Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

Chapter 217 Chicken

I've been writing very late lately, and I don't know how everyone's reading it. Enough of the chit-chat, let's get to the main text.

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These kind-hearted villagers have all left, leaving behind a mess of belongings and deep affection.

With the help of the Wu couple, it took quite a bit of time to finally clean everything up.

The courtyard returned to its peaceful state.

A bright red sun had already risen above the east, piercing through the fog and radiating brilliant light!

Behind the small courtyard, there was a rather large mud-brick house, gray and inconspicuous. Suddenly, a shadow swept in, revealing a huge, colorful rooster.

The rooster crowed loudly at the house, followed by a chorus of "cluck cluck cluck...!" from inside the earthen house. Then, a group of plump, yellowish-brown hens, half a head shorter than the rooster in front of the door, waddled out, wagging their protruding tails and large rumps.

Following the appearance of this large hen, one hen after another waddled out of the wooden house in a long line. Each one grew smaller and smaller until the last one, so delicate and petite, was only half the size of the large hen in front of it. Even so, it was still larger than the average chicken.

Li Xingzhi watched the hens waddling out, their large rear ends swaying, then glanced at the rooster standing proudly in the red sun. He blinked, finding it all rather ostentatious, and a hint of envy flickered in his heart. Humans always have their worries; where could anything be as enjoyable as being a prostitute?

Li Xingzhi looked at the old hens that kept crawling out of the wooden house and sighed inwardly: Looking at this group of old hens, what are the three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines compared to this?

He was inwardly marveling and 'shocked' when he suddenly felt a pain in his waist.

"Aren't you envious?" The girl's spirited face held a hint of anger. Although she was angry, her flushed cheeks were undeniably adorable. "You men are all the same! Even chickens are the same!"

"What are you thinking about now?" Li Xingzhi was somewhat helpless with this jealous woman. However, since she could be so adorable when she was jealous, Li Xingzhi didn't find it annoying.

"What am I thinking? I saw you staring at those hens with a lewd look..." The girl blushed and couldn't continue.

"What about the hen?" Li Xingzhi asked curiously.

"You're staring at a hen's ass like a pervert! You lecherous pervert!" The girl had gotten so used to it that she could even use the same words Li Xingzhi used. She pinched Li Xingzhi's waist hard again.

"Cough-cough-"

Li Xingzhi was almost driven mad by the woman beside him! Looking at the woman next to him, the usually aloof and rarely smiling woman in plain clothes now had a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth, like a blooming white lotus flower. Although she was plain, she was so dazzling that people couldn't open their eyes.

Meanwhile, Wu Laoliu, who had been loading wood nearby, had a smile that was more like a grimace on his stiff, zombie-like stone face. Beside him, a woman looked at Li Linzhi with a smile in her eyes.

I can't let her continue! Li Xingzhi thought.

"You—I really don't know what you're thinking about all day!"

"What were you thinking just now?" The girl still didn't realize her mistake and pressed on relentlessly.

Li Xingzhi said helplessly, "I was just wondering why there's only this one rooster here."

"Isn't it just one?"

"Of course not, we used to have several at home."

"Then why are there so many hens?" the girl asked curiously.

Li Xingzhi was taken aback, somewhat unable to keep up with her inexplicable and overly erratic train of thought.

Old Wu, standing nearby, explained, “We used to have three roosters. When these three roosters were still young, they gathered together and defeated all the roosters in the village. Later, they started fighting among themselves, and in the end, only one was left. As for the hens, almost all the hens in the village are raised here.”

The young woman, still puffing up her cheeks, was probably thinking some crazy ideas. She glared fiercely at the proudly standing rooster, then glanced at Li Xingzhi, muttering, "Men are just like this stinky chicken, none of them are good..."

"Are all the hens in the village here? Do you know which ones are ours?" Li Xingzhi asked, looking at the hundred or so hens.

"Those are the thirteen big ones ahead."

Li Xingzhi glanced over and, after a brief examination, noticed that the first thirteen hens were plumper and stronger. Starting with the fourteenth hen, the hens were noticeably half a head shorter.

The rooster, with its head held high in arrogance, glanced at its concubines. Seeing that none were missing and the arrangement was neat, it proudly raised its large, fiery-like comb, crowed to the sky, and with a dragon-like gait, walked lightly towards the edge of the woods ahead.

Behind them, over a hundred chickens, some black, some yellow, wagged their big tails and followed in a neat row. Bathed in the red sunlight of the rising sun, they were truly a magnificent sight, exuding a unique tranquility and serenity...

"Giggle!"

A few crowings broke the tranquility, instantly bringing the scene to life.

Li Xingzhi glanced over and saw that a large hen had dug out several insects from the ground. Hearing the squawking, the surrounding hens reacted even faster than Li Xingzhi, tiptoeing, wings slightly outstretched, and instantly scurrying over to peck at the insects. The hen that had made the squawking didn't hesitate either, squawking a few times before bending down to peck at the insects.

Watching this scene, he couldn't help but recall the five virtues of a rooster he had read about in a book: a red comb on its head signifies literary virtue; hooves growing from its hind legs signify martial virtue; fighting bravely signifies courage; crowing at dawn signifies trustworthiness; and crowing when fed signifies benevolence!

Chickens may not understand concepts like benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, but for gregarious creatures, these may be ingrained instincts.

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I'm almost at two thousand words, I'll stop writing now, I'm afraid I'll run out of battery to upload it.

Finally, thank you to "Huyan Haha" for the two monthly tickets! (To be continued.)