Siheyuan: Started in 1950, third-level cook

The old hen in the Chen family lays three eggs a day, and the old hen raised by Jia Zhang might be able to lay four.

"Hahahahaha!"

Thinking that she could surpass the Chen family in raising chickens, Jia Zhang couldn't help laughing out loud.

Qin Huairu, who was standing by, looked at Jia Dongxu with complicated eyes and signaled him to take care of it.

How can you eat when you are so startled?

But Jia Dongxu pretended not to see it and just kept eating his steamed bun.

Jia Zhang did not discuss it with them. After dinner, she went back to her room, lifted the quilt, and took out a bag wrapped in a towel. The bag contained the pension money that Jia Zhang had saved.

Because it was pension money, Jia Zhang had no intention of discussing it with her son and daughter-in-law.

Buy five old hens. If they can lay four eggs a day, that would be twenty eggs.

The price is ten cents, which means sixty dollars a month!

Be nice!

Sixty yuan is more useful than two Jia Dongxu, and even as useful as Yi Zhonghai.

Jia Zhang, who has never worked in her life and has never made much money, has already started dreaming of getting rich.

I only make 60 yuan a month, why eat eggs? I must eat meat, eat meat every day!

The more Jia Zhang thought about it, the more happy it became. She put the money into her pocket and wished she could wait until dawn.

The next day, early in the morning.

After breakfast, Chen Jun took Lin Yao to the entrance of the alley to pick up the food.

When passing by the central courtyard, he found that the entrance to the Jia family was extremely lively. Not only was there a circle of aunts and sisters-in-law surrounding the house, but even Xu Damao was standing on tiptoe to look inside.

Chen Jun walked over curiously and found that Jia Zhang was directing Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu to build a chicken coop.

At Jia Zhang's feet, there were five old hens with their feet tied.

Tsk, Jia Zhang actually bought an old hen, Chen Jun was immediately delighted!

This old hag probably saw that her old hens were making money, so she wanted to follow suit and raise old hens.

But why didn’t she think about it before buying the chickens? Why didn’t other people in the yard follow suit and raise chickens?

Raising chickens in the yard in the dead of winter, a normal old hen would not be able to lay eggs, and it would be good enough if it could survive until the beginning of next spring.

"Oh my, I think Jia Zhang wants to outdo the Chen family. She actually bought five old hens."

"Of course. The Chen family keeps three, but Jia Zhang bought five. What a generous act!"

"These five old hens must have cost at least a dozen yuan, right? That's almost half a month's salary for Jia Dongxu."

"Don't talk nonsense. Jia Dongxu doesn't even have a salary right now. He was fined three months' salary by the factory. He will only get one month's salary the next month after next."

"Tsk tsk, the Jia family always complained about being poor and saying how difficult it was. Now it seems that their family is not in difficulty. They bought five old hens at once."

"Poor ass! If their family is poor, then our family will have no chance of survival."

Hearing the murmurs of the people in the courtyard, Xu Damao, who was watching the excitement, couldn't help but ask, "Jia Zhang, where did you get the money to buy chickens?"

Jia Zhang glared at Xu Damao angrily and said loudly: "It's none of your business!"

"Hahahaha, it's my business. Since your family is not short of money, don't clamor for donations in the future." Xu Damao yelled.

Although Xu Damao had never donated much money to the Jia family, Yi Zhonghai's previous call for donations from people in the courtyard had made everyone very upset.

These days, no one is rich, and everyone has to donate money to the Jia family.

"Xu Damao, please don't say that. If this chicken dies, we will have to donate money to the Jia family again. Hahaha!" No one knew who echoed Xu Damao's words, causing everyone in the yard to burst into laughter.

"Get out of here, all of you, get out of here! I can raise as many chickens as I want at home, it's none of your business!"

Jia Zhang realized that they were making fun of her, and immediately started to drive them away waving a stick.

Got it!

The people in the yard didn't bother to argue with her, and they all went away chatting and laughing.

Some went to work, some went out to do other things, leaving Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu to work hard on building the chicken coop.

Chen Jun just smiled when he saw this. He was not in a hurry to buy the other three old hens. Maybe he could buy Jia Zhang's old hens at a low price after a while.

Looking at the backs of Chen Jun and Lin Yao leaving, Jia Zhang curled her lips in dissatisfaction.

"What a bunch of damned things! I'll envy you to death when my old hen makes money!"

"Then you'll all have to line up to buy eggs from me!"

Jia Zhang was sure of the people in the courtyard. She thought that since the New Year was just around the corner, there would be no problem selling eggs.

At that time, she could even raise the price and sell them for 1.1 cents each, or even 1.2 cents each.

My hands cramped from counting money!

......

Time flies, and two or three days have passed. It is the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year atmosphere in the courtyard has become more and more intense.

Some families have already started steaming buns and preparing New Year’s goods.

The children who were originally going to school were also on holiday at this time, and the sound of firecrackers could be heard from time to time in the alley.

The entire courtyard was more festive than usual.

But only Jia Zhang was not happy because she found that there was something wrong with her five old hens.

When no eggs were laid on the first day, Jia Zhang comforted herself by saying that the old hen also had to adapt to the new nest.

The next day, the old hen still didn't lay eggs, so Jia Zhang gritted her teeth and added some more crushed corn and rotten vegetable leaves.

But on the third day, Jia Zhang was no longer calm. She went to check the chicken coop early in the morning. She went there more than ten times in the morning. In the end, she even brought a stool and sat in front of the chicken coop.

Because it's convenient for her to touch the chicken's butt!

Qin Huairu originally had some complaints about raising chickens. Raising chickens is a big deal, but Jia Zhang actually acted without authorization.

She came from the countryside and her family had raised chickens before. She knew that winter was not a good time to raise chickens.

But Jia Zhang refused to listen to the advice at all. She not only wanted to raise chickens, but also wanted to feed them with the crushed corn at home.

These broken corns are saved for making cornmeal during the New Year!

Although Qin Huairu had complaints, she only dared to mutter about Jia Zhang in her heart.

The whole morning passed and there was still no movement in the chicken coop.

After lunch, Jia Zhang went to the chicken coop again.

This time she simply stepped one foot into the chicken coop and touched the butts of each chicken.

I touched two in a row, but found nothing.

When she touched the third one, she suddenly felt a warmth in her palm. Before Jia Zhang could be happy, she found that she had dug up a pile of chicken shit.

"Ugh! That's disgusting!"

Jia Zhang had just finished lunch and shook her hands in disgust, but her luck was bad, as the chicken shit landed directly on her pants.

Got it!

Since they were all dirty, Jia Zhang simply wiped her hands on her pants, planning to change her pants later and let Qin Huairu wash them.

In this way, Jia Zhang touched all five old hens, but didn't find a single egg.

This made Jia Zhang very angry.

"Useless piece of trash, eating so much and pooping so much every day, but not laying an egg!"

"I'll give you another half day. If you still don't lay eggs, I'll stew and eat you!" Jia Zhang's helpless rage scared the old hens so much that they huddled together, curled up in the chicken coop and trembled.