeth! But even a mosquito’s leg is still meat. I haven’t tasted meat in years. Tonight, let’s have Big Sister-in-Law cook one, and save the other for a few more days!”
As he said this, Lin Chaobei gulped loudly, drooling with craving.
Yue Jiuyue, however, was covered in mental black lines.
True, her ultimate goal in buying these two rabbits was also to eat them. But they were so small—just as Lin Chaobei had said, not even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. How could he not think to raise them until they were bigger before eating?
It was like how villagers used to raise chickens. The eggs from hens could be sold in town. Fertilized eggs could be hatched into more chicks, and soon you’d have a whole flock. When those chickens grew up, they’d lay countless more eggs, which meant more money, which meant you could hatch even more chicks.
With more chickens and more eggs, you’d earn more money. Then you wouldn’t worry so much about every little penny. You’d even be willing to eat eggs or chicken at home.
But what Lin Chaobei was suggesting was to wipe out the rabbit ancestors in one go. After that, you wouldn’t even see half a strand of rabbit fur, let alone raise a whole colony—either to sell or to eat.
He was being completely wasteful!
“Smack!” Yue Jiuyue unceremoniously slapped Lin Chaobei on the arm.
“Eat, eat, eat! All you think about is eating! I’ve checked—these rabbits are one male and one female. Raise them until they’re big, and they’ll keep having litters of baby rabbits. Then will you be lacking meat?”
After saying that, Yue Jiuyue shot Lin Chaobei a glare.
“Mother, I was wrong! I’ll take care of the grass for these two rabbits from now on. I promise I’ll feed them until they’re plump and white, and they’ll have baby rabbits like crazy!”
Lin Chaobei didn’t mind the slap at all. Looking at the little rabbits, his eyes seemed to glow red with excitement.
“Smack!” Yue Jiuyue slapped Lin Chaobei again.
“Are you stupid? How are you going to raise these rabbits to be white?”