It was an early morning in the first days of winter. The backyard lawn was covered in white frost, and the sky had just begun to lighten.
Li Xiang got up early, washed up, and went to let out the chickens and ducks, who were already waiting impatiently. After tossing them a few handfuls of grain, he grabbed an Iron Pickaxe and began tilling the soil in the backyard.
His two Dahuangs ran back and forth beside their master.
For the past few days, the big rooster with the red comb and colorful feathers had started crowing around 5:30 AM. "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO~" Its call was as resonant as a great bell, so Li Xiang basically didn't need an alarm clock. As soon as the rooster crowed, he knew it was about 5:30 and time to get up.
It was incredibly punctual.
What surprised Li Xiang was that just a few days ago, the rooster had been crowing a little after 4:00 AM, back when the sun rose a bit earlier.
