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When the Tan family father and son trio arrived home, it was already evening.
They took advantage of everyone being at dinner to quietly bring the things they had bought into the house.
Old Tan quickly boiled ten eggs, added several large spoons of brown sugar, and brought them to Wan Chunmei. “My dear, you worked hard all day today.”
Wan Chunmei, looking at the items, was still a bit dazed. “Did you really sell the eggs?”
Old Tan smiled broadly, unable to close his mouth. “Sold them, and made five taels of silver!”
Wan Chunmei was overjoyed and eagerly dug into the sugar-coated eggs, eating them mouthful by mouthful.
Old Tan stood by and carefully explained everything that had happened today.
Meanwhile, Tan Family’s fourth and fifth sons, seeing the newly bought items, rushed over barefoot, eager to join in the excitement. “Eldest Brother, Second Brother! We want to see, we want to see!”
“Don’t rush, don’t rush. Let us put everything away first, then you can take a look.”
Tan Yiliang set down a bag of rice, sweating profusely.
Seeing Old Tan, the fourth son, cleverly twisted his sleeve and tiptoed to wipe his sweat. “Mm, okay.”
In the meantime, the whole family was filled with laughter and joy, enjoying the warmth and happiness of the moment.
This caught the attention of the neighbor, Aunt Chen. She grabbed her husband, Uncle Chen, who was smoking his pipe, and said, “Don’t you think the old Tan family has been acting a bit strange lately?”
“Strange? You’re just overthinking things!” Uncle Chen exhaled a puff of smoke and ignored her.
Aunt Chen furrowed her brow. “No, no, something’s not right. I have a feeling something’s up. I need to go take a look.”
With that, she let go of Uncle Chen and stood up, heading for the door.
“You woman, always meddling in other people’s business!” Uncle Chen glanced at her before taking another puff of his pipe.
Aunt Chen couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. She made her way to the Tan family’s courtyard, crouched beneath the windowsill, and quietly peeked inside.
Because the candlelight was dim, she couldn’t see much, so she strained her ears to listen.
The Tan family had many children, and after some commotion, they all obediently lay down, ready to rest.
After listening for a while, all she could hear were mentions of chickens and eggs, which left her feeling somewhat deflated.
Her mind started to churn, and with a quick thought, she sneaked around to the back of the Tan family’s house.
The back courtyard of the Tan family was surrounded by a stone wall, about the height of a person.
Aunt Chen found a stone to stand on, tiptoed, and peered inside.
Under the moonlight, she saw an old hen standing proudly, with a pile of round, plump eggs beneath it.
She was so shocked that she covered her mouth and hurried back home.
Uncle Chen, hearing her flustered footsteps, didn’t even look up and asked, “You woman, really went and eavesdropped, didn’t you?”
Aunt Chen grabbed Uncle Chen’s hand, her voice trembling and incoherent with excitement. “Old man, my goodness, the Tan family’s hen has become a spirit!”
“What on earth are you babbling about? Speak clearly!” Uncle Chen snapped, his tone stern.
Aunt Chen quickly explained, “That hen from the Tan family, the one that never laid eggs, suddenly laid a whole nest of eggs!”
Uncle Chen pushed her away, his face full of disgust. “Nonsense, a hen only lays at most two eggs a day, how could it suddenly lay a whole nest? Enough, it’s getting late—go wash up and sleep.”
With that, he walked into the inner room.
Aunt Chen panted heavily, taking a moment to compose herself, and finally realized what had been happening. No wonder the Tan family had been so joyful lately; it was all because they had a hen that could lay eggs.
Her heart was filled with both curiosity and jealousy.
Over the years, she had often given the Tan family a hard time, and if they suddenly became prosperous, what would that mean? Wouldn’t that be a slap in her face?
The more Aunt Chen thought about it, the angrier she became. She got up, pacing back and forth by the door, and asked Uncle Chen, “Old man, didn’t that hen from the Tan family come from the village head?”
Uncle Chen, who was soaking his feet on the couch, replied, “I think so.”
Aunt Chen’s heart leapt with joy. She slapped her hand with a knowing smile. “The Tan family, the Tan family. Let’s see how long you can keep celebrating.”