"Alright, girl, come in and pick one." Old Man Wang handed Sun Miao'er a chicken-catching net, then turned and went inside. "Let me make this clear from the start, I'm only lending you the money for a month. Come back with the money and the chicken after a month, or I'll be coming to collect the debt!"
"Don't worry, Old Wang, you'll definitely get your share. I won't let your chickens get thin!"
Sun Miao'er, who had a yard full of chickens, was a little at a loss. She raised her net, aimed at a plump hen, and prepared to make her move.
Who knew that her commotion was so great that the chickens panicked at the sight of the net, clucking and scattering in all directions.
The net was cast down, but it caught nothing but air.
"Fine, are you chickens going to mess with me today?" Sun Miao'er was panting heavily. She had tried several times but still had no luck. The chickens were quite frightened. Some of them flapped their wings and flew up to stand on a high place in the yard.
Sun Miao'er then realized that perhaps her method was wrong, as she couldn't even catch a chicken. She stopped to the side and observed carefully. When the flock of chickens calmed down a bit, she tiptoed over.
To avoid alerting the chicken, the net was first thrown on the ground. When the chicken was still a foot away, the net was quickly picked up and slammed over its head.
"It really is a stupid chicken."
Sun Miao'er watched the chicken flapping in the net. Although it wasn't the big, fat chicken she was satisfied with, it was just enough to incubate the eggs. She tied the chicken's feet with hemp rope, carried it home in her hand.
"Giggle, giggle."
Sun Miao'er built a makeshift chicken coop outside the pigsty using wood and a tattered fishing net she had found. She threw the hen she had just picked up inside, while Xiaoman squatted outside, intently watching the chicken, afraid it would run away.
"Sister, can this chicken really incubate our eggs?" Xiaoman asked, resting her chin on her hand. She watched as the chicken seemed to still be recovering from its earlier fear, pacing back and forth in the nest, looking somewhat anxious.
Sun Miao'er wasn't sure either. This was the first time she had done something like this, and she really regretted not having studied agriculture more before. Now she could only rely on common sense to slowly figure it out. "Let's give it a try. Something is better than nothing. If we want to have goose meat to eat in the future, we have to hatch the geese now."
"How about we feed her something first?"
Sun Miao'er brought two rotten vegetable leaves. As soon as she got close to the chicken coop, the hen rushed up in a rage. If she hadn't retreated quickly, she would have been pecked, leaving only half a vegetable leaf hanging on the coop.
"What a fierce chicken!"
Sun Miao'er took a step back in fear. Xiao Man, while still shocked, also looked at the chicken with new respect. "Sister, let's give the hen a name. From now on, she'll be a member of our family."
"Name?" Sun Miao'er didn't want to disappoint her younger brother, and she couldn't bear to tell him that the chicken would eventually end up in his stomach. After her brain raced, she thought, "She's so fierce, let's call her Phoenix."
"Phoenix? What's a phoenix?"
Having learned her lesson from almost being bitten last time, Sun Miao'er threw vegetable leaves into the chicken coop from a distance, saying, "Phoenix! Phoenix is a legendary, very powerful bird, colorful and much prettier than a hen!"
"Alright, Phoenix, from now on you must be a good girl and incubate the eggs, and don't bite us anymore!"
Xiaoman spoke to the chicken coop, and the hen seemed less fierce after hearing her name. When Sun Miao'er got a little closer, she didn't suddenly pounce on her.
The next morning, after they had become somewhat familiar with the chickens, Sun Miao'er, carrying goose eggs, lurked near the chicken coop, secretly observing them.
Unexpectedly, the phoenix was already sitting obediently in the corner of the chicken coop, straining and clucking. Sun Miao'er peeked over and, sure enough, it had laid an egg.
It's quite efficient.
While Phoenix wasn't looking, Sun Miao'er secretly switched the two goose eggs with the newly laid chicken eggs and covered them with some dry grass.
Only after confirming that the phoenix had not been found did it leave the chicken coop satisfied.
Li Zuokui has arrived.
When Sun Miao'er returned from the fields, she saw the chubby boy squatting in the yard. The shadow of the last time had not yet dissipated. When Li Zuo Kui saw Sun Miao'er, there was a trace of fear in his eyes. Thinking of the day when Sun Miao'er hung him under the stinging peppers, he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
There was a lively commotion in Jin's house, with the voices of two women coming from inside. One was Jin herself, and the other was Li Zuo Kui's mother, Xiao Zhang, the village chief's second wife.
"Well, you're finally back!" Little Zhang came out of the house, put her hands on her hips, and looked fierce when she saw Sun Miao'er.
It turns out they've come to settle scores with me.
With his mother backing him up today, Li Zuo Kui became bolder and hid behind Xiao Zhang Shi, saying, "Mother, it was her, it was her who scared me!"
"Don't worry, I'm here today to stand up for you!" Little Zhang comforted her son, glaring fiercely at Sun Miao'er. "Why did you scare my Kui'er? Kui'er is still a child. What are you, a grown woman, doing arguing with a little kid!"
Zhang's face was quite attractive. Although she was arrogant, she was not as domineering as Jin. Perhaps it was because of Village Chief Li that she dared not be too presumptuous. However, ever since she went back and heard her son talk about this matter, she still couldn't swallow her anger.
"You brat, hurry up and apologize to your Aunt Zhang!" After what happened last time, Madam Jin didn't dare to bully Sun Miao'er as easily as before, and her attitude was much more restrained than before.
The term "slut" has changed from "lowly slut" to "dead girl".
Sun Miao'er completely disregarded Xiao Zhangshi, saying, "Why should I apologize to him? He insulted me first."
"Insult you? It's clearly a fact, how can it be called an insult?" At this point, Xiao Zhang's true colors were revealed. She and Jin were close, though not really. They both knew that without Jin's connection, Xiao Zhang wouldn't have been able to marry into Old Man Li's family, and without Xiao Zhang, Jin wouldn't have had the village chief as her backer.
Sun Miao'er snorted coldly. Why didn't they pick a day to come looking for trouble? They had to come today. She still had a lot of things to do and had to deal with the two of them. "Like mother, like son. It seems that your young master's behavior is inseparable from your mother's constant teachings."
"You! What do you mean?! Sister-in-law Sun, how can your niece be so ill-mannered?" Little Zhang rolled her eyes in anger. The girl in front of her was no longer the timid and clumsy little girl she used to know.
Jin Shi chimed in sarcastically, "She was born but never raised. Didn't I tell you before, sister? Her father died long ago, her mother went insane, and she's been neglected and uneducated!"
These words reached Sun Miao'er's ears, and her face grew even more ashen, a coldness rising in her eyes. The Sun family was not a place for them to gossip. She noticed that Li Zuo Kui, who was standing next to her, had disappeared without a trace.
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