"Old Chen, your radish has been found. It turns out your son used it to make chicken soup."
Liu Shufang smiled and walked out of the kitchen.
Chen Yuanchao did not eat chicken.
Liu Shufang then steamed two coarse flour buns, dipped them in some chicken soup, and forced them on Chen Yuanchao.
Chen Yuanchao could not refuse, so he ate quickly and went out to work.
There was also a large pot of chicken in the pot.
The aroma of meat, thickened with cornstarch, wafted straight into one's nose.
Except for the pork dumplings they had had during Chinese New Year, the last time Liu Shufang ate meat was half a year ago.
When someone in the village got married, they cut five catties of pork, cooked a pot of soup, and invited the whole village to drink it.
There were only a few tiny bits of pork, about the size of peppercorns, floating on the surface of the soup. That was not enough for anyone to eat.
It was all thanks to that layer of oil foam, plus a little chopped green onion to satisfy one's craving.
Even just the aroma of that soup was something Liu Shufang still cherished to this day.
But compared to the pot of chicken soup her son had made now, it was nothing.
"These days, what's more important than a full stomach?"
Liu Shufang was not as stubborn as Chen Yuanchao.
Knowing it was her son's thoughtfulness, she ladled herself a bowl of chicken soup and ate it with great joy.
After finishing her meal, Liu Shufang ladled another bowl for her son.
She walked to her son's room and gently knocked on the door, but there was no response.
She guessed that her son must have gone up the mountain last night and spent the whole night making this pot of chicken soup—he must have been very tired.
So without disturbing him, she took the chicken soup and went to Lin Anyu's room.
"An Yu?"
Liu Shufang gently knocked on the door.
After a short wait, there was a response from inside the room.
"Auntie, what's wrong?"
Lin Anyu's voice was a little hoarse.
Liu Shufang immediately understood that the girl had probably been injured all night and hadn't slept yet.
They were both women.
Liu Shufang knew that Lin Anyu's inner hurdle was not easy to overcome.
And it was because it was her son who had committed the sin.
Liu Shufang felt a sharp pain in her heart.
She sighed. "Anyu, I'll get you something to eat. Eat something while it's warm."
Lin Anyu did not respond.
Liu Shufang then opened the door and entered the room.
Really.
Lin Anyu remained seated on the bed, her face pale and bloodless.
Her eyes were red, swollen, and bloodshot.
It looked like she had cried all night.
Seeing Lin Anyu's appearance, Liu Shufang felt a lump in her throat. She put the chicken soup on the table, then walked to the bedside and brushed the messy hair off Lin Anyu's forehead.
"An Yu, why don't you eat something first?"
The aroma of chicken soup had already filled the room, making one's mouth water.
But Lin Anyu had no appetite at all.
She looked at the chicken soup on the table, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Auntie, aren't we out of chicken at home?"
"Don't worry about that..."
Liu Shufang guessed that if she revealed that her son had gotten it, Lin Anyu would most likely not accept it.
As she had expected, things turned out as she had predicted.
Lin Anyu immediately understood when she saw Liu Shufang hesitate to speak.
She hadn't slept all night.
She had heard someone rummaging around in the kitchen late at night, and she had thought it was her uncle or aunt.
But then, the person from the kitchen walked toward her room and paused at the door for a while.
Lin Anyu immediately realized it was Chen Yang.
She was terrified, thinking that the beast wanted to come in and assault her again...
Fortunately, the person outside only stayed for a short while before returning to the kitchen to continue tinkering.
"Come on, while it's still hot, have some chicken soup."
"Auntie, I'm not hungry."
Lin Anyu turned her head away, refusing to look at the bowl of chicken soup.
Seeing this, Liu Shufang stopped trying to persuade her, shook her head, sighed, and carried the chicken soup out of Lin Anyu's room.
At this moment, Chen Yang walked out of the room, yawning.
There was only one week.
Earning 200 yuan was actually quite difficult.
Pheasants weren't worth much. If he really wanted to make money by hunting wild animals, he had to find a way to get some rare wild game.
Visibility was good during the day.
Chen Yang wanted to try his luck, so he only slept for two hours before preparing to go up the back mountain again.
Exactly.
Liu Shufang, who had just come out of Lin Anyu's room, saw her son getting up and brought him some chicken soup.
"Go and apologize properly to An Yu!"
As she spoke, Liu Shufang placed the bowl into Chen Yang's hands.
Chen Yang understood about 70-80% of it at a glance.
"Mom, how is she now?"
"How is she? Thanks to you, she's still hanging on by a thread!"
Liu Shufang glared at her son, annoyed.
Liu Shufang had initially been quite distressed that her son had spent the entire night working on a pot of chicken.
But after seeing Lin Anyu, Liu Shufang felt that her son had brought this upon himself.
He had bullied a perfectly good young woman like that.
That son deserved it!
"Your dad is right, don't think you can get away with just a pot of chicken."
"What are you standing there for? Go on!"
Urged on by Liu Shufang, Chen Yang brought chicken soup to Lin Anyu's room.
He knew that Lin Anyu definitely did not want to see him.
But unfortunately, his mother was standing right behind him, staring intently at him.
Under pressure, Chen Yang steeled himself and entered Lin Anyu's room.
"Get out!"
A scream rang out from inside the room.
Really.
When Lin Anyu saw Chen Yang, she was terrified, clutching her bedding tightly and shrinking into the corner of the bed.
Chen Yang did not dare look at Lin Anyu, and walked to the table to put down his bowl.
Hearing the commotion, Liu Shufang was worried and followed him into the house.
"An Yu, our family is so sorry, but what's done is done. Please eat something and don't make things harder for yourself."
"Aunt..."
Upon seeing Liu Shufang enter, Lin Anyu's eyes immediately welled up with tears.
She had stayed at the Chen family's house for so long.
Mr. and Mrs. Chen had always taken good care of Lin Anyu.
Lin Anyu hated Chen Yang.
But she could not bring herself to hate Chen Yang's parents.
She was like a wounded little rabbit, curled up in the corner of the bed, shivering—which was heartbreaking to see.
Liu Shufang's eyes also reddened, and she walked to Lin Anyu's bedside with tears in her eyes.
"An Yu, our Chen family owes you a debt. Even if our whole family has to work like cattle and horses for the rest of our lives, we will be willing to serve you well."
"And Chen Yang also said that he would take responsibility for you..."
As she spoke, Liu Shufang hugged Lin Anyu tightly.
"What makes him think he can take responsibility? He's just a scoundrel!"
"I'm only 18 years old, why should he ruin me? How am I supposed to live my life like this?"
"Auntie understands..."
Liu Shufang gently patted Lin Anyu's back. "Cry, you'll feel better after you cry."
However, Lin Anyu had cried all night until she had no tears left.
She could only lean against Liu Shufang's chest, sobbing incessantly, her frail shoulders trembling.
Chen Yang stood to the side, watching his mother and Lin Anyu crying their eyes out.
Offering comfort was not an option, nor was simply standing by and doing nothing.
He only regretted that he had been such a jerk back then.
He understood that if he hadn't been so idle back then, Lin Anyu would not have harbored such deep resentment towards him.
There was no point in saying anything now that things had come to this.
Sigh, he would try his best to make up for it.
"Mom, I'm going out now."
Chen Yang steeled himself and left the room.