Chapter 12 Chicken Little
When Zhang Yuniang took Niuniu out, Chen Chunhua was still shouting and blaming Old Man Gu for bringing the chickens home.
These chicks are not normal healthy chicks.
In almost every round of hatched chicks, there are always a few weaker ones. Because these chicks are difficult to raise, they will not be taken to the market by the chicken sellers, but will be disposed of in advance.
I don’t know where Old Man Gu got these sick little chicks from.
Old Man Gu ignored his eldest daughter-in-law's sarcasm, but picked up the six chicks, looking at them again and again, with an expectant look on his face, as if he was looking at the rising sun.
When he saw Niu Niu coming out to watch the fun, Old Man Gu waved to the little girl.
Niu Niu ran over immediately. She really liked this grandfather. Food was so precious. In her opinion, those who could secretly give her snacks were the best elders in the world.
"Niuniu, have you ever raised chickens?" asked Old Man Gu with a smile.
Niuniu shook her head, but answered crisply, "I have raised big chickens. In my last home, Grandma Zhang raised more than a dozen chickens, and I raised them all by digging wild vegetables!"
Zhang Yunniang felt uncomfortable again when she heard this. How much food does it take to raise a dozen chickens, and yet it relies on a five-year-old girl to pull weeds every day.
She thought carefully about these little brats at home, who were still running around crazy when they were five years old.
Old Man Gu was old and somewhat idiotic. He didn't think much of what he said, but praised, "Great, great, our Niuniu is the best!"
When Niu Niu heard the compliment, her little chest instantly straightened up.
Father Gu added, "Niuniu, help grandpa raise these six chickens. Make steamed eggs for Niuniu when they lay eggs. When you are old, make chicken soup for Niuniu. All of them will be given to you. Okay?"
Although Chen Chunhua felt that these chickens could not survive, she became anxious after hearing this and said, "Why should these chickens be raised only for Niuniu to eat? Those chickens in my family are not your grandchildren? Even if this child looks exactly like my sister-in-law who died long ago, she is not your biological child. Dad, don't be too partial!"
She originally wanted to complain, but she didn't expect that it would trigger Old Man Gu's hysteria.
"Nannan, my Nannan is not dead! She is fine!" Old Man Gu held his head and yelled, pulling his hair non-stop, looking extremely painful.
As soon as Mrs. Gu came out, she saw her husband going crazy. She immediately rushed to him and said, "Master, isn't your daughter here fine? What nonsense are you talking about?"
As she said that, Old Mrs. Gu pulled Niu Niu in front of Old Man Gu.
Although Niuniu was very scared, she still grabbed her grandfather's hand and said softly, "I... I'm here..."
As the little girl whispered to him, the old man's emotions were barely stabilized, at least he stopped pulling his hair.
Old Mrs. Gu looked at the gray hair falling on the ground and couldn't help feeling distressed. She said, "Why do you pull my hair all the time? How many hairs do you have to pull? Your head is almost like a monk's!"
Old Man Gu listened to his wife's scolding, looked at her apologetically, and said, "Okay, okay, I will listen to you."
Whenever Old Man Gu showed an expression like a child who had made a mistake, Old Lady Gu couldn't do anything about him. She also felt sorry for her husband who had been ill for all these years, so how could she bear to blame him.
Old Mrs. Gu was cutting vegetables in the kitchen and didn't hear what was happening outside.
Chen Chunhua whispered, "Mom, please take care of Dad. He insisted on bringing back these dying chicks to raise. Not only did he not allow anyone to tell anyone, he also said that after they grow up, he would only give these chickens and eggs to Niuniu to eat. What do you think..."
Old Mrs. Gu seemed to have recalled some past events. After being stunned for a moment, she said, "Whatever your father says is true. This matter has nothing to do with you."
Chen Chunhua jumped up in anxiety and said, "Mom, how come it has nothing to do with me? Didn't you use the family's money to buy these chicks? Aren't these chicks fed with vegetables grown in our home? Or the bran in our home?"
Mrs. Gu said with certainty: "The old man would not feed the chickens with vegetables at home."
Old Man Gu waved his hands and said, "This is the chick that Old Dog Zhang gave me. He said it was dying of illness. He doesn't want any money... he doesn't want any money..."
After hearing these explanations, Chen Chunhua continued to mutter, "But we can't let Niuniu eat all by herself!"
Old Lady Gu glared at her and said, "If you're really so anxious to be the head of the family, at worst I can just separate you from the family?"
When Chen Chunhua heard that she could be driven back to her parents' home, she dared not argue anymore and could only mutter quietly: "This little girl is so lucky, everyone loves her so much..."
Old Mrs. Gu only looks serious, but she is actually fair and rarely shows any particular preference for any of her sons. As long as she is not provoked, she is not the kind of mother-in-law who will make things difficult for her daughter-in-law.
Compared with other unruly old ladies in the village, the old Gu family is living a life like a god.
If we really talk about favoritism, Chen Chunhua has now realized that the old couple's favorite is their sister-in-law who died early, and now they have given all their favoritism to Niu Niu.
Chen Chunhua glanced at her daughter Gu Daya indignantly and blamed her, "Why are you so unlovable? Why don't these good things fall on you? If they were distributed to you, our eldest wife would also benefit from it!"
If it were another girl, she would definitely feel hostile towards Niu Niu after hearing this, but Gu Daya was quite stubborn. After Niu Niu brought her brothers and sisters to help her make the sand table, Gu Daya had already accepted Niu Niu as her younger sister in her heart.
Gu Daya felt that as an elder sister, how could she care about these things with her younger sister? Not only that, she also said with a little pride: "Of course, my sister is just likable!"
Chen Chunhua was so angry at her own daughter that she laughed. She stretched out her hand and pinched Gu Daya's ear: "You are such a disobedient child!"
This was the second time that Gu Daya was beaten in public today. Before she could even yell, Old Lady Gu said with a sullen face, "Old lady, what are you talking about? The fact that they are cousins have a good relationship is a nuisance to you. You are only happy when the whole family is in chaos. Why did our Gu family bring back a troublemaker like you!"
Chen Chunhua quickly let go and opened her mouth to explain, but Old Lady Gu ignored her and assigned her several tasks, leaving Chen Chunhua no time to deal with this.
Father Gu took Niuniu's hand and returned to the backyard. He took out a basket woven with reeds, put a layer of straw on it, and explained to Niuniu: "It's cold, and chicks can't stand the cold just like people..."
Niu Niu nodded vigorously, with an attitude of learning. When she was at the Zhang family, Mrs. Cai was afraid that Niu Niu would kill the chicks, so she was the one who took care of them when they were young, so Niu Niu had no experience in raising chicks.
Father Gu stretched out his dry branch-like hand, gently patted Niuniu's little head, and said: "Our Niuniu can't stand the cold... She must wear more clothes..."
(End of this chapter)
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