CH 52

Chapter 52 – Buying Chicken

Da Ya, who was diligently writing her Chinese characters, looked at Man Bao and asked, “Little aunt, where are you going?”

Man Bao waved her hand imperiously and said, “Don’t stop writing. I’m going for a walk.”

Da Ya, subconsciously, tried to follow her but Man Bao glared at her, “Hurry up and write. If you can’t remember, you’ll be punished with writing the characters 100 times.”

Although Man Bao wasn’t very domineering, Da Ya obeyed her and squatted on the ground again to continue writing. However, she wasn’t afraid of Man Bao, and lifted her head to check on the little girl who was hovering around the door and muttering away to herself. Da Ya couldn’t make out the words, stopped bothering and resumed her lessons.

Man Bao was muttering, “Should I go to brother Hu’s house at the end of the village or to the village chief’s house in the centre of the village?”

The system quietly watched her and didn’t decide for her.

In the end, Man Bao went to the village chief’s house. She thought that if the village chief’s family didn’t want to sell any chickens, then she would go to brother Hu’s house.

Why did she choose these two families to buy chickens from? Well, that’s because apart from her family, these two families raise the most chickens in the village.

It was the time to start cooking the evening meal, and basically there was someone in every house. As soon as Man Bao appeared in the courtyard, Sanzhu’s wife saw her.

She grimaced, not too happy, because she didn’t have any good feelings for Man Bao. Previously when her words by the river reached her family’s elders, she was scolded by her in-laws.

What they didn’t expect was that after the river incident, the Zhou’s went to the county the next day, and paid back the loan they took from the village chief the following day.

Soon, rumours about the village chief’s family forcing the Zhou’s to repay the loan surfaced, alleging that the Zhou’s were pressured to take their grains into the county to exchange for money.

These were very unpleasant rumours. On the spot, her father-in-law took the money and went to Old man Zhou’s house. Man Bao’s father explained what happened and they cleared the air.

However, she was still scolded by her mother-in-law. These days, she did all the heavy work at home such as feeding the pigs, while her eldest and second sisters-in-law were idle.

Sanzhu’s wife felt that everything was Man Bao’s fault.

So, she looked unpleasant and unfriendly. However, Man Bao was not a fool, so she rushed past her, ran inside the house, and shouted, “Dazhu’s wife, Dazhu’s wife, are you at home?”

Dazhu’s wife who was cooking in the kitchen ran out, and looked at Man Bao, who was younger than her own daughter.

Man Bao smiled at her, and asked in a toddler’s voice yet in an old-fashioned way, “Dazhu’s wife, where is your mother-in-law?”  

Dazhu’s wife felt Man Bao was very cute, so she held back a smile and said, “It’s little aunt, Man Bao. My mother-in-law has gone to the vegetable garden. Why are you looking for her?”

“Oh, nothing important. I just want to buy a chicken to eat from your family.”

Dazhu wife was dumbfounded, “You want to buy a chicken? Don’t you have chickens at home?”

Man Bao boldly said, “My family’s chicken still has to lay eggs, so I’m not willing to eat them.”

Sanzhu’s wife couldn’t help but jumped in, “You are not willing to eat your own chickens, but willing to eat mine?”

Man Bao, “Perhaps you would be open to selling one of your chickens which have stopped laying eggs?”

She gave Sanzhu’s wife a strange look and added, “If you don’t want to sell, just say so. It’s not as if I’m forcing you.”

“You!” Before Sanzhu’s wife had time to respond, Dazhu’s wife looked at Man Bao suspiciously, “Man Bao little aunt, did your family members ask you to come to our house to buy a chicken?”

Man Bao nodded, “My mother needs to nourish her body, so she has to eat chicken meat. Dazhu’s wife, do you have any chickens which don’t lay eggs to sell?”

Dazhu’s wife hesitated to shake her head. She still wondered how the Zhou family would let Man Bao to come out to buy chickens. There are brothers, sisters-in-law and so many children in the family. Even if they are buying chickens, they should be the ones to do it.

But even before she could speak up, Sanju’s wife said, “Yes, we do. Do you want a big rooster?”

Man Bao’s eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, Sanju’s wife, quickly go and catch the big rooster. Let me have a look. I’ll buy it from you at market price.”

Sanju’s wife was doubtful, “You really want it?  Do you have money?”

Man Bao took out a handful of copper plates from her pocket and said with a smile, “Yes, I have money.”

The two women were stunned. Both of them had the same thought. The Zhou family was really big-hearted. They gave so much money to a little girl, without any fear of her being robbed.

However, no one in this village would dare to rob Man Bao!

Since Man Bao had brought the money, Sanzhu’s wife quickly went to the chicken coop, caught a rooster, and showed Man Bao, “Here, this one. There are two roosters in my family. We are keeping one for ancestor worship during Chinese New Year. I’ll sell the other one to you according to market price. I’ll weight it for you.”

When Dazhu’s wife frowned, Sanzhu’s wife whispered, “Eldest sister-in-law, mother had long wanted to ask the eldest brother and the others to take the chicken to the market and sell it for money, but which countryfolk would be willing to spend tens of wen to buy a chicken to eat?

“We’ll definitely need to go to the county to sell the rooster and the journey will take a lot of time. If you don’t want to sell it, ask eldest brother to go to the county, but my old three will not be going.”

When Dazhu’s wife heard those words, she kept quiet.

But she didn’t allow Sanzhu’s wife to behave so foolishly. She took the initiative to go back to the house and took out the weighing scale. As she weighed the chicken, she told Man Bao, “We are fellow villagers, how can we charge you the market price? We will give you a wen cheaper for every 0.5 kg.”

She forgot her words as soon as she finished weighing the chicken, “A total of 53 wen.”

Man Bao happily took out the copper plates from her pocket, and counted the money. When there wasn’t enough money, she put her hand into her pocket again i.e. asking Keke to put the money in her pocket. They went back and forth a couple of times before they finally have 53 wen.

Dazhu’s wife carefully tied the rooster’s legs together, and then, tied its wings so that Man Bao could carry the rooster in her arms.

Since Man Bao seemed to be struggling to hold on to such a big rooster, she asked, “Shall I take the rooster home for you?”

Man Bao shook her head and said confidently, “It’s okay, I can manage it.

Man Bao carried the rooster and went home. Halfway home, she found she couldn’t carry the rooster anymore, so she just threw it on the ground, found the rope which bound its wings and just dragged it home.

The rooster clucked while flapping its wings tenaciously and jumping on its legs.

But since its legs and wings were all tied up, it was dragged home by Man Bao.

Since little aunt was nowhere to be found, Da Tou, Da Ya and other kids who were just about to head out to look for her, saw her rushing towards them with a rooster in tow. Everyone’s jaw dropped.

Er Ya was the first to return to her senses, ran up and asked, “Little aunt, where did you get the chicken from?”

Da Tou and the rest of the kids also rushed towards Man Bao, picked up the poor rooster, and stroked it compassionately. Although they were drooling over the rooster, they still said, “Little aunt, it’s wrong to steal things.”

Si Lang and his brothers also ran towards her.

Man Bao became unhappy, and said, “Who said I stole it? I bought it!”

She proudly patted her pocket and added, “I bought it with money!”

Wu Lang, who had just returned from the county, couldn’t help exclaiming, “Who did you buy it from and how much did you pay for it? You weren’t cheated, right?”

The Zhou family was also shocked and after they heard her account, Old man Zhou felt around his waist but found nothing. Only then did he remember that he had given the raw tobacco to Wu Lang to sell in the county early this morning. He has tied up the rest and placed it on the top shelf and was planning to wait for the New Year to smoke.

He looked at his wife.