A middle-aged man emerged from the crowd. He had a large beard and a centipede-like scar under his left eye, which looked quite terrifying.

"Wudang, if you don't come soon, I'm going to be beaten to death by this vile woman!" Zhuang Shuhui cried out.

As soon as Zhuang Wudang arrived, the whispering crowd immediately fell silent, and the timid dispersed, deciding it was better not to watch the spectacle.

"Who am I talking about? It's Zhuang Wudang. You want to stand up for Zhuang Shuhui? You should think twice before you act." Yuan Doudou smiled contemptuously. "Zhuang Shuhui accused me of stealing. She's the one who should be beaten. If you don't believe me, we can go to the county magistrate's office and tell him."

The King of Ling was only twenty years old when he ascended the throne a year ago. Immediately after taking office, he promulgated a law on speech, which included the serious crime of defaming others, punishable by having one's nose cut off.

Zhuang Shuhui's face turned pale, and she instinctively covered her nose and shook her head violently.

The younger brother, Zhuang Wudang, was a rough man and did not believe Yuan Doudou. He said, "Don't try to fool me. If you dare to bully my older sister, you are my enemy. Prepare to die."

Zhuang Wudang's punches were so fast that Yuan Doudou had to dodge to the side and had no chance to fight back.

Yuan Doudou remained calm; she had a way of dealing with strong, simple-minded men.

Her advantage was her small stature, slender figure, and agile movements. After thirty rounds, Zhuang Wudang hadn't even touched a single hair on Yuan Doudou's head.

"Wudang, give it your all! Beat her to death! Let her bully me!" Zhuang Shuhui shouted, wishing she could go up and hit her herself.

Fewer and fewer people were watching; only one or two brave souls remained.

"I never would have guessed that the young lady from the An family was so skilled."

“Who says otherwise? I bet An Rong taught her when she was around.”

"It seems we need to be more careful in the future and avoid provoking Miss An."

The two of them spoke in hushed tones, not daring to raise their voices.

Yuan Doudou, with her sharp ears, overheard their whispers and realized she was being too conspicuous.

No, we need to finish this quickly.

Spurred on by his older sister, Zhuang Wudang launched an even fiercer attack on Yuan Doudou.

Yuan Doudou spotted a weakness in his defense and delivered a kick that struck Zhuang Wudang squarely in the groin.

"Ah!" A bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered, echoed through the sky.

The battle is over.

Yuan Doudou carried the chicken home. Not far away, the village head was clutching his groin, still shaken, and thankful that he hadn't forced himself on her.

Anjia Courtyard.

"Mommy, you're amazing!" Anji praised as he watched Yuan Doudou kill the chicken.

Wang brought over the ceramic bowl, curious about where Yuan Doudou got the chicken.

Trade a rabbit weighing over three pounds for a hen weighing less than three pounds.

"Mom, I don't dare." Yuan Doudou gripped the chicken's neck, held the cleaver, and hesitated for a long time before striking.

From childhood to adulthood, she has only ever killed fish.

After drinking the medicine Yuan Doudou had just bought, Wang felt much better and could do some light work without any difficulty.

"Let go." Wang took the hen, raised the cleaver, and was about to slit her throat.

“Mom, I suddenly remembered, we can keep it and let it lay eggs.” Yuan Doudou suddenly realized the usefulness of the hen.

"DouDou, a hen can't lay eggs on its own." Wang looked at Yuan DouDou's clear and bright eyes, a smile spreading across her lips.

Oh, really?

"Kill them." He had promised Angie; he couldn't break his promise.

Wang's movements were not as nimble as before. With a few quick slashes, she opened her neck slightly, grabbed it, and aimed it at the earthenware bowl. Chicken blood gushed out and dripped into the bowl, filling it in no time.

"Mom, what are we keeping this for?" Yuan Doudou was killing a chicken for the first time and was completely clueless.

Wang found it strange that Yuan Doudou had changed so much recently.

She guessed that her son's death was too much of a blow to her daughter-in-law.

Poor DouDou.

You'll find out soon enough.

Wang asked Yuan Doudou to boil a pot of water. After the water boiled, she first scooped a spoonful into the bowl of chicken blood. Soon, the chicken blood solidified, and Wang used her hand to scoop out a complete piece of chicken blood.

"Amazing." Yuan Doudou looked surprised. She had eaten pig's blood and duck's blood, but never chicken blood.

Anji clapped his hands and cheered, "Grandma, you're amazing!"

When Wang smiled, wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes.

Yuan Doudou was really bad at plucking chicken feathers, so she squatted to the side and assisted Wang.

There were so many chicken feathers, it was so hard to pluck them. Yuan Doudou felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the dense, tiny feathers on the chicken's neck.

Eating is easy, but cooking a dish is too much trouble.

Not wanting her mother-in-law to work too hard, Yuan Doudou took the initiative to chop the chicken pieces.

"Mommy, this piece is so big, and that piece is so small." Angie pointed to the chicken pieces of all sizes and scattered pieces on the cutting board.

Yuan Doudou chuckled, "Anji, don't mind, it doesn't affect the taste."

Anji gave an "oh" and looked at his grandmother, Wang Shi, who remained noncommittal.

Yuan Doudou carried the chicken into the kitchen, rummaged around, found a small piece of ginger, and sliced ​​it into strips.

There were scallions and garlic readily available, but no star anise.

Yuan Doudou saw two or three small potatoes on the ground, along with the mushrooms she had picked, making it a complete meal.

Heat a wok, add a little rapeseed oil, first add the larger pieces of chicken and slowly stir-fry until the oil is rendered, then add the remaining chicken and stir-fry continuously until it changes color. Add shredded ginger and continue stir-frying. If you don't have soy sauce or other seasonings at home, just add water to cover the chicken.

Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, skim off any foam to reduce the fishy smell.

Continue cooking over high heat for ten minutes, then add mushrooms and potatoes, and simmer everything together.

Chickens are perfect for making soup, so Yuan Doudou specially saved half a chicken to make soup for the whole family tomorrow.

The air was filled with the aroma of chicken. In the past, she had no appetite for it, but now it was different. After not having meat for several days, Yuan Doudou felt uneasy.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!