Chapter 324 There is always a hatching egg
"Really?" Tu Suminyang's eyes lit up, like a puppy seeing a meat bone.
"Make a little song about 'Heaven will give great responsibilities to this person.'" Gu Yuexuan hummed a wild tune, "'That God, before giving a great responsibility, must first starve him and make him work hard.'"
There was a sneer from outside the bamboo fence. Tu Suminfei held up the ruler and said with a sullen face: "Your singing is worse than that of the widow Wang at the village entrance!" He turned and glared at the third brother who had shrunk like a quail, "If you can't recite it by noon, you will sleep in the stable tonight!"
As the sun climbed above the treetops, a pig-slaughtering howl echoed from the ancestral hall. Tu Suminyang raised his swollen palms and sobbed as he faced the ancestral tablets: "'Therefore, when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it will first make his heart and mind suffer, his muscles and bones toil, and his body hungry'... Ouch! Second brother, I'm carrying you! Don't hit me!"
Tu Suminfei held up a newly broken willow branch and sneered, "Keep reciting! 'Emptying his body, his actions are in vain!'"
"Empty... empty bowl to serve rice?" Tu Suminyang ran away in panic, holding his head. "Walk... walk with the help of the wall? Ouch!"
Gu Yuexuan leaned against the window frame to watch the fun, her shoulders shaking. Tu Subo stuffed a wild hawthorn into her mouth and said, "Old Third has a good brain, he's a good fighter."
As dusk fell, Tu Su Min Yang lay on the kang, humming. A rustling sound came from under the window. Four-year-old Min Xu leaned over the windowsill and handed him a piece of malt sugar: "Third brother, I saved this for you."
"Old Four still loves me..." the boy mumbled while sucking on the candy, "When I recover from my injury, I'll take you to catch the biggest katydid!"
As moonlight streamed onto the window paper, the sound of a young man snoring could be heard from the west wing. On the desk, crooked handwriting remained: "A great mission bestowed upon us by heaven is no better than roasting sweet potatoes."
Tu Su Yanting crouched down and slid into the ancestral hall, stuffing a hot egg into Tu Su Minyang's hand: "Eat quickly, my second brother is sharpening his knife!"
Gu Yuexuan passed by the window carrying a bamboo basket and raised her eyebrows when she heard this: "I can't recite the book and I won't give you food?"
"He said that all his knowledge went with the food." Tu Su Yanting imitated his second brother with a stern face, "This time he's carrying it on an empty stomach, don't you see where it's going to run to!" Before he finished speaking, a "gurgling" sound was heard in the ancestral hall - Tu Su Minyang stretched his neck because of choking.
Gu Yuexuan lifted the curtain and walked in, only to see the young man, tears welling up in his eyes, beating his chest. Fragments of the Mencius were scattered on the blue brick floor, their ink so smudged that the writing was barely discernible. She sighed, ruffling the boy's messy hair. "Memorize it well, or you'll lose both you and the eggs."
"Sister-in-law..." Tu Suminyang had just howled halfway when Tu Suyunxi's crisp voice rang out from outside the window: "Second brother is here!"
The boy hastily swallowed the egg whole, choking and rolling his eyes. Tu Suminfei walked in carrying a willow branch. Seeing the water stain on the table, he sneered, "Yesterday you recited 'Heaven will give you a great mission,' and today you're reciting 'Poverty and Destitution'?"
As the sun was setting, Gu Yuexuan, carrying her account book, headed for the village entrance. Cheng Jingen, who was squatting under a locust tree, working on an abacus, stood up with a bitter face when he saw her approaching. "Sister-in-law, it's really hard to make ends meet with poultry."
"Ten cows is easy enough; all the villages can gather enough. We can also collect a hundred piglets." He shook out the wrinkled list. "But chickens, ducks, and geese... after searching all over the place, we can only collect about 200."
Gu Yuexuan stared at the drawings of the enclosure and said worriedly, "The shed I built can hold 3,000 birds."
"It's not that the brothers aren't doing their best." Cheng Jing'en wiped his sweat. "The number you're asking for is too large. Ordinary farmers only raise a dozen or so laying hens at most. Take Wang Po's family in Dongcun, for example. Thirty hens is already the most in the village."
Tu Subo came over from the edge of the field, carrying a hoe. After hearing this, he grabbed the list and said, "Buy double the amount. Even if there are some losses on the way, it will still be enough."
Cheng Jingen almost dropped his abacus: "Oh my god! The chicks are so delicate. Half of them will die if they are kept in the basket for 30 miles!"
"Then we'll split it into five trips." Tu Subo dipped his hand in tea and drew a route on the stone slab. "Every twenty miles, we'll change people to carry the load. Pad the bamboo baskets with hay and make holes for them..."
"No way!" Cheng Jingen stamped his feet anxiously, "The porter's wages are more expensive than chickens!"
Gu Yuexuan sighed as she gazed at the sunset sky. The fence was empty. The farmers who had signed the contract were squatting on the edge of the field, smoking their pipes. When they saw her coming, they all stood up and asked, "Boss, when are we going to deliver the chicks?"
"It's almost there." She forced a smile and replied, turning around to grab Tu Subo's sleeve. "Or I'll go to the neighboring county with the car tomorrow..."
"No." Tu Subo interrupted, "You're pregnant, how can you handle the bumpy ride?"
Suddenly, a howling sound came from the direction of the ancestral hall. Tu Suminyang rushed out with his red and swollen palm raised: "Sister-in-law, help me! Second brother is about to break the willow branches!"
Tu Suminfei chased to the gate, carrying a half-cut willow branch. Seeing the outsider, his face turned stern again. Cheng Jingen was trying so hard to hold back a laugh that his shoulders were shaking. "How about...let the third brother go catch pheasants? Last time I saw him robbing a bird's nest, he was quite good at it."
As dusk deepened, Gu Yuexuan squatted in front of the chicken coop, feeling worried. Suddenly, the fence shook, and a dusty-faced young man emerged. "Sister-in-law, there are wild ducks nesting in the cave in the back mountain!"
Tu Suminyang, with his hair covered in grass debris and three green-shelled eggs in his arms, said: "I saw more than a dozen nests!"
"Nonsense!" Tu Subo grabbed him by the collar. "The cliff is so steep, what will happen if you fall down?"
"I have a plan!" The young man broke free and pulled out a hemp rope net bag from his waistband. "Use this to slowly lower it down. It's more stable than digging out a bird's nest!"
Cheng Jingen's eyes lit up: "If wild ducks can be tamed..."
"No." Gu Yuexuan interrupted, rubbing her temples. "Wild ducks are very aggressive and will peck and injure people if kept in captivity."
As smoke from the cooking stove rose, Tu Suminfei came with a sullen look on his face, ready to arrest someone. Tu Suminyang clung to the fence and wailed, "Let me catch some ducks to atone for my sins! I promise I'll memorize the Mencius!"
"Which sentence are you reciting?" Tu Su Minfei sneered.
"'When God wants to give you a great mission... he must first starve you!'" the young man howled, "I'll only eat half a bun today!"
Amidst the laughter of the entire courtyard, Gu Yuexuan suddenly slammed the table and said, "Got it!"
She talked about Cheng Jingen's list and said, "Let's collect eggs instead!"
"Farmers always have hatching eggs stored at home. We pay 20% of the market price. We also hire some broody hens from around the town..." Her eyes lit up as she spoke. "The chicks we hatch at home are stronger!"
Tu Subo added a piece of wood to the fire pit. "It will take twenty days to hatch the eggs. Is that enough time?"
"It's better than just waiting." Gu Yuexuan grabbed the abacus and clattered it. "First, collect 500 breeding eggs, then hire 50 brooding hens..."
Tu Suminyang took the opportunity to sneak to the stove, but was dragged back by Tu Suminfei by the ear: "Finish reciting 'Moving the Heart and Enduring the Nature' before eating!"
As the night deepened, Gu Yuexuan bent over her desk, drawing up blueprints for the hatchery. Tu Subo came in with ginger soup. Seeing the ink stain on her sleeve, he shook his head and chuckled, "Cheng Jingen has gone with the men to collect the eggs. Aunt Wang agreed to lend us twenty chickens."
From outside the window came the sobbing voice of a young man reciting his lessons, mingled with the rustling of the katydid jar. Tu Subo blew the ginger soup cool and handed it over: "If the third child can recite the Mencius, he will be able to catch all the katydids in the pen."
Gu Yuexuan chuckled, the candlelight casting their shadows on the window paper. The sound of a clapperboard gong, indicating someone returning home at night, startled a few scattered dogs barking.
Cheng Jing'en choked and opened his mouth, but Gu Yuexuan twirled the corner of her clothes and said with a smile: "Even if you can't hatch chicks, there should be enough eggs, right?"
"Egg?"
Cheng Jing'en's eyes widened, as if she had seen the Kitchen God appear. "Could it be that sister-in-law is talking about...chicken eggs or duck eggs?"
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