Those two large chickens didn't look like wild fowl, which could easily arouse suspicion and lead to unnecessary trouble.
But if he caught a large rooster on the mountain in front of the village head, then everything would be clear.
No sooner said than done, Cheng Loanloan immediately went to the market to buy a breeding rooster with colorful feathers and a vibrant comb, costing her eighty *wen* of copper coins.
She fell back a few steps to release the rooster.
"Cluck!"
The rooster flapped its wings and flew out, heading straight for Zhao Ergou.
Zhao Ergou was contemplating the matter of digging an irrigation ditch. Although it had been decided, there were still many details to finalize. He was deep in thought...
Suddenly, something pounced on him. Startled, he dodged to the side.
"What a huge chicken!" Zhao Tiezhu's eyes lit up. Before anyone could react, he suddenly pounced and grabbed the rooster's wing. "Hahaha, Grandpa, Dad, Second Uncle, I caught a wild chicken! We'll have wild chicken tonight, hahaha!"
This child was laughing foolishly.
Zhao Ergou was filled with regret. A chicken had flown right to him, yet he had dodged it.
Such a large rooster, probably at least four *jin*. Since it couldn't lay eggs, he could just wring its neck and take it home to stew or roast... Thinking this, Zhao Ergou's mouth immediately watered, and then he felt even more regretful.
Cheng Loanloan: "..."
What a failure. She hadn't expected Zhao Tiezhu to react so quickly. He truly was the smartest child in Dah River Village.
She moved a few steps to the side and spent another eighty *wen* on another large rooster... This time, the large rooster flew towards Zhao Dashan.
Zhao Dashan was quick-handed and sharp-eyed, Zhao Ergou was seething with anger, Zhao Sanniu was dumbfounded, and Zhao Sidan was afraid the chicken would run away, so the four boys rushed forward simultaneously.
"Squawk! Squawk!"
The rooster was pinned underneath, continuously letting out tragic cries.
Cheng Loanloan quickly pulled the children away. If this chicken was crushed to death, she would have to buy another rooster...
Fortunately, this rooster had a strong will to live and was still flapping its wings, trying to escape.
Zhao Dashan used a vine to tie up the rooster and tossed it into a basket.
"These two chickens look exactly alike," the village head said with surprise. "This year, wild chickens are even more beautiful and majestic than farmed chickens. There must be some kind of undiscovered food source in these mountains. We should try to find it when we have time."
Cheng Loanloan grumbled to herself, "Village Head, you're overthinking it. These two roosters grew up on modern artificial feed. How could they look bad?"
The two families descended the mountain together, each having caught a large rooster, which drew curious villagers to gather around.
"There are so many good things on the mountain!" The village head suppressed his excitement. "Inform everyone that in one *ke* of time, all the villagers should gather here. I have some good news to tell everyone."
The entire village buzzed with excitement.
"There's no water today, so it must be good news related to water."
"Did the village head agree to some conditions from Guihua Village? Did the people of Guihua Village agree to let us fetch water from there?"
"The people of Guihua Village are very difficult to deal with. I'm afraid our village will have to give up half of our grain."
"What grain does our village even have left? All our hope rests on the fields. If it doesn't rain, we won't have a single grain of rice."
"Don't even talk about the fields. Right now, we don't even have water to drink..."
The villagers slowly gathered in the open space next to the large pagoda tree.
Dahe Village had a total of one hundred and ninety-seven households. Some houses contained four generations living together, while others had four or five people living together after the family split. Old and young alike had arrived, over a thousand people, filling the open space.