Lin Guoqing was seen holding a shovel and patting his old cotton-padded jacket. He was covered in dust and a few hairs fell off from time to time. The hot early spring weather made him sweat profusely.
Seeing his wife coming back, he put down his shovel, hurried forward to carry the basket for her, and whispered in her ear,
"I've been thinking about what you said a few days ago! I woke up from a dream at around four o'clock and can't fall asleep again!"
He was talking about the tea set that Chen Chunhua told him Lin Guoqing's grandfather had shown her in a dream the night before last.
Lin Guoqing was convinced by himself. He had originally thought that he was just listening to his wife's nonsense and that the matter would be over after that. Unexpectedly, Chen Chunhua did not mention it after that day. He even dreamed of digging a hole in his sleep.
Chen Chunhua: "...So you really went to dig a hole right after you got up? And where's the chicken? It didn't crow?"
Lin Guoqing then remembered his five chickens. After a moment of silence, he quickly ran to the backyard.
Chen Chunhua's heart tightened. Would this idiot kill all the chickens just to dig out something that couldn't be sold now?
She ran to the backyard and saw Lin Guoqing holding a chicken in his left hand and removing straw from its beak with his right hand.
As soon as the old hen's beak was freed, it began to cluck wildly and even jumped onto Lin Guoqing's head and slapped it hard, to avenge the fact that its beak had been tied for several hours.
Chen Chunhua: ...
"You even managed to tie straw around such a tiny chicken beak? It was pitch dark, and you weren't pecked to death!"
Turning around to look at the chicken coop again, the roof of the shed, which was so small that only a four-year-old child could crawl into, had been lifted up by Lin Guoqing. The straw that was originally spread underneath had been picked up to the side, and there was an old hen with its beak tied up, curled up on the grass.
The most important thing is that the soil on the surface is shallow and flat, and it has been dug down... It is estimated to be about 10 centimeters.
Chen Chunhua: ...
"You made such a big fuss, and you only dug up so little soil?"
Lin Guoqing sighed, "You have no idea how hard the soil is! Such a large piece of land, they said it was under the chicken coop, but they didn't say whether it was in the middle or in the four corners. I have to dig it up and take a look!"
Actually, the chicken coop wasn't very big, with only a few chickens in it. It was only about three or four square meters at most. The dirt was really hard. Before the coop was built, people were constantly trampling on it. After the coop was built, the chickens kept trampling on it, so it was hardened anyway.
Lin Guoqing spent a long time shoveling out a little bit.
"So are we just going to leave it like this? If someone comes in, they'll wonder what we're doing. And it's March now, and it might rain again. Where are you going to let the chickens hide? What if they get sick from the rain?"
Chen Chunhua was furious. Couldn't this person have thought carefully before doing this? There should have been a way to deal with it, right?
Lin Guoqing finally freed the five chickens. He watched them poop on his head one by one and then hide away. He could only keep brushing off their feathers.
"It shouldn't rain today, so I can just cover it up again around noon. I just need to make it a little higher, at least enough for people to stand. As for people asking about it... just say we need to raise a few more chickens, so we need to make some modifications. That's perfectly normal!"
He looked up at Shen Chunhua, whose eyes were red after a night of sleep, and felt a little distressed. He had just experienced it once the night before, and knew it very well.
"Put your things down, go in, wash your face, and take a nap. It's still early, half an hour would be nice. I'll make breakfast later."
It’s just sweet potato porridge, he still knows how to make it.
Chen Chunhua glared at him and walked towards the kitchen in a bad mood.
"You should fix up the shack first, at least put the straw back on. I'll cook the meal."
…
After the family finished breakfast, Liang Shengdi couldn't wait to pick up her basket and head back up the mountain. Her daughter-in-law had just said she had sold all the things she had dug, and at this rate, she should be able to buy chickens next month. She was so excited!
"Mom, wait a minute!" Chen Chunhua called out to Liang Shengdi and stuffed a meat ticket and seventy cents into her hand.
"Look, I promised you yesterday that we'd eat meat only if the sales were good. Guoqing and I definitely don't have time, so if you're free later, go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy a pound of meat."
Liang Shengdi widened her eyes and looked at the money and meat tickets in her hands in disbelief.
"I, I'll go?"
"Yes, go ahead. Is there any problem? Don't you know where the supply and marketing cooperative is?"
Liang Shengdi nodded quickly, "I know, I know."
She just…felt this feeling strange.
No one would believe this, but she had never received any money in her entire life, half of it. Neither money nor bills had ever come into her hands.
When she is a girl, the money is in the hands of her parents; when she gets married, the money is in the hands of her mother-in-law; when the mother-in-law is gone, the money is in the hands of her husband; when the husband is gone, the money is in the hands of her son and daughter-in-law.
At first, no one wanted to manage her finances, and later, they simply didn't dare. She'd never touched money before, so the feeling of suddenly holding all that money in her hands was quite unique.
So this is what money looks like, with patterns on the meat tickets... It seems like she has the final say on this matter... She seems like the master of this house...
Chen Chunhua didn't notice Liang Shengdi's mood change and continued to give instructions.
"You can pick the meat if you like. If you want something fattier, just say a few nice words to the chef... A pound of meat costs 69 cents, and here it's 70 cents. Remember to ask for 1 cent back, and don't throw it away!"
The 55-year-old old lady nodded solemnly, like a child, with a stern face, "It won't be lost, it won't be lost..."
Then he carefully folded the bill and money and put it in the innermost part of his cotton-padded jacket. After a moment's hesitation, he moved it one layer deeper. He touched his chest. It was right there.
Lin Shugan had already hurried to mix the bran for the chickens and put it in the backyard. Although he felt a little confused looking at the messy chicken coop, he was in a hurry today and had no time to think about it.
After finishing his work, he ran to Liang Shengdi and said, "Grandma, I'm fine now. Mom asked you to take me with you today!"
When Liang Shengdi heard what her second grandson said, she nodded expressionlessly, then raised her hand and touched her chest, "Yes, it's there."
Lin Guoqing held the third child's left hand and the fourth child's right hand, and watched his mother take his second child out. From time to time, he raised his hand to touch his chest, with a puzzled look on his face.
"What's wrong with Mom? Does she have a pain in her chest? Is she suddenly tired from working all day? Why don't you ask her not to go out today? If there's something wrong, we'll have to go to the hospital."
Chen Chunhua frowned as she watched them walk away, feeling a little worried.
"That shouldn't be the case. He seems to be walking quite steadily. Come back at noon and check again. If he doesn't feel well, go to the hospital."
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