C4

While Maicao was catching the chickens, there was quite a bit of commotion from the Chicken Coop. Second Aunt also heard it from inside the house, but she only made a few false noises in the house and did not come out to stop Maicao. Presumably, those women stopped her.

Maicao and Qingyu each caught a chick and walked happily to their house. When they reached the front door, they even heard Second Aunt crying loudly to the others in the house.

"These three children never had a father or a mother since they were young. Although there's still a big brother and a big sister up there, but all of you know who's in charge of this big brother and big sister. For the three of them to grow up, isn't it all because of me?" I am not saying these things to boast how kind I am. Even if I pitied these three children, they would still have three lives. I can't just watch them starve to death, can I?

But look today, this Third Girl, she feels that she and her two younger brothers have grown up and don't need me anymore, so she started to repay the kindness with hatred. She's thinking of a way to ruin my chicken, and those three chicks were indeed brought over from my parents' house.

Maicao curled her lips, thinking that if you didn't feel guilty, then these three chicks, let alone getting caught by me, even if I touched them, you would still jump a few feet with me.

Maicao grabbed the chicken and went back to her house. Second Aunt was just crying in her room and didn't do anything else. Han Shangjun went back to his kitchen to continue cooking. The people in the yard also reluctantly left.

On the way back home, these people were still discussing in groups of three or four. Han Maicao seemed like a completely different person compared to before. It seemed like jumping off the river last time wasn't a bad thing. It was a blessing in disguise.

In the past, not to mention bickering with Second Aunt, even a single word from Second Aunt would make Maicao tremble in fear.

He didn't expect that after jumping into the river and getting so sick, this child would become so bold that he actually dared to challenge Second Aunt.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had watched this child grow up, he would have thought that it was a completely different person.

When Maicao and the other two returned to their own homes, they put the three little chicks back into Chicken Coop. The moment the three little chicks were put in, they immediately dove into the chicks, chirping to each other as if greeting each other.

"You two should have seen it today, right? Second Aunt is usually such a strong person, but today I took the baby chick back from her hands. Do you know why?"

Qingyu and Qinglin shook their heads.

"Remember, the bad guys did bad things and he's always guilty. That's why he shouted loudly to boost his reputation. If you were scared by his loud voice, wouldn't that be perfect for him? Thus, when his voice is loud, you have to speak louder than him. It would be best for you to recruit more people.

Don't look at how Maicao was speaking. In fact, when she was still Sunn Miaomiao, she was just a little straightforward. It was really unprecedented for her to quarrel with others over such matters.

However, after arriving here, the situation had forced her to think of ways to protect herself and her two little brothers.

Although Maicao had never quarreled with anyone in her previous life, she had seen it in television movies. Some people, such as Second Aunt, were unreasonable. If you were amiable and tried to reason with her, it would mean that an Elementary Scholar would meet with soldiers.

So, when meeting this kind of person, he would be even more domineering than her. He would first suppress her with his imposing manner, and then give her a merciless beating. After this incident, she would be afraid of you in her heart, and wouldn't dare to bully you in the future.

Maicao won her first battle today and defeated Second Aunt. She was elated, but when she saw that the sky was about to turn dark, she lit a fire to cook.

But when Maicao went to light the fire, she found that there was rain in the kitchen, which had also drenched the last bit of dry wood in the house.

This time, Maicao was a little worried. There were no more firewood left to cook, so how was she going to cook dinner? I can't not eat it.

If she didn't eat dinner, she would be able to bear it. However, those two young ones were only ten years old. Since they were growing up, how could they bear with hunger?

Even if they could bear it, as a sister, she couldn't bear to make them starve.

"Second Sister, why don't you go to Third Grandmother's house and take a look. Maybe she has some dried firewood." Seeing Maicao standing in the kitchen with a worried expression, Qingyu reminded Maicao.

"Third Grandmother? "Who's Third Grandmother?"

"Second Sister, did you forget? It was Third Grandmother who lives in the east side of our house. When you were sick, Third Grandmother even came to see you."

Maicao thought to herself, when I just woke up, there were a few people who came to see me, but at that time I was still in extreme shock, how could I remember who was who?

"That's right, Second Sister. Third Grandmother's family's firewood was also picked up by you. If you were to ask for some, she would agree."

"Is there no one else in Third Grandmother's house? Why do you need me to help her collect firewood?! " Maicao was furious when she heard this. It turned out that Han Maicao was so soft that she bullied all her neighbors!

"Second Sister, she's the only one in Third Grandmother's family. She's old, didn't you go and help her pick it up?"

Qingyu really had a big head. He, Second Sister, had gotten sick after jumping over the river last time. After waking up, he could not remember a lot of things, and only remembered them after Qinglin and him reminded him.

Chun Cao thought that Third Grandmother's family forced her to gather firewood for them because they thought Han Maicao was weak and could be bullied. After hearing Qingyu say this, she realized that it wasn't the case. Han Maicao had volunteered.

It seemed that Han Maicao was not only overly cowardly, but also kind.

However, what was the use of being kind? Even so, she didn't want to be bullied by others. She didn't want to be such a person.

"Then I'll go to Third Grandmother's house and take a look. You guys wait at home, I'll be back in a while." Chun Cao instructed Qingyu and Qinglin before she walked out of the yard and went to Third Grandmother's house next door.

Third Grandmother's small courtyard was even more dilapidated than her own. Even the walls had collapsed. When the rain washed over them, yellow mud flowed everywhere in the courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard stood a similarly dilapidated mud hut. Chun Cao looked at it and was a little worried that if a strong wind blew on it, it would topple in the wind.

Beside the house, there was an even lower side room. It was probably a kitchen. There wasn't even a proper door.

A kitchen like this was even worse than hers. Was there any dried wood for her to use?

"Third Grandmother, Third Grandmother, are you home?" Chun Cao stood in the yard and called out.

The door of the main house creaked open. A white-haired old lady with a cane on her head appeared at the door.

Although the old lady was rather thin and wore a patched and patched outfit, she was clean from head to toe.

Especially his white hair, which was neatly combed. A flat bun was tied at the back of his hair, and it was separated by an ordinary square piece of hair. It looked so classical and elegant.

Chun Cao had been here for three days already, so there was no need to talk about men she saw. There weren't many who loved mending their facial features.

However, this couldn't be entirely blamed on them. The people here all had the habit of brushing their teeth, and they probably didn't even know what a toothbrush and toothpaste looked like.

For people who were more particular, they would rinse their mouth with salt water after eating. For those who weren't, they would leave it be, which was why their tone was so bad.

As for the women, although their image was slightly better than that of the men, they still had authority over the girls who hadn't married yet. Chun Cao didn't even dare to compliment those who had married, especially those who had children.

Not only was it sloppy-looking, many of them were also extremely valiant. Once they said those dirty words, even the introverted men would blush when they heard them.

Whenever Chun Cao saw those valiant women in the village, she couldn't help but think of Baoyu's words in 'Dream of the Red Chamber': It's strange, weird, why do these people have to be even more perverted than men once they marry a man and stain his scent?

If young women were like this, there was no need to mention those old women.

The old ladies had toiled all their lives, and now their backs were hunched, their eyes were blurred, and their legs were no longer agile. They could no longer toil. They were despised by their sons and wives, and after this meal, they still didn't know where the next meal would be.

The old ladies were too busy to care for their food, why would they even think of dressing up for themselves? If they really were picky with food and clothes, it was likely that they would still attract a lot of criticism.

However, this Third Grandmother really caused Chun Cao's eyes to light up. Not only was her attire neat and tidy, but the most important thing was her temperament and indescribable calmness. Her expression made people feel as if she wasn't standing in a shabby little courtyard, but instead was standing in an exquisite garden, living a life without worries.

Chun Cao's first thought was that this Third Grandmother definitely wasn't an ordinary old lady from the countryside.

"Chun Cao, the yard is covered in mud and water, quickly come in." Third Grandmother said to Chun Cao with a kind expression. It was actually standard Mandarin.

"Third Grandmother, I still need to hurry back to cook for Qingyu and Qinglin, so I won't be going in." "Third Grandmother, I just wanted to ask if you have any dried firewood in your house. My kitchen is leaking, and all the firewood is getting wet."

"It was raining just now. I didn't go take a look. I don't know if it was leaking or not." As Third Grandmother said this, she was about to step into the kitchen. Chun Cao was so frightened that she quickly stopped her.

The old lady looked to be in her seventies. For someone of this age, it would be hard for her to fall down.

"Third Grandmother, the outside is covered in mud, it's too slippery. Don't move, I'll go take a look myself."

After Chun Cao stopped Third Grandmother, she went to the kitchen to have a look. Third Grandmother's kitchen also had some leaks, but it wasn't much. There were also some dried firewood.

"Third Grandmother, I'll bring some dried firewood over if there's any." Chun Cao ran out of the kitchen and said to Third Grandmother.

"Carry Chun Cao."

Chun Cao carried some firewood out and said to Third Grandmother, "Third Grandmother, there's not much firewood left in there. Don't cook anymore. I'll bring some to you when I'm done."

"Chun Cao, I'll have to trouble you again."

"Third Grandmother, it's no trouble." Chun Cao replied before walking out. Unexpectedly, her foot stepped on a puddle of muddy water. She staggered and almost fell down.

"Slow down, child." Third Grandmother saw him at the door and reminded him repeatedly in a concerned tone.

"Got it, Third Grandmother." Chun Cao walked for a few steps before stopping. She turned around and said to Third Grandmother, "Third Grandmother, this road is slippery, please don't come out. If you need anything, just call for Qingyu and Qinglin to come over."

"Alright, Third Grandmother will listen to you."

Chun Cao carried the firewood back to her house. When she arrived at the kitchen, she prepared to cook dinner. However, what was she going to eat for dinner? Chun Cao was in a difficult position.

He had just received the summer food, so the food that he ate should be very abundant. But this family was special. A weak little girl leading her two younger brothers, their family didn't even have a strong worker. No matter how hard the three people fought, they still couldn't keep up with the harvest of other families.

The village was kind, and the poor children often came to help them. But now that they were all in the market, even if others wanted to help, they would have to finish up their work first before they could come over to help. But by then, it was already past the time for farming, so even if they came to help, they wouldn't be of much use.

Therefore, every time Han Maicao's family received the food and handed in the rations, there would only be a small amount left over. That amount of food could barely cover the mouths of three people, and that was under the condition that Han Maicao frequently ate or did not eat much.

Therefore, Han Maicao's family life was really tight.