Chapter 66 Pet Farm
It was several days after May Day that Lin Guoqing continued to sell vegetables with his shoulder pole on his shoulder. When he returned to Guanqian Lane, everyone was already there. After asking about each other's well-being for a while, he continued to sell vegetables.
The long bags in the mushroom house were already full of mushrooms. Chen Chunhua didn't let the children in. She and Lin Guoqing covered their mouths and noses and picked all the mushrooms. Sales were good, so she made a few more bags to continue raising the next batch.
The chicks finally grew up in the summer, and the symbolic event was that Lin Shu took out two eggs from the new chicken coop.
Nine hens and three roosters. So far, the Lin family has 14 laying hens and 3 roosters. The stock of rice husks and rice bran has been rapidly declining and is almost at the bottom. The insects that the four children catch outside every day are not enough for them to eat.
The Lin family was reluctant to eat the vegetables grown in the backyard, so they all became food for a dozen chickens. Occasionally, they would cook a few of their own eggs and mix them in to supplement the nutrition.
Lin Guoqing suggested selling a few of them. As soon as he said this, Lin Shuchao started crying and asked not to sell his glutton. On the other side, Lin Shumei shouted that Xiao Huang and Xiao Bai could not be sold.
Lin Shuying and Lin Shugai were older now and knew the chickens were originally raised to make money, but they were still hesitant. One asked if Feimaotu could be sold in the end, while the other said Xiaohuadan was a hen, so could she keep it for a few more years? She would catch more worms for her so she could lay more eggs.
Chen Chunhua was so annoyed by their howling that every chicken had its own owner? Had this become a pet farm?
The key point is that there are more than just these four children in the family, there is also Liang Shengdi.
Liang Shengdi stared at her small eyes with multiple eyelids, stood with her hands on her hips in front of her four grandchildren, and shouted to Chen Chunhua,
"Chunhua! You said you would give me a whole chicken! I haven't been lazy at all these past few months and haven't stolen anything! You can't go back on your word!"
Lin Shuchao's face was already covered with tears. When he heard his grandmother say that she wanted to eat chicken, the greedy boy who was holding him cried even louder.
"Don't eat my glutton! No!!! Wuuuuuu... Mom... Grandma... Or you should just sell it... Don't eat the glutton..."
Lin Shumei cried even harder when she heard her brother crying. The two older ones beside her stood there with their heads down, wiping their tears.
Chen Chunhua's temples were throbbing and her head was aching. She looked at Lin Guoqing and waved at him, meaning, "Come here."
Lin Guoqing curled his lips, squatted down and rescued the chicken that was flapping its wings wildly from Lin Shu's hands.
"Third brother, please let your glutton go. Even if it's not eaten or sold, you'll strangle it to death!"
"No, no, no! I won't sell any of these babies! I won't eat them! Stop crying!"
Liang Shengdi's eyes widened, and just as she was about to speak, she heard Lin Guoqing continue,
"Don't worry, Mom, I'll definitely put your chicken in your mouth!"
…
Finally, choosing a day when there was not much work in the fields and it was still early to get off work, Chen Chunhua directed Lin Guoqing to catch the oldest hen.
This hen has been serving the Lin family for more than two years. Recently, the frequency of its egg-laying has increased, and it eats more than the other hen. It is time for it to retire, which also means that its life as a chicken has come to an end.
When Chen Chunhua was preparing to kill the chicken, she specifically asked Liang Shengdi to bring the children into the house and not to come out.
They were worried that their pet chickens would be killed, so they took them all in, leaving Chen Chunhua speechless for a long time.
"It's in the main room, don't bring it into the room. If you poop, clean it up for me!"
"My dear, you've worked hard these past two years. Don't be a chicken in your next life."
Chen Chunhua sharpened the knife, asked Lin Guoqing to hold the chicken wings firmly, touched the chicken neck and said, the next second, the kitchen knife scratched, and chicken blood gushed out along the blade and flowed into the basin below.
The hen struggled a few times and then died completely.
Filter the chicken blood with a colander, sprinkle a little salt and powder on it, and put it in a cool corner to let it solidify on its own.
Hot water is poured over the chicken, scalding the feathers inside and out. Afterwards, the feathers are carefully plucked out. Lin Guoqing spreads the plucked feathers out on a bamboo dustpan to dry.
These are all good things. If you save enough, you can exchange them for money and make quilts and clothes for yourself. The beautiful big feathers can also be used to make shuttlecocks for Lin Shuying and Lin Shumei. Lin Guoqing didn't dare to drop any of them on the ground and waste them.
Shen Chunhua was responsible for cleaning and gutting the plucked chicken.
She first made a small incision at the back of the neck, near the wings, and removed the chicken's trachea and crop. Then, she made a two-inch incision between the anus and the abdomen and gently pulled out the internal organs. She was extremely careful not to rupture the liver or the gallbladder near it.
Chicken liver is delicious, but it will be bitter if the gallbladder is ruptured.
Then the protruding tendons on the anal bone and the tips of the claws were removed, and finally, the inside and outside were rinsed again.
After washing, there is a layer of membrane on the chicken that needs to be rubbed off. At the same time, some cuticles on the chicken melon and chicken beak are removed. Then use a knife to cut open the chicken's belly, take out the internal organs and clean them. Only then can the chicken be considered clean.
Chen Chunhua asked Liang Shengdi to order. What did she want? Braised chicken, chicken soup, white-cut chicken, salted chicken, or even pickled chicken. She just needed to spend some money and buy half a pound of distiller's grains and some shochu.
It needs to be pressed in the jar for two days to absorb the flavor, so I can’t eat it today.
Liang Shengdi licked her lips.
"Let's make chicken soup, add some mushrooms, some bamboo shoots... and some vegetables."
Lin Guoqing: "...Where are the bamboo shoots from in July? You go up the mountain every day and you don't even know if there are any?"
"Oh, right, then don't add bamboo shoots. The mushrooms are fresh enough." Liang Shengdi compromised, and then suddenly thought of something.
"Hey, Chunhua!"
"Hmm?" Chen Chunhua, who was checking the coagulation of the chicken blood, responded without raising her head, "You go ahead."
"Chicken soup, add more water and leave a bowl out. How about we make three fresh dishes tomorrow? I'll go catch some fish! There are a lot of shrimps in the river now! The chicken blood can be added to the three fresh soup!" The more Liang Shengdi spoke, the more liquid filled her mouth and she kept swallowing her saliva.
The four little ones who were sitting nearby, each holding their own chicken, also drooled.
Chen Chunhua was really at a loss for words. "Okay, okay, okay, I'll do as you say! Then let's make mushroom and chicken soup today?"
Liang Shengdi nodded, smiling so hard that her teeth were showing, "Okay!"
"Oh, by the way, Mom," Chen Chunhua, carrying a basin of chicken, just stepped into the kitchen and then retracted her foot, "Are you going to eat this chicken all by yourself, or can you share some with us?"
"It's not that I won't give you any, but I just want to ask for your opinion first. If you're eating alone, I'll see what else I can make for the children. If you're eating together, I'll just make a bowl of eggs."
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