Chapter 79: Stewing Rabbit

Zhou Yu didn’t expect an old countryside man to say such profound words. He couldn’t help but stand up and give him a deep bow.

Startled, Uncle Chen Jiu quickly stood up as well, waving his hands. “No, no! My lord, you mustn’t do this!”

Zhou Yu helped him sit back down and said sincerely, “It’s not easy for you to think of me like this, Uncle Jiu.”

Uncle Chen Jiu chuckled sheepishly. “Honestly, I also have my own selfish reasons. You see, I’m completely illiterate—I don’t understand any grand principles!

“It’s just that something happened recently that made me think more deeply…”

He then told Zhou Yu about scolding the villagers earlier and sighed, “If a single village is like this, imagine the entire Qin County!

“Some things must be nipped in the bud. If you wait until they grow out of control, it won’t just be hard to put an end to—it’ll cause serious consequences.”

After a pause, he continued, “It’s a good thing, what you’re doing—encouraging the villagers to plant trees. Ever since the news spread, everyone’s been much more enthusiastic about it.

“But at the end of the day, it still comes down to this: this is our own business. How can we expect you to pay us for doing work that benefits ourselves?

“You think highly of us, but we can’t take advantage of that.”

With the conversation at this point, Zhou Yu could no longer insist. He stood and gave another deep bow. “Then I truly thank you, Uncle Jiu.”

Feeling that he had accomplished something significant, Uncle Chen Jiu was in high spirits. Seeing the pile of paperwork still on Zhou Yu’s table, he stood to take his leave. “I’ve disturbed you long enough, my lord. I’ll head back now.”

He walked a few steps, then turned around awkwardly to add, “My lord, just now, what I said only represents our Tongshu Village. I can’t speak for the others!”

Zhou Yu chuckled. “Understood. The fact that your village has such a mindset already makes me very happy.”

Uncle Chen Jiu left cheerfully, and Zhou Yu walked him to the outer gate before turning back.

Before he could enter the house, he heard a clucking sound. Zhang Jin was by the chicken coop, adding water. When he looked up, he burst out laughing. “She laid an egg! She laid an egg!”

He turned to Zhou Yu to share the news. “My lord! Ever since you came back, good things just keep happening! The hen actually laid an egg?”

“Really?” A childish, milky voice came from the gate, followed by the patter of running footsteps.

Zhang Jin walked into the coop, reached into the nest, and pulled out a still-warm egg. He held it up for Zhou Yu and An An to see.

An An clapped her hands in delight. Hehe, this was her good deed! Otherwise, the hen wouldn’t have laid eggs for another month or two!

Zhou Yu placed the egg in An An’s hand. “Take it home and ask your mother to cook it for you. These two hens are doing so well—it’s all thanks to your hard work!”

“Absolutely!” Zhang Jin agreed cheerfully. “Little An An, it’s really all because of your care! When you weren’t here, we still fed them bugs your way—otherwise, how could these hens have grown so well?”

An An puffed out her tiny chest proudly and smiled with her eyes nearly closed. Hmph, of course it’s her contribution—but hearing them say it out loud still makes her very happy!

Zhou Yu asked, “Why didn’t you sleep in a little?”

“Mom said if I sleep too much, I won’t be able to sleep at night,” An An shook her little head. “She also washed my hair—it smells so nice!”

Zhou Yu couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. During this trip, there were no adult women in the group. With only men to care for a child, things naturally weren’t handled very delicately.

But An An had been very well-behaved—never crying or fussing. Even if she missed a meal or ate something subpar, she never complained.

On the contrary, with her around, they sometimes even had more rations…

Zhou Yu bent down and picked her up, saying earnestly, “You’ve worked hard on this journey!”

“Uncle Zhou is the one who worked hardest!” An An hugged his neck and rubbed her little head against his.

These past days, Zhou Yu had barely gotten two hours of sleep per day, sometimes staying up all night.

In addition to handling well-digging matters, he also helped resolve various local issues, and even reviewed and approved official documents sent from the county that others couldn’t handle…

If not for her quietly helping out, this handsome uncle would’ve withered into a stick by now!

Sigh, he already doesn’t appeal to mom very much—if he gets too skinny and loses his looks, his biggest advantage will be gone, and he’ll be even less attractive!

After a bit of cuddling, An An knew Zhou Yu was busy with official duties and wriggled out of his arms to go look at the rabbits with Zhang Jin.

Zhou Yu had a mountain of paperwork to get through and other matters to attend to, so he went back inside to continue reviewing documents.

An An grinned. “Grandpa Zhang, the bunnies are doing great!”

“Heh!” Zhang Jin patted her head with a smile. “You’re really the biggest contributor! If you hadn’t found those rabbits in the mountains, we wouldn’t have any to raise.

“The second-biggest contributors are your mother and grandmother—they’re pros at raising rabbits now! If not for them, there wouldn’t be so many rabbits in this courtyard!”

An An beamed happily. Now that she was back, she’d make things even better!

After a while watching the rabbits, a call came from next door. An An said goodbye to Zhang Jin and shouted toward the house, “Uncle Zhou, I’m going now!”

Then she trotted off with her short little legs back to the courtyard next door.

Seeing the egg in her hand, Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying couldn’t bring themselves to scold her. They just told Zhao Hu to take two bowls of food over to the other house.

The next morning, Zhao Hu and Aunt Zhao began slaughtering and skinning the rabbits.

The smell of blood drifted straight into the next courtyard.

When Zhou Yu and Xu Xia returned from morning exercise and smelled the scent, they were drawn straight to the Zhao household.

The courtyard door was open, and they could immediately see what was going on inside.

When Aunt Zhao saw them arrive, she quickly stood up and greeted them. Then she said, “We’re killing rabbits today, my lord. Don’t let anyone cook lunch on your side—once it’s stewed, we’ll bring it over.”

Zhao Hu grinned. “My sister’s cooking is amazing!”

Zhou Yu quickly said, “We also have rabbits and were planning to slaughter a couple ourselves…”

“These are big rabbits,” Aunt Zhao said cheerfully. “They have more meat than the little ones! Please don’t refuse—Huzi and An An went out on assignment with you this time and surely caused you some trouble.

“We’re just a poor family with nothing valuable to offer. If you won’t accept this, it’s like you’re looking down on us!”

Zhou Yu had no choice but to agree.

Since his presence made everyone nervous, he kept his words brief and went back.

When it came time to stew the rabbit, a problem arose—one rabbit with meat and vegetables made a full pot, but the Zhao family only had one large pot.

Zhao Hu scratched his head and said, “I’ll go ask Mr. Zhang, or maybe my sister can go stew it at their place.”

“That could work,” Aunt Zhao nudged Qin Ying. “We’ll prepare all the ingredients—they’ll just need to use a little firewood.”

An An nodded repeatedly from the side. “Mm! Mm! Mm!” Outnumbered, Qin Ying had no choice but to agree.