"What can we do? We have a beast in our family that only eats and doesn't poop."
"If I don't go to the fields, who will?"
Chen Yuanchao's tone was somewhat defiant.
Liu Shufang could not bear to see her husband go to the fields alone.
But she also knew that someone had to stay at home to look after Lin Anyu.
She instinctively walked to Chen Yang's room and heard faint breathing sounds coming from inside.
"My son is home."
Liu Shufang's brows relaxed slightly.
"You're counting on him?"
Chen Yuanchao pointed at Chen Yang's room, his voice low with anger. "That brat did such a despicable thing last night, and look at him, he can still sleep so soundly!"
"You expect this beast to shoulder the responsibility of supporting our family?"
After saying this, Chen Yuanchao felt a tightness in his chest, as if his family had suffered a misfortune.
"Oh, stop talking. I'll go get you something to eat. You'll need to be full to have the energy to work."
Liu Shufang quickly changed the subject and headed towards the kitchen.
Chen Yuanchao, however, lost his temper.
"Eat, eat, eat. What's there to eat? Go look at the rice jar. It's practically infested with worms."
This was not an exaggeration at all.
After the start of the year, Chen Yuanchao had saved some grain coupons, but Chen Yang stole them and exchanged them for money, which he then lost at the card table.
That's right.
Besides being idle, Chen Yang also enjoyed playing cards.
But his family was poor and could not afford to let Chen Yang gamble.
So Chen Yang often stole things from home to exchange for money, which he then squandered at the gambling table.
Chen Yuanchao glanced out of the corner of his eye and suddenly noticed that the radishes he had left to dry in the yard were gone, causing his eyelids to twitch.
"This is bad! It must have been that brat who did it again..."
"I'm going to beat this brat to death today!"
Liu Shufang stopped in her tracks as she walked to the kitchen doorway.
Looking back, she saw her husband storming angrily toward their son's room.
"Chen Yuanchao, stop right there!"
Liu Shufang immediately ran to Chen Yuanchao, grabbed her husband's sleeve, and glared at him, saying, "You're using your energy on your son—are you not going to work in the fields?"
Hearing his wife's words, Chen Yuanchao stopped and said irritably, "You just keep spoiling him!"
"How have I spoiled him?"
"Getting to work in the fields is more important. I'll relieve you this afternoon."
Liu Shufang immediately put her hands on her hips, pointed at Chen Yuanchao's nose, and angrily said, "Hurry up and harvest what's growing in the field, take it to the production brigade to exchange for grain coupons—we're out of grain at home!"
Upon hearing that there was no food at home, Chen Yuanchao realized the seriousness of the situation.
He sighed.
"Well, I've calculated it. This year's sweet potatoes can be exchanged for 800 jin of grain coupons. After giving 200 jin to Old Zhang at the supply and marketing cooperative, the rest... will be enough to eat for at most half a year."
"Six months?"
"You forgot that we borrowed 20 kilograms of ducklings last year, but the ducks didn't grow up, so we have to return the ducklings this year!"
"I estimate that the remaining food stamps will last for at least three months."
Liu Shufang chuckled.
This year, the Chen family had been hit with a series of misfortunes.
After working hard for half a year, the food left over was not enough to feed the whole family.
In a few days, Lin Anrou would be coming back too.
If another mouth to feed was added, the food rations probably wouldn't last even three months.
Speaking of which...
The two elders instantly looked dejected.
The courtyard was quiet, with only Chen Yuanchao's constant sighs audible.
A moment later, he suddenly spoke, his voice tinged with weariness: "Otherwise, I could sign up for forest ranger work—I heard there's a stipend..."
"Are you crazy?"
Liu Shufang pushed Chen Yuanchao excitedly. "There are bears on that mountain, and many people have already died. Do you want to die on that mountain too? I don't want you to go!"
"But—"
"But what? Get out of my way, I'm going to cook!"
Liu Shufang stormed off to the kitchen.
Seeing his wife's displeasure, Chen Yuanchao had no choice but to stop mentioning the forest protection matter, and instead pulled out his pipe in a state of irritation.
But before the tobacco could be lit, he heard his wife exclaim in surprise.
"Old Chen, come quick!"
Liu Shufang poked her head out of the kitchen and waved to Chen Yuanchao in fear.
"W-what's wrong?"
Chen Yuanchao quickly put away his pipe (catatan: "smoke detector" adalah kesalahan ejaan, seharusnya "pipe") and rushed to the kitchen.
Liu Shufang grabbed Chen Yuanchao's arm, pointed to the large pot on the stove, and excitedly asked, "Where did this come from?"
Now, Liu Shufang had already lifted the lid off the large pot.
A pot of fragrant chicken soup, steaming hot, appeared before Chen Yuanchao's eyes.
Chen Yuanchao finally understood why his wife was so excited.
He stared wide-eyed at the chicken in the pot, his eyes practically glued to the soup.
Who did this?
Chen Yuanchao was also completely baffled.
After such a big incident at the Chen family last night, he and his wife had gone straight back to their room to rest after leaving Lin Anyu's room in the middle of the night.
There was definitely no time or ingredients to make such a big pot of chicken soup.
Chen Yuanchao walked to the firewood, picked up a colorful feather from the ground, opened his mouth, and looked at Liu Shufang in surprise.
"Wife, this is a wild pheasant from the mountains!"
"Did your son get it?"
Liu Shufang suddenly realized what was happening.
Yesterday, after she and her husband had come out of Lin Anyu's room, they had found that their son had run away.
At that time, Liu Shufang still wanted to go out and look for him.
But the sky was so dark, and it was pitch black outside. The Chen family did not have any flashlights.
Chen Yuanchao said that the brat must have made a mistake and disappeared somewhere, so he advised his wife to go to sleep.
Liu Shufang was then persuaded to stop by Chen Yuanchao.
Thinking about it now, only Chen Yang would have thought to go out in the middle of the night to catch a pheasant and stew it.
Chen Yuanchao looked suspicious, picked up a spoon and scooped a large ladleful of chicken from the pot.
"If it really was that kid who stewed the chicken, would he have left us so much meat?"
Chen Yuanchao clicked his tongue and shook his head.
Liu Shufang looked delighted. "Maybe our son has become more sensible. After all, what he did last night... he should realize his mistake."
"Hmph, a leopard can't change its spots. Do you think he'll admit his mistake?"
Chen Yuanchao dropped the ladle.
Although he verbally disdained his son, this pot of chicken was really delicious!
Chen Yuanchao could not help but swallow.
Liu Shufang knew that her husband was too proud to admit his mistake, so she quietly took out a bowl and chopsticks and ladled a large bowl of chicken soup for Chen Yuanchao.
"It's rare to see our son being so sensible. Eat up, and then get back to work."
"Hmph, aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache from eating something of dubious origin?"
Chen Yuanchao did not accept the bowl of chicken soup.
He probably believed that his son had brought the pheasant, perhaps as a way to admit his mistake.
But the mistake his son had made was far too big.
If this got out, it would be considered hooliganism, and he would be dragged out and shot.
A bowl of chicken soup was certainly very fragrant.
But this could not shake Chen Yuanchao's principles.
"If this brat really wants to repent, let's see if he can earn 200 yuan a week!"
After saying that, Chen Yuanchao turned and strode away from the kitchen.
"You stubborn old man!"
Liu Shufang rolled her eyes, then stared at the chicken soup in the pot, a satisfied smile on her face.
This was the first time her son had ever contributed to the family in his life.
As a mother, Liu Shufang felt as sweet as honey.