Just when Lin Guoqing and Shen Chunhua were a little stuck, the second brother Lin Shugan squatted on the ground and raised his hand weakly to signal.
"Mom, can you let me take care of it? I don't need to go out with grandma for now."
Chen Chunhua raised her eyebrows. "Didn't you say you didn't want to stay at home alone? Now you don't want to go out?"
Lin Shugan chuckled, and although he felt a little embarrassed, he still did not refute his mother's words. After all, the temptation for a 6-year-old kid to follow his grandmother up the mountains and down the rivers was no longer as great as raising chickens at home.
"Anyway, I still have to water the mushrooms, water the vegetables, and feed the hens... I always have to rush when I go out with Grandma. Now that the chickens are home, I can take my time... If it rains, I'll still have time to put away the clothes..."
Lin Shugan counted on his fingers the work he had to do every day. Chen Chunhua began to feel sorry for her second son when she heard it. Why did he have so much work to do?
"Mom, I want to raise a little penis too." The third child, Lin Shuchao, hugged Chen Chunhua's legs and begged.
Lin Shumei hugged Chen Chunhua's other leg and said, "Mommy...jiji...baby..."
She also patted her chest, meaning that she also wanted to raise one.
Chen Chunhua rolled her eyes at each of them. If these two wanted to raise chickens, then these chickens were destined to die a miserable death.
Lin Shuying stood by, timidly, her eyes revealing envy. The chicks were so cute, she wanted to raise one too, but she still had to go to school...
"Mom, I can help my brother look after the chickens before and after school." The eldest child racked his brains for a long time to think of something he could do. "Or I can sprinkle the water in the mushroom house tonight. Now that the chicken coop is high, I can also pick up eggs..."
Upon hearing this, Chen Chunhua quickly waved her hands and said, "You can watch the chickens watering, but let your father pick up the eggs."
After the chicken coop was built, Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing never let the children go in. It was because Lin Guoqing dug a few centimeters every other night, and now there was a half-meter deep pit underneath.
A bamboo frame made by Lin Guoqing was placed on top of the chicken, covered with mats and straw, so that only the chickens could walk on it safely. Also, Lin Guoqing himself knew where the footing was, so he could carefully go in and pick up a few eggs.
The children didn't care why their mother didn't let them go in to pick up eggs. Now their minds were full of the chirping of chicks, and they kept trying to fight for the right to raise the chickens.
"Okay, okay, okay, you can raise them if you want, but you can't kill them all!"
It is not realistic for all of them to survive, but at least half of them should survive, Chen Chunhua thought so, and explained to the four people the requirements for raising chickens. The main chicken farmer was still the 6-year-old Lin Shugan, with Lin Shuying as his deputy.
Lin Shuchao and Lin Shumei were to be taken away as usual during the day, but Chen Chunhua said that since they wanted to raise chickens, they couldn't just sit there and do nothing. They could go outside and catch some insects and pull some tender grass to feed the chickens. Otherwise, they would just eat millet and rice, and the landlord wouldn't be able to afford to keep all those chickens.
Liang Shengdi suddenly had the illusion that someone was trying to steal her job, and there was a very critical problem.
"Chunhua..." Liang Shengdi waited for Chen Chunhua to get up and go back to the kitchen to check on her breakfast, then she leaned over and called out softly.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Liang Shengdi held it in for a long time, but finally asked it out.
"If I don't raise chickens, does what you said before still count?"
I mean, we agreed to give her a whole chicken, is there any left? If she has to raise chickens to eat, she doesn't mind staying at home and learning how to raise chickens.
After all, eating chicken is the most important thing for her!
Chen Chunhua smiled and said, "Yes, don't you know me? What I say is set in stone. But now the chickens are here to take care of them, so you still have to take care of the bamboo shoots and fish..."
"I go! I go every day. Can you tell me if I've had a day off recently?"
Liang Shengdi quickly expressed that she has recently been very fond of labor and effective labor results. In response, Chen Chunhua also did not hesitate to praise her.
"Yes, you're working hard, too. That's why our family's life is getting better and better. We can have eggs every day and meat every week!"
…
While eating breakfast, the children were obviously not paying attention, their eyes kept glancing at the chicken box on the ground.
"Mom, you said they can't get cold, so are we going to put them in the quilt later?" Lin Shugan felt a little nervous as he watched the chicks' feathers trembling in the air from time to time.
"That's not necessary. If you put them in your bed, you'll be terribly stinky from the chicken poop." Chen Chunhua laughed, "But you can't take them out to dry. Put them in the room this morning and cover them with rags and cotton. When you come back at noon, your dad and I will get them an insulated box."
Lin Shuying asked, "What is an incubator?"
"It's to keep them warm and not get chills."
In fact, there is no advanced technology involved in the insulated box at this time. It is just a cardboard box with layer upon layer of straw and cotton wool spread on the bottom to make it thick. A thin quilt is also placed around the inside of the box.
For this purpose, Chen Chunhua took apart an old jacket that even Lao Si couldn't wear anymore and used it to wrap the chickens.
Then hang a large light bulb on the top of the box with a thick wooden branch. The power of light bulbs these days is pretty good. Hang it at a suitable distance from the chicks. Once you open it, the whole box will be warm.
Chen Chunhua instructed Lin Guoqing to make two such boxes, saying that the chickens should not be too crowded and should be able to move freely in the boxes.
For this purpose, he even went to the brigade to ask Lin Fuqiang for help in getting a large cardboard box. These were resources in the village, and most people didn't have them.
With this box of chicks, the children became much quieter because Chen Chunhua said that chicks could be scared to death.
As soon as they got home, the children, big and small, would hang around the two boxes of chickens. Lin Shugan also took on the role of disciplinarian. Every time the two children tried to reach out and have a "friendly" interaction with the chickens, he would grab them and say, "Don't touch them! The chickens will die if you touch them!"
He is also the person most envied by his sisters, younger brothers and sisters because he can watch the chicks all day long, unlike them who can only see them when they go home.
The second child had only been taking care of the chicks for one day when he became familiar with them and even gave all the chickens names.
"This is Little Yellow, he's the yellowest all over. This is Little Black, he has black hair on his back. That's Little White, he has white hair on his head... This one's called Little Bad Guy, he always pushes other chicks when he eats... And this one's called Speedy, he runs so fast..."
Lin Guoqing squatted on the ground and listened to his son introduce the chicken for a long time. He turned around and said to Chen Chunhua with a smile,
"Apart from the feather color he mentioned, I can't tell the difference between those chickens. That's why my brain is so good!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
