Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten-Chapter 22 - 21: Humans eat meat, chickens also eat meat

Gong Ruini heard the commotion next to her and immediately got up quickly.

Cai Meina noticed the commotion and saw that Gong Ruini had already gotten up, "Ni Zi, sleep a bit longer, I’ll get up to make breakfast."

The men were going to spend the whole day up in the mountains today, trying to hunt as much as possible because if they catch less game, they would have to spend money to buy it.

According to Zhao Gang’s advice, it would be best to catch the animals themselves, not only to avoid standing out but also to show the surrounding villagers that Gong Tao is capable, so they wouldn’t be excluded when work arises in the spring.

And most importantly, if they solve everything with money, some people in the village might think they are wealthy, and would try all sorts of ways to take advantage of them.

"I’ll help mom with the fire." Time really can change people, Gong Ruini couldn’t believe that she had now even learned how to light a fire.

Only the stove was a bit tricky; otherwise, Gong Ruini could have learned that too. It just goes to show how infinite human potential really is.

"Okay." Cai Meina knew that no matter how much she persuaded her daughter, she would insist on helping with the fire, truly a considerate little one.

Although her son was sensible, no matter how sensible a son is, he wouldn’t sit quietly next to her to hear her chatter.

Cai Meina skillfully lit the stove to boil some water, then prepared to wash up.

Gong Ruini was very glad that there were several pots here; at least the pot for boiling water was separate; otherwise, the drinking water would taste like food, which would be awful.

Not to mention that Gong Ruini was really worried about what the water boiled in these greasy pots would smell like for bathing.

"You." The conflicted expression on her daughter’s face amused Cai Meina greatly. In just a month here, the kids had become much more cheerful than before.

Especially Gong Ruwen, who smiled more often, and Ni Zi’s health improved a lot after more running around.

Gong Tao and his wife had been very worried, concerned that once the weather turned cold, Gong Ruini’s health wouldn’t hold up, but thankfully everything was progressing positively.

"Mom, I’m going to run around the yard first." After getting used to it, Gong Ruini now habitually ran a few laps around the yard for some exercise.

Initially, Gong Tao and his wife were worried that Gong Ruini might not be able to handle it, but as her complexion grew rosier by the day, they eventually stopped opposing.

Jogging lightly around the yard, even though the speed wasn’t fast, made Gong Ruini much happier.

Seeing this frail body struggle when she first started running laps around the yard, almost giving out, with heavy breathing, legs going weak after a bit of running, and needing quite a bit of recovery afterward.

Even though she still couldn’t run many laps now, she no longer experienced breathlessness or needed extended rest after running, allowing Gong Ruini to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as her body continues to improve step by step, she’ll have the motivation to keep pushing forward.

Hearing the sounds of running outside, Zhao Xuran yawned, then quietly slipped out from the bed, gently pushing Zhao Guangran to the side.

Zhan Jing had been getting tired more easily due to the baby’s movements, so she slept quite well.

Last night, after dinner, Zhao Gang and Gong Tao went up the mountain to set a few traps and placed a few snares, waiting to see what could be caught today.

Zhao Xuran wasn’t sure when Zhao Gang and the others returned yesterday; he didn’t hear any noise before he fell asleep.

"Xuran, you’re awake." Cai Meina wasn’t surprised anymore at Zhao Xuran’s early rising; this child not only had self-discipline but was also hard on himself.

"Hello, Aunt Cai." After greeting Cai Meina, Zhao Xuran went to the back to wash up and then grabbed a bucket of prepared rice grains.

"Aunt Cai, I’m taking these outside to feed the chickens."

Even though he’s not much older than her own son, the way he carries himself made Cai Meina reflect on her still-sleeping son, realizing there’s a big gap between them, though improvement was still possible for her son.

Zhao Xuran had no idea that his daily routine work unintentionally put Gong Ruwen to shame; even if he knew, he’d only think it was Gong Ruwen’s lack of exercise.

"Good morning, Brother Xu Ran." Gong Ruini saw Zhao Xuran with the chicken feed and stopped to greet him, "Can I help you with feeding them?"

Every time Gong Ruini got up, Zhao Xuran had already finished feeding them, so she didn’t want to miss the rare chance to see him at work.

More importantly, though a bit intimidated by Zhao Xuran, Gong Ruini still wanted to get along with him—even if she was a bit scared, she couldn’t let him suspect anything.

Gong Ruini had noticed Zhao Xuran looking at her with a studying gaze more than once, which frightened her a lot.

"Sure." Zhao Xuran was actually about to suggest that Gong Ruini feeding the chickens might not be ideal, but since this was the little girl’s first request for help, he couldn’t let her down.

Gong Ruini happily followed behind Zhao Xuran to feed the chickens. During this period, she had taken quite a few eggs from the coop, but as the weather got colder, the temperature would gradually drop, and the chickens would lay eggs less frequently.

Zhao Xuran had no idea what Gong Ruini was thinking, standing in front of the coop, "Do you want to feed them?"

"Sure." Gong Ruini had long wanted to do this, and while scattering rice grains into the coop, she kept murmuring, "I’m feeding you all something good, so don’t peck me when I come to collect the eggs later."

Gong Ruini expressed that collecting eggs was a hassle; the chickens never laid eggs on the ground—they became agitated whenever she came to take them, chasing her and trying to make her give up.

The issue is that it’s almost autumn; even if the hens wanted to hatch chicks, it’d be difficult for the chicks to survive outside.

It turned out Gong Ruini wanted to feed the chickens for this reason. Zhao Xuran watched her small figure in the coop, speaking cutely, and wanted to laugh. If his silly brother were here, he would have laughed at her out loud.

After visiting the basement, Gong Ruini knew that the family wasn’t lacking food. Feeding these empty rice grains to the chickens wasn’t wasteful, but didn’t provide much nutrition either.

Rice is a staple, and green vegetables are vegetables, but without meat, they’re nutritionally insufficient.

Gong Ruini hoped the hens would lay more eggs, which could be openly used for money and, more importantly, supplement enough ingredients for their families.

"What are you mumbling about?" Zhao Xuran saw her lips moving constantly but couldn’t hear any content, genuinely curious if the little girl had new ideas.

"I was thinking why don’t we raise insects." Yeah, why rely on the chickens to find bugs themselves when they could help by raising insects for them to supplement their diet.

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