On the other side, after Zhou Chenyu finished visiting the lantern festival, he returned home with everyone. He arrived home at 1:00 AM, and Huangdou, who was alone at home, happily wagged its tail and ran all over the yard.
Before they came out, they left some warm water in the pot.
Li Xiuju was old and her body couldn't take it, so she quickly washed herself, urged him a few words, and went back to her room to rest.
Baoyu was supposed to take a bath, but while waiting, he got so tired from playing that he fell asleep on the bed.
Zhou Chenyu covered him with the blanket and returned to the room in the chilly autumn wind. After only a few steps, her hands and feet were already icy cold. She quickly crawled into bed and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, shivering from the cold.
After the bustling lantern festival in the city, Zhoujia Village seemed unusually quiet.
The night wind kept blowing against the windows and wooden doors, as if ghosts were knocking outside.
As Zhou Chenyu listened to the clear barking of Huangdou and the other dogs in the village, she gradually warmed her body, closed her eyes, and began to drift off to sleep.
Even though it's late at night, the events of the day keep replaying in my mind as soon as I close my eyes.
Zhou Chenyu stretched her arms out of the blankets, opened her bright, moist eyes, lowered her gaze, looked at her bare, delicate arms exposed to the air, and pinched them, noticing that they seemed to have gained some weight compared to a few months ago.
She is nearly 1.6 meters tall, and although she looks thin, she is not skinny. Last time, Chen Tongsheng had to use both hands to lift her up with great effort.
Tonight, he casually pulled her close, as easily as if he were tugging at a kitten.
Zhou Chenyu turned over, clutching the blankets tightly. Her slender, jade-white fingers touched her lips, and she bit her hand intentionally or unintentionally. A bright, faint smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
"He's not such a blockhead after all."
In the dead of night, Zhou Chenyu touched the corners of his mouth, which he couldn't suppress from turning up, and laughed like a fool. He was even a little afraid to face his own foolishness at this moment, so he quickly pulled the blanket over his head...
Zhou Chenyu fell asleep in the middle of the night, still infatuated with a girl, and had a good dream all night. Hearing the rooster crowing behind the house, he stretched, threw off the covers, and got out of bed.
She opened the door and walked out into the courtyard. Li Xiuju and Baoyu had not yet gotten up, and the courtyard, which had been battered by the autumn wind all night, was deserted.
Soybean, cold and curled up in the corner, saw Zhou Chenyu get up, opened its sleepy eyes, shook its stiff body and swished its tail.
Seeing its pitiful appearance, Zhou Chenyu patted its smooth head and said, "It's getting cold. Before we go hunting in the mountains, let's build a warm little nest."
Since arriving here, Li Xiuju has rarely been seen getting up late. Usually, she either gets up late to make breakfast for them or goes out to cut grass and scoop up duckweed to feed the chickens and ducks. Today, she is rarely seen.
Zhou Chenyu thought about washing up and making breakfast. She scooped up a few ladles of well water to wash herself. It was cold outside, but the well water was still warm.
However, the water only warmed her skin for a short while. After the warmth wore off, her face felt cool as if it had been sprayed with Tiger Balm, and she immediately woke up.
After washing up, she quickly ran into the kitchen and started a fire on the stove.
There was a lot of leftover food from last night's holiday. I boiled water in the pot, put the food in, and steamed it.
After finishing their work in the kitchen, the chickens, ducks, and geese kept squawking incessantly in the henhouse. The autumn rice in the large paddy fields in front of Zhoujia Village had already ripened, and if the poultry ran away at this time, it would inevitably cause big trouble.
Zhou Chenyu patted off the firewood scraps, took out the wild vegetables he had prepared yesterday, chopped them into small pieces, mixed them into the rice bran, and carried them to the chicken coop.
With nothing else to do, Soybean followed behind her sheepishly.
As the night passed, the area around the house seemed to have become even more desolate. The leaves on the big tree by the door had all turned yellow and withered. When the cold wind blew, leaves fell one by one, and yellow leaves and withered branches accumulated in a thick layer on the ground.
Zhou Chenyu shivered from the cold wind blowing from the alley, and quickly carried the heavy food to the inner shed where the poultry were kept.
The chickens, flapping their wings in an attempt to escape, shrank back into a corner like frightened birds when they saw her.
"Trying to run away? You think you can escape?" Zhou Chenyu opened the door, cooing as she scooped wild vegetables and rice bran into the feeding trough. The starving chickens, ducks, and geese swarmed to grab the food, splattering food all over the ground.
While they were eating, Zhou Chenyu put the wooden bucket aside, went into the poultry shed, and checked if there were any newly laid free-range eggs.
Ever since her first hen laid an egg, she would often sneak into this place to see if there were any eggs to collect. The freshly laid eggs were still warm, and holding them in her hands made her as happy as if she had found money.
Moreover, the hens at home lay eggs every few days, and if you don't have time to collect them, they can easily crush them.
Zhou Chenyu went inside and saw six small oval eggs in a straw nest where several old hens were huddled.
"So many eggs, maybe we can try hatching some chicks another day?" Zhou Chenyu smiled happily, picked up a few eggs from the grass nest and put them into the basket. She turned to leave, but when she reached the door, she caught a glimpse of a white shadow out of the corner of her eye.
Zhou Chenyu stopped and stared intently at the white shadow. Two duck eggs were displayed in a dark corner. If it weren't for the stark contrast between black and white, she wouldn't have noticed them.
She quickly picked up two duck eggs and compared them to chicken eggs; one duck egg was about the size of two chicken eggs.
"Goodness, the duck has laid eggs too. Now we really can't finish eating all the eggs at home."
Zhou Chenyu returned home with a basket of eggs. Baoyu had just gotten up and was leaning against the door of the main room, looking at her blankly as he yawned wildly. "Sister, where is Mother?"
"She's not up yet. Have you washed up? Breakfast is almost ready. Go and wake the old lady up when you're done." Zhou Chenyu put her things down, washed her hands, and went into the kitchen.
Whether she was hungry or something else, she reheated the leftovers that had been sitting overnight, and they tasted even better than when they were freshly cooked.
She found a clean handkerchief, picked up both sides of the plate, and quickly carried it back to the table in the main room.
When Baoyu returned after washing up, he leaned closer to smell the vegetables. "We can eat meat so early in the morning, Sister. Our family's life is finally getting better." After saying that, he reached out to grab the vegetables with his bare hands.
Zhou Chenyu slapped his hand away, "Did you call for help when I told you to?"
Reluctantly, Baoyu withdrew his hand and walked towards Li Xiuju's room.
Zhou Chenyu went back to the kitchen, picked up another plate of food and came out. The handkerchief she was covering was not placed properly, and the scalding heat traveled from her fingers to her brain. "Hot, hot, hot."
She clutched the plate and walked towards the main room. As she stepped over the raised threshold, a panicked cry came from inside the room from Baoyu, "Mother, what's wrong? Don't scare me!"
Zhou Chenyu's ears rang, and the plate in her hand shattered on the ground. She rushed into the room, where Baoyu struggled to lift the unconscious Li Xiuju, tears streaming down his face. "Mother, don't scare me! Wake up! Wake up!"
Zhou Chenyu looked at Li Xiuju, who did not respond, and faced a life-or-death crisis for the first time in his life.
Despite Baoyu's panic, she forced herself to remain calm and walked over, her hands trembling as she checked Li Xiuju's breath.
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