binnovel Chapter 291 The Little Deaf-Mute of the Era 7
Chapter 291 The Little Deaf-Mute of the Era 7
“These are wild eggs, I found them on the mountain today!” Niu Xiaolan quickly said.
When everyone else heard that the child had been found, they all started serving themselves rice and eating. Only Zhang Dani said, "You could have just stewed one for Er Yatou. Why stew so many? You don't know how to manage a household at all."
Hearing Zhang Dani's words, Niu Xiaolan was not angry. Her mother-in-law was not keeping the eggs for herself; she was just too meticulous in her daily life. Seeing that big bowl of egg custard made her feel bad. There was nothing she could do. Women these days are meticulous in their daily lives. If there was anything good to eat, it would end up in the mouths of the children and men at home.
"Mother, there are eight left." Then she whispered, "There's also a pheasant, it's really fat, I've cleaned it up and put it in the well!"
"What?" This was Zhang Dani's voice, and everyone else immediately turned their attention to Niu Xiaolan.
Before Niu Xiaolan could say anything more, Zhang Dani ran straight to the well. A thick wooden stick was lying across the well, with a rope tied to it. Zhang Dani grabbed the rope and quickly lifted the basket hanging below.
Sure enough, there was a plump, white, bald chicken lying in the basket. "Hehe!" Zhang Dani laughed as she looked at the chicken. What could she do? None of the four men in her family had the ability to climb the mountain. Over the years, these old men hadn't caught a single hair.
Zhang Dani used to only feel envious when chatting with the other women in the village, but she never expected to enjoy the blessings of being a daughter-in-law today.
She put the basket back into the well, and as the others ran towards the well, their eyes followed her and they saw the chicken in the basket. At that moment, everyone involuntarily swallowed.
When Zhang Dani returned to the table, Niu Xiaolan quietly recounted what had happened that afternoon. The others didn't have any other thoughts; they just felt that the mother and daughter had been lucky that day.
Later, after discussing it with the family, they decided to stew the chicken that evening. The weather was too hot, and the chicken was difficult to marinate. Stewing it into soup would be a good way to nourish the family.
Around 10 p.m., after most of the villagers were asleep, Zhang Dani chopped up the chicken and stewed it. Don't ask why she didn't braise it; it just takes more oil. She even cut off the little bit of chicken fat inside the chicken's belly, salted it, and saved it for later use in stir-fries.
The next day, Niu Xiaolan saw that Liu Yuxi was in good spirits, so she decided to go to work. However, she was still suffering from some aftereffects and was really worried about leaving the other children to look after Liu Yuxi, so she decided to take Liu Yuxi with her to work.
Liu Yuxi really didn't want to go. Not every field ridge had a big tree. The farmland was all large and unshaded. Under the open sky, you could really get sunburned and your skin would peel.
But she can't speak very clearly now. When Niu Xiaolan is carrying her to leave, she can only point to their west wing and say, "Mom, Mom, go to sleep, Er Ya go to sleep!" to see if her mother can let her stay at home to sleep.
Unfortunately, she didn't succeed. Her mother simply carried her to the field. According to her mother, if she really got sleepy, she could just tie her back to her.
These days, especially in families where no one can take care of the children, it's quite normal to carry a child to work on the ground.
Liu Yuxi really didn't want to, but she couldn't act like other children and cause trouble, as that would prevent the adults from earning work points in the fields. She had no choice but to obediently let them do as they pleased.
In just a few days, Liu Yuxi had tanned two shades darker. She estimated that by the end of the summer, she would be a "little black charcoal." Sigh! She knew it! Otherwise, why wouldn't she have wanted to go to the fields with her? She had foreseen this outcome when she received the original owner's memories.
Fortunately, Liu Yuxi was found unharmed in this life. Half a month later, seeing Liu Yuxi's face starting to peel from the sun, Niu Xiaolan couldn't bear it anymore. She lectured the three older children for a long time before finally leaving Liu Yuxi to the three brothers to take care of.
Liu Yushan and his classmates are on summer vacation from school. Every day, besides feeding the chickens, they go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables and collect firewood. Sometimes, Liu Yushan will also take his younger siblings to the riverbank to collect some small clam shells to take home and feed the chickens.
These freshwater clams come in all sizes, from the size of a fist to the length of a child's arm. You can find plenty of them on the riverbank without even going into the river. Since there aren't many seasonings available these days, and these things are too fishy, kids usually pick up the small ones. Sometimes they also pick up some snails, which they smash up with stones to feed the chickens when they get home.
It not only provides the chickens with protein but also calcium. The more you feed them, the bigger and more numerous the eggs they lay.
As for the meat inside the large river clams, it's too much trouble to eat, and the fishy smell can't be removed, so while some people eat them, they eat relatively little, much like the treatment of loaches these days.
For children, catching loaches meant they could either light a fire outside to roast them or take them home and put them in the stove to roast. Regardless of whether there were any seasonings, the aroma of the roasted meat alone was enough to keep them happily catching loaches.
As for the large clams, they simply can't handle them. They can't open them while they're alive. If you just burn them, they'll be fishy and disgusting, and there's sand inside. Asking them to catch them, take them home, and raise them for a few days to purge the sand is impossible; kids these days don't have that kind of patience.
However, these things are not relevant to Liu Yuxi for the time being. She is too young, and no one in her family would take her to the riverbank. It's not only far away, but it's also unsafe.
During the time Liu Yushan was with Liu Yuxi, if Liu Yushan wanted to take Liu Yuhe to the riverbank, he would have Liu Yumei stay behind with Liu Yuxi. Otherwise, everyone would go to the back mountain to dig for wild vegetables and collect firewood.
However, recently, the three brothers' favorite activity has been going to the back mountain, because the pheasants there are really delicious! Although their family told them not to go into the old forest, they didn't say they couldn't go wild either.
For the first half of the month, when they were digging for wild vegetables, they were searching horizontally. The result was obvious: apart from wild vegetables and firewood, they didn't find a single thing. Fortunately, they didn't miss their work, but they were still a little disappointed every time they went up the mountain.
On the second day after Liu Yuxi was left at home, she went up the mountain with her three older brothers and sisters in the afternoon.
They didn't keep a close eye on Liu Yuxi as much as Niu Xiaolan did. At least they didn't tie her up with a rope. After all, there were three of them, and each of them would check on her from time to time. As long as Liu Yuxi didn't leave their sight, everything was fine.
Liu Yuxi and the others dared not release the pheasants and wild eggs together anymore. Children's competitive spirit is very strong, and when they get excited, they can forget all the instructions from their parents.
If they were allowed to catch a few pheasants, the kids would definitely brag about it when they got together, and once the kids found out, all the adults in the village would know.
So let's just forget about it and let them collect some wild eggs. We'll find a way to release some wild animals when the adults take her up the mountain later.