Chapter 40 Chapter 40-Two-in-one fluffy chicks, peach...
Lin Chuntao strolled around the market, thinking about what Aunt Guizhi said, that it was not cost-effective to buy eggs all the time. She decided to go around and see if there were any chicks so she could buy a few to take home.
After walking around for a while, I found an old lady selling chicks. The chicks were still furry and looked like they had just hatched a few days ago.
"Auntie, how much is one of these chicks?"
"Nine coins for a hen, six coins for a rooster."
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly, then asked, "Has it been four or five days since it hatched?"
"Yes, today is the fifth day."
Lin Chuntao smiled and pointed to the cloth bag behind her: "Please mix some fine bran into the food and give it to them. I want to pick a few."
The old woman looked up at her, scooped some fine bran from the cloth bag, poured a little water from the gourd, and placed it on a bamboo plate. As she mixed the ingredients, she said, "Don't worry, little girl. My chicks are all very good."
Lin Chuntao smiled. After the old lady mixed the bran, she placed it in front of the chicken coop. The chicks in the coop all rushed to eat it.
She looked at the ones that were eating more enthusiastically and selected eight. The old woman helped her put them in the bamboo basket and said with a smile, "Oh, little girl, you know how to choose. They're all pullets."
"Eight pieces, seventy-two coins."
Lin Chuntao smiled when she heard this. "Auntie, don't try to trick me just because I'm young. I clearly chose six hens and two roosters."
The old lady refused to admit it and tried to fool her.
"Girl, these eight hens you picked are really all pullets. Look, they all look exactly the same."
Lin Chuntao said with a smile: "Auntie, how about we take a look at the chicken butt to see if it's different?"
The old lady looked embarrassed and said with a forced smile, "You are very discerning, girl. The total is sixty-six cents."
She quoted a new price, and Lin Chuntao smiled: "Sixty-two, I want to buy so many, give me a discount."
The old lady was stunned and waved her hands hurriedly: "No, no, how can it be sold at this price? I won't sell it."
"It's already this late, Auntie. If you don't sell it, won't you have to take it back tomorrow? You have to raise it for another day, and you have to mix bran with the chicks to feed them." Lin Chuntao said with a smile, and the old lady looked at her with some displeasure.
Lin Chuntao knew that few people came to the market to buy chicks. When there were many brooding hens in the village, many people would pool their eggs for the old hen to hatch chicks. If there were more people buying, the old lady would not be left with so many chicks now.
The old lady hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Sixty-three coins, take it."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Okay."
As she spoke, she began to count the copper coins. Her cheerful look made the old lady regret that she should have refused to accept the cheaper one.
Lin Chuntao looked at her like that and smiled again: "If you don't give me a penny, I won't buy it." Then she handed over the copper coins she had counted. The old lady took the copper coins happily and said with a smile: "I'm giving you a discount, young lady."
"I'm also giving this little chicken coop to you, girl, so you don't have to take it back with you."
Lin Chuntao took the chicken coop with a smile and said, "Thank you, Auntie.
The fluffy little chicks were chirping in the cage. Lin Chuntao was in a good mood and leisurely went to find Pei Ying with the chicken cage.
Pei Ying was still busy. Seeing Lin Chuntao coming over with the chicks, he asked loudly, "Did you buy the chicks?"
Lin Chuntao nodded and said, "While the weather is still warm, let's buy a few chicks and raise them. Maybe they'll all be laying eggs by the New Year."
Pei Ying listened to the chirping sounds, but was busy with his hands and didn't look closely.
"How many did you buy?"
Lin Chuntao replied: "Eight, six hens and two roosters."
"In that case, we'll have ten chickens at home." Pei Ying finished speaking and Lin Chuntao laughed, "Those two are old hens. They might stop laying eggs in a while. If they stop laying, I'll kill them and eat them."
Pei Ying couldn't help but laugh, "Then I guess it will be next year."
Helan didn't come today, so Pei Ying and Chunzi were in charge of the meat stall.
After the crowds at the market had dispersed and there was almost no meat left, Pei Ying and his friends packed up their stall and went home.
When they got home, Lin Chunxing had already steamed the rice and washed and cut the vegetables. They just waited for Lin Chuntao and the others to come back before they started cooking.
Hearing the familiar footsteps, Lin Chunxing was about to add firewood to cook, but saw Lin Chuntao walk in with a cage of fluffy chicks. The familiar chirping sound made the three sisters' eyes light up instantly and they rushed over eagerly.
"Sister, did you buy the chick?"
“So many!”
Lin Chuntao looked at their happy faces and handed them the chicken cage.
"Yes, eight, six females and two males. We'll use the bran we made from pounding rice yesterday. Boil some hot water and feed it to the chicks later."
Lin Chunxing carried the chicken coop, while Lin Chunhe turned around and ran to boil water.
"Sister, how much do you want to cook?" Lin Chunhe asked, holding the pot in one hand and the ladle in the other.
"One scoop is enough."
Pei Ying looked at their happy faces, went back to the house, got a sickle, and came out to say to Lin Chuntao, "I'm going to cut some bamboo to make a chicken coop. Do we need separate doors?"
Lin Chuntao nodded: "We have to separate."
As she watched Pei Ying leave, Lin Chuntao suddenly thought of something and said to him, "Cut down a thicker tree to make a chicken feeder."
After Pei Ying left, the water boiled and Lin Chuntao scalded rice bran for them to feed the chicks.
The sisters squatted there and watched the chicks eat. They were so excited that they touched them from time to time, as if they had never seen chicks before.
Lin Chunhe turned around and looked at Lin Chuntao who was washing her hands. She met her sister's eyes and smiled.
It's a bit silly, but fun.
In the past, they often fed the chickens, cut grass and caught earthworms to feed them. At first, they just hoped that they would be more diligent and that their grandmother would see them and give them an egg or two pieces of meat when she killed the chickens.
Unfortunately, that was just their expectation. They had no eggs to eat, and even the chickens they killed were gone. Even a sip of soup was a blessing.
The chicks in front of them were different. When they grew up and laid eggs, they could eat them as much as they wanted. When they stopped laying eggs, their sister would kill them, cook the meat, and share it with them.
If there are six hens and they all lay eggs, there will be six eggs a day. You can eat eggs every day. Just thinking about it makes you happy.
They fed the chickens, and Lin Chuntao washed her hands and started cooking. When she finished cooking, Pei Ying came back carrying bamboo.
The sisters wanted to go forward to help, but Pei Ying refused repeatedly.
"You can't lift it. Move the chicken aside so it doesn't get hit."
Lin Duoer ran a long way with the chicken coop.
Lin Chuntao couldn't help but smile when she saw her actions.
"Duo'er, put it at the door and get the bowls and chopsticks ready to eat."
Lin Duoer replied, "Sister, let me carry them into the house."
"It's up to you." Lin Chuntao said helplessly.
Lin Duoer quickly carried the chick into the house, then ran out to wash her hands and prepare for dinner.
There was some meat left over from cooking noodles in the morning, so Lin Chunxing cut the meat and green peppers, and Lin Chuntao simply stir-fried the meat with peppers.
There was still some sauerkraut left from the previous cooking, so she cut some potatoes into shreds, cooked two sauerkraut dishes with the shredded potatoes, and added a little bit of chili pepper. The sour and spicy dish was very refreshing and went well with rice.
The sisters had eaten noodles in the morning and were not very hungry at noon. They ate very quickly and after finishing their meal, they took the chicks out to bask in the sun.
After Lin Chuntao finished eating, she sat at the table to rest. She looked at Lin Chunxing and the others and said, "Let's go find some wild vegetables later."
The three of them turned back to look at her, "Sister, where should we go digging? In the mountains or by the river?"
"Let's go to the mountains." Lin Chuntao said. She remembered that there were many wild vegetables in the mountains at this time of year. At the very least, there were dandelions and plantains, which were everywhere on the roadside ridges.
Lin Duoer thought of the wild vegetable steamed buns she had eaten before, and then thought about the meat and eggs she had eaten recently, and asked worriedly, "Sister, are we going to eat wild vegetables in the future too?"
Lin Chuntao was stunned for a moment, then she realized what was happening and smiled, "There are delicious wild vegetables too. If we find any that are tasty, we'll cook them and eat them. If they're not tasty, we'll give them to the chickens and piglets."
Lin Duoer shook her head: "Wild vegetables are so unpalatable."
Lin Chuntao thought about the wild vegetable buckwheat bun she had eaten for the first meal, which was indeed not tasty.
She smiled and said, "Let's go dig first. If we find something good, we can sell it."
Lin Chuntao just said this, and the villagers would also get some wild vegetables to take home to eat together. It was not realistic to get a lot of wild vegetables to sell, and her main purpose was to accumulate points.
After resting for a while, Pei Ying took a sickle and trimmed the bamboo to make a chicken coop.
Lin Chuntao took a hoe, carried a backpack, and went up the mountain with Lin Chunxing and the others.
Before leaving, Lin Duoer was still worried about the chicks and kept telling Pei Ying, "Brother-in-law, you have to help me look after the chicks and give them some water later."
Pei Ying smiled and replied, "Okay, I'll remember that."
After hearing what was said, he followed Lin Chuntao.
There weren't many wild vegetables in the mountains, so they went to some valley meadows and saw dandelions everywhere.
Lin Chuntao called out the system and prepared to sign in.
She dug up a random plant, and Lin Chuntao heard the announcement next to her ear, "Dandelion, cold in nature and bitter in taste, has the effect of clearing away heat, detoxifying, dispersing nodules and reducing swelling. Score: 2."
She then wielded her hoe and dug up a small plantain plant nearby. The announcement soon began again, "Plantain, cold in nature and sweet in taste, has the effect of relieving coughs, reducing phlegm, and improving eyesight. Score: two."
She looked at the green weeds and vegetables all over the ground. She dug up the ones she recognized, but would the system report if she dug up the ones she didn't recognize?
Thinking about this, Lin Chuntao looked at the unknown wild vegetable next to her and dug it up.
"Chrysanthemum vulgare, cold in nature and bitter in taste, has the effect of clearing away heat, detoxifying and regulating the meridians. Score 2."
Lin Chuntao listened to the score and looked at the whole film, and she could no longer suppress the smile on her face.
"I'll dig, you pick it up, and shake the dirt."
After she finished speaking, Lin Chuntao started digging with her hoe, regardless of whether she knew the person or not.
That whole afternoon, Lin Chuntao's mind kept echoing with "Points 2, Points 2..."
After digging half of the valley, she was sweating profusely, but she was still very energetic.
Lin Chunxing said, "Sister, let me dig it."
Lin Chuntao also waved her hand and refused.
Moreover, some of the grass that Lin Chuntao dug were pig grass, as well as dandelions and plantains. Many of them were old and looked ugly. They usually picked the tender ones when cutting pig grass, and they disliked the old and ugly ones.
But Lin Chuntao seemed to be blind to it and started digging them all up.
Seeing Lin Chuntao like this, Lin Chunhe looked at Lin Chunxing in confusion: "Second sister, what's wrong with my sister?"
Lin Chunxing shook her head, she didn't know either.
Lin Duo'er, also standing nearby, said quietly, "I forgot to ask you how much each chick costs. Second sister, do you think we're running out of money to buy chickens?"
Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Duoer's wrinkled face and wanted to laugh.
Although she didn't know how much money her family had, no matter how expensive the chick was, it couldn't be more expensive than the clothes, so what Lin Duoer said was impossible.
They agreed that they would just listen to whatever Lin Chuntao said, so never mind, just pick it up first.
Lin Chuntao was addicted to wielding the hoe and did not stop for the entire afternoon.
Before the sun even set, the system couldn't help but ask.
"Host, aren't you tired yet?"
Lin Chuntao looked up at the sky and smiled, "It's okay."
System: "...Host, there are so many wild vegetables on this mountain. You can't dig them all in one day."
"Please report today's points." Lin Chuntao said.
"This morning, mushrooms gave me 187 points, and wild vegetables gave me 552 points."
Lin Chuntao asked again: "What is the total balance?"
System: "Two thousand one hundred and seventy-four."
Hearing this fairly satisfactory number of points, Lin Chuntao smiled, called up the control panel, clicked on the living area, and seeing that rice and flour were both ten points per pound, Lin Chuntao directly exchanged three stone of rice and one stone of flour.
She listened to the system's announcement of the successful redemption and the balance of points. After checking her backpack and finding three stone of rice and one stone of flour, her good mood, which had been worn away by pounding rice yesterday, returned.
"Not bad, let's come back to dig tomorrow." She looked at Lin Chunxing and the others and said, "Pick up what we dug and let's go home."
Her smiling face puzzled Lin Chunxing and the others. Although Lin Chuntao was optimistic, her eyes looked weak and tired when she was tired. Today, she had been digging wild vegetables for the whole afternoon, but now she was full of energy and her eyes were shining.
Lin Chunhe frowned slightly and whispered to Lin Chunxing, "Second sister, do you feel that my sister looks at these wild vegetables as if they were silver?"
After hearing this, Lin Chunxing nodded.
“It seems to be somewhat similar.”
Although the sisters spoke in low voices, Lin Chuntao still heard them. She smiled but said nothing.
Points can be exchanged for food, and the wild vegetables all over the mountain are like pure silver to her.
As they entered the village carrying wild vegetables, they met many people returning from the fields. Seeing the dandelions and plantains they were carrying, they smiled and asked, "Chun Tao, did you go picking wild vegetables today?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and replied, "Yes, I dug up some dandelions and plantains."
The person who was speaking even looked into the basket, seeing the wild vegetables were not fresh, and said, "Are you digging wild vegetables to eat?"
“Why are they all old?”
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I just dug some randomly. There are some tender ones too. They are down there."
As she spoke, she looked at the woman who was speaking and said, "We can't eat much either. We'll throw the old ones to the pigs."
The woman frowned slightly and told the truth in a rather impolite manner.
“I feel like even pigs might not eat it.”
Lin Chuntao didn't get angry when she heard this, she just smiled.
When they got home, Pei Ying had just finished making two rectangular chicken coops. The small one had narrower seams, so the chicks couldn't get out. The large one was huge, and Lin Chunxing laughed and said, "This coop is too big."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's a bit empty to keep those two chicks in there now. Once the chicks grow up, they won't be too big to be kept in there anymore."
Lin Chunxing suddenly realized and patted his head lightly.
"I'm stupid."
Lin Chuntao and the others didn't know that as soon as the woman stuck her head out, half of the people in the village knew that they had dug wild vegetables to eat.
The next day, the villagers saw that they had been digging wild vegetables for another day. Aunt Guizhi could no longer sit still, so she came to their house at dusk and asked Lin Chuntao if she had no vegetables to eat.
Seeing Aunt Guizhi's worried look, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "There's food. I've been idle these past two days, so I bought a few chickens and said I'd go dig some wild vegetables. Both the pigs and the chickens can eat it."
Aunt Guizhi said, "I heard that the ones you dug up are very old, suitable for pigs and chickens. Go cut some tender pig grass. They don't like to eat the old ones."
"If you don't have vegetables to eat, just go pick them yourself from the fields. You can eat them whether you have money or not."
Lin Chuntao was about to explain when a voice called out from outside: "Sister Chuntao, are you home?"
She walked out of the house and saw the two boys from Chen Dong's mother's family. One of them was holding a small basket, and the other was holding a few cabbages and eggplants.
"My grandma asked us to get it."
Lin Chuntao looked at the dish, feeling both amused and helpless, and hurried to take it.
Lin Jiahui looked at her and said, "My grandma said that wild vegetables are not tasty now because they are old. Sister Chuntao, if you don't have any vegetables, just go to the vegetable garden and pick them."
"Okay, thank grandma for me. If I don't have any vegetables to eat, I will definitely go pick them. I won't be polite."
"Have you eaten?" Lin Chuntao asked.
Lin Jiahui nodded and said, "Let's eat. Then we'll go back."
Lin Chunxing called out to them to play for a while, but they went back without staying.
Aunt Guizhi looked at the vegetables and smiled, "Look, it's not just me. Your grandmother also thinks you have nothing to eat."
Lin Chuntao was a little amused, but also felt warm in her heart.
It is always a happy thing to have someone care about you. She said to Aunt Guizhi, "If I don't have food to eat, I will definitely not be polite. I will only dig for two days. I can go back to work in the fields in a few days."
Speaking of the fields, Aunt Guizhi hurriedly asked her, "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. Have you gone to see if the corn seedlings have sprouted?"
"I've checked. I went to see it on the day Qiao'er got married. The two plots of land at the entrance of the village have already produced a lot. The two plots by the river and the one on the back mountain have produced less, but after a few days, they should all be almost there."
"Where are the bean sprouts? Have they appeared yet?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "A lot of them have sprouted, and my vegetables have sprouted too."
Aunt Guizhi breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. The corn was planted late, and she was worried that the seedlings would not sprout when the weather got hot.
At least there is more hope now that the seedlings have sprouted.
Lin Chuntao saw the change in Aunt Guizhi's expression and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Auntie. As long as the weather is good, I will definitely be able to harvest a lot of corn this year."
She spoke so firmly that Aunt Guizhi hardly dared to believe it, but she certainly hoped in her heart that it would be as Lin Chuntao said, that the harvest would be good and the sisters would have enough food, thus saving a lot of money on buying food.
She knew that Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying would have no problem making money, but when it came to saving money to build a house, they would definitely save as much as possible.
Lin Chuntao brought a chair over, and the two of them sat in the yard, enjoying the cool breeze and chatting.
After chatting for a long time, Aunt Guizhi finally saw her two chicken coops under the bamboo fence. The fluffy chicks were chirping inside. Aunt Guizhi looked at them and smiled: "Did you buy chicks?"
Lin Chuntao nodded and said, "I bought eight."
Aunt Guizhi was a little surprised and said with a smile, "Are they all pullets?"
"Six hens and two roosters."
Aunt Guizhi looked at the two chicken coops. They were both made of green bamboo and blended into the bamboo fence. She wouldn't have noticed them unless she looked carefully.
The chicken coop was covered with thatch, so it shouldn't get wet unless it rained heavily. She wanted to ask why they didn't build a chicken coop, but then she remembered that this was the old house of Muramasa's family, so she swallowed her words.
"Did Xiao Pei make this chicken coop? It's pretty good."
Pei Ying was also nearby. After hearing this, he said a little embarrassedly, "I just made it casually. I'll use it temporarily."
"It's already very good. When I build a new house in the future, I will build chicken coops and pig pens together. It will be more convenient to use."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "That's what I was planning too. We'll check it out in advance and build it all together."
After talking about their family affairs for a long time, Lin Chuntao asked Aunt Guizhi, "Aunt, have you finished making the clothes for Sister Shuilian?"
Aunt Guizhi waved her hand and said with a smile, "She'll be well soon. I'll go see her after June 6th."
There is a custom in Yizhou on June 6th, which is to worship ancestors and eat mutton.
On this day every year, people from all the villages would kill a sheep together and share the food, or one family would kill a sheep and sell it. The price would be much cheaper than buying it from a butcher shop in the county town.
"By the way, tomorrow your great-grandfather will register how much mutton each household in the village wants. If you want any, you should go and tell us."
Lin Chuntao nodded. When everyone went to register, the amount would be calculated by household. Just record how much the whole family wanted to eat, so that they could estimate how many sheep to kill to divide the food.
Lin Chuntao said: "In the past, we had no say in these matters and didn't know how much per pound we would get."
"About thirty wen, nearly half the price of buying it in the county town."
After Aunt Guizhi finished speaking, Pei Ying looked over in surprise. Mutton is about thirty cents per pound, isn't it almost the same as pork?
Seeing Pei Ying's surprised look, Aunt Guizhi smiled and said, "Little Pei, do you think it's a bargain? Live sheep are cheap, and the villagers don't make any money even if they kill them and share the profits. In the county town, you still have to pay fifty or sixty coins to buy a pound."
Pei Ying smiled and said, "I see."
After Aunt Guizhi left, Lin Chuntao asked Pei Ying, "Is mutton more expensive where you live?"
Pei Ying nodded. "Where I live, raw mutton costs 70 or 80 wen per pound. Is June 6th a festival here?"
“Pray for a good harvest by offering sacrifices to the ancestors.”
In fact, Lin Chuntao was not very clear about the details. Later generations only left behind the saying that people eat mutton on June 6th. On that day, every household would cook mutton hotpot.
Pei Ying understood what Lin Chuntao said.
Lin Chunhe and the others thought of the mutton noodles they had in the county town, and they still remember the taste of the mutton.
In previous years, on June 6th, Tian would also go out to buy a few pounds, but it was not their turn. The adults, brothers and sisters could all eat around the boiler, while they and their cousins still ate their wild vegetable steamed buns in the side room next door.
At first, Lin Chuntao thought that everyone in this village was very patriarchal. Later, when she saw Lin Qingqing and the others, she found that it was not the case. Lin Qingqing and Lin Jiaye were also cousins. They ate together in their family, regardless of gender. Many families in the village were like this, but the Lin family was a minority.
Seeing the expectant eyes of her sisters, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I'll go talk to Grandpa tomorrow and tell him to buy a few pounds of mutton and cook a mutton pot the day after tomorrow."
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