Chapter 26 - Chicken ?
Accompany by a Fool to do Farming
Chapter 26: 鸡仔 (Chicken ?)
Translator : LittleYen
After shopping, Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an went to Uncle Huang’s house. Huang Amu, who opened the door,was both happy and worried when he saw it was them.
“Huang Amu, Uncle Huang.”Zhong Ziqi greeted them with a calm face, as if nothing had happened.
“Qi Ge’er…” Huang Amu looked at him with a desire to say something.
Zhong Ziqi knew he couldn’t hide it from them: “You’ve heard about that matter, right?”
“Already know! ” Uncle Huang sighed, the whole pier was noisy and tumultuous with the news, most of them were ‘rejoice in other people’s misfortune’, only few were regretful.
“Qi Ge’er, this Chang Shun restaurant is not a good place to mess with, it has the backing of the magistrate. We,as ordinary people, can’t afford to mess with them. If you can’t—just sell the recipes!” Huang Amu said worriedly.
Zhong Ziqi’s heart was warmed, knowing that these old couple were genuinely looking out for him.The old couple, who had only had one son all their lives. This son had been drafted into the army the years before. Now almost three years have passed.The first two years, he would write to them, but this year, they didn’t receive a single letter, which made them very anxious, but they couldn’t do anything about it. The appearance of Zhong Ziqi and his friends diverted their attention. The four energetic figures gave them something to look forward to. Their hearts were full of love.The worries about their son were also diluted.
“Amu, Uncle, don’t you guys worry, I’ve already put the recipe —sold.” Zhong Ziqi said plainly, but it startled those who were listening.
“Sold it? Who did you sell it to?” Huang Amu and Uncle Huang froze.
“Sold it to Jin Hua Restaurant.”
“Jin Hua … this … Qi Ge’er, although Jin Hua is good, but, this…in case, what if Chang Shun comes looking for trouble?” Uncle Huang frowned and asked.
Zhong Ziqi smiled a nice smile, “Jin Hua promised to help me settle the matter with Chang Shun, so, now you can put your hearts into your stomach!”
“Hey …… that’s good! .” The worry on Huang Amu’s face immediately disappeared. Jin Hua restaurant in their hearts was on very high status, very powerful.The fact that Jin Hua has been in business for so many years and no one dares to get into trouble is a testament to this.
“That is also good, what are your plans for the future, Qi Ge’er?” Uncle Huang asked.
“I haven’t thought about it yet.” Zhong Ziqi replied honestly, “I came to tell you that I’m not going to rent the booth for some time until I’ve decided what to do.”
“Okay, then you – come and visit us if you have nothing to do.” Huang Amu said reluctantly. It seemed like there was only this little bond between them.
“I will, I won’t forget Uncle Huang and Huang Amu’s help.” They were the only people who were strangers to each other yet still willing to help him so he would not be ingratitude.
When he came out of Huang Amu’s house, he took away all the miscellaneous things that belonged to him, although it was heavy on his back, but Zhong Ziqi felt a lot more relaxed, mentally and spiritually. He had been mentally tense for half a month. Now he finally could rest a little.
“This Fu Lang, buy some chicken!”
Zhong Ziqi’s confused emotions were brought back to life by a greeting. It turned out that he had come to a place where chickens, ducks and geese were sold. There were the live ones,the dead ones, the big ones, and also little chicks which just broke out from their shells, fluffy, huddled together, chattering, and super cute.
Zhao Zheng’an was already squatting there watching with great interest, occasionally reaching out to touch and scare away a large group, amusing him, making him keep giggling.
“How much for one?” Zhong Ziqi asked.
Zhao Zheng’an’s eyes glowed as he looked at him, Zhong Ziqi noticed that whenever he was happy, his eyes would light up like two big bulbs, so that one could not help but be attracted to them.
Although he has little experience in farming, he can learn, right? In this day and age, eggs are very expensive, so he might as well raise the chicken himself.
If the chickens live, they eat eggs, if they die, they eat chicken meat. It’s worth it, anyway, moreover chickens are easy to raise.
You can throw some grass at it every day and it will grow big in a flash =_=.
“Smaller ones cost 2 wen each, bigger ones cost 3 wen each, which one do you want?”
Of course Zhong Ziqi wanted to buy a bigger one, the smaller ones hadn’t broken from their shells long ago and were not strong enough.It would be a pity if he,as a novice, caused the smaller chickens to die so the bigger one would be better— one that can withstand being toss from side to side.
“Big brother, I want to buy a big one, can you give me a cheaper price?”
“This is really a super low price.” The big brother selling the chicken also said with difficulty.
When Zhong Ziqi saw that there was a chance, he bargained with him.In the end,he successfully bargained with him for the price of 5 wen for two chickens. He finally bought ten chickens, eight hens and two roosters, as well as a small nest made of straw.
Zhao Zheng’an was carrying a lot of things on his back,yet he was snatching it from him to hold the nest with ten chicks in his hands, with a foolish smile on his face. It was clear that he was happy and not afraid of being tired.
“Zheng’an, the chick will be taken care of by you to serve, okay?” When Zhong Ziqi saw that Zhao Zheng’an liked it, teasing him.
Zhao Zheng’an nodded his head with a serious face: “What do they eat?”
“They eat grass, and worms.”
Zhao Zheng’an nodded while he had taken note of it in his heart, thinking that in the future, if the hens laid eggs, he would give all to his wife to eat.
When they got out of the city gate, they found Uncle Zhao. They immediately put their things there before they jumped into the carriage. Zhao Er Shu didn’t ask them what they were doing, he just said, “Sit tight!” Then they set off with the carriage and walked away.
When they arrived at the village, Zhong Ziqi handed the money to Zhao Er Shu and went home with Zhao Zheng’an.
When they opened the door, Da Hei and Xiao Hei, who were playing in the yard, immediately ran over and barked happily. They were already familiar with each other in the past few days, and were not being overcautious anymore,the dogs were very enthusiastic so they would toss from side to side.
Zhong Ziqi smiled helplessly, he had forgotten that there were two of them at home, so he had to put a fence around it as soon as possible, otherwise the chicken would be eaten by the dogs before they grew up.
He put the nest with the chickens on a chair, unloaded the bamboo basket on his back to take out the spices, pots, pans, bowls, ladles, pots, etc, inside to the kitchen cupboard, all in a good order.
After this, Zhong Ziqi asked Zhao Zheng’an to stay home to watch the house while he went to Zhao Amu’s house.
Zhao Amu had obviously heard the news from Zhao Ning and Zhao Sheng. He was thinking of going to Zhong Ziqi’s house at noon to ask about his plans, but neither of them was home.
Zhong Ziqi already came here so he did not hide the situation, said: “I just went to sell the recipe to Jin Hua, the largest restaurant in town, they promised me to take care of this,so you do not have to worry.” Then he paused for a moment: “Zhao Amu, from today onwards, don’t take any more vegetables, I’ll take the rest home.”
The three of them (mother and sons) were clearly still in shock,so they had not yet recovered. It was Zhao Bao Gen who said in a muffled voice: “Come back, and get down to farming! “
Zhao Baogen, as an honest farmer, had no great ambition, no great ability, and had never left for another town beside Qing Shui town in his life. He had only felt that farming was the safest and most comforting thing in his life.
Zhong Ziqi did not retort, just said he will think about it. He had thought about farming but one of his future plans was to become a big landlord, buy a lot of land and rent it out to others, how carefree!
But it was still early, so it was time to push on while the momentum was there.
After a long talk at Zhao Amu’s house, Zhong Ziqi went home. When he reached the center of the village, he turned his feet as he went to his family’s field. He had been so busy for so long that he had forgotten about how it was.Following the memory of the last time,he walked to the land that belonged to their family, where the rice was already very high. It would probably be harvested in a month’s time.
In her last life, Zhong Ziqi was a true city man to the core.Apart from his written knowledge and the school trip to the countryside experience when he was at school, he had never really been exposed to farming, but one thing he knew was that it would be very tiring.
When he got home, Zhao Zheng’an was feeding the chicks with grass but the chicks ?? didn’t give a damn about him, yet he didn’t get impatient and still tried to get their attention. (Tl: lol ???)
Zhong Ziqi watched for a while, suddenly he realized that Zhao Zheng’an was really attentive unlike other men who were carelessly and haphazardly negligent.
Whenever he was unhappy, he would be the first to notice, when he ate little, he would give himself a bowl full of dishes, when he is tired after work hard, he would snatch work from him to do, just for his own good.
It seemed like the best, a normal person could do, right?
How could he not be touched?
How could his heart not become…warm?
