Zhao Ergou's eyes lit up: "It's a chicken! There are chickens nearby!"
The other three boys held their breath and focused, their four dark eyes searching through the trees.
Zhao Sidan pointed into the trees, then gestured with his hand, and the four of them moved in unison.
The crowing grew louder.
"Two chickens!" Zhao Sidan's excited face flushed crimson: "We caught two chickens!"
Zhao Dashan scratched the back of his head: "Why do these two wild chickens look like domestic chickens? How did they end up in the forest?"
Zhao Ergou swallowed: "We'll have chicken to eat tonight."
Zhao Sanniu was eager to try: "These two chickens are really plump. Let me wring their necks so they don't run away halfway."
Cheng Loanloan: "..."
She released the two chickens not for these boys to eat their meat, but to eat their eggs!
She opened her mouth: "These two wild chickens seem to be hens. A hen can lay one egg a day, so two chickens can lay two eggs a day. If we raise these two chickens, you'll all have chicken eggs to eat every day from now on."
The eyes of the four boys began to shine.
Having chicken eggs to eat every day was something they had never even dared to dream of before.
Zhao Sidan swallowed: "Mother, can these two chickens really lay eggs?"
Cheng Loanloan wondered if she should buy some eggs and place them under the chickens, pretending the two chickens laid them themselves. At this moment, the two chickens suddenly sat down on the ground.
The four boys also squatted down, their eyes fixed on the two chickens.
Zhao Sidan asked in confusion: "What are they doing?"
Zhao Dashan sighed: "It looks like they're laying eggs."
Zhao Sanniu looked at his eldest brother: "Laying, laying, they're really laying!"
Zhao Ergou was also full of disbelief: "They laid two!"
Cheng Loanloan was filled with embarrassment.
These four boys were truly surprised.
An outsider hearing them would think they were giving birth to children.
The two chickens, having just laid eggs, wanted to run away, but Zhao Sanniu picked them up, tied grass around their legs, and put them into a basket.
The five mother and children returned to Daha Village in high spirits.
Cheng Loanloan let the four boys carry the basket home and then walked towards the village chief's house.
As soon as she reached the center of the village, she saw the village chief standing on the cracked dry fields, observing the situation of the land, surrounded by many people asking questions.
"Village Chief, what exactly did the County Magistrate say?"
"There's no food in the fields. Will the County Magistrate distribute imperial relief grain to our Daha Village?"
"I heard that corn in the town has risen to twelve wen per catty, is that true?"
"..."
The village chief had a terrible headache.
He didn't know how to answer these questions. Lying was not his style of dealing with people, but telling the truth might cause panic among the villagers.
Just then, Cheng Loanloan walked over, her expression serious, and said: "Village Chief, I just went up the mountain and saw more than thirty people from Guihua Village lingering on the peak of our Daha Village."
The village chief frowned: "What do so many people want to do?"
"The leader is a fat man. From what he said, he wants to gather a group of people to come to our Daha Village to steal food."
Cheng Loanloan had no intention of hiding anything and told them everything she had heard. This was not just the village chief's problem, but a problem for everyone in Daha Village!
Upon hearing her words, the surrounding villagers all became angry.
"The people of Guihua Village are shameless!"
"More than twenty years ago, the two villages fought a battle, and our Daha Village won. Do they still dare to come?"
"Didn't Sister-in-law Zhao say it already? The people of Guihua Village want to steal food. They can't win in the open, so they're resorting to sneaky tricks!"
"Then we'll teach them a lesson first!"