Chapter 469: Chapter 243: Jealousy_2
Lian Shouxin pushed a flat cart, on top of which were placed two wooden troughs, as well as a door made of wooden planks, and the family headed toward the old house.
Lights were already lit in the Upper Room, and Old Master Lian had finished his dinner, standing at the door puffing on his dry pipe. When he saw Lian Shouxin arriving, he called him over to ask how the construction of the house was progressing.
As Lian Manman’s family was building the new room, Old Master Lian wanted to help them with labor and even suggested that Lian Shouyi and the other two, along with Lian Shouli, quit their jobs on the mountain to help out with the construction.
Although Old Master Lian meant well, after discussing it amongst themselves, the family still declined the offer.
The Lian Family had many expenses, otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent Lian Shouyi to toil on the mountain. If they came to help with the construction, they would have to be paid, which wouldn’t be right; if they weren’t paid, the Upper Room would miss out on a significant income, and Lian Shouxin would also feel uneasy about it.
Lian Shouxin roughly explained this to Old Master Lian, who, seeing that they had enough hands, did not insist. However, behind their backs, Old Master Lian sighed several times in private. He believed there was another reason Lian Shouxin did not want his brothers and nephews to help with the work: fear of trouble.
Old Master Lian was not wrong; the whole Lian Manman family, including Lian Shouxin himself, were very "fearful" of Lian Shouyi and did not want to involve him in their affairs if at all possible.
Nevertheless, Old Master Lian did help Lian Shouxin with some work on his own, but he was later persuaded by Lian Shouxin to return. Building a house involved heavy work and there were many other things to take care of in the family lately. Old Master Lian was not at leisure. Lian Shouxin said that if Old Master Lian had spare time, he could just come over and keep an eye on things, instead of having to do the work himself.
While the two of them chatted, Lian Manman and the others moved the door, and the troughs off the cart and placed them into the chicken coop. There were two troughs, and Lian Shouxin said one was a chicken trough, while the other was for the ducks, which Lady Zhang had planned to raise.
"Tomorrow, we’ll put up a screen here, one side for chickens and the other for ducks," Lady Zhang pointed at the chicken coop and said.
The newly bought chicks were too young, and Lady Zhang was not at ease leaving them outside at night, so she used a large basket to capture all the chicks and take them inside for the night.
Xiao Qi was still at the age when everything was novel, and even more so with the fluffy chicks. He couldn’t get enough of them, squatting beside the basket, touching them one by one, even grabbing and flipping them over in his hands, making a bunch of sleepy chicks chirp and coo noisily.
"Thirty chicks," Xiao Qi had touched all the chicks before turning to Lian Manman, "Big sister, how much did these chicks cost?"
"Five Wen Money a piece, can you calculate how much that is?" Lian Manman said.
Of course, such a simple question wasn’t too much for Xiao Qi.
"One hundred and fifty Wen Money, are they all hens?" Xiao Qi asked, feigning experience. Hens that could lay eggs were more valuable than roosters in the eyes of farmstead families.
"I don’t know, hey, Xiao Qi, why don’t you check for us? I’ve seen you turning them over and looking for quite a while," Lian Manman teased Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi giggled; he couldn’t distinguish the sex of the chicks.
"Big sister, I don’t know how to tell," Xiao Qi said honestly after he laughed.
"Looks like I’ll have to teach you," Lian Manman said, holding back laughter, also squatting down beside him, pointing at the chicks to show Xiao Qi, "You have to look at the comb."
"Oh," Xiao Qi seriously began to examine the chicks’ combs.
Lian Manman didn’t actually know how to distinguish the sex of the chicks either. The talk about combs was also something she only knew after asking Lady Zhang. Even so, Lian Manman still couldn’t tell, because the chicks were too young, their combs just tiny buds, and except for the very few with obvious male characteristics, the others were indistinguishable.
Even the most experienced housewives among tenant farmers could not 100% identify the sex of such young chicks.
The thirty chicks that Lady Zhang picked couldn’t guarantee they were all hens either.
"Mom said that if we have roosters, we will keep one for crowing and for the rest, we’ll fatten them up for the New Year, and then we’ll slaughter them for meat," Lian Manman told Xiao Qi.
Thinking of the delicious stewed chicken meat, the siblings looked at each other and both laughed.
...
When the next market day in Qingyang Town arrived, Lian Manman went to the market again with Lady Zhang, and this time, they bought back twenty little ducklings. They were just hatched not long ago, but they were much bigger than the chicks. Of course, this was because duck eggs were larger than chicken eggs—this was Lian Manman’s understanding, and she believed it was correct.
The ducklings were also covered in yellow down, only the duck bills were slightly darker, and their quacking carried a milky tone.
In the center of the chicken coop, a curtain had already been hung to separate them because if chickens and ducks were kept together, they would fight. At this point, the ducklings, being larger, would have the upper hand. However, once the chicks grew a bit more, especially if there were roosters among them, they would use their sharp beaks to peck at the ducklings, and being more agile than ducks, the ducklings would often be at a disadvantage.
The chicken coop, filled with little chickens and ducks, chirped and quacked all day long, especially when Lian Manman came to feed them water and food.
Lady Zhou had always raised chickens, not ducks, and she was not pleased that she had fewer chicks this year compared to Lian Manman’s family. Lady Zhou was unhappy, and she never kept her feelings bottled up; she wore her emotions on her face.
"All day long, quacking incessantly, even at night there’s no peace, making my head ache," Lady Zhou complained to Lian Shouxin, "What’s the use of raising those things? They eat a lot, lay few eggs, and have a strong odor. When it comes to slaughtering them for the New Year, there’s not much meat and it doesn’t even taste good."
"Just sell them quickly, or take them to your place to raise!" Lady Zhou ordered Lian Shouxin.
"You’re raising old chickens at your place, do you have enough to feed them? Don’t even think about asking me to give you more rations!" After discussing the ducks, Lady Zhou brought up the chickens with Lian Shouxin.
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First update delivered, working hard on the second.
Seeking votes, it’s the 12th, I aim to make it into the top ten. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
