Jiang Ning tied the sack tight, walked out of the warehouse, and asked curiously, "What did you get? Don't tell me you went digging for bird eggs again!"
In the original owner's memory, these children were all expert climbers with excellent eyesight; they often brought back bird eggs, which served as one of their few sources of meat.
Yang Sizhuang shook his head repeatedly. "Wrong, guess again!"
Liu Ye also poked her head out to join the fun. "Did you pick some delicious wild fruit?"
Yang Sizhuang continued to shake his head, looking particularly smug. "You definitely won't guess it! I'll tell you, Big Brother set a trap this morning and caught a wild chicken!"
"Really?!" Both Jiang Ning and Liu Ye grew excited. Yang Xiaoya felt even more so and had already rushed out of the courtyard to meet her brothers.
Jiang Ning still needed to lock the door. A step too slow, and as she reached the bottom of the slope, she saw several children sprinting toward the house at a hundred-meter dash pace. Realizing what was happening, she immediately turned back home.
When Yang Datou took the wild chicken, which weighed about two pounds, out of the basket, everyone swallowed in unison, their eyes turning green with hunger.
Jiang Ning rolled up her sleeves, preparing to get to work.
Although Yang Datou was dying of hunger, he still tried to stop her. "Mother, let's trade the wild chicken for money!"
The others showed visible disappointment.
Jiang Ning shook her head. "No trade! It's rare to get a bit of meat; if I don't eat it, I'll feel like I'm betraying my own stomach! Besides, we have Trichosanthes to trade for money right now, and we have some surplus grain at home, so we don't need to worry for the time being. Moreover, a single wild chicken won't fetch many copper coins—it wouldn't even be enough to nourish you all!"
Hearing this, smiles bloomed on the children's faces once again.
Liu Ye tugged at Yang Datou's sleeve, and he stopped talking.
After noon, the children continued with their chores while Jiang Ning focused on processing the wild chicken. The family was poor, so everything was a treasure. She didn't even dare throw away the feathers she plucked from the chicken; she washed and saved them to use as insulation for clothing in the winter.
She didn't throw away the plucked offal either. Using wood ash, she repeatedly rubbed and cleaned the gizzards. After blanching all the ingredients, she secretly took some sesame oil from the System to toss the chicken meat in a pan before adding water to stew it.
Coincidentally, she had picked quite a few mushrooms today, so she decided to make a mushroom and chicken stew. The mere thought of the flavor was wonderful.
As the meat neared completion, the rich aroma of chicken soup drifted through the courtyard halfway up the mountain. The children were somewhat distracted from their work, their eyes constantly glancing toward the kitchen.
Fortunately, their house was in the east of the village. If they were in a densely populated village, the smell of stewing chicken soup would probably attract half the villagers.
Once the chicken was stewed until tender, Jiang Ning called Liu Ye and Yang Xiaoya over to help. First, they stripped the bones off to save. "These bones can still be used to make porridge; it'll have a bit of flavor. Don't throw them away yet."
The two girls nodded repeatedly and began working busily without needing Jiang Ning's direction.
After the bones were stripped, she picked out two pieces of meat and ladled some soup, then called Yang Santie over. "Take this to the old house for your Grandpa and Grandma. Just say it's a gesture of reciprocity."
Yang Santie froze for a moment. "What do you mean?"
Jiang Ning explained, "Didn't Mother pick two cabbages for your Grandma before? This is to return the favor. Understand?"
Yang Santie muttered, "That vegetable patch was supposed to have our share anyway!"
Jiang Ning massaged her temples in a headache. "Then just say Mother is showing her filial piety. Fine?"
Only then did Yang Santie take the bowl, staring intently at the chicken soup inside, almost drooling.
Jiang Ning warned, "No sneaking bites! If I find out you've been stealing, I'll never stew chicken soup for you again!"
Yang Santie hurriedly carried the bowl out, shouting back as he walked, "You guys aren't allowed to sneak bites either! You can only eat when I get back!"
"We know!" Jiang Ning shook her head amusedly. She served out the chicken meat and half of the soup, added some water, and prepared to cook porridge. Once the porridge was almost done, she would add the remaining half of the cabbage. Tonight, the whole family could finally improve their meal.
Yang Santie rushed back to drink the chicken soup with incredible speed and stability, managing not to spill a drop even when he reached the old house. Seeing Old Man Yang smoking a pipe in the courtyard, he hurriedly called out, "Grandpa, Mother sent chicken soup for you and Grandma!"
Old Man Yang was stunned, thinking he had misheard. "What did you say?"
Yang Santie raised his voice and repeated it loudly, drawing everyone in the old house out.
Lady Li's eyes widened in shock. "The sun must have risen from the west! Where did this chicken come from?"
Lady Qian looked jealous and said sarcastically, "Sister-in-law didn't get a craving and sneak someone else's chicken, did she? Using someone else's chicken to show filial piety to Father and Mother—she really has the nerve!"
Lady Li's face instantly darkened, and she spat, "What business is it of yours? How do you know Sister-in-law stole it? Did you see her?"
Lady Qian was left speechless by the retort and grew angry from shame. "Does one even need to see? With Sister-in-law's lazy and thieving nature, how else could she get it besides stealing?"
"Shut up! Keep talking nonsense and I'll beat you to death!" Lady Li made a move to grab a stick.
Yang Santie shouted angrily, "It was clearly caught by my Big Brother and Second Brother with traps in the mountains! You're the thief! Your whole family is a bunch of thieves!"
"Hah! You little brat, you dare curse me! Truly a wild child born of a mother but never taught by one!" Having lost face before Yang Santie, Lady Qian cursed him harshly, but her eyes were fixed tightly on the bowl in his hand, making a move to snatch it.
Yang Santie cleverly dodged to Old Man Yang's side, leaving her grasping at thin air.
Lady Qian snapped, "Sister-in-law is so stingy! Just a bowl of chicken soup, not even enough to get stuck in one's teeth!"
Yang Santie was so angry his face turned red and his neck thickened. He immediately shot back, "That has nothing to do with Second Aunt! My mother only said it was for Grandpa and Grandma, she didn't say anyone else could have it!"
"You! I'm going to teach this disrespectful brat a lesson today!" Lady Qian lunged toward Yang Santie.
Lady Li's stick was faster. With one strike, she sent Lady Qian wailing, fleeing with her hands over her head.
Lady Li was clearly a veteran, an expert at driving away chickens and ducks; she knew exactly where to strike to avoid killing and where to chase to drive Lady Qian away.
Yang Santie watched, feeling immensely satisfied. Only after Lady Qian fled back into the Second House did Lady Li lower her stick, standing outside the door to curse for a long while.
Yang Santie hurriedly said, "Grandma, come quickly to drink the chicken soup! I have to take the bowl back!"
He tapped his feet on the ground, clearly unable to contain his impatience.
Inside the house, Lady Qian was fuming because she couldn't have the soup. Hearing this, she remembered there must be more at the First House. She immediately looked at her three children, who were all nearly drooling. "Let's go! I'll take you to eat chicken meat!"
Yang Fugui nodded vigorously, and Daya and Erya could no longer wait.
The four of them rushed out of the old house without a care in the world. Anyone could guess their destination. Yang Santie set down the bowl and chased after them.
Lady Li stamped her foot in anxiety. "Third Wife, hurry over and check on them! Don't let any more trouble break out!"
(End of Chapter)