Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Still Poor
"What are you talking about?"
Hearing his little cousin’s words, Yuan Shoucheng was completely baffled.
Could they catch all the sparrows?
What a joke!
These birds always appear in flocks, especially when the crops are ripe, you have to be extra careful about them stealing food. If they could catch them all? That would indeed be a great blessing!
"Jiaojiao, don’t worry, you can’t catch them all!"
"Come on, come on, let’s keep catching!"
Yuan Shoucheng looked excitedly at Yuan Bao, "If you are tired, I’ll catch them!"
"Alright, you catch them, I’m going back first!"
Yuan Bao didn’t bother arguing with Yuan Shoucheng, it was pointless.
At this time, people only thought about how sparrows would steal the crops, and didn’t realize that sparrows could also eat a lot of pests.
However, Yuan Bao wouldn’t explain, after all, it wouldn’t make sense to explain.
As for stopping her cousin and the village kids from catching sparrows?
That would just be a thankless task.
So, Yuan Bao quickly slipped away.
Without her luck on their side, Yuan Bao didn’t believe they’d get much of a catch.
...
Once again, reality proved that Yuan Bao was blessed.
When she was around, she could catch more than a dozen sparrows every time, but after she left, Yuan Shoucheng, who was leading the sparrow catching, only caught two sparrows.
Though sparrows would still come down to eat the millet, they just wouldn’t go under the basket.
"That’s it, that’s it!"
"Let’s roast the sparrows!"
Seeing that after spending more time, the harvest was minimal, Yuan Shoucheng decided not to continue.
A group of kids cheered excitedly upon hearing they could roast and eat the sparrows.
Roasting sparrows takes some skill, and generally, people don’t have this technique.
In the end, Old Yuan personally took action.
The reason Old Yuan stepped up was because of Yuan Bao’s request, of course, it was also because Yuan Pandi and her two brothers hadn’t returned from the mountains yet, so Old Yuan was the only one at home who could handle the task.
Yuan Shoucheng wanted to do it himself, but having never done it before, no one felt assured.
Although each person could have one sparrow, if possible, no one wanted to waste a single one.
Old Yuan didn’t prepare any fancy seasonings for roasting the sparrows, just a bit of salt. It truly adhered to the saying, for the finest ingredients, the simplest cooking is needed.
In a word, delicious!
Even Yuan Bao happily devoured a roasted sparrow.
...
As for the village kids, after the sparrows were roasted, some ate right away, while others took the roasted sparrows and ran home.
Though sparrows are small, they are still meat.
Many of the sensible kids didn’t eat alone, but took them home to share with their families.
"Still poor, after all!"
Just by observing how these kids shared the roasted sparrows, Old Yuan confirmed one thing, their family had great potential in Beishan Village.
But as the elders often say, ’A cup of rice is grace, a bushel of rice is hatred.’
The Yuan Family wants to establish and root themselves in Beishan Village, so they must strike the right balance.
"Grandpa, eat!"
When Old Yuan finished roasting all the sparrows, Yuan Bao eagerly served the old man.
There were plenty of sparrows, ensuring each kid got one, there were still quite a few left, so naturally, Yuan Bao prioritized her family. Grandparents, mother, and three aunts, one for each.
As for her father, eldest uncle, and youngest uncle, they would have to go without.
After all, there weren’t that many sparrows.
"Jiaojiao, why don’t we go catch some more?"
Having happily finished his roasted sparrow, Yuan Shoucheng felt that one small sparrow was just enough to fill the gap between his teeth, leaving him somewhat unsatisfied.