"Yes, that's right. I think the eldest girl speaks very logically. That Madam Tan gave birth to eight sons, each one more disgraceful than the last. Except for the eldest son, who is somewhat better, the rest are all spendthrifts who ruin the family business."
"Look at the Xia family, who raise three pigs, they only have two beautiful daughters. The elder daughter married into the family, and her husband is filial, hardworking, and sensible. The younger daughter married into the local landlady family in the next town, and their lives are no worse than those of families with many sons."
"Having a son is certainly good, but if he gives birth to a spendthrift and ruinous child, it's better to only have a daughter."
"You can't say that. Look at Old Zhang from the next village. She was 45 when she had her first daughter and no son. Now she's over 70 and can't do much work. Her only daughter, who is married out, wanted to support her mother with two bushels of rice a month, but her in-laws and husband kicked her to the ground and beat her!"
"Although the Xia family is doing well, it's all thanks to the hard work of Xia and her husband, along with Xia's parents-in-law. Xia was lucky not to have married a lazy, good-for-nothing son-in-law. A daughter is still not as good as a son."
"That's true. Take the former village chief Niu's brother's family, for example. They were quite wealthy, weren't they? The village chief and his brother's family ate meat almost every day. Look at what that son-in-law did to Niu's brother!" "His daughter was beaten to death, and that son-in-law pawned all their land and house. Now his brother's family is even worse off than Niu the Mute's family. They don't know where their next meal is coming from; sometimes the old couple can't even get a bowl of porridge."
“Our family is not like the Niu Lizhang’s brother’s family, where if you’re a man, people will come to your door and take you. Get out of here! If you don’t leave, I’ll beat you to death with this big shovel!” Niu Cuihua said, grabbing a shovel and pretending to throw it.
The crowd was so frightened that they scattered in all directions.
The eldest daughter of the Niu family has always been mentally challenged and doesn't know her own strength when hitting people: "Cuihua, stop chasing her."
"Mom, they're gossiping right up to our doorstep, it's so annoying!" Niu Cuihua pouted and huffed.
"Cuihua, you...you know they're gossiping?" Chenyu asked, a mixture of surprise and uncertainty in her voice.
"Mom, so what if we don't have a son? It doesn't mean they'd abandon their own daughter just because we don't have a son."
Shen Yu was pleasantly surprised: "Cuihua, you're really... not stupid anymore?" Shen Yu felt as if her family had suddenly been blessed with good fortune.
“Yes, Mom, look, Fourth Sister’s fever suddenly went down, and I can speak clearly again. Isn’t this good luck brought to us by Fifth Sister?” Niu Cuihua said.
"Her mother, come quick!" Suddenly, Shen Yu heard Niu Da calling her from the vegetable garden.
"Her dad, what's up?"
"Come and take a look, something strange is happening to our chickens," Niu Dadao said.
Shenyu and the children ran to the vegetable garden. Shenyu asked, "What's wrong?" She thought the chicken had caught a cold.
“There are ten eggs in our henhouse,” Niu Dadao said.
"What? Ten?" Shen Yu was shocked again.
A long-lost smile appeared on Niu Da's face as he said, "Yes, my dear wife, this is truly a strange thing." Niu Da then took ten eggs out of the henhouse.
"Cuihua, quickly bring the winnowing basket and put them in it." The unwashed eggs were a bit dirty, so instead of putting them in the basket, they were put in the winnowing basket.
Niu Cuihua brought over a winnowing basket.
“Honey, I’ll have to add two more eggs to your poached eggs today! Cuihua, take five eggs and go to your Aunt Xia’s to exchange them for two ounces of brown sugar!” Niu Dadao said.
Chen Yu said, "We still have some of the two ounces of brown sugar we exchanged a few months ago, right? Why waste those eggs? I don't need to eat five eggs; three is enough. Let's save them and buy some grain before the New Year."
Niu Dadao: "What can you do with that little bit of brown sugar and eggs?"
"We've run out of vegetables at home, and we're just surviving on the little bit of pickled cabbage we made. This year's weather is different from previous years; although the snow has melted, it's getting colder and colder. We need to store some food at home." "Our rice is almost gone. Two eggs can be exchanged for a bushel of this millet, but I can't bear to eat it."
The hundred coins that Niu Da pulled the cart were returned to Niu Yaba.
“I’ve had a lot of people asking me to pull the cart these past few days. Just focus on taking care of yourself. Buying rice is a man’s job, so don’t worry about it!” Niu Dadao said.
Shen Yu wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words back. Oh well, she couldn't argue with him anyway.
The next day, before dawn, Niu Da went out fishing. He baited a spot in Guhu Lake and, perhaps due to good luck, caught four pounds of small fish and two large fish.
"Niu Da, how come you can catch so many fish? Look, Zhao Si only caught a few!" Hai Yue from Haijia Village was also fishing with them.
There are four villages surrounding Niushan Village: Zhaojia Village, Haijia Village, Qinglong Village, and Heishan Village, with Niushan Village in the middle.
Niu laughed and said, "It's just good luck!"
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