Chapter 11: Ways of Making Money

  "Hey, it's just killing a chicken, no need to learn how to do it." Su Xiaofan took the knife from her hand and pushed her into the house: "Alright, you should also go rest with your mother, you've been walking for half a day, you must be exhausted."

  "Good." Ye smiled slightly and went into the house as he said.

  After sitting for a while, she still felt uneasy and got up to go to the kitchen to take a look. Seeing Su Xiaofan tidying up the wild chicken in an orderly manner, she finally felt at ease and went back into the house again.

  "Haven't you ever learned from anyone?" Xiao Yi Mo crouched beside Su Xiao Fan, seriously watching her nimble movements, that technique was almost on par with a master chef.

  "Hmm, I've learned it." Su Xiaofan replied honestly while busy with her work.

  "But you've never left the village before, who did you learn from?" Xiao Yimeng continued to ask curiously, being a curious baby.

  "No, I won't tell you." Su Xiaofan sorted the giblets of the wild chicken and chopped it into small pieces with a cleaver.

  "Hmm." Xiao Yimeng turned his head with a sullen expression.

  A faint footsteps echoed in the courtyard, Su Xiaofan stood up and looked over to see Yu Xiaoxi carrying a small bag of soybeans, walking towards her with big strides.

  He walked closer, stopped and took a deep breath before saying: "Xiao Fan, for you."

  "Thank you for me, sister." Su Xiaofan smiled and took over, then said: "Why don't Little Xi eat together here, this wild chicken tastes good!"

  "I also want to, but sister specifically instructed that I must go back immediately." Yu Xiaoxi honestly expressed her thoughts and pouted slightly.

  "Then come over tomorrow and I'll leave some for you, then we can go up the mountain together to catch wild chickens." Su Xiao Fan said with a smile, leaning in close to her.

  "Today you're just lucky, coincidentally running into the stupidest wild chicken. You think you can catch a wild chicken every day?" Xiao Yimiao poured a bucket of cold water on her at an inopportune moment.

  "Hmm..." Su Xiaofan furrowed her brow in thought, indeed, after all they were wild chickens, it was impossible for them to be like domesticated ones, running wildly all over the mountain, what method could she use to lure them out?

  Yu Xiaoxi saw her worried look: "Alright, Xiao Fan, don't bother anymore. The adults in this village have thought of many ways to catch those wild chickens and ducks on the mountain before, but none of them succeeded."

  Su Xiaofan thought for a moment and directly replied: "That's because they're too stupid."

  Yu Xiaoxi opened her mouth, then closed it again. After a moment's thought, she said: "Alright, I'll come find you early tomorrow morning." Having said that, she took off running out of the room.

  "Alright, baby, you go out and play for a while, I'm going to start stewing the chicken." Su Xiaofan tidied up and was about to light the fire to stew the chicken. This wild chicken is quite big, it's estimated that it will take a long time to cook, and only low heat can make it more fragrant. Thinking of this, she looked at the firewood next to the stove in silence, sighed heavily, and muttered softly: "It's really inconvenient without electric appliances. Fortunately, I didn't travel back to primitive society, or I would have died trying to chop wood for fire."

  "What did you say?" Xiao Yimiao was just about to walk out when he heard her faint voice and furrowed his brow, looking back.

  "Nothing, go play." Su Xiaofan somewhat weakly started to make a fire with the lighter, last time it was just boiling some wild vegetable porridge, didn't feel too bad, now having to sit here for one or two hours stewing chicken...

  In the midst of constant hesitation, an hour passed like that, and the rich meat aroma gradually became noticeable. Su Xiaofan set up the firewood and walked to the stove, looking at the soybeans and wild mushrooms in front of her with great hesitation. In the end, she decided to use the wild mushrooms, and the soybeans would be left for now, to be used after her mother gave birth later.

  "Hmm, smells good. Is it done?" After lying in the room for a while, Xiao Yimiao walked out, sniffing the aroma and circling around the stove several times.

  "Not yet, are you hungry?" Su Xiaofan looked at the sky, it was already late afternoon, he himself was hungry, let alone a little kid.

  "Of course I'm hungry, I didn't even eat lunch." Xiao Yimeng gave her a white eye, if she were really a little kid, she would have been crying loudly from hunger.

  Su Xiaofan patted his head and said: "Our little treasure is really awesome, just bear with it for a while, we can eat soon."

  Yè shì, who had arrived at the sound, looked at the two of them and said: "Look at my memory, I should first get something for the young master to eat, then let you stew chicken."

  Xiao Yi Mo silently gazed at her for a moment before lowering his head, maintaining the image of a six-year-old child in front of outsiders.

  "It's all right, grandma, it'll be ready soon. Where's mom?" Su Xiaofan had finished dealing with the wild mushrooms and put them in the pot, then sat back down again.

  "She's still asleep, I reckon it'll be just these few days before she gives birth." Ye Shi replied with a mix of joy and worry, looking at the food she had just bought back, wondering if they could hold on until the child was born, and how their daily life would go after that. After her husband's death, all the fields in their home were abandoned, and she couldn't think of any way to make money.

  It seemed as if he could see through her mind, Su Xiao Fan softly comforted: "Grandma don't worry too much, there will be a way."

  "Hmm." Ye replied absent-mindedly and turned around to leave the kitchen.

  Su Xiaofan silently watched the flames jumping in front of her, the fire tongues colliding and making "crackling" sounds from time to time. The current situation no longer allowed herself to think of ways to make money slowly, she must earn a sum of silver before her mother gave birth to the child.

  Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her mind, and an idea flashed by. Su Xiaofan looked down at her own clothes, then shook her head in dismay. With her current attire full of patches, if she were to try entering those grand restaurants, she might be chased out by others.

  Xiao Yimao's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at her strange expression, guessing what she was thinking about at this moment.

  At dawn, Su Xiaofan still got up early, and Ye Shi saw her come out and brought the cooked corn congee and porridge.

  Su Xiaofan and Xiao Yimò quickly finished eating together, then waited in the courtyard for Yu Xiaoxi to arrive, before heading up the mountain together.

  "Fan Er, it's very tiring to go up the mountain every day. If you're tired, just rest at home for a day." Mrs. Jia dragged her heavy body out slowly, and there were still some leftover wild chicken and mushrooms from yesterday, so today's food was taken care of.

  "It's okay, mom, don't worry, I'm not tired." Su Xiaofan gave her a sweet smile. This morning's porridge was simply a bowl of rice soup, and the grains of rice in the bowl could be counted clearly, it seemed that grandma wanted to use those things to hold on for a few more days.