The village chief's courtyard was different from other people's.
Most people's yards are enclosed by fences made of bamboo strips inserted diagonally. Better ones are made of woven bamboo strips, and even more particular ones are made of reeds. The fences are so thick that people outside the yard cannot see what is inside.
The village chief's courtyard, however, was built of stone, and the gate was a proper gate, making it look more impressive than other people's houses.
Although the courtyard gate was open, Yunduo didn't go in directly. Instead, she stood outside the courtyard and called out loudly, "Aunt Zhang, Aunt Zhang..."
"Who is it?" A little girl answered. A moment later, a little girl with two pigtails tied into a bow with colorful ribbons came out.
The little girl was a bit shorter than Yun Duo, but her face was chubby. Although her clothes looked a bit old, they didn't have a single patch, which was a rare sight in this small village.
The little girl was holding a thin wooden stick in her hand. As she came out, she kept tapping the ground with the stick while making "duo duo duo" sounds, clearly playing around.
"Who are you? Who are you calling?" the little girl asked, looking at the clouds.
Yun Duo knew that this little girl was most likely the one her grandmother, Yun Qi, had told her about—Lu Zhimin's eldest granddaughter, Lu Jiajia.
"Are you Jiajia? Here, take this." Yun Duo first handed Lu Jiajia a long feather from the tail of a pheasant she was holding, and then said, "I'm Yun Duo, I'm looking for your grandma, Aunt Zhang."
"Wow! It's so pretty! Is it for me?" Lu Jiajia looked at the feather that Yun Duo handed her, her little face full of amazement.
"Mmm." Yun Duo nodded quickly and said, "It's for you."
"Thank you~" Lu Jiajia happily ran to Yun Duo, thanked her earnestly, and then happily took the feather from Yun Duo's hand. She waved it around in her hand a couple of times, gave Yun Duo a sweet smile, and then shouted into the yard, "Grandma, Yun Duo is looking for you!"
"This girl, if Grandma hears this, she should call her Auntie!" A doting voice came from the courtyard, and soon, a neatly dressed woman came out.
This "woman" was Lu Zhimin's wife, Zhang Chunxiang.
"Aunt Zhang." Yun Duo greeted the woman as soon as she saw her.
"It's Duo'er! What brings you here? Is there anything I can help you with?" The woman's face was full of kind smiles. Seeing Yun Duo carrying a basket, she asked with some concern, "Oh, why are you carrying that basket? Is it heavy?"
For Yunduo, the things in the basket were quite heavy, but Yunduo shook her head and said, "They're not heavy." She added, "I was lucky today. I found two pheasants that had been stung unconscious by wild bees. Grandma said we don't have a pot and it's inconvenient to cook, so she asked me to bring one of the chickens over and ask Auntie to cook it and add a dish to our meal as a way of thanking Uncle Village Chief, Brother Haiyang, and Brother Haijun for their help."
"And chicken giblets and blood tofu too. Grandma said that if you stew them with chicken, even the chicken won't taste good. Auntie has a wok for stir-frying, so it's perfect for eating with rice."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chunxiang shook her head and looked at Yun Duo, saying, "It's just a small favor, why are you taking anything? Your family is full of old and young people, it's not easy for them to get food. Duo'er, listen to your aunt, take the things back and let your grandma cook for you."
As she spoke, she looked at Yunduo with pity and said, "Poor thing, look how thin you've become! You've lost almost all your weight, you need to eat some more!"
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