EBE Chapter 13 Buying Chickens
Chapter 13 Buying Chickens
As it was almost late afternoon, Song Jiaojiao hurried towards the place where the oxcart had been parked that morning. Seeing that Uncle Yu was still there, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Jiaojiao, come quick, we're about to leave." Aunt Lin waved to Song Jiaojiao and called out loudly.
"Hey, you're here." Song Jiaojiao walked quickly forward and sat down next to Aunt Lin. A little while later, Uncle Yu set off in his oxcart.
Aunt Lin glanced at Song Jiaojiao's basket and, seeing that the banana leaves were still there, asked softly, "Jiaojiao, did you not sell any of the medicinal herbs?"
"It's sold. The first shop I went to in the south of the town didn't buy it, so I went back to the shop in the east of the town and finally got it, which is why it took a little longer," Song Jiaojiao said softly.
"Yes, as long as it sells, that's good. The timing is just right, not too early or too late." Aunt Lin asked, noticing a lingering smell nearby.
"Jiaojiao, can you smell anything?"
"Ah, it might be the smell of the waste I bought. I was thinking that we haven't had any oil or fat at home in a long time, and since waste was cheap and there was a lot of it, I bought it to try," Song Jiaojiao replied shyly.
"I see. This is indeed difficult to prepare, but it can still be considered a type of meat," Aunt Lin said slowly, touching her nose.
“Yes, that’s what I think too,” Song Jiaojiao replied.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the oxcart finally arrived at Qingshui Village. Song Jiaojiao paid the fare, said goodbye to Aunt Lin with her basket on her back, and headed home.
When I was almost home, I found a haystack and saw that no one was around, so I took out the steamed buns and mantou I had bought in town. The steamed buns were still warm when I took them out of the space!
"Big sister, second sister, I'm back!" Song Jiaojiao shouted into the courtyard.
"It's Mother back!" Mu Xue opened the gate in the courtyard and rushed out, grabbing Song Jiaojiao's leg tightly.
"Mom, I miss you so much."
“I miss you, Second Sister too. Look, what’s this?” Song Jiaojiao bent down and handed the steamed buns to Mu Xue.
"Ah, it's steamed buns!!!" Mu Xue exclaimed excitedly, her joy infecting everyone.
"Go ahead, take it and eat it with your older brother and sister." Song Jiaojiao smiled and handed the bun to Mu Xue.
Mu Xue carefully held the steamed buns and called into the house, "Big sister, come quick, Mother bought some steamed buns."
Wang Hefan looked at his younger sister, smiled, and shook his head. He then quickly took the basket off Song Jiaojiao's back.
"Mom, I've fixed the chicken coop. Today, my older sister and I went to the mountains and picked some chestnuts, which are drying in the yard," Wang Hefan said as he walked, recounting what he had done at home that day.
"Okay, nothing happened today, right? Did anyone come over to cause trouble?" Song Jiaojiao asked.
"No," Wang Hefan said softly.
Song Jiaojiao thought that her words from yesterday might have had an effect, as the chickens had been behaving themselves for a while. "It's good that you're alright. I'll give you some money. Go to the village chief's house and buy a few chickens—two hens, one rooster, and catch a few chicks." As she spoke, Song Jiaojiao looked at the chestnuts in the yard that had just been shelled. "Take a basket, fill it with chestnuts, and tell your village chief grandpa how to eat them."
"Okay, I'll go now." As soon as Wang Hefan finished speaking, he picked up the basket to fill it with chestnuts.
"Mom, I'm all packed. I'm leaving now," Wang Hefan said to Song Jiaojiao.
"Wait a minute, we haven't gotten the money yet, and I don't know the price of the chicken. I'll give you an ounce first." With that, he counted out an ounce of copper coins and handed it to Wang Hefan. Wang Hefan nodded and set off.
"Grandma Li, Grandma Li, are you home?" With each knock on the door, hurried footsteps echoed in the yard.
"Who is it?" asked Li Sufang, the village chief's wife, as footsteps approached.
"It's me, Wang Hefan," Wang Hefan replied from outside the courtyard. As the gate opened, Li Sufang finally saw who it was.
"It's He Fan! Come in quickly, have you eaten?" Li Sufang hurriedly pulled Wang He Fan into the house. She called out, "Zhu Zi, Zhu Zi, quickly bring out a stool for your brother He Fan."
"Grandma Li, no need to bother. My mother took my little sister up the mountain to pick some chestnuts yesterday. I brought some for you to try." Wang Hefan waved his hand hurriedly, his ears turning red.
"Chestnuts? What are those?" Grandma Li looked at the brown things in the basket and asked, puzzled.
"This is it," Wang Hefan said, taking out a chestnut. "It's a thorny fruit from the mountains. After removing the outer shell, you get this brown fruit. It's delicious whether you steam it, roast it, or stew it with chicken. It's soft, sweet, and powdery. You don't need to remove the brown outer shell when roasting or steaming, but you do need to remove it when stewing chicken." As he spoke, Wang Hefan peeled the chestnut and handed it to Li Sufang.
“It’s delicious to eat raw, but it can cause bloating if you eat too much. Grandma Li, you should try it.”
Li Sufang took it, chewed it, and said, "It's really good, fragrant and sweet. This stuff is everywhere on the mountain. I didn't know it was edible before. Thank you, He Fan."
Wang Hefan scratched his head and smiled, saying, "I'm glad Grandma Li likes it. By the way, my mother said she wants to raise a few chickens. I wonder if Grandma Li would sell them?"
"You're going to raise chickens? I just got a brood of chicks a while ago. Did your mother say how many she wants?" Grandma Li asked with a smile.
"Mom said to buy two big hens and one rooster, and five chicks to try it out first. There happens to be a chicken coop in the yard."
"Okay, I'll go catch one for you. Little one, come and lend a hand." Grandma Li had barely finished speaking when she rushed off to catch a chicken. A series of clucking sounds came from the backyard.
A moment later, Grandma Li and Uncle Fucai came out with the chickens. "Uncle Fucai, Grandma Li, how much do you want?" Wang Hefan asked, taking the chickens and putting them in his basket.
Grandma Li said with a smile, "A hen costs forty coins in town, a rooster thirty coins, and a chick three coins. Just pay according to these prices, or you can pay later."
"Two hens cost eighty coins, a rooster thirty coins, and five chicks fifteen coins, totaling one qian and twenty-five coins," Wang Hefan counted out one hundred and thirty coins and handed them to Li Sufang. He then picked up his basket and said.
"Grandma Li, can you count them to see if they're correct?"
"Oh, you've counted them, that's fine. He Fan, come eat here, your aunt will have dinner ready soon," Li Sufang said with a smile.
"No, Grandma Li, I'll head back now. Everything's ready at home. Grandma Li, Uncle Fucai, you're busy, I'll be going now." With that, Wang Hefan ran off without waiting for Li Sufang's reply.
"Oh, this child..." Li Sufang chased after him to the door, but only Wang Hefan's back was left.
“Mother, there is one coin and thirty coins.” Wang Fucai’s voice rang out.
"Oh dear, why did this child give too much?" Li Sufang said, slapping her thigh as she held the money.
The sky, which was bright just moments ago, turned dark in no time.
"Mother, I'm back." Wang Hefan's voice came from the courtyard, and Song Jiaojiao, who had just finished washing the intestines, peeked out.
"The chickens are back. Quickly put them in the coop. Separate the adult chickens from the chicks. Put the chicks in the basket on your back. Find some straw to make a nest for them so they don't get cold."
After saying that, Song Jiaojiao took the cleaned large intestines to blanch them.
"Big sister, help me start a fire. I'll make something different for you tonight," Song Jiaojiao said mysteriously.