Qin Xiaozhou and Lu Yan headed towards the mountainside. Eagles were circling in the sky again, sometimes even swooping down, which scared the chicks into chirping and running around. The mother hens held their heads high, spread their wings, and puffed up their feathers, clucking to drive away the eagles. Although the chicks were not hatched by these hens, protecting them and driving away the eagles was an instinct.
Lu Yan picked up a stone and threw it into the air, but being small and weak, the stone veered off course and fell back down. Qin Xiaozhou quickly stopped her, saying, "No, no, no, be careful not to hit someone."
However, it's not good for the chicks to be constantly targeted by eagles. Pointing to the entire orchard, Qin Xiaozhou said with great ambition, "In the future, we'll enclose the whole orchard and cover it with a protective net."
He became even more excited, saying, "We'll build it tomorrow, and after it's finished, we'll go to town to buy two more batches of ducklings and chicks. Then we can sell eggs, duck eggs, roast chicken, and roast duck."
Lu Yan's face lit up but quickly dimmed again. "We don't have money to buy medicine. Grandma's leg needs bandages, and Mom needs money for treatment and medicine." She bent down and brushed away the withered grass under the pear tree. "We used to live in the middle of that village. We had a house and ten acres of paddy fields. Two years ago, Dad and Grandpa passed away, and Mom has been sick ever since. Even when Xiao Si was so young, she took a lot of medicine, and we spent all our savings. Last year, Grandma fell and injured her leg while picking fruit. Later, my brother sold the fields and the house, and all we have left is this mountain forest. In the winter, we have to move to this old house to live."
Tears fell to the ground as Lu Yan struggled to pull at the grass with her thin body. "Sister-in-law, does Xiao Si have to keep taking medicine? The uncles and aunts in the village say that people who take medicine all the time don't live long. I don't want my brother to die. When I grow up, I can earn money to buy him medicine."
Qin Xiaozhou didn't know how to comfort him, since she didn't know Xiao Si's specific physical condition. She clapped her hands and said, "Let's go back and ask the doctor."
Suddenly, the hen clucked and flapped her wings as she emerged from the nest, breaking through the layers of sorrow that enveloped the nest.
Qin Xiaozhou thought to herself, "Heaven is helping me! Go check if it has laid an egg. We'll have eggs to eat these next few days. Xiao Si should eat more eggs to nourish himself. He'll get better and better in the future."
Lu Yan, being just a child, eagerly scurried into the chicken coop, holding up her hand, "Sister-in-law, look!"
The two picked up three eggs and went home. Lu Yunfeng was seeing off Doctor Li, looking relieved. Grandma also had a smile on her face as she told her family the good news, "The doctor said my leg just needs to be healed slowly. He didn't prescribe any medicine this time. You and Xiao Si should take good care of it. He didn't prescribe any medicine this time either."
It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone. Wang Lan's leg, which was still a little lame after half a year of recuperation, has at least improved and no longer needs medication. This bottomless pit is no longer there, which is great news.
Everyone in the Lu family was all smiles. The gloom that had lasted for almost two years had finally dissipated today, and even Lu Yu showed a rare smile.
“Sister-in-law, you’re right, things will get better and better.” Lu Yan was overjoyed and ran over to hug Qin Xiaozhou. She then said to Lu Yunfeng, “Brother, we have three eggs today. Let’s give them to Grandma and the others to help them recover quickly.”
Lu Yunxing patted Lu Yan's head, "Alright, let's kill a hen and give it a good nourishment."
"No!" The hen is meant to lay eggs, and Wang Lan couldn't bear to kill it. She quickly stopped her eldest grandson, "Oh, Grandma knows you're filial. The hen will be eaten in one meal, but we can keep it to lay eggs for two or three years. It's cold now, so the hen isn't laying eggs properly. It will be fine in a few days when the weather warms up. We can't kill it, we can't kill it."
Qin Xiaozhou scooped out the rice water from the jar, and Wang Lan looked at it with great distress, "Why did you cook so much? How can Xiao Si, a little person, eat so much rice?"
This is pure white rice! How much would this huge jar cost?
Qin Xiaozhou took it to Zhao Fen, saying, "This is rice oil, for Xiao Si to eat."
Zhao Fen exclaimed "Oh!" and hurried out to feed the rice porridge. Qin Xiaozhou then shared some with Lu Yan and Grandma. Wang Lan didn't say anything more. Qin Xiaozhou remained cheerful and said, "This rice is just for eating. Taking good care of your health is the most important thing."
Braised pig intestines were quite popular at the Lu family's dinner table. They finally had a happy meal. After dinner, before it got completely dark, the family went for a walk at the entrance of Qingzhugou. A patch of bamboo that used to block out the sky had been cut down, about 200 square meters. At the foot of the mountain was a pool of water made of stones and mud, about 100 square meters. Several geese were not afraid of the cold and were splashing around happily. The ducklings were still small and were kept in the duck pen and not allowed to go into the water.
Wang Lanren was in high spirits when she heard something good. She happily added wheat bran to the ducklings, picked up the rake hanging on the wall of the duck pen, and went to the bamboo grove next to her to collect bamboo leaves. "Put more bamboo leaves to keep them warm. Tomorrow is the beginning of spring, and in a couple of days there will probably be a cold snap. I hope they don't freeze to death then. I'll collect some for the chicks tomorrow morning too."
Then he remembered something, "Oh dear, I'll take care of cleaning the chicken and duck coops from now on. You young people shouldn't get your hands dirty with this manure."
Qin Xiaozhou strolled around the pond. "Grandma, you don't need to sweep it every day. Just sweep it every three to five days. These fallen leaves aren't just for keeping warm; they're mainly for fertilizing the soil. We'll take them out of the pen, pile them up in the corner of the fence to ferment for a month, and then carry them to the orchard to fertilize the soil properly, just in time for the fruiting season in March and April."
"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say." Wang Lan was older and had farmed for many years, so she quickly learned that dead leaves were essential in the chicken and duck pen. "I'll take care of collecting the leaves from now on."
She was finally no longer a burden to her grandchildren.
On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, the Spring Equinox arrived. The sun was warm, and the chickens and ducks were all out to bask in the sun. Lu Yan carried a bamboo pole to release the chickens, but mainly to scare away the eagles. Lu Yu lowered her head and remained silent for a while before saying, "I'll go too."
So the aunt and niece, one carrying a bamboo pole and the other holding an embroidered basket, went to the mountainside.
"I'm going to herd the ducks." Zhao Fen was in good spirits lately, and she carried Xiao Si out to the duck pen.
When the gate to the duck pen was opened, the ducklings were hesitant to come out, chirping and quacking. After a few tentative steps, a few followed the goose, waddling towards the pond, and then jumped in.
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