Chapter 378: Hatching Chicks
Chapter 378: Hatching Chicks
Zhou Chenglei raised his eyelids and glanced at Li Xiuxian, his gaze cold.
He said nothing.
He picked up a piece of yellow croaker fish fillet and placed it on Jiang Xia's plate.
Tian Caihua remained silent, chewing on a large abalone. Li Xiuxian was really asking for trouble.
Thinking back to the past, because of Pan Daidi's family, Zhou Chengxin almost divorced her.
Tian Caihua now avoided anyone from the neighboring house.
After all, Pan Daidi nearly burned down the old homestead, and Zhou Chenglei had her sent to jail.
The two families had a deep-rooted grudge.
The dinner table was too quiet, and no one spoke. Li Xiuxian said, "Mom, if you don't mind, I'll finish eating and go tell Xiuhui."
Zhou Mu replied calmly, "Do as you like, you don't need to ask me."
Li Xiuxian: "..."
Her tone seemed to be encouraging her to do as she pleased.
Jiang Xia didn't even glance at Li Xiuxian, focusing solely on enjoying the delicious food.
The yellow croaker was freshly caught, exceptionally sweet and tender. Zhou Chenglei noticed her enjoyment and served her almost half of the fish fillet.
The abalone meat was thick, firm, and bouncy, and the garlic shrimp vermicelli steamed abalone was sweet. The vermicelli absorbed the abalone juice and garlic aroma, making it especially tasty.
The boiled sea snail, dipped in seasoning, was refreshing and bouncy. Jiang Xia added some small chili peppers, making it particularly appetizing.
The oysters were plump and sweet. Considering the many children in the family, Jiang Xia steamed half of them with chili and the other half without, each with its unique flavor.
The smoked ham was fragrant and chewy, the Dutch beans crisp, and the pea shoots tender.
Jiang Xia ate with great satisfaction.
No one paid any attention to Li Xiuxian, who felt uncomfortable and couldn't appreciate the delicious food.
After the meal, Tian Caihua efficiently collected the bowls and chopsticks, washed them, and cleaned the stove.
Li Xiuxian offered to help, but Tian Caihua declined.
The meal was prepared by Jiang Xia and her husband, and Tian Caihua, who found the gold bars, washed the dishes and cleaned up without a word of complaint.
After finishing, Tian Caihua went to find Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia returned the two gold bars to her.
Tian Caihua asked, "What time are we leaving for the city tomorrow?"
Jiang Xia replied, "A-Lei and I will leave at 8 AM on the motorcycle. Are you taking the bus or riding a bicycle?"
Tian Caihua said, "I'll ride my own bicycle; I get car sick."
Motorcycles are faster than bicycles, so Tian Caihua decided to leave half an hour earlier than Jiang Xia.
After discussing, Tian Caihua happily left Jiang Xia's room, clutching the two gold bars.
Li Xiuxian watched Tian Caihua with her hands in her jacket pockets, looking as if she had found gold, unaware of what precious item Jiang Xia had given her.
Li Xiuxian asked, "What are Elder Sister-in-Law and Xia going to the city for tomorrow?"
Tian Caihua replied excitedly, "A-Lei bought a new tractor. They're going to drive it back tomorrow, and I'm going to buy a stall!"
Unable to afford a house, she was buying a stall in the city first.
Li Xiuxian: "..."
Tian Caihua left, calling out to Zhou Chengxin to go home together.
Zhou Chengxin sat on the swing in the courtyard, smoking and waiting for Tian Caihua.
The children had already returned home, and he was waiting for Tian Caihua, concerned that carrying gold bars might attract unwanted attention on the dark village roads.
Li Xiuxian pursed her lips. So what if they bought something?
Their family would also be able to buy things eventually.
Li Xiuxian watched Tian Caihua with her hands in her pockets, and Zhou Chengxin intentionally waited for her to go home together.
Usually, after dinner, Zhou Chengxin would accompany the children home for baths, without waiting for Tian Caihua.
Could it be that Tian Caihua had money in her pockets?
Zhou Chenglei went to shower, and Jiang Xia came out with an empty milk bowl, intending to brush her teeth and go to sleep.
Li Xiuxian glanced at her and asked, "Is Jiang Xia borrowing money from Tian Caixia to buy a shop?"
Jiang Xia went straight to the well and washed the bowls clean, then put them back in the kitchen cabinet in the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Zhou Mu was holding a flashlight and examining the eggs.
"Mom, what are you doing?"
Zhou Mu replied, "There's a hen that wants to nest, so I'm picking out some eggs for her to hatch chicks."
Winter is not suitable for hatching chicks, but these days are warm, so she wants to take advantage of the time to hatch a batch of chicks.
Jiang Xia will be sitting the month after giving birth, and she needs to eat both eggs and chicken. Now she starts raising some hens, and after about half a year, they will start laying eggs.
By then, Jiang Xia will have plenty of chickens and eggs to eat.
Chicks will definitely not be enough if they rely solely on hatching at home, so Zhou Mu plans to go to the market after the New Year to buy some more and bring back some chicks that are about a month old to raise.
Chickens need to be raised for more than 200 days before they are ready to eat. At that time, the chickens will be crispy, not too old, and the meat will not be too tough, making it easier to chew.
As for geese, they can be eaten after being raised for more than 100 days, and by then, the goose feathers will have fully grown. Plucking the feathers is easy, and the plucked geese are clean, plump, and white. There won't be any unripe feathers left on the skin, which would make processing very troublesome.
It is also difficult to completely pluck the feathers, and the skin will have unripe feathers on it, making it unappetizing.
Therefore, Zhou Mu plans to raise geese for the New Year, and she will only go to catch the goslings on a carefully chosen day. She must raise them for 100 days before eating them.
Jiang Xia watched as Zhou Mu examined three eggs, and she understood.
Eggs that can hatch chicks can be seen under the light of a flashlight, and there will be some things and spider webs visible. These are the eggs that have been fertilized.
"Mom, can I try?"
Zhou Mu handed the flashlight to Jiang Xia and taught her how to examine the eggs.
Zhou Chenglei came out after taking a bath and saw Jiang Xia and her mother examining the eggs together.
Seeing how much fun she was having, he didn't rush her to sleep.
He washed both of their clothes.
Jiang Xia also finished examining the eggs quickly, and they picked out a total of twelve eggs.
Zhou Mu placed the eggs in the neighboring firewood room, where she had specifically arranged a nest for the hen to hatch the chicks.
It was very simple; she just used an old mat to enclose the space and filled it with thick straw. Zhou Mu placed the eggs inside and then brought in the hen that was showing signs of nesting, placing it on top of the eggs.
At night, chickens cannot see things, so they are easy to catch.
In the dim light, the hen squawked twice when Zhou Mu caught it, but it stopped squawking when she put it down. Jiang Xia saw it finding a comfortable position on top of the eggs and squatted down, remaining still.
Zhou Mu had already moved the coal stove to the doorway of this room, and on the stove, a large tin pot of chicken feed for tomorrow was being heated, giving the room some warmth and ventilation.
After learning, Jiang Xia went to the well, and Zhou Chenglei scooped a ladle of water for her to wash her hands.
After Jiang Xia washed her hands, she and Zhou Chenglei rinsed their clothes together.
"You don't need to, go back to sleep," Zhou Chenglei said.
"I'm not sleepy yet, let's wring them together, it will be drier," Jiang Xia said, holding the collar of her jacket, indicating that he should grab the bottom of the clothes.
Jiang Xia saw that Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu washed the sheets in the same way by wringing them.
Zhou Chenglei saw her enthusiasm and followed suit.
The two of them each held one end of the jacket and wrung it dry in opposite directions.
Until no more water droplets came out, Jiang Xia said, "It's done."
"Give it to me."
Jiang Xia let go.
Zhou Chenglei took the clothes, folded them, and with both hands, he wrung them again, producing a "shua la la" sound as another string of water droplets was wrung out.
He glanced at Jiang Xia, a smile in his eyes.
Jiang Xia: "..."
Great, they've saved the money for buying a washing machine in the future.
Anyway, he has the strength!
(End of Chapter)
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