As the sun set and dusk approached, a time for cooking, the village fell silent.
Since the disaster struck the village, no crops have grown in the fields, and the villagers have had little work to do. To save food, many people have stayed at home and haven't gone out.
Those who move less eat less, and the Song family is no exception.
While Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan were still in shock at the pheasant that had appeared out of nowhere, Song Ning spoke up: "I caught this on the mountain today and I'm going to give it to Zhou Ling'an."
Upon hearing this, Song Dahai and his wife snapped out of their daze, their earlier excitement instantly turning to icy cold.
They knew their daughter liked the village chief's youngest son, and if anything went missing from the house, it was definitely taken by their daughter.
We never had anything particularly good at home before, but this time, it was a wild pheasant!
Even good-natured people like Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan were truly disheartened to hear these words.
“But Zhou Ling’an doesn’t like me. What happened last time was my daughter’s fault. She has figured it out and given up on him.”
The couple exchanged a puzzled look.
They all knew that Zhou Ling'an didn't like Er Ya, and they had tried to persuade her before, but their daughter just wouldn't listen. If they said too much, she would complain that they were nagging.
Every time she was upset by Zhou Ling'an, she would come back and throw a tantrum.
"Don't worry, Mom and Dad. I won't do anything foolish again. From now on, if we have anything good, we'll eat it ourselves. We'll eat this chicken tonight."
Liu Yuelan's voice trembled: "E-you ate it?"
Let alone pheasants, we haven't even seen a single pheasant feather in all these years. Wild vegetables have become our staple food, but even so, we don't know where our next meal will come from. We're lucky if we can eat wild vegetables twice a day.
"Father, Mother, it's been so long since we've had a proper meal. Your daughter wants to eat meat too. Let's stew chicken tonight."
Seeing that Song Ning was serious, Liu Yuelan didn't dare to ask any more questions. She picked up the pheasant on the table and prepared to pluck its feathers and stew it.
This house is drafty now, so any smell will immediately waft out.
While Liu Yuelan was still plucking feathers, Song Ning stood up and said, "Father, let's block out this room a little."
There was a lot of thatch and firewood piled up in the yard, which would be of some use. Besides, their house was a bit out of the way, with only one neighbor nearby, and there was hardly anyone around, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Although Song Dahai had a slight limp, he was very strong and soon he had piled up the thatch and firewood outside the wall.
After finishing and returning to the house, Liu Yuelan was already stewing pheasant, but she had cut the pheasant in half and put the other half away.
"Mom, half a chicken isn't enough. Let's stew them all."
Liu Yuelan was startled. What would we eat tomorrow if we stewed such a big pheasant?
This is something we finally managed to get a decent meal of, and it's all gone in one sitting?
Liu Yuelan looked at Song Dahai, and Song Dahai nodded: "Let's listen to Er Ya."
Wild pheasants aren't as fat as domestic chickens, and you can't extract chicken fat from them. We didn't have any seasonings, sauces, or salt at home, so we chopped them into pieces, put them directly into a pot, added water, and boiled them.
Song Dahai squatted down to tend the fire, glancing at the pot every now and then, making him swallow hard.
A fragrant aroma slowly wafted from the pot, though it carried a faint fishy smell, which made Song Ning's stomach churn.
The aroma filled the entire room, making you want to stick out your tongue and lick it a few times.
The pot began to bubble and boil, steaming and releasing an even richer aroma.
The family stared intently at the pot. When it was almost done, Liu Yuelan poked the chicken with her chopsticks. It was finally cooked.
He quickly grabbed a bowl, picked out a chicken leg, and handed it to Song Ning.
Song Ning paused for a moment, then took the bowl but didn't touch it: "Let's leave this for now, we'll eat together later."
Liu Yuelan couldn't wait to take the whole chicken out of the pot, but after placing it on the table, no one touched it.
Song Ning glanced at Song Dahai, then at Liu Yuelan, and took it upon herself to place two chicken legs in a bowl and hand it to the two of them.
"Dad, Mom, you've worked so hard, have some chicken legs."
Liu Yuelan was flattered and her hands trembled as she picked up the chicken leg and was about to put it into Song Ning's bowl: "You eat this, Mother won't eat it."
"I don't like chicken legs." Saying this, she picked up a chicken wing from the bowl and smiled, "I like this."
The couple's stomachs had been growling for a while, but they still hesitated to touch their chopsticks, staring wide-eyed at the chicken leg in their bowl.
"Father, Mother, if you don't eat, I'm going to give all this to Zhou Ling'an."
Upon hearing this, Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan dared not refuse.
Now that my daughter has finally come to her senses, we can't let her go back to how she was before.
Although the pheasant meat had no saltiness at all, it was truly the most delicious thing in the world the moment it tasted.
Even though it's hot now, drinking a bowl of hot chicken soup and working up a sweat is an unparalleled pleasure.
Fearing that Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan might be frugal, Song Ning said, "Father, Mother, please eat more. We won't go hungry anymore."
According to the original owner's memories, this family hadn't eaten meat for many years, eating wild vegetables every day, and everyone's face was greenish.
It had been so long since they last ate meat that Song Dahai and his wife had almost forgotten what it tasted like. Once the meat entered their mouths, they couldn't stop eating it.
But Liu Yuelan silently put down her bowl, licked her lips, and stopped eating.
"Mother, why aren't you eating?" Song Ning asked.
Liu Yuelan smiled and said, "Mother is full, you and your father should eat more."
Such good food can't really be eaten as a meal; I'm saving it for my daughter.
She was also afraid that if she ate too much today, she would remember the taste and become picky about food, and then she wouldn't be able to eat wild vegetables in the future.
Song Ning could easily see through it, so she pretended to be angry: "Mother, didn't I say that we won't go hungry anymore? This pheasant is what I caught for you and Father to eat. Eat as much as you want."
"But......"
"If you're not going to eat it, I'll take it to the village chief's house in a bit."
"Mom, eat, Mom, eat." Saying this, she quickly ladled out another bowl of chicken soup and picked up several pieces of chicken, afraid that Song Ning would really take it away.
The whole family ate the meal while sweating profusely.
After the meal, the three of them sat there in a daze for a long time.
Looking at the bowl in front of her, which was completely empty of soup, Liu Yuelan exclaimed, "Am I dreaming?"
Their family had been without food for several years and had been eating wild vegetables for just as long. But today they were suddenly eating so well, as if they were living the whole life after today.
"Honey, pinch me." Liu Yuelan felt unreal, as if it were all an illusion.
Song Dahai was also confused, and actually pinched Liu Yuelan's arm.
Liu Yuelan winced in pain, then murmured, "It's not a dream, it really isn't a dream..."
"Father, Mother, don't worry, your daughter will definitely make sure you live a good life."
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