Xiao'er called Jingrui over to help carry a large bowl of chicken soup back to Mrs. Liu's room, and Jinghao walked in carrying four bowls. Xiao'er scooped out a large bowl for Mrs. Liu, with a large chicken leg in it, then served Jingrui and Jinghao more than half a bowl each, while she herself took less than half a bowl,
Mrs. Liu refused to drink a large bowl: "Xiao'er, I can't drink such a large bowl. We need to save some for your grandparents and father."
"Don't worry, mother, there is still a pot of soup being cooked in the kitchen. By dinner time, the chicken soup from that pot would be fragrantly rich. It's perfectly appropriate for you to have this kind of soup. I heard that this kind of lightly cooked soup helps promote lactation."
Only after hearing that there was another pot of chicken soup did Mrs. Liu feel at ease to eat. However, she only ate a chicken leg at the insistence of the children, refusing to eat any other chicken meat.
Xiao'er did not push her. In the future, there would be plenty of chicken soup and chicken legs, and they won't miserably go without this one meal.
After Mrs. Liu finished the chicken soup, her eyes were already red. Truthfully, she was really moved. This was the first time in her life that she had eaten a chicken leg and drank such a large bowl of chicken soup. The soup was delicately sweet and spicy, and it tasted so good that she almost wanted to swallow her tongue. This led her to remember the taste of this chicken soup even after tasting numerous delicacies and tonics. The taste was engraved in her heart.
The three children, who had small stomachs and had already eaten a bit earlier, felt an unprecedented sensation of fullness after drinking the soup and eating the chicken.
"Mother, there is still a half bowl of chicken soup left. We'll heat it up in the evening and serve it to you and father." Xiao'er cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks.
Mrs. Liu placed the leftover chicken soup in a basket, covered it, and hung it on a ceiling beam: "You should also drink some. You won't be able to eat much in the main house." After the soup, the two brothers fell asleep.
Xiao'er washed the bowls and chopsticks and placed them in the cabinet, then added a piece of wood to the stove. This large piece of wood would burn slowly, producing fewer flames, which was ideal for simmering soup slowly.
When Mrs. Li woke up and came out of the courtyard, she smelled a faint aroma of chicken soup and assumed someone was eating all by themselves. Mrs. Zhuang, her younger sister-in-law, and others from the main house had gone to town early in the day, and Mrs. Lu of the fourth branch had taken Shen Chengzong to her parents' house. So, only the children and Mrs. Liu of the third branch were at home. It seemed they were secretly making chicken soup to drink when everyone else was gone: "Well, I will catch them red-handed."
She walked up to the door of Mrs. Liu's room and forcefully pushed it open without knocking, making the door hit the wall with a loud "thud". Mrs. Liu, who had just laid down, was startled and sat up quickly. She comforted the little sister who had been startled by the noise and looked at Mrs. Li who had slammed the door, complaining, "Second sister-in-law, are you on fire?"
"Well, Mrs. Liu, you hide in your room and eat on your own, and still dare to criticize me!" As soon as Mrs. Li walked into the room, she smelled the faint aroma of chicken soup. Although she didn't catch them red-handed, she was sure that the third branch was eating secretly.
On hearing this, Mrs. Liu looked somewhat embarrassed: "No, today Jingrui and the others killed a pheasant on the mountain and made soup. You guys will have some tonight..."
"You admit you've made soup, but still deny having eaten alone. It's hard to think of my man working hard outside, coming home without a decent meal, while everyone has their own private feasts..."
"Auntie, the chicken soup is still simmering in the kitchen. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. When everyone comes home tonight, there will certainly be some for Auntie. Please remember to drink more soup and eat more meat then. My mother can't give birth to a son as big as my uncle, and it isn't my mother's turn to provide for him even if you did." Xiao'er rushed over when she heard the noise.
"Really?" Mrs. Li half-believingly went to the kitchen and saw that a pot of chicken soup was indeed being simmered on the stove. The aroma of the soup here was much stronger, which changed her attitude and she said with a smile, "You children are really considerate, and when you caught a wild chicken on the mountain, you knew to make soup to honor the elders. Your Auntie didn't have anything for lunch today, and I am so hungry now. Let me have a taste."
"This chicken soup needs to be simmered until dinner time for the taste to be just right. It will taste even better if Auntie waits until then to try it." Xiao'er didn't really intend to stop her, since it was all prepared for everyone anyway. If she wanted to drink, she could. She wasn't worried about being scolded if Mrs. Li drank too much and left others without any, as she definitely wouldn't be the one being scolded.
"It's fine, I'll just have another taste at dinner." Mrs. Li took a large bowl, scooping up both soup and meat to fill it up.
Xiao'er was rather impressed at this sight. It took a whole bowl of soup just for Mrs. Li to taste it. How difficult it must be to look after such a person! Although it seemed Shen Chengzong was having a hard time, saying she could drink the soup freely, she still had to be informed in advance to avoid being accused of wrongdoing: "Auntie Li, we've specifically cut these two chicken legs to honor our grandparents. It wouldn't be right for you to use it for tasting." He deliberately emphasized the word "tasting."
Mrs. Li gave Xiao'er a disdainful look. This little girl was becoming more and more unpleasant with her words. But she didn't care, she would eat first and deal with the scolding later, no skin off her back: "It's fine, your grandparents aren't fond of chicken legs. They can't chew them. My brothers Jingye and Jingzhi mentioned they were hungry, I'll give these to them."
"Didn't they go into town?"
"I'll keep it for them until they return tonight," she declared, ignoring Xiao'er, and left the kitchen with the chicken soup.
Mrs. Li was literally unlucky. As soon as she left the kitchen, she ran into Mrs. Shen and Shen Yuzhu who had just returned. As soon as Mrs. Shen walked in the door, she could smell the aroma of the chicken soup. Seeing the large bowl in Mrs. Li's hand, she didn't have to guess what it was.
"Well, well, Mrs. Li, taking advantage of my absence to slaughter a chicken and make soup! You dare to secretly slaughter my chicken even though your life isn't as valuable as theirs!" Mrs. Shen was furious, as each of those chickens was laying eggs now.
Mrs. Li wasn't afraid of the hot soup. She ignored Mrs. Shen's angry tirade, dipped her head and took a big gulp, then spat it back into the bowl. There was no way Mrs. Shen would now ask for the bowl of chicken soup to be returned.
Xiao'er, who had followed her out, was absolutely shocked: This was even possible! Honestly, she was very impressed with Mrs. Li now; for food, she would stop at nothing, it was absolutely disgusting.
Mrs. Shen was so angry that she was practically steaming: "Mrs. Li, get out, get out now! The Shen family has no room for people like you who have no shame!"
"Mother, don't be angry, it was the third branch who stewed the chicken soup. I just wanted to help you taste it, but it was too hot and I couldn't help but spit it out," After finishing her sentence, Mrs. Li fanned her tongue as it was burning fiercely!
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Shen immediately glared at Xiao'er, ready to turn the machine gun and aim at her.
Mrs. Li thought she could pull someone else into the water like this, did she take everyone else for fools? Xiao'er sneered at Mrs. Li: "Grandma, today we siblings caught a pheasant up in the mountain. We stewed the pheasant into soup, intending to honor you and grandpa with it at dinner. Aunt Li said she wanted to taste the soup first. I reminded her just now that the two chicken legs were specially saved for you and grandpa, but Aunt Li insisted that you and grandpa did not like chicken legs since they are too tough for the elderly to chew."
Upon hearing that even the two chicken legs were not spared by Mrs. Li, Shen Yuzhu was also furious. One of those legs was always reserved for her, and Mrs. Li dared to eat her share! If she couldn't have it, then nobody else should either. She rushed forward and knocked the bowl of chicken soup out of Mrs. Li's hand. The entire bowl of chicken soup splashed onto Mrs. Li, causing her to jump up and down, shaking her clothes: "Ah, this is so hot, it's going to kill me! Ah, it hurts, save me, it's so hot..."
"You should know better than to eat my chicken leg! Eat it now! Pick it up and eat!" Shen Bao'er scolded while stomping fiercely on the two chicken legs on the ground. Her ferocity made it seem like she held a deep grudge against those chicken legs.
Mrs. Shen was cursing as well: "It serves you right if it burns you to death, you lazy and good-for-nothing creature! You avoid work faster than a rat, but you eat more than a pig. The pig can at least be fattened up and sold for money; what use are you? Any household that takes you will be utterly cursed."
"My second son was such a smart and polite child. Since marrying you, he's been influenced by your conniving and indolent ways..."
"Even my grandsons have been taught to be just as shameless by you..."
Xiao'er was dumbfounded, and her two brothers who came out after hearing the commotion were also shocked speechless.
Many people who heard the uproar were standing outside the door, pointing and commenting on the situation.