Chapter 161

The next day, after Han Cheng finished handing over his workload, he joined the “army” of packers.

Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan, along with Hua Hua, would be sent off sooner or later. The whole family was busy packing and had no time to pay attention to them. So, Han Cheng decided to send them to Zhao Xianfeng’s house first.

Xiao Tangyuan was reluctant to leave and insisted on going along. 

Han Cheng had no choice but to take his daughter with him.

When they arrived at Zhao Xianfeng’s house, just as Han Cheng had put down the cage, Xiao Yu, who was puzzled, was ecstatic. She circled the cage and shouted to Zhou Yuhua, “Mom, Uncle Han brought chickens over. We can eat chicken for lunch!”

Xiao Tangyuan was stunned and reacted with a loud cry, making Han Cheng take the chickens back. Xiao Yu was bewildered by her sister’s crying and said, Uncle Han, what’s wrong with my sister?”

Han Cheng, feeling helpless, could only say, “Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan, along with Hua Hua, are good friends raised by Xiao Tangyuan. They are staying at your house first and can’t be eaten.”

Xiao Yu became even more confused. He and Fantuan were on the same wavelength and asked, “Aren’t chickens raised for eating? Otherwise, why raise them? Isn’t it a waste of food?”

This question truly stumped Han Cheng. If they could be eaten, they would have been in Fantuan and the others’ stomachs long ago. 

Zhou Yuhua probably understood what was going on. She gently patted her son’s bottom and reached out to comfort her niece, signaling to her dumbfounded son with her eyes: “Can chickens raised by Xiao Tangyuan be eaten like those outside? They are Xiao Tangyuan’s good friends, of course, they cannot be eaten, right?”

Xiao Tangyuan was a particularly cheerful little girl who rarely cried. But now, she was sobbing uncontrollably, “Wuwu, no, you can’t eat.. Dad…. Daddy, take them away… take them back wuwuwu….”

Zhou Yuhua comforted her niece, “Don’t worry, Auntie Zhou will look after them for you, making sure they are well-fed with vegetables and grains every day. We’ll even dig up earthworms to feed them, okay?”

Xiao Yu, the little tyrant at home, was about to object, but seeing his sister’s pitiful face, he stopped himself, changed his tune, and said, “Brother didn’t say he’d eat Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan, did he? Brother was planning to use his New Year’s money to buy chicken meat at the market.”
 
Xiao Yu was also a clever little devil. He took out his New Year’s money from his pocket and showed it to his sister. “Look, brother’s money is ready. Brother was planning to buy chicken meat at the market.”

Xiao Tangyuan looked at the money in Xiao Yu’s hand with teary eyes and asked, “Really? Is it true?”

Xiao Yu held his sister’s hand and said, “Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe brother, you can come with brother to the market to buy chicken meat.”

Zhou Yuhua let go of Xiao Tangyuan and patted her head. “Go on, go buy chicken meat with your brother.”

Tears welled up in Xiao Tangyuan’s long eyelashes. Zhou Yuhua wanted to go inside to get a handkerchief to wipe her tears, but Han Cheng had already squatted down, carefully wiping his daughter’s face, and said softly, “Don’t cry; if you cry, you won’t be pretty anymore.” 

Han Cheng felt that raising a daughter was really different from raising a son. If it were Fantuan and the others, he would have told them straight away that chickens are poultry raised for eating. But facing his gentle daughter, who was carved from the same mold as Su Xiaoxiao, Han Cheng truly couldn’t say anything to make her sad.

Seeing how gentle Han Cheng was, Zhou Yuhua thought to herself: Zhao Xianfeng, that rough man, had been clamoring about wanting to raise a daughter too; his loud voice would only scare their daughter.

Zhou Yuhua went inside to get some snacks for Xiao Tangyuan, filled her little bag, and repeatedly assured her that they would not eat Zhou, Fen, Mian, Fan, and Hua Hua.

Xiao Tangyuan: “Brother Xiao Yu, you really can’t eat them.”

Xiao Yu waved his hand and said, “I won’t eat them; I won’t really eat them. If anyone dares to eat the chickens raised by my sister, I will scold them!”

Xiao Tangyuan only took a few steps and turned back, feeling very uneasy as he led his father’s hand back.

Xiao Yu sighed and said, “Mom, are we really not going to eat these chickens anymore? But they all look so delicious.”

Zhou Yuhua suddenly felt that her temperament was more suitable for raising rough boys like Xiao Yu. Raising a daughter like this would require patience like Han Cheng and Su Xiaoxiao’s: “Let’s keep them for now. When Xiao Tangyuan and the others go to the capital, we can eat them. If we slaughter the chickens today and Xiao Tangyuan comes to see them tomorrow and can’t find them, she’ll cry again.”

Xiao Yu wrinkled his nose. “My soft-hearted sister is a bit difficult to handle. I still prefer sturdy brothers like Xiao Roubao. Mom, are you really not going to give birth to a brother for me?”

Zhou Yuhua glared at him. “Did Zhao Xianfeng say something to you?”

Xiao Yu replied truthfully, “Dad said that when you and Dad get old, I would be the miserable one because I don’t have a sibling who can help my parents in old age. He told me to persuade you to hurry up and give birth to a brother or sister while you’re still young and able to.”

Watching her child grow up little by little, Zhou Yuhua couldn’t help but feel that time was passing by quickly. She tousled her son’s hair and asked, “Isn’t raising you enough for me to worry about? Who can guarantee that I’ll definitely have another son? What if I have a delicate sister like Xiao Tangyuan? Is our family suitable for raising her?”

Xiao Yu wrinkled his nose. “Xiao Tangyuan is not delicate. She usually laughs a lot and rarely cries. By the way, Mom, both Fantuan and Zhuzi are going to the capital. I really want to go too. Can’t you and Dad apply to be transferred to work in the capital?”

Zhou Yuhua shook her head and said, “Your dad and I aren’t going to the capital for university; there’s no reason for a transfer. You have to get into a university in the capital on your own, then we’ll have a reason to request a transfer.”

Xiao Yu counted on his fingers, then sighed, “Dundun and Yaya are gone; now Fantuan and Zhuzi are leaving too. My grades aren’t as good as Fantuan and Zhuzi’s. I can’t skip grades. If I have to rely on myself to get into a university in the capital, it’ll take at least seven or eight years before I can even take the college entrance exam. So, am I supposed to spend these seven or eight years all alone?”

“You rascal,” Zhou Yuhua tapped his head. “Aren’t your dad and I here? Aren’t Xiao Houzi and Shitou here too? Why do you feel so alone?”

Xiao Yu covered his head and jumped aside, glaring angrily at Zhou Yuhua. “It’s because you and Dad didn’t give birth to me as a smart kid, and now you’re hitting me. You are making me even dumber!”

Zhou Yuhua wanted to hit him again: “Haven’t you heard of ‘diligence can make up for incompetence’? Knowing you’re not smart, why not work harder? Do you think just taking the college entrance exam guarantees you’ll get into a university? Do you know how low the acceptance rate is this year? In our whole Qingfeng Town, there are fewer than ten people who got into university.”

Xiao Yu was stunned. “Isn’t getting into university just a matter of taking the exam? Aunt Su and Aunt Yali got in after taking it, didn’t they? Aunt Su even got the first place!”

Now it was Zhou Yuhua’s turn to sigh, “Son, do you know how hard your Aunt Su and Aunt Yali studied? Haven’t you read the newspapers? Over five million people took the exam this year, but only around two hundred thousand passed. That means for every hundred people who took the exam, less than five got into university. How many students are there in your class? Over fifty, right? So, if you can’t get in the top three, you basically have no chance even if you take the exam.”

Actually, Zhou Yuhua knew that in the first year after the college entrance exam was restored, most of the candidates were from the third generation of educated youths; they were the ones who had been held back for ten years, so the levels naturally varied.

A low acceptance rate was quite normal. By the time Xiao Yu took the exam in seven or eight years, the acceptance rate wouldn’t be so low anymore. She was just taking this opportunity to educate her son. With Fantuan and Zhuzi watching over his studies now, he could barely maintain his grades in the top five of the class. But once they went to the capital, nobody would be watching him study, and with Xiao Yu’s playful nature, he could easily drop to below the top 5.

After hearing this, Xiao Yu was dumbfounded. He had thought that most people who took the college entrance exam could get into university. He hurriedly went to find the newspaper Aunt Zhou had read, and sure enough, the numbers were as his mother said. Xiao Yu bit his lip, threw the newspaper away, and ran back to his room.

Zhou Yuhua was puzzled. “Hey, where are you going, son?”

Without looking back, Xiao Yu said, “Studying!”

“Huh?” Now it was Zhou Yuhua’s turn to be bewildered. The sun hasn’t risen from the west today, right? Her son was staying in to study instead of going out to play.

Xiao Yu shouted back, “Fantuan and Zhuzi ranked first and second in our year every year. They’ll definitely get into university. I only rank fourth or fifth in our class. I couldn’t even make it into the top ten in our entire grade. There’s no one as smart as Fantuan and Zhuzi in my year. If there were, I wouldn’t even know where I’d rank! Ahhh, don’t bother me anymore! I want to study hard! I want to rely on my own efforts to get into a university in the capital! I want to be with Fantuan and Zhuzi forever!”

Actually, Xiao Yu wasn’t stupid. His parents doted on him, and he had always remained pure and straightforward. He is still a naive child who has not grown up, and coupled with his crazy and playful personality, as long as he studies seriously, it is not a problem for him to stay in the top three of the class.

Zhou Yuhua almost laughed. Her silly son, surprisingly, had this determination. She really should thank Fantuan and Xiao Zhuzi properly. “Then study hard. Mom will buy chicken and cook your favorite dish.”

Xiao Yu, who was preparing to study really hard, didn’t even pay attention to Zhou Yuhua.

………………………

Han Cheng led his daughter back home. Su Xiaoxiao was busy rummaging through the clothes with her three sons, spreading them all over the courtyard on mats.

Su Xiaoxiao was at her wits’ end. “There aren’t many clothes we can wear usually; how come there are so many now?”

With four children in the house, even if each had only a few pieces of clothing, the total was quite substantial.

As soon as Han Cheng entered, he said, “Send the clothes that don’t fit back to Sujia Village. The youngest can wear them, and with Mother’s skills, she might even sew a few more quilts.”

Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head and looked at him. “Han Cheng, I can tell you’re saying that I’m not skilled with my hands.”

Han Cheng chuckled and ruffled her hair. “No such thing.”

Xiao Tangyuan handed over the snacks Zhou Yuhua had given her to her mom, asking gloomily, “Mom, is Big Brother Yu really not going to eat up Hua Hua?”

Su Xiaoxiao subconsciously looked at Han Cheng.

Han Cheng shook his head slightly.

Fantuan slapped his forehead. Oh no, I didn’t expect Dad would send the chicken over so soon. I hadn’t had time to warn Xiao Yu; he must have said something about eating the chickens.

Su Xiaoxiao hugged her daughter and said, “Xiao Tangyuan, Mom thinks it’s like this. Even if we don’t leave Huahua to your Big Brother Yu, they won’t be able to stay with us forever. Since we’ve entrusted them to Big Brother Yu, let him handle it. Our fate with them ends here, okay?”

Xiao Tangyuan was about to pout, but Zhuzi came in and said, “Xiao Tangyuan, look what Big Brother brought you?”

Xiao Tangyuan turned her head to the door and saw Zhuzi holding a palm-sized, fluffy little puppy. Her eyes lit up, and she ran over to Zhuzi…