Chapter 56.1

Separation may bring sadness, but it also leads to a more meaningful reunion.

Children can easily forget things if you give them delicious and fun things to eat, and their sadness will not last long.

After seeing off Li Yufeng and Xiao Bao, Han Cheng went to work, while Su Xiaoxiao and her cubs stopped by the market to buy groceries. Today, it’s Zhuzi’s turn to choose what he wants to eat. Zhuzi and Fantuan have different. In Zhuzi’s eyes, whatever his Aunt Su Xiaoxiao makes will always be delicious.

Zhuzi knows he is very lucky. Xiao Bao is Aunt Su’s biological nephew, but even if he wants to stay, he still has to go home when the time comes. However, Zhuzi is different. He no longer has a home to return to; he has now become a part of the Han family. He feels deeply grateful in his heart. Zhuzi said: “Whatever Auntie Su cooks are delicious. You can choose what to buy.”

Su Xiaoxiao gently rubbed Zhuzi’s head and said, “Auntie noticed that Zhuzi enjoys eating fish, right? So let’s buy a fish today.”

Compared to other dishes, Zhuzi indeed has a preference for eating fish. With his recent loss of two front teeth, it has become more convenient for him to eat softer foods. However, he didn’t expect Aunt Su to notice this. A shy smile formed on his face as he replied, “Okay.”

“Mom, what shall we have for dinner?” Fantuan asked.

Su Xiaoxiao discussed with the cubs, “Let’s have tomato scrambled eggs tonight. After we buy the fish, we’ll head to the bridge and get more eggs.”

The cubs naturally have no objections, but Xiao Fantuan finds it very satisfying to be able to choose what he wants to eat once a week.

Today, they purchased a relatively large Golden Pomfret fish, which required meat tickets. There aren’t many meat tickets left at home. In the future, they can only afford to buy meat that requires meat tickets once or twice a week at most. Su Xiaoxiao realizes she still needs to visit the black market to buy more eggs and replenish their supply.

The cubs came to the east part of the market for the first time, and even Zhuzi didn’t know this place exist.

Xiao Fantuan took his mother’s hand and rolled his eyes, “Mom, this place looks like the place where I bought oil last time.”

As expected from the clever Fantuan. It’s the black market, how can it be not similar?

“This place should not be known to so many people. It is also a secret of our family and cannot be disclosed, okay? Although buying things here is a secret that everyone knows, knowing it is one thing, and publicly promoting it is another. Only a big mouth like Chen Aimin would be afraid that others wouldn’t know he had gone to the black market to buy things.”

Xiao Fantuan and Xiao Zhuzi nodded to indicate that they understood.

Their family’s luck is quite good. Right in front of them, there is an egg seller who has a small quantity of eight to ten eggs. There are some black spots on the eggshells, which make them look a bit stale.

Interestingly, the aunt seemed to have brought her laying hen along with her, and the little hen squatted motionless in the cage, looking unimpressive.

“Auntie, how much are the eggs?” Su Xiaoxiao asked.

The egg seller is a woman in her fifties. She glanced at Su Xiaoxiao and the cubs, then clapped her hands and said, “Five cents each, they don’t look very good. If they look better, I could sell them for six or seven cents.”

The aunt is very honest. Fresh and larger eggs do indeed cost six or seven cents per egg. Besides, Su Xiaoxiao is well aware of the market price.

“Give me all of them,” Su Xiaoxiao said.

The Auntie didn’t expect Su Xiaoxiao to be easily persuaded. These few eggs are leftovers that she couldn’t sell. She was about to close the stall, thinking she wouldn’t be able to sell them anymore.

“Five yuan in total. By the way, do you want this hen? If you do, you can have it for three yuan. It weighs around two or three pounds. If it hadn’t stopped laying eggs for a while, I wouldn’t have been willing to sell it,” the Auntie offered.

After all, a hen is worth dozens of eggs. Even if she starts laying eggs again the next day, she can make a profit in less than half a year. However, this particular hen hasn’t laid eggs for over half a month. Keeping it would only waste food, so the aunt decided to sell it. If only she didn’t need the money, she would have kept it for herself. Alas, she gritted her teeth and sold it along with the last few eggs.

But this hen’s appearance is not very appealing either. It has some baldness on its tail, and everyone looks down upon it. As a result, closing time is approaching and yet no one shows any interest. The aunt asks Su Xiaoxiao without much hope. If no one wants the hen, she can only take it home and eat it herself.

Fantuan crouched down and touched the little hen’s head. The little hen tilted its head and glanced sideways at Fantuan, then lowered its head.

Xiao Doubao also crouched down to touch it, looked up at his mother, and said, “Mama, buy~”

Su Xiaoxiao asked Auntie, “Auntie if we buy it, can you give us this cage

The aunt looked at her in disbelief and said, “Do you really want to buy it?”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and said, “It’s rare for children to ask me to buy something. We might as well take this hen back with us.”

The Auntie was overjoyed and said, “Yes, you can. I made the cage myself and I will give it to you.”

In order to hide it, the aunt even wrapped the cage with a few large lotus leaves, and Fantuan and Zhuzi took turns carrying it home.

So, there was another member in the family.

Back home, Fantuan and Zhuzi placed the little hen in the chicken pen, causing Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan to panic and flutter.

“Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan, we found you a new mother. Are you happy? “Fantuan asked.

Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan fluttered their small wings and hid in the corner trembling, clearly not liking this “new mother” very much.

Zhuzi said, “Grandma said that Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan are all roosters, right? Let’s keep this little hen here so she can lay eggs.”

Fantuan said, “But the grandma who was selling this hen mentioned that it hasn’t laid eggs for a long time, and I’m not sure if it will lay eggs again.”

Zhuzi thought carefully for a moment and said, “I think it should be able to lay eggs if we dig more earthworms for it to eat. We had an old hen in our family before that didn’t lay eggs for several days. My grandmother said it might be because she ate too many vegetables and didn’t have enough other food or insects. But when we started digging earthworms for it every day, it started laying eggs again.”

Even Su Xiaoxiao found Zhuzi’s statement strange: “Is there such a thing?”

Zhuzi nodded and said, “Yes, after eating earthworms, the eggs laid are usually larger, and the yolk is also very yellow.”
Fantuan was very happy and said, “Great! Then, we’ll dig more earthworms every day in the future. But the vegetable garden has already been filled with vegetables by Grandma. What should we do, Mom?”

As soon as Fantuan finished asking, an idea flashed in his mind: “I know! There must be many earthworms in Dundun’s family’s lotus root pond. We can go there to dig every day after school in the future.”

Su Xiaoxiao is aware that there is no danger when the lotus pond dries up, but she is not sure if there are any earthworms below: “You should ask Dundun’s Grandma first, and if she agrees, then it’s okay to dig for earthworms there.”

Fantuan nodded and said, “Dundun’s Grandma will agree. Dundun also digs earthworms every day to feed their hens.”

Since the Cubs have already made their decision, Su Xiaoxiao has nothing more to add. However, she can’t help but feel concerned about the little hen, which seems weak and wilted. She worries that it may not live for much longer.