Chapter 49: Results

The sun hung high in the sky, and half the day had passed in the blink of an eye.

Cao Xiangnan had been tinkering away for half a day by himself. He looked up at the weather and thought it was pretty good.

It was about time for the children to eat lunch and go to sleep. Seeing that Qi Wanfeng and the others were still weaving the bamboo sieves, Cao Xiangnan proactively took on the task of making lunch. He picked up his crutches and stood up, saying, “Wanfeng, I’ll go to the kitchen to see what I can cook for the children to eat.”

“Okay, you go,” Qi Wanfeng replied. His hands didn’t stop working. He was halfway done weaving a sieve and didn’t want to put it down. Knowing that his husband would take care of it, he didn’t bother to interfere.

Cao Xiangnan leaned on his crutches and walked toward the kitchen. He was now skilled at using crutches from using them so often. The injury on his leg was getting better day by day. If it continued like this, it wouldn’t be long before he could walk on the ground.

A large basket of vegetables on the platform was brought over by Sun Bailian. Cao Xiangnan checked it and found that there were several kinds of vegetables inside. The vegetables of this season were gradually increasing, and the prices were also cheap. There would be more and more vegetables later on, and he had an idea in his mind.

He took some Chinese cabbage from the basket, intending to blanch it in boiling water and mix it with sauce. The children should like to eat it. In the end, not only did the children like to eat it, but even the two adults liked to eat this refreshing Chinese cabbage.

As soon as Cao Xiangnan saw Wanfeng take another chopstick of it, he knew that he liked to eat it. Knowing that his appetite hadn’t been very good recently, he pondered that there were still a few appetizers that should suit his taste.

After lunch, when the children had gone to sleep, the courtyard became quiet.

“Cluck, cluck…” The hen laid an egg, jumped out of the nest, and was singing a song. This time of afternoon was quiet and peaceful, and the small courtyard revealed this taste of tranquility.

Someone knocked on the door of the yard. Cao Gang, who had returned from hunting, brought back two wild chickens, both still alive. He handed the wild chickens to Qi Wanfeng, who opened the door for him, and said, “Find a cage to lock them up. These things will fly away as soon as you let them go.”

“This…” Qi Wanfeng didn’t reach out to take them, saying, “Brother Cao Gang, you should take them to town and sell them. You can sell them for a lot of money.” He knew that such big wild chickens, still alive, could be sold for some money at the restaurants in town.

“No need,” Cao Gang said, simply stuffing the two wild chickens with their feet tied with grass ropes into Qi Wanfeng’s hand. “Kill them and let everyone eat,” he left behind a sentence, and his person had already walked inside, impolitely poured himself a large bowl of water, and drank it in one gulp, pouring himself a second bowl.

“Yeah, Wanfeng, kill them and let everyone eat, that would be good,” Sun Bailian said, his eyes narrowed with a smile, thinking that there would be good food to eat tonight.

In the past, when his husband hunted, he would occasionally kill a chicken or rabbit to add a bowl of meat for the children. He was reluctant to spend on himself, but he was very willing to spend on the two children.

“Sigh, you guys are really…” Qi Wanfeng had no choice but to carry the two wild chickens toward the chicken coop. Fortunately, he had made a new chicken coop the day before yesterday, otherwise there would be no place to lock these two chickens. He pulled open the door of the chicken coop, put the chickens in, and locked them up.

Cao Xiangnan came over to look at the two wild chickens and couldn’t help but swallow his saliva. His mind was already thinking about how to eat these two chickens.

“What is this thing?” Cao Gang put down the bowl in his hand, walked over to the shelf drying in the courtyard, and asked.

“Paper,” Cao Xiangnan said, turning his head to look. His mind was still on the two chickens, and he casually answered.

When Cao Gang heard his words, his face changed and asked, “You made it yourself?”

“Mm, yes,” Soy sauce chicken is good? Braised chicken is also possible, and stuffing some shiitake mushrooms and other fungi into the belly… but it seems there are no mushrooms at home. Cao Xiangnan didn’t pay attention to the person asking him questions, and raised his voice to ask Qi Wanfeng, “Wanfeng, do we have mushrooms at home?”

“We don’t have that,” Qi Wanfeng said. “What do you want mushrooms for, Husband?”

“I have a lot at my house, Ah Gang brought them back from the mountain last time, and I dried them and put them away. Do you want them?” Without waiting for a reply, Sun Bailian turned his head and said to his husband, “Ah Gang, go home and get some mushrooms, they’re in a basket hanging on the wall in the kitchen. There are a lot of those things inside, bring them all over.”

Cao Gang turned around and strode away.

The western sky was full of clouds, and a burst of fragrance wafted from the small kitchen. Sun Bailian couldn’t help but peek at the kitchen door several times, the aroma making his mouth water. After eating a few meals at Qi Wanfeng’s house, he felt that those days in the past had been wasted, and he had never eaten such delicious food.

Cao Xiangnan stood in front of the stove. Smelling the aroma, he said, “It’s almost ready.”

“Mm,” Ever since coming to Cao Xiangnan’s place, Cao Gang, such a big man, had willingly taken on the job of stoker.

A whole fragrant chicken was placed in the center of the dinner table. The three children stared at such a big chicken, constantly swallowing their saliva. Qi Wanfeng, who was the last to sit down, brought the bowls and chopsticks and placed them on the table. Everyone sat down, “Let’s eat,” he said.

“A-mu, A-mu,” An’an eagerly pulled his A-mu’s hand, his eyes still on the chicken on the table, his little face flushed with urgency.

There were only three children between the two families, so they didn’t have to fight for meat. The adults only ate after ensuring that the children were satisfied. Everyone ate this meal with oil all over their mouths, and they all sat there with big bellies, unwilling to move. Only a few chicken bones were left in the dish after they ate the chicken. Cao Gang, such a big man, crunched and crunched on the chicken bones, eating with relish, and wiping clean the last bit of sauce on the table.

The sun set, and they had been busy all day. The finished sieves were neatly piled in the corner, and the courtyard was filled with laughter.