Chapter 2: A Great Harvest

“Ah! Mother! There’s a chicken! Our little Fifth spotted a chicken!”

Liu Yingying followed the direction she was pointing and, upon seeing it, turned back excitedly to call for Old Madam Su.

Old Madam Su, who was rinsing rice with a clay pot in her hands, heard the commotion. Seeing the plump old hen in the courtyard, she was so overjoyed that she couldn’t stop grinning. She immediately shouted to the boys chopping firewood and boiling water in the back, “Yan Jia, Yan He, Yan Qi, Yan Xing! Stop what you’re doing, come help Grandma catch the chicken!”

The four brothers rushed out, all wearing patched-up clothes, and helped Old Madam Su catch the chicken.

They surrounded the chicken to prevent it from escaping. The old hen flapped its wings, trying to fly, but ended up flying right into Old Madam Su’s waiting hands.

Seeing this, Su Huan released another chicken and reminded them, “Yiya yiya!”

Liu Yingying quickly looked outside the ruined temple and exclaimed in delight, “Mother, there’s another one outside!”

Old Madam Su tied up the chicken with a straw rope and told Yan Jia and Yan He to go catch it.

Yan Qi and Yan Xing wanted to go too, but Old Madam Su said, “You two are too young to help. There’s a water ditch outside—what if you fall in and drown?”

Every year, there were accidents of children drowning in their hometown. Hearing this, Yan Qi and Yan Xing obediently followed Old Madam Su back into the house.

Hearing the chickens clucking, Jin Yuegui woke up, hungry. She sat up and said, “Mother, where did the chickens come from? I’ll cook!”

Old Madam Su wiped Yan Qi and Yan Xing’s heads with a cloth, found two dry sets of clothes for them to change into, and, without sparing even a glance at Jin Yuegui, said flatly, “Now you’re willing to move?”

“How could I be unwilling? Mother, I know I was wrong. Look, my sister-in-law and little Fifth need nourishment. We should kill the hen quickly to make soup for my sister-in-law so she can recover and produce more milk!” Jin Yuegui said sweetly.

Old Madam Su nodded and handed the chicken to her. “Alright then, go kill it. I’m going out to check on Yan Jia and Yan He.”

Receiving the chicken, Jin Yuegui was as happy as if she had gotten a piece of gold. She gleefully carried it off to slaughter.

Liu Yingying hugged Su Huan tightly and gave her a big kiss. “Fifth, your mother was right. You really are a lucky child!”

Su Huan’s cheeks turned rosy, and with her chubby little hand, she covered her face, babbling, “Yiya~”

Sigh, even at her age, she was being kissed by a young woman—it was so embarrassing!

When Su Yan Jia and Su Yan He went out to catch the hen, Second Uncle Su, Third Uncle Su, Second Aunt Wu Chunhe, and Third Aunt Zhang Xiaolan happened to return.

Su Yan Jia quickly shouted, “Second Uncle, Third Uncle! The chicken ran that way!”

Everyone was delighted to see the chicken. Second Uncle Su bent down and easily grabbed it, while Third Uncle Su quickly tied it up with a straw rope and handed it to the children. “Yan Jia, Yan He, where did this chicken come from?”

Su Yan Jia smiled and said, “My little sister found it.”

Hearing this, the adults were thrilled. “Your Fifth Aunt gave birth? A girl?”

Su Yan He said, “Yes! And she’s so pretty! Fair and tender, not like Yan Xing who looked like a scrawny little red monkey when he was born. Grandma even said that with our little sister, our family now has the word ‘good’ [combining the characters for girl and boy]. She’s overjoyed!”

Third Uncle Su laughed, “Every child born into the Su family is blessed in your grandma’s eyes! Let’s go back and see our little Fifth!”

“Wait! There seems to be something else… Great! Second Uncle, Third Uncle, it’s a rabbit!” Su Yan Jia cried out.

“What? Quick! Wife, surround it! Rabbits run fast, and hunters Fourth and Fifth aren’t here. We need to trap it ourselves!”

Second Uncle Su quickly worked with Wu Chunhe, and Third Uncle Su and Zhang Xiaolan followed closely behind.

“Yan Jia! Yan He! Catch the rabbit!”

Su Yan Jia and Su Yan He reacted swiftly, lunging at the trapped rabbit. They successfully caught two gray rabbits and one white rabbit. Everyone was overjoyed and hurried back to the ruined temple to tell Old Madam Su the good news.

Wu Chunhe saw that Yan Jia and Yan He were covered in mud and said with a laugh to Second Uncle Su, “Renyi, you and Third Brother and Xiaolan go back first. I’ll take Dabo and Erbao to the water ditch to wash up.”

Zhang Xiaolan warned, “Second Sister-in-law, be careful. The rain is heavy, and the water level in the ditch is rising. Don’t let the kids get too close.”

Wu Chunhe laughed, “It hasn’t rained that long. Don’t worry!”

After that, the group split up.

Just as Wu Chunhe finished cleaning Yan Jia and Yan He, she suddenly saw a fish jump out of the water.

More fish followed—some palm-sized crucian carp, and even larger black and grass carp weighing several pounds. Wu Chunhe immediately abandoned cleaning the boys and jumped into the ditch to catch fish.

Farm women were strong and had sharp eyes. Wu Chunhe caught fish accurately, tossing them onto the bank, and instructed Yan Jia and Yan He to watch over them.

Yan Jia noticed several groups of refugees approaching the ruined temple to seek shelter. He quickly left Yan He to watch the fish and rolled up his pants to jump into the water. “Second Aunt, I’ll help you catch fish!”

As the rain poured harder, the water in the ditch rose to Wu Chunhe’s waist.

Seeing it was getting dangerous, Wu Chunhe called Yan Jia to get out of the water. Holding onto his waist, she helped push him up onto the bank. But just as he climbed up, the water surged again.

“Second Aunt! Get up quickly!”

“Mother, be careful!”

Rumble—

A flash flood suddenly swept down with terrifying speed. Before Wu Chunhe could grab Yan Jia and Yan He’s hands, she was swallowed by the raging water.

“Second Aunt!”

“Mother!”

The two boys screamed heartbreakingly.

The refugees who had sought shelter at the ruined temple saw the fish in the ditch and, thrilled, rushed over to catch them. Some even tried to snatch the fish from Yan Jia and Yan He.

“These are our fish! You can’t take them!”

Su Yan Jia didn’t even have time to grieve. He quickly pulled Yan He to fight to protect the fish.

The other party shoved them aside violently. “Get lost!”

Yan He lost his balance and was about to fall into the water when an arrow whizzed past, grazing the attacker’s throat.

Su Lao Wu appeared like an enraged lion and glared at the crowd. “Get lost!”

Frightened out of their wits, the group of refugees quickly scattered.

After driving away the looters, Su Lao Si pulled Yan He out of the water. Seeing the two boys crying uncontrollably, he frowned and asked, “What happened?”

Yan Jia blamed himself. “When the flash flood came, Second Aunt helped push me onto the bank but was swept away herself!”

Su Lao Si and Su Lao Wu’s expressions darkened.

“We’ll go find her! You two take these things back to the ruined temple first.”

Looking around, the boys suddenly noticed that Su Lao Wu was leading a fat white milk goat weighing over sixty kilograms, and Su Lao Si was carrying about thirty catties of sweet potatoes in his coat! Their basket, which was supposed to be for wild vegetables, was filled with a pile of glossy brown eggs instead!

Yan Jia and Yan He rubbed their eyes in disbelief. “Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle, where did you get all this stuff?”

Before they could get an answer, a dripping wet figure climbed out of the ditch.

Startled, Su Lao Si and Su Lao Wu quickly helped her up when they saw who it was.

Wu Chunhe cursed while pulling water weeds off herself, “Damn things almost drowned me!”

“Second Aunt!”

“Mother!”

Seeing she was safe, Su Yan Jia and Su Yan He threw themselves into her arms, weeping with joy.

Wu Chunhe patted their backs comfortingly. Spotting the goat beside Su Lao Wu, she exclaimed excitedly, “Oh my! Such a big goat!”

The refugees who had been frantically catching fish heard her shout and all turned their hungry gazes towards them.

Su Lao Wu immediately gripped his bow and arrow and stepped forward to shield them. Realizing the danger, Wu Chunhe quickly gathered up the fish with the two boys, and together with Su Lao Si, they hurried back to the ruined temple, driving the goat and carrying the sweet potatoes and eggs.

With Su Lao Wu covering their retreat, the desperate refugees only watched them for a while before turning back to catch more fish.

There were plenty of fish in the ditch, enough to fill their bellies. It wasn’t worth risking their lives over one goat.