After picking up the mushrooms, Xuemei weighed them and found they weighed 25 kilograms. Seeing it was only four o'clock, she asked Ruirui and Feifei to ride their bikes to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange the mushrooms.

After Ruirui and Feifei left, Xuemei took the more than one pound of broken mushrooms and mushrooms of poor quality that she had picked out to the well, washed them, and went to the kitchen to cook pig food and boil water.

As soon as the water was boiled, Xuemei went to the room and called Qingya out. Xuemei didn't dare to kill the chickens and ducks, so she helped to lift the chicken feet.

After Qingya killed the chicken, she and Xuemei started plucking it. Just as they finished plucking the feathers, Ruirui and Feifei came back.

"Sister, sister, guess how much a pound of mushrooms costs today!" Ruirui asked happily after parking his bicycle.

"Don't keep us in suspense. Just tell me how much it was sold for. Feifei, tell me!" Qingya said impatiently.

"Second sister, you really have no patience! Thirty cents per pound, and the total profit is seven yuan and fifty cents. Big sister, the money is with Feifei." Ruirui complained.

"Okay, we'll split it equally among the three of us, two yuan and fifty cents each. You can just put mine in the drawer in my room! After that, you two can go back to your rooms and read." Xuemei said without raising her head.

Qingya looked at Ruirui and Feifei dividing the money with envy.

"If you are envious, then study hard, because there are ten dollars waiting for you! Okay, the chicken is almost done, go to the kitchen and help me watch the fire! I'll go to the well and carve the chicken." Xuemei picked up the chicken and said.

As soon as she stood up, she heard a knock on the door. Xuemei quickly took the chicken and the basin to the kitchen and hid them, motioning Qingya to open the door.

"Sister, Brother Han is here!" Qingya shouted towards the kitchen.

Xuemei just walked out of the kitchen and saw Han Chen walking towards her with a duck in his hand.

"Why did you come back so early today? You even changed the duck!" Xuemei asked.

"Yangshu Village doesn't have a heavy task today. These are old ducks we exchanged for from their duck farm. They no longer lay eggs. Mingwu and I each exchanged one. Mine weighs more than three pounds, and I only paid one dollar!" Han Chen said, holding up the duck in his hand.

"Today, the two brothers Ruirui and Feifei caught two pheasants in the mountains. They have already killed one and will stew it later. You can give the duck to Qingya to lock up first and raise it for a while before eating it!" Xuemei explained.

Han Chen nodded, turned around and went to find Qingya.

"Go to the Youth League Institute later to get some clothes and come home to take a shower. We have hot water at home. Don't bring any more food. My mother scolded you for bringing all the eggs you got yesterday. If you don't want to be scolded today, don't bring anything. My parents will be angry if you do!" Xuemei reminded quickly.

"I understand, Xuemei. I brought the food here not because I was worried that there wouldn't be enough food at home!" Han Chen responded.

"Okay, our family has enough food for you to have one or two meals. Give the duck to Qingya and go get some clothes to take a shower. You're all wet and sticky, which must be uncomfortable!" Xuemei said, waving her hand.

After Han Chen left, Xuemei cut open the chicken by the well and cleaned out its intestines, stomach and other internal organs. She also asked Qingya to pick all the cooked beans and wash them.

When Han Chen came to fetch water for a bath, Xuemei was chopping chicken on the chopping board.

After Xuemei prepared the dishes, she asked Qingya to scoop out the cooked pig food from the big iron pot to feed the chickens, then clean the big iron pot, boil some water, and wait for Liu's mother to come back to make pickled beans.

Xuemei is preparing to stew mushroom chicken soup. First, heat oil in the pot, add ginger slices and garlic slices, then pour in chicken pieces, add a large spoonful of salt and continue stir-frying. The chicken needs to be fried dry.

Wait until the chicken is fried and the oil comes out, then add the mushrooms and stir-fry slightly, add a large bowl of water directly, and then put it in the casserole and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes.

Just as the chicken was stewing, Han Chen came in.

"Qingya, go out and play! I'll watch the fire for your elder sister!" Han Chen said to Qingya who was sitting next to the stove.

After Han Chen finished speaking, Qingya stood up, said something to Xuemei, and went back to her room.

"Han Chen, you don't have to go to other villages to help tomorrow, right?" Xuemei asked.

"No need. Our village will start a new round of farming tomorrow, and the village needs a tractor to plow the land! Xuemei, if there is anything else you need to do, I will help you!" Han Chen asked.

"If you're not tired, go to the main room and fill up the two thermoses. Boil the water in the big iron pot!" Xuemei answered while washing rice. Since it would take time to stew the chicken now, Xuemei planned to cook a bowl of sweet potato and rice tonight.

After cooking, Xuemei sat down at the other end of the low bench where Han Chen was sitting.

"Xuemei, the postman delivered a letter here today. Zhou Bing gave it to me when I just returned to the Youth League Institute. It was sent by Uncle Lin and others. They knew we were engaged, so they sent me a watch ticket and a sewing machine ticket. After a while, when the village is not so busy, we will go to the county town to check and buy them if they are available!" After Han Chen finished speaking, he took out a folded envelope from his pocket and handed it to Xuemei.

Xuemei opened the envelope and saw two tickets and a piece of letter inside. Xuemei took out the letter and began to read it.

The letter should have been written by Grandpa Lin. It said that the two tickets were the betrothal gifts they gave to Han Chen's wife. Han Chen and Xuemei were not allowed to refuse, nor could they send them money.

She told Han Chen to treat Xuemei well in the future, listen to her, work harder, and be more diligent. She also said that her family is looking for a partner for Lin Hongzhi now, and when he comes home on vacation, she will let him go on a blind date.

But the letter ended by saying that after receiving the letter, Zhang's mother took the things, but did not respond. In the future, Han Chen and Xuemei were asked to treat Zhang's mother as an ordinary elder and send her a New Year gift every year. The list of things sent each time should be kept well.

Xuemei looked at Han Chen with heartache when she saw this. Han Chen was the only relative in the world who cared about him at all, treating him worse than a stranger. Fortunately, the Lin family still cared about him.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!