Today Shen Yunfang was truly lucky. Originally, she had set up a basket for catching sparrows, but, in the end, she ended up trapping a wild hen, a delightful surprise indeed.
At that time, she had just caught a few sparrows and was squatting behind a tree waiting for more to come when, unexpectedly, a brightly feathered wild hen strutted over from the other side of the snowy field without her noticing.
Then, within two minutes, it strolled right under the basket. Shen Yunfang couldn't be polite, she seized the opportunity, pulled the rope she held in her hand, and the wild hen immediately shot upward inside the basket. Fortunately, the basket she had brought was one of the bigger ones from home, not light by any means, so the wild hen's hopping inside was futile.
And so, Shen Yunfang effortlessly caught a wild hen that wasn't too heavy.
She glanced at the woods behind her and, unable to resist the temptation, followed the tracks of the wild hen.
Wild hens aren't the smartest creatures and they stay in flocks, so if one can find their nest, it is certain that several more can be captured.
Shen Yunfang analyzed the situation; this wild hen had wandered this far, so its nest couldn't be too far. She ventured deeper into the forest to look. If she found it, great; if not, she would just wait for the next bunch of sparrows.
And as luck would have it, Shen Yunfang's lucky day continued. Following the footprints the wild hen had left in the snow, she walked about a hundred meters inward and actually found its nest.
There were three more wild hens inside the nest. Startled by Shen Yunfang's approaching footsteps, they frantically tried to hide themselves, ending up crashing into a nearby bush. Suppressing the excitement in her heart, Shen Yunfang quickly pounced and caught them one by one.
Since the wild hens could be bled, she didn't have the heart to kill them on the spot and instead took out some rope to tie up the birds, then brought out another basket from her space and packed the four wild hens she had caught. She returned to her spot behind the tree on the small hill and continued to wait for sparrows or partridges to fall into her trap.
It was not easy to get out here, and though her hands and feet were already frozen, she couldn't bear to go back, always thinking that perhaps if she waited another two minutes, she might have an unexpected catch.
This was pure greed.
Having waited for three hours, reaching the limit of her body's resistance to the cold, she finally started packing up and carried the basket home.
Today's haul was indeed excellent. In addition to the four wild hens, she had trapped eighteen sparrows, more than she had ever caught before.
She returned home in high spirits, first untied the wild hens, then put them together with the four old hens she had at home. On her way back, she had already decided not to eat these wild hens; it would be wasteful to kill them for meat now. If they were raised and started laying eggs by next spring, she would be able to taste what wild hen eggs were like.
Then the hens would lay eggs, and eggs would hatch into hens…
Thinking of the potentially endless expansion of wild hens in the future, Shen Yunfang chuckled to herself with a sly grin.
But there was no need to be polite about those sparrows that had already been sacrificed.
She first boiled a pot of hot water and, once it was ready, took the sparrows out of her space, dipped each one into the hot water for a while, then quickly plucked their feathers.
This method she borrowed from her previous life's way of preparing chickens; those with feathers should all be more or less the same.
After plucking it clean, she made a small cut near the tail, squeezed out the innards, then chopped off the head, and to remove any remaining blood, soaked it in clear water for about three hours.
For dinner, she stewed six little sparrows with three large potatoes. The sparrows were so tiny that even after they were killed, they weren't as big as a small chick; even six of them in the pot hardly made for a few pieces of meat—it was more for flavor than substance.
On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, she managed to scrape together a modest feast for Little New Year.
While Shen Yunfang was content with her situation, things were not so peaceful in the homes of Uncle Shen and Second Uncle Shen.
"Sister-in-law, here's the situation. I originally wanted to send Xiaoling to cover for her sister for a month, but that girl suddenly fell ill. She was bouncing around just the day before, and then this morning she just collapsed. I don't think she'll get better anytime soon, so I have to find someone else," Wang Yue, the wife of Second Uncle Shen, mentioned her eldest daughter's situation after almost finishing her meal at the table. "Sister-in-law, you know, to stay in the city for a month and get paid for it, that's such a good opportunity. Believe it or not, if I let the word out, there'd be a line at our door."
"That's for sure, everyone would be scrambling to go to the city," said Aunt Shen in agreement.
"Exactly, where would I find such a good opportunity? Of course, I have to consider our own people first, so here I am asking you," Second Aunt said, covering her mouth with a chuckling laugh. "If Xiu wants to go, I won't tell anyone else. Our Feng was saying that her cousin Xiu is so pretty, it's a waste to look for a partner in these backwoods. If she could stay in the city for a while, she could learn something and find at least a city worker to marry."
Aunt Shen initially hesitated at the thought of her daughter going to the city alone during the New Year, but upon hearing Second Aunt's words, her eyes lit up and she readily agreed, "Alright, let our Xiu go. If her cousin Feng is in trouble, she as a cousin should also help."
"Ah, you are always so understanding," Second Aunt laughed with satisfaction. "Do we need to ask Xiu about it? If she's not willing, we don't have to push her. There are plenty who want to go."
"No need, why wouldn't she be willing? My word is final," Aunt Shen got caught up in the idea of Second Aunt's marriage prospects in the city for her daughter. Now all she could think about was sending her daughter to the city to perhaps bring back a city worker as her son-in-law.
Second Aunt looked at her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, you've agreed for sure, you can't delay Feng's business."
"Oh, you don't trust me with this? I am telling you, our Xiu will definitely go help her cousin Feng, and even if it were not her, I would find someone else for you; we absolutely can't drop the ball on this," Aunt Shen assured her, patting her chest.
Second Aunt nodded, content, a sly calculation fleeting across her eyes.
"Getting a son-in-law from the city is great, sister-in-law, you don't know, my son-in-law came home yesterday, bringing loads of things. What gifts and what cash! You think we had Feng marry him for these things? I argued with him for half a day, insisting on not taking anything. But then the kid said that these were New Year's benefits from his company, and he brought them to pay respect to me and his father-in-law; we had to accept no matter what. In the end, there was no way out, I had to accept," Second Aunt said with a look of reluctant acceptance.
Aunt Shen curled her lip in a mix of envy and disdain; she clearly was envious of the city son-in-law and didn't know how best to show it off. Humph, what's so great about that? Her own daughter would find a husband from the city too, and for sure he would be better than that son-in-law.
"Just accept it, it's the children's way of showing their care. You know, when Feng got married, I saw that our son-in-law was a good catch — good job, good character, and treats Feng well; definitely a good match," she said, despite her inward disdain, outwardly she offered praise in kind.
"Hehe, yes, that boy has a good character..."
The two sisters-in-law gossiped on the kang bed for a long time. After Second Aunt had given more instructions, the couple finally got up to leave.
"Humph, what's so great about that, look how smug she is, pah!" Aunt Shen saw them off from the yard, her expression turning sour the moment they were out of sight, and she spat on the ground disparagingly.
Then she quickly remembered the important matter at hand and hastened to her daughter's room to share the good news.