Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Scamming Duck
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Although Zhou Yu was a fool, he was not sloppy in his work.
Soon, the large vat in the courtyard was cleaned and filled with water.
Zhou Xiaoli and the two little fellows had also cleaned up the room and made the bed by then. Zhou Yu then carried Zhang Lan to the bed to rest.
At this moment, Zhang Lan felt that she was a burden. She struggled, unwilling to lie on the bed and wanted to help.
Zhou Xiaoli comforted her. “Mother, now that we’ve moved, you can have a good rest and recuperate. When you recover, we’ll have a good life in the future.”
Zhou Xiaoli spoke with confidence and hope.
Zhang Lan, on the other hand, was not as optimistic as Zhou Xiaoli was. They had nothing now, and she was a burden to their family. How could they have a good life?
However, she could not show her true feelings in front of the children and make them worry. She could only nod hopefully.
After comforting Zhang Lan, Zhou Xiaoli went back to work.
—
In the evening.
In the courtyard, the two little fellows squatted at the kitchen door, their heads pressed against each other as they cleaned the things in the kitchen.
Zhou Xiaoli had also cleaned up the kitchen.
Zhou Yu returned with a bundle of firewood and started to clear the weeds in the courtyard.
Zhou Xiaoli and the little fellows brought the clean wooden bowls and cauldrons into the kitchen.
After working for so long, her stomach began to rumble as soon as she stopped working.
Zhou Xiaoli rubbed her belly and looked up at the sky. It was indeed time for dinner.
But what would they eat for dinner?
When they came out of the Zhou family courtyard, Lai Jinniang had given them taros. They could steam them and make taro paste.
Should they also go to the foot of the mountain behind the village to dig some wild vegetables? It would be even better if they could get a few wild chickens and ducks.
Just as Zhou Xiaoli was thinking about it, a strange cry came from the courtyard suddenly and interrupted her in her thoughts.
After listening for a while, Zhou Xiaoli located the direction from which the cry came from. It came from the alley between the kitchen and the main house.
Zhou Xiaoli looked inside and saw a pile of weeds.
It was summer now, and the grass in the alley grew vigorously. It was very easy for snakes and ants to hide in the grass.
Thinking of this, Zhou Xiaoli picked up a wooden stick and slowly walked into the alley.
Just as she approached the grass slowly, she heard another cry. This time, she heard it clearly. It was a quacking sound. Before Zhou Xiaoli could confirm what it was, a fat duck rushed out from inside the alley.
Then, before Zhou Xiaoli could react, it tripped over a vine and fell headfirst at Zhou Xiaoli’s feet. Its neck tilted and it stopped moving.
Zhou Xiaoli was speechless. Ah, a duck doing a scam?
For a moment, Zhou Xiaoli remained stunned before bending down to pick up the ‘stupid’ duck. She could not help but sighed. “Heh, it’s quite fat.”
At this moment, a few more quacks came from the grass. However, the sound was obviously much younger. It was obvious that it was the cry of a duckling.
Sure enough, when Zhou Xiaoli pushed aside the grass, she saw five ducklings.
“Sis, are we going to dig wild vegetables…”
Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun ran over to look for Zhou Xiaoli. When they saw the duck in Zhou Xiaoli’s hand, their mouths widened. “Duck, duck…”
Zhou Xiaoli was amused by their expressions. She pinched Zhou Xiaoyu’s face and pointed at the grass. “Look, there are five ducklings here.”
This time, the two little fellows were completely excited. They surrounded the ducklings and were overjoyed.
The two little fellows looked at the ducklings for a while before running into the house excitedly, wanting to share the good news with Zhang Lan. “Mother, Mother, there’s a duckling…”
By the time Zhou Xiaoyu explained to Zhang Lan what she saw with much excited waving of her hands, Zhou Xiaoli had already returned to the room with the duck.
When she saw the big fat duck in Zhou Xiaoli’s hand, Zhang Lan was also shocked and pleasantly surprised. “It’s really a duck?”
Zhou Xiaoli said happily. “Of course. This duck is very fat. It’s enough for our family to eat a few meals.”
Zhou Xiaoyu gestured excitedly at Zhang Lan. “And ducklings.”
Zhou Xiaoli nodded. “Yes, there are five of them. Father is setting up a fence. Let’s raise them first. When they grow up, we will have duck eggs to eat.”
The world of children was very simple. When she heard that there would be duck meat to eat and duck eggs to eat in the future, Zhou Xiaoyu clapped her hands happily. “There will be ducks to eat.”
Zhang Lan was also infected by the joyous atmosphere. Her originally gray face livened up.
Zhou Yu’s movements were quick, and he quickly removed the weeds in the corner of the wall. He used tree branches to form a fence around the corner.
Afraid that the ducks would get wet, Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun even found wooden sticks and weeds to build a shed for them.
It seemed to be the ducklings’ first time interacting with humans. They were very afraid as they huddled in the corner.
Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun surrounded the fence and looked at the ducklings happily.
After watching for a while, Zhou Xiaoyu asked. “Sister, are the ducks hungry? What do they eat?”
Zhou Xiaoli thought for a moment. There was no food to feed them at home, so she said, “Yes, we can catch insects and feed them.”
Zhou Xiaoyu immediately perked up. “I know how to catch bugs.”
With that, she staggered to the grass in the courtyard to look for insects. Zhou Junjun followed closely behind.
Zhou Xiaoli went to the kitchen and began to deal with the duck.
When she was a carp, she often ran to the next realm and sneaked into various restaurants to learn how to cook as she loved good food. The fact that she could often sneak in to listen to Immortal Tai Yi’s preaching was also due to her good culinary skills.
Therefore, it was not difficult for her to deal with a duck.
Zhang Lan didn’t want to keep lying down. Zhou Xiaoli couldn’t win against her, so she agreed to help start the fire.
It would not be tiring for her to sit and keep the fire going.
Zhou Yu went out to gather firewood again. Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun were still lying in the grass to catch insects.
After the entire duck was cleaned up, Zhou Xiaoli cut it open and took half of it to the next room to thank Uncle Liu for taking them in.
However, just as she walked out of the door, she saw Uncle Liu’s daughter, Liu Yuanyuan, running home angrily. She did not even close the door before questioning her parents loudly.
“Mother, Mother! Everyone says that our family took in the jinx’s family. Is that true?”
Hearing this, Liu Liangcai frowned and said reproachfully. “Look at you. Is this what a girl should say?”
Upon hearing this, Liu Yuanyuan knew that the rumor was true. She immediately objected. “Father, why did you take that jinx in? She jinxed Guihua’s third brother and broke his leg. What if our family takes her in and we become unlucky as well! Mother, why didn’t you stop Father!”
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