Chapter Ten: Killing the Chicken

  "Ziyan, come in and sit for a while. By this month, you must be exhausted from standing all the time." Yu Xiaohua walked forward to support Jia into the house, seeing Xiao Yimeng leaning against the door of the main hall, smiled and said: "The young grandson of the village head's family is really handsome, it's a pity that Little Fang still has to wait for so many years."

  "Yes, ten years later, Xiao Fan has become an old maid." Yu Xiaoxi looked at Su Xiaofan with sympathetic eyes.

  Su Xiaofan smiled foolishly: "What's the big deal? He's the one who'll be at a loss, not me."

  Yu Xiaoxi blinked and asked in puzzlement: "Why is it him?"

  "I'm 15 now, and in ten years I'll be 25, but he'll only be 16 in ten years. It's like an old cow eating tender grass - it's definitely me taking advantage of him." Su Xiaofan turned her head to see Xiao Yimeng glaring at her with a mixture of anger and resentment, which made her even more puzzled as to why the village elder had chosen her. The Xiao family wasn't short on money either, plus this little treasure was so delicate and lovely - what kind of girl wouldn't want him in the future?

  "What if he gets tired of you later on?" Yu Xiaoxi wasn't as optimistic as her, these slightly wealthy men all have three wives and four concubines, what would happen when Xiao Fang got old, how could she compete with those young fox spirits?

  "Don't worry about it, we'll talk about it later." Su Xiao Fan followed them into the house. Who knows what the future holds? Thinking too much is useless anyway.

  As there were no stools in the hall, several people walked straight into Jia's room.

  Jia's awkward smile: "Xiao He, sit on the bed."

  "Hmm, there's no need to be polite with me, sister. After you give birth, I'll come take care of you for a while." Yu Xiaohe sat down beside her and reached out to stroke her rounded belly.

  "How can this be, the busy farming season is approaching and your family must be overwhelmed with work too." Madam Ji smiled at her, their household had the most fields in the village, although they had a big family, there were only her husband and the two sisters who could provide labor, where would they have time to spare.

  "But Auntie is old and you're still young, how can you take good care of her?" Yu Xiaohe glanced at Su Xiaofan with a look of concern.

  "Don't worry, Auntie. When the time comes, Grandma will teach me and I'll do it myself." Su Xiaofan turned her head to see Xiao Yimeng slowly walking in, and quickly got up to hug him onto the bed.

  Xiao Yi Mu's eyes widened in anger, staring at her speechlessly. This woman really had a bad memory, he had told her several times not to hug him casually, how could she still not remember?

  "Alright, don't be angry, sit still." Su Xiaofan smiled and patted his head a few times.

  "How come I feel like Xiao Fan is leading his son?" Yu Xiaoxi covered her mouth and giggled.

  "At my age, how can I have such a big son?" Su Xiaofan smiled casually and then said with deep feeling: "In the future, if I can have a child as lively as him, that would be great."

  Upon hearing this, Madam Ji gazed at Su Xiao Fan with an extremely melancholic expression and said in a low voice: "It's all my fault. If our family conditions were slightly better, how could we have let you suffer for so many years? This year, Little Xi is going to get married, and next year she'll be able to have children..."

  Su Xiaofan wiped the smile off her face and solemnly interrupted her: "Mother, don't mention this again in the future. Getting married at 16 is early marriage, you know? Others get married in their thirties."

  "Over thirty, isn't it?" Yu Xiaoxi looked at her in surprise. Whether male or female, if they were still unmarried by their thirties, there must be all sorts of problems, and who knows, maybe they'd end up spending the rest of their life alone.

  "Ah...... Hehe, I just casually said that." Su Xiao Fan smacked her lips, unknowingly blurting out something from her past life. In this world, it's probably rare for someone to get married in their thirties.

  "Perfume smoke."

  The sound of Ye's voice came from outside, and several people got up and walked out.

  A few people came out when Ye just put the things in her hand into the kitchen, and after seeing the few people who came out, she asked with surprise: "Where did that wild chicken come from?"

  "Fan brought it back from the mountain." As soon as he mentioned this, Jia also looked back at Su Xiaofan with a puzzled expression: "Fan, how did you catch this? The wild chickens on that mountain are incredibly fast, and very few people can catch them."

  "Heh heh, I just threw the kitchen knife and cut off its leg, so it can't run away. Later, I'll stew some tonic soup for Mother to drink." Su Xiaofan walked into the kitchen and took a look at the things Grandma had bought back, including a small amount of rice, some corn flour, red sugar, peanuts, and other things, presumably prepared for Mother.

  "Veggie knife?" Zhao's family was still full of doubts, how far can this veggie knife be thrown?

  "Hmm..." Su Xiao Fan shook her head, hastily changing the subject: "This isn't to give you a good supplement, is it? You're too thin, and you're clearly pregnant."

  "It's good that you're replenishing your supplies, my family still has some soybeans, I'll have Xiaoxi deliver them to you later." Yu Xiaohe smiled slightly, her gaze at Jia Shi carried a hint of envy.

  Jia's eyes moved a few times and she said in a low voice: "Xiao He, don't think too much, you're still young, you'll have children sooner or later."

  Yu Xiaohe let out a somewhat helpless sigh: "The doctor said that the number of miscarriages is too high, even if I get pregnant again, it's likely to be the same as before. So Hu Zi said, don't for now, wait until we save some money and go to the county hospital to take a look."

  Jia nodded: "It's also good this way, always having miscarriages is harmful to the body."

  "Uh-huh." Yu Xiaohe smiled: "Then we'll head back first, you get some rest."

  "Alright, I'll see you off." Jia's hands were on her waist, and a hint of fatigue showed on her face.

  "No need, you rest well." Yu Xiaohe reached out and pressed down on her hand, indicating for her to stop seeing him off, then said to Ye Shi: "Auntie, I'll go first."

  "Alright, come keep Yiyin company when you have time." Ye walked over and pulled out a few pieces of silver from her sleeve, putting them in Yu Xiaohua's hand. "That's all that's left, pay back your family some first."

  "Auntie, let's keep it for now. We'll need to spend money to hire a midwife when the time comes for Zhīyān to give birth." Yú Xiǎohé put the silver coins back again.

  Ye thought that was true too. If she had to deliver the baby herself, there would be great risks. It's better to leave some silver to hire a midwife: "Then thank you, Auntie."

  Yu Xiaohe smiled slightly: "Auntie is serious, I'll leave first and come again another day."

  "Ah, slow down." After seeing them off, Ye instructed Jia to go rest in the house, then entered the kitchen to clean up the wild chicken that Fan'er had brought back.

  Su Xiaofan followed into the kitchen and stood behind her for a moment before saying: "Grandma, you go rest too, I'll do it."

  Ye Shi turned around: "When did Fang Er learn how to kill chickens?"