The sun was setting in the west.
Cheng Luanluan led the four boys home.
Today, her harvest was quite good. After a detour, she found about three to four catties of pine mushrooms. Her assets had always fluctuated around one hundred and twenty taels.
Moreover, having solved the water source problem, she was in a good mood.
But after she came down the mountain, a piece of bad news wiped the smile off her face.
"Old Lady Zhao Er from the village head starved to death." Wu Huiniang said, her face pale, "Old Lady Zhao Er's in-laws still had some food. Even if it was scarce, she could have eaten grass and tree bark to fill her stomach. How could she have starved to death? It's just that Old Lady Zhao Er saved her food for her eldest grandson. She hadn't eaten a single grain of rice for three days. When she died, her stomach was sunken..."
Zhao Dashan shook his head, "A few days ago, I saw Old Lady Zhao Er in the fields. She said that Daha Village had angered the gods, and this year there would be continuous disasters. If they didn't starve to death, they would die for other reasons. Old Lady Zhao Er is old, it's likely she didn't want to live anymore..."
Cheng Luanluan fell silent for a moment.
Even if she was tired of living, she surely would have wanted to be a well-fed ghost.
The old woman starved to death just to save food for her descendants.
This was the first time since Cheng Luanluan arrived in this era that she truly felt the suffering brought by hunger, casting a shadow over the entire Daha Village.
Old Lady Zhao hurried over before it got dark. She called Zhao Dashan, "When you were little, Old Lady Zhao Er held you. Go over and light an incense stick for her later."
Zhao Dashan silently agreed to go.
Old Lady Zhao saw Cheng Luanluan picking vegetables in the yard and walked over, whispering, "Didn't you ask about Miss Sun from Guihua Village last time? I asked around in the village. All the matchmakers said that Miss Sun is about to get engaged to Zhao Qian’gen, Zhao Youcai's eldest son. What's going on?"
Cheng Luanluan replied dryly, "I misunderstood. Er Gou's marriage still needs more consideration."
Old Lady Zhao nodded, "I'll go back and ask the matchmaker..."
As she was speaking, she saw Zhao Sidan come out holding a basket of chopped wild vegetables. He poured the vegetables into the yard, and from a corner, two chickens rushed out, flapping and pecking at the wild vegetables.
The old lady asked in surprise, "Weren't your family's chickens already butchered?"
Zhao Sidan giggled and replied, "Grandma, you don't know, but these are two wild chickens we caught on the mountain last time. Wild chickens lay eggs, you know, two eggs a day!"
Old Lady Zhao stared suspiciously at the two hens.
She had lived for more than half her life, and this was the first time she had seen wild chickens that looked exactly like domestic chickens.
But if someone's two hens were missing, the whole village would have been in an uproar by now.
It must be truly wild.
"Grandma, will wild chicken eggs hatch chicks?" Zhao Sidan blinked his eyes, "Currently, my family only has two chickens. Mother hens give birth to chicks. In a few months, my family will have many chickens. Every day I'll get to eat many chicken eggs!"
Old Lady Zhao smiled helplessly, "You need a rooster to hatch chicks."
Cheng Luanluan stopped what she was doing. Why hadn't she thought of hatching chicks? Next time she went up the mountain, she would secretly buy a rooster from the market. Then she could hatch chicks.
A fragrant smell wafted from the kitchen.
Cheng Luanluan stood up and said, "Mother, please sit here and eat. There's enough food."
Old Lady Zhao turned and walked out, "It's not like I came for food. There's still a lot to do at home. I'm leaving."
She quickly disappeared through the courtyard gate.
Cheng Loanloan was speechless. Was the Old Madam afraid she would make some outrageous demand at the dinner table?