Chapter 8

Soon, a hairless white chicken appeared in front of Yan Mingxue. She stomped her short legs excitedly, her eyes full of sparkling light.

“Chicken, chicken, chicken.” At this moment, she had transformed into a cheerful little bird, and all she needed was a sharp beak to peck at the chicken that was about to be gutted.

Yan Mingcheng was also very happy. He stood beside Yan Mingli and diligently handed him the kitchen knife.

Yan Mingli took the kitchen knife and quickly cut under the chicken’s neck, then deftly took out a yellow thing and threw it into the wooden basin.

Then he cut a horizontal cut on the chicken’s butt, handed the knife back to Yan Mingcheng, and continued to dig carefully in the chicken’s stomach.

After leaving behind all the edible offal, Yan Mingli picked up the shovel leaning against the wall and began digging a hole under the wall.

After digging a half-foot square pit, he poured the water in the wooden basin, chicken feathers and inedible offal into the pit, then covered it with soil and compacted it with the back of a shovel.

“The eggs are cooked, go take them out and eat them.” Yan Mingli reminded Yan Mingxue. Yan Mingxue came back to her senses immediately and ran to the kitchen with her short legs.

“I will stew the chicken in a clay pot and place it on the small stove in the ash pit. Keep an eye on Mingxue and make sure she doesn’t eat too much. I’m not at home and I’m afraid someone will do something bad.” Yan Mingli looked at Yan Mingcheng and gave instructions.

Although the villagers would not have the leisure to wander into the remote corner of his house, if the fragrance spread too far and for too long, it would still attract some bastards.

If he were at home, there would be no need to worry. At worst, I could just solve the problem with my fists.

But with only two six-year-old kids to look after, he had to explain things clearly and try to minimize the chances of accidents.

“Don’t worry, big brother. I will keep a close eye on my sister.” Yan Mingcheng nodded like a little adult. When his big brother was not at home, he was the only man in the family and he had to protect the family.

“Second brother, here, an egg.” Yan Mingxue took out a cooled egg from the ladle and handed it to Yan Mingcheng, while she picked up another one and carefully peeled the shell.

Her little fingernail must not scratch the egg white, not at all. Even if it scratches a thin layer of skin, she will faint from the pain.

“Brother, you eat.” Yan Mingcheng handed the peeled egg to Yan Mingli. Yan Mingli shook his head, touched his head and said, “I’m not hungry, you eat it yourself.”

After saying that, he picked up the wooden basin and walked towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Yan Mingli cut the chicken into the smallest possible pieces as quickly as possible so that his younger brothers and sisters could take more bites.

Then he cut the chicken’s innards and put them into a clay pot together with the chicken. He then filled the pot with water, sealed the lid, and placed it on the stove. Finally, he took out the unburned dry firewood from the stove and put it into the ash pit.

After all the steps were completed, Yan Mingli patted the stove ash on his hands, stood up, walked out of the kitchen and into the bedroom.

Standing in front of the cabinet in the bedroom, Yan Mingli took out the key chain tied with a cloth strip hanging around his waist and inserted it into the rusty iron lock hanging between the two doors of the cabinet.

It is called a key chain, but in fact there are only two keys, one to lock the door and the other to lock the cabinet.

On the left side of the cabinet were their clothes and bedding, and on the right side were a few shriveled food bags.

He searched carefully on the right side, and even turned up the seams of each grain bag to examine it. Unfortunately, no matter how careful he was, he had to accept the cruel reality: they only had one or two pounds of corn grits left in their rations.

With this little bit of food, it would be difficult to even make it to the end of the month, let alone the autumn harvest and distribution.

There are wild animals to hunt in the mountains, but he can’t go to the mountains every day. Not to mention whether he can hunt any wild animals, if he is seen by other members of the cooperative, it will be a disaster that cannot be solved.

Of course, he could also climb the mountain in the middle of the night, but he didn’t have a flashlight that could illuminate at a short distance. If he fell into a trap or stepped on a trap, he would not only not be able to earn work points, but he might also have to go to the village health center to pay for treatment.

He had no extra money and had to work, so he could only find time to go up the mountain occasionally. However, with such occasional trips and the fact that he didn’t always get any harvest, he knew that he really could not support his younger siblings.

He had to find another way.

But what could he do? Born in the countryside, he didn’t know what else to do except work hard from dawn to dusk to earn work points.

Go to the black market? Not to mention that the food he caught was not enough for his younger siblings to eat, even if he caught a large item, he couldn’t take it to the black market to sell.

First of all, he didn’t have a cart to transport the things to the county town. Secondly, he didn’t have the ability to avoid everyone’s eyes and ears. And most importantly, he didn’t want to fall into the hands of the public security comrades.

He once accidentally saw someone who was arrested for buying and selling things privately. Without very strong connections, there was no way he could escape. Once he was found guilty of “speculation and profiteering”, he heard that he would be sentenced to at least five years.

He couldn’t afford to take the risk and didn’t dare to harbor such a fluke. If he was sent in, what would happen to his younger brothers and sisters?

They have suffered too much because of their bad background, and they can’t afford to have another big brother in jail.

He would rather be poor and suffer a little than let his younger brothers and sisters lose their last support because of his mistake.

His family has been through a very difficult time these years and cannot afford any further hardship.

He couldn’t go to the black market, didn’t have enough work points to eat, and couldn’t hunt often. What else could he do?

The nineteen-year-old boy sat on the edge of the bed, his tall figure looking dejected and depressed in the morning sun.

He seemed to be standing on a cliff of despair, surrounded by ferocious beasts with bared fangs and claws, staring at him hungrily. If he was not careful, he would fall into the abyss and be smashed to pieces.

He couldn’t go on like this, he had to find the fastest way to make money. Suddenly, the conversation he heard when he passed by the haystack on his way to work yesterday flashed through his mind.

The village idiot showed up with some big unity notes and said that he could sell blood in the county town. He could get 30 yuan for a can of blood, and the money he had was earned from selling blood.

Thirty yuan is equivalent to the salary of an ordinary worker in the county town, not to mention the meager labor bonus distributed to other villagers every year.

When Yan Mingli thought of this, he immediately stood up, swept away his previous dejection, and quickly locked the cabinet. He wanted to rush to the grain drying field to ask the production team leader for half a day off.

He was going to the blood-selling point in the county that Erlaizi had mentioned. He needed the thirty yuan to survive for more than two months until the production team started distributing grain in October.

Go now and get back before work in the afternoon, and you can still get half a day’s work.

Yan Mingli thought about it, hurriedly put on the straw sandals placed at the end of the bed, said hello to his younger brothers and sisters, locked the door, and walked quickly towards the brigade headquarters.