Chapter 39: The Cause of the Chicken and Duck's Death

  "Bury it in a hole." Su Xiao Fan felt a bit unbearable, if they just abandoned the body in some location, after experiencing wind and sun and rain, it would be too pitiful for them.

  Ye looked at her and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright, let's dig a hole in the back then." He pointed to a patch of grass outside the fence.

  Su Xiaofan glanced over faintly, then stood up and walked silently back to the courtyard, fetched a shovel, and followed Ye Shi to the grassland, where she dug out a hole big enough to bury them.

  "Don't be sad, it's like that when you don't have experience. It'll be fine after a few more tries." Ye Shi didn't know what to say either, looking at her, she seemed to have been dealt quite a blow.

  "Hmm." Su Xiao Fan put down the iron shovel and stood up, wiping the fine sweat on his forehead with his hand.

  Ye began to throw all the dead chicks and ducklings from the weed pile into the pit dug by Su Xiaofan, and after burying them, the two of them covered another layer of weeds on top, lest they be dug up by some animal.

  Su Xiaofan gazed at that small piece of land, then turned her eyes to look at the chickens and ducks in the enclosure, which were still jumping around. Her gaze inadvertently fell on a little chicken pecking at something in a corner of the enclosure, and after taking a few steps, its body began to shake, and it fell straight to the ground.

  A bad thought flashed through her mind, Su Xiaofan quickly walked around in a circle and went over to pick up the fallen chick, cradling it in the palm of her hand. Her palm still felt the residual warmth from its body, but she knew that this little life was already gone, because no matter how many times she shook her hand, it remained completely still.

  Ye Shi saw it and was stunned for a moment before asking: "Fan Er, are you going to dig another hole?"

  Su Xiaofan furrowed her brow and looked at the spot where the little chicken had been pecking earlier, but there was nothing special, just a small cluster of sticky rice grains.

  "Fan Er?" Ye Shi saw that she hadn't responded for half a day and shouted out again from across the railing.

  "Grandma, what did you add to the rice when feeding the chickens yesterday?" Su Xiaofan looked at the clump of sticky rice grains, unable to distinguish what was holding them together.

  "Yesterday?" Mr. Ye thought for a moment and then said, "What I fed yesterday wasn't rice, but the grass that was pulled back and the crushed corn kernels."

  Su Xiaofan was puzzled, could it be the leftover rice from a few days ago?

  Ye walked up to the fence and continued, "The rice we fed before was directly scattered in, nothing was added, and the land of Hu's family didn't use any medicine, so it shouldn't be fatal. Recently, they have been eating the grass from their field for several days."

  Su Xiaofan picked up the grain of rice on the ground, walked over, handed it to Ye Shi through the railing, and asked softly: "Grandma, what is this? The little chicken was pecking at this dead thing."

  "It can't be seen." Ye approached and looked carefully for a long time, but still couldn't see what was on it.

  "I'll keep it, and find some time to ask others later." Su Xiaofan handed the dead chick to Ye Shi, letting her bury it as she pleased. Then, holding the handful of rice grains, he returned to the courtyard, found a small piece of tattered cloth, wrapped them up, and stuffed them into his waist pouch. It was something he had made with Xiao Xi's guidance a few days ago when he was bored, although it didn't look very good, but at least it could hold some things.

  "What is that?" Xiao Yimiao crouched beside the rabbit hutch and saw her carefully putting something precious into her bag.

  Su Xiaofan glanced at him and replied softly: "The thing picked up in the fence, after the chick ate it, it died."

  Xiao Yi Mo's eyebrows slightly furrowed as she stood up and walked over to her side, extending her hand saying: "Let me take a look."

  Su Xiaofan hesitated for a moment, then took it out of her purse and handed it to him. Suddenly remembering something very important, she rushed towards the fence while shouting: "I'll go take a look if there's anything left inside, and clean it up if there is."

  Xiao Yimeng stared at her rapidly retreating back and couldn't help but loudly shout: "Slow down, don't fall again, I won't go find medicine for you!"

  Su Xiaofan's sprinting body slightly hesitated, and then smiled shyly.

  Busy searching inside the fence for half an hour, Su Xiaofan finally found the entire venue and ran back to the yard with a handful of rice grains in his hand, full of doubts.

  Xiao Yi's eyes swept over them lightly, and then he said: "Give those to me, and then you go wash your hands thoroughly."

  "Oh." Su Xiao Fan didn't understand what he meant, but still honestly put everything in his hand onto the cloth on his hand. Then he turned around and went to the kitchen sink, washed his hands several times, and then changed the water to clean the basin several times. After all, it was something that would kill a small chicken if eaten, so nothing could be left on her own hands or basin.

  When he came out of the kitchen, Xiao Yimeng's figure had already disappeared from the courtyard.

  "What's wrong? Fang Er." Ye Shi put down the iron shovel in her hand and saw her searching around the house.

  "Little treasure was just here, I washed my hands and came out to find no one." Su Xiaofan shook her hands, then wiped the sweat on her forehead with her wet hands. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and she still had to wear such long clothes every day, it was really unbearable.

  "Don't worry, although the young master is a city person, he has gotten used to coming to the countryside every day and will be back soon." Yeshi said as she entered the house.

  Su Xiaofan nodded, indeed, as a city person, he was familiar with these rural things, which was a bit strange. Moreover, he was only six years old, but occasionally gave people the feeling of being an adult, was he that legendary genius?

  At noon, Xiao Mo's small figure finally appeared in front of Su Xiaofan.

  Su Xiaofan jumped up from the stool and stepped into the courtyard, loudly asking: "I'm telling you, little ancestor, where have you been running around all day? If you don't come back soon, I'll have to go find people everywhere."

  "Don't call me Little Ancestor." Xiao Yimiao furrowed her brow and slowly walked past her side.

  "It's not like you're in a hurry, little treasure. Come and tell your sister where you've been this whole morning? It's already this late and I haven't even prepared lunch yet." Su Xiaofan followed behind him at a leisurely pace.

  "What you said, the chicken ate this and died. I took it home to ask someone about it." Xiao Yimò took out that package of things, then squatted down and put it on the ground inside Tang's house.

  Su Xiaofan also squatted down with him: "Does anyone in the village chief's family know?"

  Xiao Yimeng stretched out his hand and slapped away Su Xiaofan's hand, which was about to touch the package. With a serious face, he said: "That rice has been mixed with a kind of pesticide, it's used by farmers during the season when locusts are abundant to kill insects, but in recent years, fewer and fewer people in the village have been farming, and only a few households use this anymore."