Chapter 68: Liu Yuzhi Saw the Smile in Her Son’s Eyes.
Fortunately, Bai Naihan was strong enough to control the desperately struggling hen with just one hand, preventing it from flapping too wildly.
If it had, the blood gushing from the chicken’s neck would have splattered everywhere.
Even so, a few drops of blood splattered onto Yun Qinghuan’s fair skin. The instant sensation of warmth and stickiness made her so uncomfortable she almost dropped the bowl in her hand.
She’d used plenty of fake blood in her acting, and it had always looked very real. But nothing could compare to the real, warm blood.
With a last minute surge of rationality, Yun Qinghuan managed to calm down and didn’t drop the bowl, telling herself, ‘This is chicken blood, all-natural. Once it coagulates, I’ll put it in boiling water to firm it up. It’ll be delicious in a spicy chicken blood dish!’
After repeating this to herself a few times, Yun Qinghuan felt less afraid.
“It’s done,” the man’s deep voice sounded. The hen that had been struggling in his hand was now motionless, clearly dead.
Yun Qinghuan came to her senses and realized the bowl was already more than half full of chicken blood. She had been so lost in thought.
Seeing that it was finally over, she breathed a sigh of relief, “I’ll go wash up.”
Her hands were sticky with a few drops of blood, which felt unpleasant.
“Okay,” the man smiled, tossing the chicken into a basin and wheeling his chair over to get a thermos.
“I’ll pluck the feathers.”
Yun Qinghuan didn’t argue with him. She really didn’t want to touch the chicken; the feeling of the feathers against her skin made her cringe.
An’an had been watching them kill the chicken. Now that the chicken was dead, he excitedly said, “Uncle, Mom, I want to make a shuttlecock with the feathers!” He pointed excitedly at a few particularly eye-catching feathers near the chicken’s tail.
Rural children loved to play shuttlecock, especially in this era when there wasn’t much entertainment. And because chickens were precious in the countryside, many people were reluctant to kill them, making shuttlecocks quite rare.
Anyone who had a shuttlecock was the envy of other children.
Yun Qinghuan washed her hands and covered the chicken blood with a lid, letting it cool and coagulate into chunks before firming it up with boiling water.
Then, she squatted down beside the boy and watched the man pluck the feathers, picking out a few that looked particularly good.
She also found a copper coin, cloth, and an elastic band. These were the tools for making a shuttlecock.
Yun Qinghuan didn’t know how to make one, but she had seen a video before about it and tried to make one for her son with the knowledge. She had failed a few times, wasting some feathers.
The boy looked on anxiously, his forehead sweating. “Mom, maybe we should wait for Grandma to come back and make it for me,” he said, feeling sorry for the feathers she had wasted.
Yun Qinghuan was also a bit clumsy with needlework, and she had pricked herself several times. The boy watched with a mix of pity and anxiety.
He regretted being so excited earlier, forgetting that his mom wasn’t very good at sewing. He usually had his grandma sew up his torn clothes.
But Yun Qinghuan was stubborn and didn’t want to be looked down upon by her son, so she insisted on making the shuttlecock herself.
The two sat on chairs, the boy watching his mom with a tense expression, his hands clenched into fists. Yun Qinghuan, the one making the shuttlecock, had a furrowed brow and was focused on the copper coin and feathers.
The mother and child were so engrossed that they forgot about everything else.
The man watched them from the side, occasionally smiling. From a distance, they looked like a happy family.
Liu Yuzhi had left for the fields early that morning and returned quietly, her mind filled with worries about her daughter-in-law.
Her in-law was clearly not going to give up easily. Last time, she probably hadn’t forced her to take Yun Qinghuan away because of her daughter-in-law’s weak health. But that didn’t mean Chen Pandì would give up on this opportunity.
Remarrying would mean a substantial dowry.
It had been a while since her in-law’s family had left, and she didn’t know how much longer they could hold out.
Many villagers were eyeing her daughter-in-law, as young and beautiful girls were always sought after in marriages.
Liu Yuzhi hadn’t reached the courtyard gate when she heard her grandson and daughter-in-law talking. She paused, a smile spreading across her face. She didn’t want her family to see her worries.
As she approached the gate, she saw the three of them interacting harmoniously in the courtyard.
Especially her son, who was plucking feathers and occasionally glancing at the mother and child, his eyes filled with tenderness she had never seen before.
The steaming water in the basin rose into the air. In the mist, Liu Yuzhi saw the smile in her son’s eyes.
She stopped at the gate, standing there for a moment, not moving forward.
Until Bai Naihan lifted the plucked chicken, intending to rinse it in cold water and remove any remaining feathers. As he turned, he saw Liu Yuzhi standing at the gate.
“Mom?” he exclaimed in surprise.
Yun Qinghuan and An’an heard the noise and looked towards the gate.
“Mom.”
“Grandma!” An’an ran towards Liu Yuzhi, excited to see her.
Liu Yuzhi caught her grandson in her arms. Although An’an was small, he was quite strong, and he pushed her back a couple steps before she regained her balance.
“Grandma, you’re finally back! Mom was going to make a shuttlecock for me, but she hasn’t finished it yet and she even pricked herself a few times. Grandma, you make it for me,” Ana’n pleaded.
Liu Yuzhi looked at the feathers in her daughter-in-law’s hands, which were quite disheveled.
Yun Qinghuan felt a bit embarrassed and tried to signal to the boy, but he ignored her.
“Mom, I’m not very good at needlework,” she admitted, feeling discouraged.
She couldn’t figure out how to thread the feathers through the hole in the copper coin without them coming out, and she wanted them to look nice.
Liu Yuzhi saw her daughter-in-law’s expression and smiled. “It’s okay, I’ll do it,” she said, then walked over to her son, paused for a moment, and glanced at him briefly. “Chop the chicken and keep half of it,” she said, then turned back to her daughter-in-law with a smile.
The chicken, which would have been so appetizing, didn’t even get a second glance from her.
∞
