Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 284 - 53: Only the One Who Tied the Bell Can Untie It (Part 2)

Chapter 284: Chapter 53: Only the One Who Tied the Bell Can Untie It (Part 2) freёnovelkiss.com

As Zhuo Feng tied on the apron and sharpened the kitchen knife, approaching the hen step by step, the hen tied by its feet miraculously broke free from the straw rope binding its legs and started fluttering around the house. This was the scene Xiao Xian saw right when he walked in the door.

"My brother-in-law’s mom? So, should I call her Grandma?" Xiao Xian heard there were guests at home, and from the look of it, they were from the village. Seeing Zhuo Feng’s embarrassed state, he also found it somewhat amusing.

When a city daughter-in-law runs into a mother-in-law from the countryside, it is quite a predicament. Just watching Wang Chunhua and Qian Duoduo’s daughter-in-law, they would argue every few days—a big fight every five days. The New Year just can’t be spent in peace. Looking at Zhuo Feng’s appearance, it seems the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law probably don’t get along very well either.

"Whatever I call her, she even says she’s going to celebrate the New Year here. It’s all over now, completely over. Every time I see that old demon, it’s just like Sun Wukong seeing Buddha, sigh, my good days are coming to an end." Zhuo Feng originally had everything planned out. He was going to take advantage of the New Year to properly coax Feng Xing and get things settled. But now with the mother-in-law’s arrival, she could expect all the old issues to be dredged up again, along with other troublesome matters.

With only two rooms at home, Xiao Xian would occupy one and she and her husband another. Where would the old lady stay? Such an experienced old lady, if asked to stay in a hotel, might as well take a kitchen knife and treat her daughter-in-law like a hen that doesn’t lay eggs and slaughter her.

Xiao Xian hadn’t even finished asking his question when the door opened, and Feng Xing returned. Seeing Zhuo Feng’s disheveled state and then looking at the chicken crouching on the ground, as well as the apples and potatoes scattered everywhere, he guessed that it must have been his mother who came.

"Mom’s here?" Feng Xing asked.

"She is. You didn’t even give me a heads up that Mom was coming, got me... got the house all in a mess," Zhuo Feng said in annoyance, and walked into the kitchen to wash rice and cook, leaving the chicken flapping its wings, strutting around the floor.

"I just received the telegram," Xiao Xian made a face at Feng Xing, who was busy tidying up, found a sack, and picked up all the apples and potatoes that had rolled onto the ground.

After the ground was swept clean and everything else was tidied up, the hen was tied to the kitchen door by Feng Xing. The legendary "Granny Feng" also returned.

"Son, you’re back? Let me look at you, you heartless brat, oh, once you got a wife you forgot your mom. If it weren’t for your dad finishing the harvest early this year, giving me some free time, who knows what year and month I’d get to see you." Xiao Xian kept quiet, the old lady seemed quite robust, climbing the stairs into the house without getting out of breath or having aching back, her voice booming like a big copper gong when she spoke.

Looking over at Feng Xing, he just scratched his head with an embarrassed grin. Feng Xing felt somewhat ashamed; he hadn’t gone home last year due to work, and the year before he had just married Zhuo Feng and went to Wenzhou to visit his mother-in-law.

As for the year before that, what he had been up to, in short, it had been three years since he had last made it back to his hometown. No wonder his mother was fretting and had eagerly turned up on their doorstep. Granny Feng arrived at the train station and bought a train ticket, then remembered to send a telegram first. Since she couldn’t read, she had the telegrapher help write a short message and sent it over.

"Mom, if you come that’s fine, but why bring so much stuff? You know, Beijing has everything, whatever you bring won’t be eaten," Feng Xing specifically pointed out the hen. Zhuo Feng didn’t like animals.

"Who said that? Son, if you don’t go grocery shopping, you wouldn’t know. The vegetables in Beijing are really expensive, especially the greens; a bunch of greens costs three yuan. I waited for half a day until the vegetable seller had sold everything, then I picked up some leftover leaves, much cheaper, only one yuan for a big bag. And about the eggs, why are they so expensive here? They call them ’free-range eggs,’ but I can tell they’re fake. They think I’m from the countryside and want to overcharge me—one yuan for an egg. Old lady me, I’ve been raising chickens since I was a kid. Just by looking at the rear of the hen, I can tell how big the eggs will be," Granny Feng took out the vegetables she bought, showing them off like treasures.

Zhuo Feng leaned in for a closer look and nearly passed out. What kind of dishes are these? Missing limbs and all, they clearly look like leftovers from someone else’s sale.

"Mom, stop fussing. Let’s go out to eat," Feng Xing, worried that Xiao Xian would laugh at them, hurriedly pulled his mother toward the door.

"Go where? We have ready-made food at home, why not eat it? That hen hasn’t been slaughtered yet, has it? If it hasn’t, then good. Don’t kill it. Not to brag, but the hens my old lady raises lay double-yolked eggs, one every day, and that’s unlike some chickens that just eat rice without laying eggs. We can build a coop inside the house and keep it to save money on eggs," Old Lady Feng said, rolling her eyes at Zhuo Feng.

Her eye roll covered quite a range, as her slightly presbyopic eyes just noticed another person had joined them in the house.

"Hello, Grandma," Xiao Xian nudged Zhuo Feng, signaling her to carry the groceries inside, and while looking at Granny Feng, she felt like she was back in Ge Village, seeing the rural women like Sister-in-law Lian and Granny Bai, who were chatty and gossipy, yet warm-hearted.

"Where did this young lady come from?" Feng Xing’s mother looked around.

"Mom, she’s Zhuo Feng’s niece, her brother’s child. Her name is Xiao Xian, and she’s eleven years old this year," Feng Xing hurriedly introduced Xiao Xian, trying to divert his mother’s attention.

"What? Another rice consumer," When Feng Xing’s mother heard that there was one more person who would eat for free, she began to worry about her son’s salary.

"..." Zhuo Feng couldn’t hold back any longer and turned on the gas stove in the kitchen with a clank, the spatula knocking against the pots and pans noisily.

"Mom, let’s not talk about it, alright? You want to build a chicken coop, right? We can’t do it inside the house, let’s go outside. There’s a rooftop, and next to the stairs, there’s some empty space where I can nail together some wooden planks for it," Feng Xing hastily picked up the pace to find something soon for his mother to do, otherwise their home would soon erupt in chaos.

Only then did Feng Xing’s mother reluctantly pick up the chicken and followed her son out the door.

Xiao Xian entered the kitchen, where Zhuo Feng was grumpily stir-frying, "Auntie, don’t be upset. Old people are all like that."

"Just wait, it’s only the beginning. Who knows what it’ll turn into later," Zhuo Feng said decisively, adding a spoonful of salt to the dish and, upon realizing she put in too much, hurriedly added some water to the pot.

If life were as simple as using salt, where you could just fix any excess by adding water, then that wouldn’t really be called life. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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