Song Yueying also went back to her room and changed her clothes. Just as she stepped out, Mother Song said to her, “Xiao Ying, stay in the house and play by yourself for a while. I’ll go get you something tasty.”
After saying that, Mother Song left.
That left Song Yueying standing there in a daze, told to “play by herself” like a child.
Looking at Qi Yanjue, still unconscious on the ground, Song Yueying felt complicated emotions. It all felt… almost unreal.
When she had just transmigrated here, she had encountered him being surrounded and hunted, and had been dragged into it. He blocked a knife for her, she used a gas weapon to counterattack those people, and she even sent him to the hospital.
It should have been evened out by now. Yet unexpectedly, he had suddenly become the original owner’s biological older brother, and that made him her brother as well.
Since he was her brother, she definitely couldn’t let him die.
Song Yueying squatted in front of Qi Yanjue, opened his mouth with one hand, and dropped a white tablet inside.
After he swallowed it, she finally let go, staring straight at his face.
To be fair, this man really was good-looking. Especially his thin lips, very well-shaped. His face was also attractive, with sharp defined features, and long eyelashes like two small fans.
There was nothing about him that wasn’t good-looking.
If such a good-looking man died… it would be unacceptable to heaven.
Noticing her heartbeat was a bit too fast, Song Yueying raised a hand and patted her own cheeks.
What was she thinking? That was her older brother.
“Xiao Ying, what are you staring at him for?” Mother Song walked in holding a basin. Seeing her daughter squatting in front of the man, staring straight at him, she asked.
“I just noticed he’s actually quite good-looking,” Song Yueying replied calmly.
“Mm, he is quite good-looking.” Mother Song nodded in agreement. Her son-in-law really was handsome. If Xiao Qi weren’t good-looking, her daughter wouldn’t have taken a liking to him.
She walked over to the old square table and placed the basin on it.
When she turned around and saw her daughter still staring at her “son-in-law,” Mother Song said, “Xiao Ying, let’s eat first. You can keep looking at him after you’re done eating.”
After saying that, Mother Song went out again.
Song Yueying was stunned. Was that something a mother was supposed to say? Then she thought of how Mother Song was the famously “mad mother” in the village, and suddenly it didn’t seem so strange anymore.
She slowly stood up and looked toward the doorway.
The small courtyard where they lived was a separate one built by the original owner’s father when he was still alive. Although it was a mud-brick house, the layout was fairly decent, two rooms, a main hall, a kitchen, and a toilet.
In the middle was a small yard, with vegetables planted on both sides.
She withdrew her gaze and looked at the furnishings in the main hall; everything was visible at a glance, extremely impoverished.
In this era of work points, every household was the same, barely enough food, barely enough clothing. Living conditions were nothing to speak of, and even getting something nutritious to eat was very difficult.
On the table sat a basin with a few small sweet potatoes lying lonely inside, looking rather pitiful.
A fragrance drifted into her nose, and Song Yueying suddenly turned around. She saw Mother Song carefully walking in with a slightly larger basin, her expression carrying a hint of caution.
The basin was covered with a lid, so nothing inside could be seen.
“Xiao Ying, we’re eating meat today, lots of chicken,” Mother Song said with a smile. After placing the basin on the table, she quickly went to close the door.
The room instantly dimmed, with only the light seeping through the roof gaps and door cracks enough to see everything inside.
Chicken? Driven by curiosity, Song Yueying walked over to the table and lifted the lid off the basin. A rich aroma instantly filled the air and spread quickly throughout the room.
Inside the basin was a whole chicken soaking in oily broth.
Mother Song came back to the table, and Song Yueying asked, “I remember we don’t raise chickens at home. Where did this one come from?”
“We don’t,” Mother Song replied very straightforwardly. “This is your uncle’s family’s laying hen. Yesterday you went out and didn’t come back even after dark, so I was waiting for you at the door.”
“Wang Muxiang came back from work and saw me waiting there. She told me you ran off with some wild man and didn’t want me anymore.”
“I couldn’t take it, so I went to her house and cursed her out. After I finished scolding Wang Muxiang and came back, I found her hen following behind me.”
“Since it followed me home, I felt embarrassed to chase it away, so I caught it and stewed it.”
“Don’t worry, I cooked the chicken soup last night. No one knows.”
A chicken that followed someone home really would be hard to chase away; cooking it did seem… understandable. No problem. Song Yueying’s thinking was successfully influenced by Mother Song.
People in this era didn’t pay much attention to cooking methods. What Mother Song called “stewed chicken soup” simply meant putting the whole chicken in a pot, adding a bit of salt, and boiling it until cooked.
“Xiao Ying, have a chicken leg.” Mother Song tore off a drumstick and handed it to Song Yueying.
Looking at the chicken leg in front of her, Song Yueying was at a loss for words.
“Hurry up and eat,” Mother Song urged when she saw her daughter not moving. “Once Wang Muxiang realizes the hen is gone, she’ll definitely come looking. We need to finish eating it quickly.”
“Just throw the bones far away and she won’t find them.”
Song Yueying really wanted to say that Wang Muxiang was an unreasonable person. If she couldn’t find the chicken, she would still blame them anyway, after all, they were the so-called “crazy mother” family in the village.
After only a brief hesitation, Song Yueying reached out and took the chicken leg.
If there was meat to eat and she didn’t eat it, that would be foolish. She sat down by the table.
Before she could even take a bite of the drumstick, another one was handed to her. She looked up, staring blankly at Mother Song.
Both chicken legs for her? What was she thinking?
Mother Song’s eyes were bright. “Xiao Ying, hurry and eat! Once your aunt comes looking, we definitely won’t be able to eat the chicken anymore, we might even get beaten up.”
“Alright, let’s eat quickly.” Song Yueying nodded very seriously, shaking the drumstick in her hand. “We each take one leg and finish them fast.”
Mother Song paused for a moment, then shook her head. “No, no, I don’t want a chicken leg. Xiao Ying should eat it. Both chicken legs are for you.”
“I only have one mouth. Eating two chicken legs would be too slow. If we both eat, with two mouths, we can finish them much faster,” Song Yueying said smoothly, effortlessly persuading her.
Mother Song thought about it and felt her daughter made sense. She sat down with the drumstick and started eating eagerly.
Song Yueying also took a bite of her chicken leg, chewing while watching Mother Song.
Who said the original owner’s mother was crazy? She clearly knew to give the good food to her daughter.
She was a perfectly competent mother.
Seeing Mother Song finish the drumstick in just a few bites, Song Yueying asked with a smile, “Is the chicken leg good?”
“Delicious, the chicken leg is really delicious,” Mother Song nodded vigorously. “So fragrant, really tasty. Xiao Ying, eat faster, hurry up and eat more, understand?”
“Okay.” Song Yueying responded softly.
After a while.
“I’m full, I can’t eat anymore.” Song Yueying tossed the chicken bone onto the table.
After swallowing the chicken in her mouth, Mother Song also placed her chicken bones on the table and persuaded her daughter, “Eat a bit more. Xiao Ying, you’re still growing, you need to eat more.”
“I’m full, I can’t eat anymore.” Song Yueying waved her hand and even let out a burp.
She really couldn’t eat anymore.
Mother Song was about to say something else when suddenly there was a loud banging sound at the gate outside the courtyard.