Chapter 67: Sister-in-law, are you afraid of chickens?
Yun Qinghuan probably didn’t notice herself, but when she was nervous, her fingers would unconsciously twitch. It was a very small movement, one that most people wouldn’t pay attention to.
After eating, the three of them went to cut grass for the pigs.
Seeing that the Li sister-in-law she had replaced would be returning home from confinement soon, Qiao Yue was worried for her. If this job of cutting grass was gone, it would be even harder for her to find a lighter job.
Cutting grass was already considered a very light job.
Yun Qinghuan smiled faintly and didn’t seem so worried. To be honest, she didn’t really want to cut grass. Doing it for half a month and ten days was an experience, but if she had to do it every day, it would be torture.
Now, with Bai Naihan and An’an helping her cut grass every morning, they still had to cut for a whole morning. If she did it by herself, wouldn’t she be busy all day long?
The key was that this job was only physical labour and she couldn’t learn anything from it.
The work points she earned were also not many.
It wouldn’t be a pity to lose it.
It’s just that her thoughts were a bit shocking in this era, and she was afraid that people would think she was an outsider if she said it out loud, so she didn’t say it.
More importantly, it was spring and summer now, and the grass was at its most abundant and lush. Even cutting grass was so difficult, and when winter came and there was no grass, wouldn’t cutting grass be even more difficult?
Yun Qinghuan also asked Qiao Yue what the pigs ate in winter.
Qiao Yue told her that whoever was responsible for cutting grass would have to store enough grass for the pigs in winter. They would cut more grass on the usual days, then carry it home to dry, and when there was no grass, they would carry it over and chop it up to feed the pigs. They would also have to drink hot water, boiling the well water to drink, otherwise the raw water would easily make the pigs sick. In short, it sounded quite difficult.
According to Qiao Yue, there was no need to cut grass in winter. As long as they stored enough grass in the summer, it would be considered five work points a day, but this was a very tiring task, and Yun Qinghuan simply gave up on the idea.
She’d better find other ways to make money.
Thinking about her manuscript, she realised that more than half a month had passed and there was still no news. She planned to take a leave of absence in two days if there was still no news, and go to town to submit her manuscript again before the summer harvest.
Mainly because she had to cut grass every day, and she was quite busy.
After cutting two more baskets of grass, Yun Qinghuan was so tired that she couldn’t cut anymore, so she simply went home. Coincidentally, just as she got home, Grandma Chen came over with an old hen. The hen looked really healthy, and it was clucking loudly.
Yun Qinghuan’s eyes lit up. She could already imagine a delicious bowl of chicken soup.
Grandma Chen smiled with narrowed eyes upon seeing her, “This hen weighs a little over five jin. It was originally three yuan and three mao, but the old woman selling the chicken was kind. She said that rural people are not well-off, and she was very grateful that you bought a chicken from her, so she didn’t haggle and gave you a discount, only three yuan!”
She handed the remaining two yuan including the change to Yun Qinghuan.
“Thank you, Grandma Chen.” Yun Qinghuan took the money and the hen.
The hen’s legs were tied with a rope, probably to prevent it from getting frightened and running away.
After delivering the hen, Grandma Chen went back with her hands behind her back.
Yun Qinghuan held the chicken and felt goosebumps all over her body. The fluffy feathers and the warmth made her hands tremble.
Although she liked to drink chicken soup and had cut chicken before, she had never touched a live chicken like this.
Perhaps the look of fear on her face was too obvious, because the man noticed and wheeled over, “Sister-in-law, are you afraid of chickens?”
“No, no.” Yun Qinghuan denied it.
It was just a chicken. Even An’an, a three-year-old child, often played with the chickens at home. She couldn’t be worse than a child.
The man chuckled lightly and didn’t expose her.
Goosebumps had appeared on her arm, a faint blue colour, showing how scared she was.
Yun Qinghuan held on, but her scalp was numb.
She wanted to put the hen down, since it was tied up and wouldn’t run away.
But with the man watching, she could only force herself to remain calm and hold it with gritted teeth.
The man didn’t make things difficult for her. He asked indifferently, “Sister-in-law, are we killing the chicken today?”
“Yes, kill it!” She bought the chicken to eat, and besides, Yun Qinghuan felt her mouth watering, and she couldn’t wait to have some chicken soup and meat.
An An, who was squatting beside watching the chicken, heard her say that she was going to kill it, and his eyes lit up instantly, “Mom, eat chicken!”
“Yes, we’ll eat chicken tonight!”
The man raised an eyebrow, a smile in his eyes, “Then give it to me, I’ll kill the chicken. Sister-in-law, check if there’s any hot water in the thermos. If not, we’ll have to boil some water first, otherwise the feathers won’t be easy to pluck.”
He naturally took the hen from her. Yun Qinghuan felt a huge relief and quickly let out a sigh of relief, running to the living room to get the thermos. Both thermoses were full. Now that the weather was hot, even drinking water was cold boiled water, and washing was done directly with well water, so the water boiled last night was still full, almost unused.
Plus, the thermos was very good at keeping things hot, so the water should still be very hot now.
“There’s still hot water.”
“Then let’s kill the chicken now. Sister-in-law, go to the kitchen and get a knife, and also get a bowl to catch the chicken blood.”
Yun Qinghuan did as he said and ran to the kitchen to get a kitchen knife and a porcelain bowl.
She had never killed a chicken before, but she had seen others do it. However, in her time, killing a chicken was much simpler. You would just put a live chicken into a special machine, and in just a few dozen seconds, a smooth, featherless chicken would come out. If you didn’t want to chop the chicken, you could even ask the person selling the chicken to chop it into pieces.
In short, it was very convenient.
So, this was really the first time she had seen someone kill a chicken like this.
After giving the things to Bai Naihan, she subconsciously walked a long way away, then watched without blinking.
An An was also very curious, squatting on the ground, hands cupping his chin, watching without blinking.
For a moment, the mother and son had exactly the same expressions.
Bai Naihan smiled even more. He first sharpened the knife on the bottom of the porcelain bowl before preparing to kill the chicken.
Looking up at Yun Qinghuan who was standing in the distance, “Sister-in-law, you might need to come over and hold the bowl to catch the blood.”
“Ah?” Yun Qinghuan looked at him incredulously, feeling the goosebumps that had just subsided rise up again.
“Can’t you do it?” Bai Naihan tilted his head and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Yet there was an even more pronounced smile in his eyes.
Yun Qinghuan who felt that he was mocking her, gritted her teeth, and said, “Why can’t I? A woman should never say she can’t!”
She then walked over with a determined stride, as if she were a warrior.
She took the bowl from his hand, her eyes drifting around, deliberately avoiding looking at him or the chicken.
Bai Naihan’s deep voice seemed to carry a magnetic quality, “Sister-in-law, place the bowl under the chicken’s neck.”
With no other choice, Yun Qinghuan turned around, suppressing her shivers, and placed the bowl under the chicken’s neck.
He controlled the chicken with one hand, keeping it from flapping, and with the other hand, took a knife and made a swift, clean cut across the chicken’s neck.
The chicken thrashed violently and let out a hoarse, painful cry from its throat…
∞
