Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

Yun Zhenzhen walked into the yard and suddenly heard Xiaonan's scream coming from the backyard.

"Mother, come quickly."

She quickly put down the kitchen knife and rushed to the backyard. A chick was lying on the ground in the chicken coop, dying. One of its legs was in an unnatural arc, probably twisted off.

The chickens at home have been raised for about three months. In more than a month, they will be able to lay eggs. It would be a bit of a loss to kill one of them at this time.

Yun Zhenzhen sighed lightly and picked up the chicken with one hand.

Xiao Nan felt very distressed when she saw this: "Mom, the chicken's leg seems to be broken. Let's go apply some herbal bandage on it."

Xiaonan has been responsible for feeding the chicks and piglets in the past few months. She has watched them grow up day by day and they have formed a deep friendship. Seeing the chicks unable to walk, she feels very sad.

Yun Zhenzhen was speechless. Indeed, add some herbs to bandage it, and then wrap it with cinnamon, star anise and bay leaves, and everyone shouted.

Yes, we haven’t eaten chicken at home for a long time, so it’s a good time to have some meat today.

She looked at the people in the yard: Xu Ling'er, Xiaonan, Wang Ze, and herself. None of them looked like people who could kill chickens. She could only place her hopes on Erya and Xiaowen.

"Er Ya, do you dare to kill a chicken?"

Erya nodded blankly: "I saw my grandfather kill someone a few years ago, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

Yun Zhenzhen couldn't wait to bring the chicken into the kitchen: "Come on, let's kill the chicken and eat it. I'll make a new dish for you today."

Hearing that there was something delicious, Xiao Nan couldn't help but swallow his saliva: "Mom, what are you making again...something delicious?"

"You'll find out later."

Looking at the tender young chicken in her hand, Yun Zhenzhen couldn't help drooling. It was obvious that the chicken had tender meat and a crispy and chewy texture.

Do what you say. Splurge on yourself today and make some fried chicken to satisfy your pig craving.

Erya and Xiaowen took a lot of effort in the yard to clean the chicken and bring it into the kitchen.

Taking advantage of this time, Yun Zhenzhen used a stone mill to grind the dried chilies hanging under the eaves into chili powder, put it into the pot where the chicken was marinated, sprinkled other seasonings on it, and marinated it for half an hour.

After Yun Zhenzhen cleaned up everything in the kitchen, it was still noisy outside.

When Uncle Niu saw Yun Zhenzhen coming out, he hurried forward. The old man with half-white hair stood beside her, feeling very uneasy. He stuttered and took a long time to utter a complete sentence.

"Niece, your family has bought an ox cart now. Will you stop lending it to my family in the future? I still have a lot of money left from the money you gave me this month. I will return it to you soon..."

Uncle Niu bent over as he spoke, and for a moment, the wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen a little.

His family was poor, and he and his wife had to take care of four children. His wife was sick, and the family's only source of income was the ox cart.

Qin Li has been running a small business recently. He has made a lot of money by helping to move and transport goods. Adding the cost of renting the ox cart, this is more than he earned in the previous quarter. Qin Li is a very practical child. He cares about the old man and often pays for his two meals. The children at home also get to eat a lot of meat.

He was very grateful to Yun Zhenzhen's family, but he didn't know how to express it. Now that they had bought a new ox cart, he wanted to return the money out of courtesy.

"Uncle Niu, what are you talking about?" Yun Zhenzhen said with a smile, "We bought the ox cart because we were worried that it would occupy your house and make it difficult for other uncles to travel. Now that there is another ox cart in the village, it will be much more convenient for us to do business or go to town in the future."

"You don't have to return the money. You've been running around with me lately, and I've been delayed a lot of my housework. Besides, I'll have to borrow your ox cart in the future."

The eldest brother is planning to start a wool business, and he needs to use an ox cart to travel between two places. The family also needs to use the ox cart to go to town, so it will be more convenient to buy a new one.

Uncle Niu rubbed his hands excitedly, speaking incoherently: "Well...niece, I don't know how to thank you. Thanks to you for taking care of my business recently. Otherwise...my whole family still wouldn't have enough to eat..."

Yun Zhenzhen sighed softly.

Uncle Niu’s wife, Aunt Niu, has been ill for more than ten years and has been lying in bed. She needs her children to help her walk when she goes out. Most of the money the family earns from the ox cart is spent on buying medicine.

Every morning he uses an ox cart to take the villagers to the town and help deliver goods. After returning in the afternoon, he still has to work in the fields. Due to the long-term high-intensity labor, it is impossible to tell that he is only in his forties. Compared with Old Man Qin, he looks even older.

But he did not become depressed. Instead, he lived diligently every day.

After being here for so long, Yun Zhenzhen has also discovered that everyone in Qinjia Village is full of vitality and is working hard for a better tomorrow.

When she first came here, she was still not used to it. Once she returned to the pre-liberation era, she made a lot of psychological preparations.

But slowly, she began to like the pace of life here, every flower and grass, every tree and every person who extended a friendly hand to her, so she didn't mind lending a hand to them when they were in trouble.

It is every kind person in Qinjia Village who makes Yun Zhenzhen feel the closeness between neighbors.

Everyone gathered outside Yun Zhenzhen's yard and chatted for a long time until it was almost time for dinner, when they gradually dispersed.

After everyone left, the marinated chicken was ready.

Yun Zhenzhen couldn't wait to run into the kitchen and prepare everything needed to make fried chicken.

Fried chicken, here I come!

First, heat oil in a pan, then beat three eggs in a basin, coat the chicken with them, then coat it with a layer of flour. Repeat this three times until fish scales form on the surface, and then you can fry it in the pan.

The moment it was put into the pot, the oil sizzled and the children watching drooled wildly.

Seeing them eager to stick their heads into the wok, Yun Zhenzhen said helplessly, "Don't get too close to the wok. Be careful not to get oil splashed on your face. It will hurt like hell. If you get an ugly scar on your face, don't come crying to me..."

While watching the pot, she asked Xiaowen, who was stoking the fire, to pay attention to the heat. Worried that he might not be able to control it well, she asked Erya to sit next to him and watch together.

Erya stared at the fire below, feeling a little sorry for the oil in the pot. However, seeing that everyone else in the family was used to it, she could only suppress the slight shock in her heart.

Always remember what your mother said, do more and do more, talk less and ask less.

After frying, Yun Zhenzhen scooped the remaining oil in the pot into a large bowl and put it in the cupboard. She could use it directly the next time she cooked, which was very convenient.

There was still a lot of oil around the pot that couldn't be scooped out, but it didn't matter. She took out the vegetables and tofu on the side and directly made a pot of tofu and cabbage soup, which also had a faint taste of chicken.

After taking it out of the pan, place the fried chicken on a chopping board, sprinkle a light layer of chili powder on it, chop it with a kitchen knife, cut it into small pieces and put it on a plate.

Then put the radish and bone soup stewed yesterday into the pot to heat it up, scoop out a large bowl and bring it to the table.

For the staple food, I made a simple boiled potato. After washing it, I put it directly into the pot and boiled it. After it was cooked, I took it out and rinsed it with cold water. The skin of the potato would crack, and you could clearly see the crunchy texture inside. You could tell how wonderful the taste was just by looking at it.