Chapter 52: Cleaning Up Chicken Poop? That’s Giving You Face

“Here it comes~ Hot and fresh malted milk coming through!”

Chen Fengying carried five cups on a round tray and shoved the tin of malted milk into Chen Dazhuang’s arms. She deliberately walked past Li Jinhua, whose eyes were bloodshot with envy.

The rich, enticing aroma wafted right under Li Jinhua’s nose, and she gritted her teeth furiously. She was absolutely livid.

Once Chen Fengying returned, Chu Yue picked the fullest cup and handed it to Wang Chunling, followed by one each to Lu Yuanbao and Chen Dazhuang.

As for the last two cups, just as Chu Yue reached out, Chen Fengying quickly rotated the tray and reminded her:

“Not that one, Sister Chu — this one’s yours.”

Chu Yue picked it up and gave it a look — she could tell the concentration of malted milk in her cup was different from the last one on the tray, which was for Chen Fengying.

Chen Fengying wasn’t a greedy person and didn’t want to take advantage of Chu Yue. All the other cups had two scoops of malted milk powder, but hers only had one.

Even so, she held her cup with joy and took a sip, then loudly exclaimed:
“Delicious!”

It was Chen Fengying’s first time drinking malted milk, and she owed it to Chu Yue. Of course, she made sure Li Jinhua could hear just how good it was.

Hearing that and smelling the delicious scent in the air, Li Jinhua’s face twisted with rage.

She couldn’t stand being in that room any longer. She stomped out with a long face, slamming the door behind her with a loud bang!

The sound didn’t scare the people in the room. On the contrary, Chen Fengying burst out laughing.

“Sister Chu, you really know what you’re doing. I saw that old hag Li’s face — it was twisted from anger! That’s the first time I’ve seen her so defeated. Though honestly, this tactic of yours is pretty expensive.”

She looked at the tin of malted milk in her hand with reluctant admiration — it was a precious luxury.

But Chu Yue just smiled casually and turned to ask Lu Yuanbao,
“Yuanbao, does it taste good?”
Lu Yuanbao nodded enthusiastically.

Then she asked Chen Dazhuang,
“Dazhuang, how about you?”
He licked his lips and said,
“So good! Even better than orange soda in the summer!”

Hearing the boys’ cheerful replies, Chu Yue’s smile deepened.

“If the kids are happy and it pisses off that old woman, then it’s money well spent.”

Both Chen Fengying and Wang Chunling paused in surprise, then broke into knowing smiles. What Chu Yue said made perfect sense.

For once, Wang Chunling smiled in genuine relief — some color even returned to her pale face.

Chu Yue gently advised her:
“Life is long. Aside from life and death, nothing else is really worth worrying about. Try to relax — it’ll be better for your health and the baby’s too.”

Wang Chunling nodded, eyes misty with gratitude.

She was clearly older than Chu Yue, yet she felt like she’d learned so many life lessons from her.
This young woman — so calm and wise beyond her years — gave people a deep sense of reliability.

—

Just then, Chu Yue felt a tug at the hem of her clothing.

Lu Yuanbao was standing there, holding his cup carefully. There was still about two-thirds of the malted milk left. He looked up at Chu Yue and said earnestly:

“Big Sister, this is for the baby sister to drink.”

In the room, the only one who hadn’t gotten any malted milk was the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Chu Yue smiled and said, “The baby is too little now. She can only drink milk, she can’t eat anything else yet.”

Wang Chunling sighed emotionally, “Such a young child, yet so considerate. Yuanbao, thank you for taking care of your sister. Drink it while it’s still warm, don’t let it get cold.”

Chen Fengying knocked on Chen Dazhuang, who was licking his cup, looking exasperated. “Look at Yuanbao—so young and already knows to care for her sister. And you? All you know is how to eat.”

Chen Dazhuang didn’t get angry even after being scolded. He handed his already empty cup to Chen Fengying. “Mom, pour me some more hot water. I can still rinse and drink another round.”

A child with nothing on his mind but eating and drinking—this made Chen Fengying so frustrated that she didn’t even have the energy to stay angry. She had no choice but to get up and pour him more water.

After hearing Chu Yue’s words, Lu Yuanbao quietly began drinking from his cup, but those big, shiny black eyes of his were still fixed on the little baby.

After a short chat, the three left Wang Chunling’s house.

As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, they heard Li Jinhua’s voice again.

That old woman was arguing with someone again—this time with Xia Xiaolan, the girl from the next house over.

“So what if there’s chicken poop? You left your courtyard gate open, didn’t you? Doesn’t that mean people—or chickens—can go in? If people can go in, why can’t my old hens? Pooping in your yard is giving you face! Out here in the countryside, chicken poop is valuable. It’s fertilizer—we use it in the fields and it helps the vegetables grow better! My hens poop in your yard and I’m not even asking you for money—you should be grateful! And now you have the nerve to blame me? You little brat, how can you be so mean-hearted!”

Li Jinhua’s barrage of righteous-sounding nonsense made Xia Xiaolan so angry her face turned red.

Xia Xiaolan was fuming, her hands clenched into fists. But since she wasn’t good at arguing, she could only squeeze out one sentence: “You—you’re twisting logic—!”

Li Jinhua chuckled smugly, “You city girls are just delicate, aren’t you? You look down on a poor rural old woman like me? Just wait—when Director Song is in the courtyard next time, I’ll be sure to go have a little chat with her. I’ll ask her to give you a lesson in ideology—straighten you out a bit! How dare you look down on us working folk! I am a poor and lower-middle peasant!”

Ever since Li Jinhua moved into the compound, she hadn’t learned anything else—but she sure mastered the art of slapping labels on people.

Xia Xiaolan, who was poor with words, couldn’t win an argument against Li Jinhua. Now that she’d even been labeled as having an “ideological problem,” she felt even more aggrieved. A wave of frustration surged in her chest, her mind buzzing, her hands trembling—she couldn’t say another word.

Just then, Chu Yue and Chen Fengying came out of the house with the children.

Li Jinhua had some scruples about Chu Yue, so when she saw her, she immediately backed off. Mimicking the clucking of hens, she called out, “Cluck cluck cluck—let’s go, let’s go—go somewhere else to eat bugs.”

The two old hens, hearing Li Jinhua’s voice, immediately ran out of Xia Xiaolan’s courtyard and followed behind her.

Only Xia Xiaolan was left behind, trembling, both furious and helpless—so angry she couldn’t even speak.

When Chu Yue saw her like that, she quickly asked, “What happened? Did Old Lady Li cause more trouble again?”

Xia Xiaolan’s eyes were red. Upon seeing Chu Yue, she felt even more wronged. She choked up and complained, “Her… her hens ate the vegetables I worked so hard to grow!”

Chen Fengying, seeing how upset Xia Xiaolan was and how she was speaking in broken phrases, sighed and helped explain, “Sigh, this isn’t the first time Old Lady Li has done something like this…”

Actually, the situation was pretty simple: Li Jinhua had two old hens, but she didn’t keep them in her own courtyard. Instead, she let them roam freely around the compound, saying that this was how they raised chickens in the countryside—free-range chickens lay better eggs, and the meat tastes better too.

To save money, she didn’t feed the hens. She just let them forage in other people’s yards.

Without any constraints, the two hens ran wild all over the place—pooping at one neighbor’s door, eating vegetables from another’s yard.

They were unbelievably greedy!