Qian Xiaoxiao shot two birds, gutted them with her own knife, cleaned them, and started roasting them over a fire. When they were ready to eat, a lazy man in the village came over and offered to trade two pieces of candy for her birds.

It was rare to get candy in the countryside, so Qian Xiaoxiao agreed immediately: "Okay, two pieces of candy in exchange for a bird."

Erlaizi snatched the bird, ate it up in big mouthfuls, and wanted to eat the remaining one. When he saw that Qian Xiaoxiao refused to give it to him, he tried to snatch it away.

Qian Xiaoxiao was not someone who would swallow her anger, so she used her strength to throw him to the ground, and then reached out for the candy. Seeing that Er Laizi refused to give it to her, she hit him with the stick given by Master Qian, which made Er Laizi grit his teeth in pain, and he obediently gave her the candy.

Qian Xiaoxiao snorted coldly and said, "If you had taken it out earlier, you wouldn't have been beaten."

After receiving the candy, she peeled one, but it turned out to be a small stone. Damn, they even deceived children.

After throwing the candy wrappers and small stones on the ground, Qian Xiaoxiao picked up the stick and chased after Er Laizi, beating him until he was screaming like a ghost. Then he stopped and said, "If you dare to lie to me again next time, I will beat you again."

After eating the remaining bird, Qian Xiaoxiao carried a basket of pig grass that was taller than her back to the team to report.

Such a large basket of pig grass is counted as two work points. Qian Xiaoxiao collects three baskets a day and can earn six work points a day. If it were a normal girl, it would be enough to eat, but her appetite is about the same as that of an adult. But now food is distributed according to work, and her family can't let her eat as much as she wants. She has no choice but to find ways to get food by herself. At first, she looked for wild fruits to eat, and now she fishes in the water and hunts birds in the mountains to eat eggs. Her ultimate goal is to go into the mountains to hunt, so that she won't have to go hungry in the future, but the old man said that she is still young and doesn't want to teach her. Alas, I don't know when she will grow up.

When she got home, Qian Xiaoxiao saw her sister standing on tiptoe and cutting vegetables on the stove. She took out two bird eggs from her arms and said with a smile, "Erniu, look what delicious food I brought you?"

Erniu jumped down from the stool happily when she saw the bird eggs, and peeled and ate them after taking them. She ate very delicately, taking small sips of food, as if it were some kind of delicacy. Unlike Qian Xiaoxiao, she didn't eat like a wolf, and didn't know what the food tasted like after she ate it.

Seeing that she only ate one and stopped, Qian Xiaoxiao said, "I got six bird eggs this time. You can eat them. My brother and mother also have some!"

"real?"

After seeing Qian Xiaoxiao take out four bird eggs, she ate the remaining one. After eating, she said, "Big sister, go to mother's place and bring my brother back."

There are three children in the family. Qian Xiaoxiao is the oldest, with a younger brother and sister. The youngest brother, Kang Kang, is five years old. Because there is no one to take care of him, his mother Wang Dahua takes him with her when she goes out to work.

Qian Xiaoxiao hated taking care of her younger brother. She was naughty and always liked to complain. When her father found out, he scolded her, "I'm going to collect firewood."

After saying that, she ran away, and Erniu couldn't stop her even after shouting. When Qian's father and mother came back, they didn't see her, so they asked and found out that she had gone to collect firewood.

Qian's father wanted to go find someone, but was stopped by Qian's mother Wang Dahua: "Give Kang Kang a bath and change his clothes, I'll go find him."

Although Mr. Qian's legs were treated at great expense, his right foot was left with sequelae, and he walked with a limp, and was unable to do heavy physical work.

When Wang Dahua found Qian Xiaoshi, she had already picked up two large bundles of firewood: "How are you going to carry so much back home, kid?"

Qian Xiaoxiao said cheerfully, "Mom, I knew you would come to see me. Mom, here are the bird eggs I roasted today, have some."

Wang Dahua was reluctant to eat it and wanted to take it back for her son. When she saw Qian Xiaoxiao had saved some for Kang Kang, she smiled and asked, "What about your father?"

Qian Xiaoxiao snorted coldly and said no. Her younger brother was naughty and liked to tell tales. Although she hated him, she didn't care because he was young. But she really hated it when her father scolded her all the time.

"Then I won't marry."

Wang Dahua laughed and said, "You little girl. Girls have to get married when they grow up. If you don't get married and become an old maid, you will be laughed at."

Qian Xiaoxiao frowned. If she didn't marry, she would be laughed at and no one would want her. If she married, she would be bullied by her husband's family. Why was it so difficult? She would wait for her grandfather to come back and ask him what to do.

After returning home, Qian's father saw that she was as dirty as a mud monkey and couldn't help scolding her: "Look at you, do you look like a girl?"

Qian Xiaoxiao asked back, "Dad, what should a girl be like? She's like Hong Hong next door, who doesn't dare to talk back or fight back when scolded or hit outside, and can only cry."

Father Qian was choked. If he had to choose, he would rather his daughter be more aggressive, at least she wouldn't be bullied. But he couldn't say that, otherwise it would encourage the girl's arrogance.

Wang Dahua quickly interrupted, "The food is getting cold, let's eat quickly. We've been tired all day, let's go to sleep after we finish eating."

There were three dishes in the evening, fried eggs with leeks, pumpkin, and fried snail meat with peppers. Qian Xiaoxiao caught the snails in the river two days ago. Qian Xiaoxiao lived with Mr. Qian in the house at the foot of the mountain. Even if Mr. Qian was not there, she was not willing to come back to live. First, the place was not spacious enough, and second, she could not stand her father's nagging. So after dinner, Qian Xiaoxiao left as soon as the bowl and chopsticks were put down. Qian's father said with a sad face: "You said this child has such a bad temper, who would dare to marry him in the future?"

Wang Dahua thought it was a good thing to have a bad temper, so that she wouldn't have to suffer when she went to her husband's house. But Qian Xiaoxiao's appetite was almost the same as her husband's now, and she would eat even more in the future. A girl who ate so much would scare people away no matter how capable she was.

Two days later, Qian Xiaoxiao's biological mother came to see her and said she wanted to take her to live with her. She refused the first time, but when she came again after a while, Qian Xiaoxiao agreed.

How could Wang Dahua agree? That woman was not a good person. She must have bad intentions in taking Xiaoxiao away. But unexpectedly, Xiaoxiao agreed and asked the woman to wait outside. She packed her clothes and followed her.

Wang Dahua was very sad. Although Qian Xiaoxiao was not her own child, she felt so distressed when she saw her kitten-like child. She treated all three children equally over the years, and even favored Xiaoxiao more often. She didn't expect that her biological mother would leave right after she came. She felt as if her heart was broken by a knife.

Qian Xiaoxiao saw that her eyes were red, and said with a smile: "Mom, doesn't Dad always say that there is not enough food at home? I will stay at her place for three to five months, and come back when I have eaten up all the food at home."

Wang Dahua was shocked: "You followed her to save food for the family?"

Qian Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "What else do you think it is? She left me alone when I was so young, and now she's looking for me, she must be holding back. The eldest sister-in-law in the village said before that she wanted to trick me into working there. I want to see if it's true? I can save some food for the family at the same time."

Wang Dahua felt very guilty: "Xiaoxiao, it's because your father and I are incompetent that you can't even have enough to eat."

Qian Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, "Mom, this is not your and Dad's fault. You have worked very hard. It's because we have little land and not enough food. It doesn't matter. When I grow up, I can go hunting in the mountains, and then we will have enough to eat."

Wang Dahua didn't think she was fanciful. Her father-in-law's hunting skills were well-known throughout the commune, and if Xiaoxiao learned his skills, hunting would be no problem. Even if the team had to share the lion's share of the prey, it would still be enough to fill their stomachs.

Wang Dahua originally thought that Qian Xiaoxiao could stay at her biological mother's house for ten days or half a month, but unexpectedly she came back after only five days. And she came back with a bag of food. After asking, she found out that she did not do any work at her biological mother's house and just lay down every day waiting for food. Her stepfather couldn't stand it and wanted to beat her, but she gave him a good beating instead.

Wang Dahua didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she felt relieved. After this incident, the woman would not dare to have any small ideas anymore.

(End of this chapter)