Volume 1 Chapter 7: The Roasted Chicken Incident

  Ansu was washing dishes in the kitchen for lunch, she had noticed that as long as An Xin drank porridge, he would eat very little, so at noon she prepared to make her favorite braised pork.

  "An Jia Sao, An Jia Sao." A hurried voice calling out from outside the door.

  Ansu stopped what she was doing, listened carefully and confirmed that someone was calling her. She wiped the water droplets from her hands with the apron tied around her waist and walked out in response to the call.

  This apron was made by An Xin herself when she first learned to embroider, and on it she had embroidered a strange-looking animal that was somewhat like a cat and somewhat like a tiger. An Xin said this was her own design, and she called it the "Kitty Cat". Although An Su felt that wearing this was a bit strange, it was An Xin's first embroidery piece, and it was also her heart's desire, so she still insisted on tying it around her waist every day.

  "What's wrong, is there something going on?" Ansu quickly walked to the front door and looked at the visitors with a curious expression, warmly asking, it was Zhang Danni from the village and her daughter-in-law Cui Liu.

  Looking at An Su's puzzled face, Zhang Dangni rubbed her hands together, feeling a bit embarrassed and unsure of how to speak up. Standing beside her, Cui Liu, who was straightforward and outspoken, couldn't help but say, "An Dangni, a child said that they saw An Xin grab one of our chickens and take it to the riverbank to roast and eat."

  "Ah?" An SuSu's beautiful eyes widened in surprise, her mouth uttering an incredulous cry, and then she furrowed her brow, just about to ask a detailed question.

  "An Dangniang, An Xin took away two jars of seasoning from my house." The Wang Dangniang next door suddenly appeared from nowhere, apparently she also heard the conversation between An Susu and others, with a look of anxiety, continued to say, "My husband is about to come back for dinner, I need those seasonings to stir-fry dishes."

  Looking at the three people with different expressions in front of her, Ansu's beautiful little face turned bright red with anger, and she asked incoherently, "You, you just said she is now roasting chicken by the river?"

  The three of them nodded solemnly, An Su took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and said, "Let's go, we'll go to the riverbank to find her. If it's true, I'll compensate you accordingly."

  After finishing speaking, An Su Su led the way forward, and the three people behind her exchanged a glance, also following closely.

  Ansu was walking forward with quick steps, her mind tangled into a knot, Anxin this little girl was getting more and more out of control, it's all because she had been spoiled too much.

  "An Dangniang, don't worry, I've pulled away the fence of our chicken enclosure and it's burning now." A panting voice came from behind.

  The three people following behind An Su Su stopped in their tracks when they heard the shouting, looking at each other in confusion. Cui Liu weakly called out to An Su Su, who was clearly too distracted to hear anything: "An Dàniáng..."

  "What's wrong." The voice was close at hand, and Ansu Su turned her head back, with a puzzled look in her eyes.

  The three of them didn't dare to speak again, their faces showing embarrassment, and they all turned around to look back.

  An Su immediately understood what was going on, her face darkening as she frowned at the few people running towards her.

  "An Dang Niang, An, don't worry, I've dismantled the fence around our chicken coop, it's now being used to roast chickens." The person behind finally caught up, panting heavily, and repeated the words in a stuttering tone.

  "An Dang Niang, I..." A hesitant expression.

  "Liu Xuan, if you have something to say, spit it out quickly and don't be so ambiguous. What did your family take from mine?" An Su Su was infuriated, her seven apertures smoking with rage, as she asked in a most unbecoming manner, hands on hips.

  "No, no need to take anything, I just wanted to say that if the roasted chicken is too much for her to finish alone, I can help out." Liu Xuan scratched his head and said with a silly grin.

  "Hmph", An Su's extreme anger turned into laughter, her chaotic emotions calmed down a bit. She thought to herself, "This little girl has actually considered every detail, food, seasonings, firewood, she hasn't missed a single step."

  Ansu, who was already out of breath and couldn't speak, weakly waved her hand and said, "Everyone follow me to the riverbank to find An Xin."

  By the small river, An Xin had already strung up the chicken with a long branch and was sprinkling seasonings on the roasted chicken while observing the fire. From time to time, he would leisurely turn the roasted chicken in his hand.

  "Ah, great, golden in color, fragrant and mouth-watering, just looking at it is a feast for the eyes." He nodded his head in satisfaction as he eyed the roasted chicken.

  "It's done, let's eat." Anxin took out a small iron knife with rough workmanship from her bosom, which she had secretly taken from the only blacksmith shop in the village last time she passed by.

  "Alright." Without seeing the person, he first heard the voice, and Anxin stopped cutting the chicken in his hand, stretched his neck to look towards the mountain slope.

  It's done, it sounds like Mother's voice, she must have found out about the roasted chicken, what to do, right, hurry up and destroy the evidence. At this moment, An Xin's mind is racing fast, lifting her foot to step on the fire heap.

  As soon as he stepped on it twice, An Su's figure appeared on the small hill.

  Ansu Ansu fixed his gaze on the mountain slope below, and his whole body trembled slightly with anger. An Xin was using his feet to stomp on the fire pit, and a roasted chicken was placed not far from the fire pit.

  "Alright, stop right there." An Su's voice sank to her dantian, losing its usual softness and gentleness, as she shouted loudly, revealing that at this moment, An Su was extremely angry.

  An Xin's body stiffened, she withdrew her foot and slowly turned around to face the few people who were quickly walking towards her. The leader was none other than her mother. An Xin forced a smile on her dry lips and said in a weak voice, "Mother, hello... Mother, why are you here?" Oh no, she was so scared that she even used modern greetings.

  Anxin's clear conscience made him ask, but Ahqi's anxious expression only furrowed her brow even more. She quickly walked up to Anxin and said sternly, "Anxin, do you know that what you did is wrong? How could you go steal someone else's chicken?"

  Anxious and worried, Ah-Chan stood with his head hung low, listening to his mother's scolding.

  "Mom, I just saw the chicken walking back and forth on the road, thinking it was a wild village chicken. I really didn't steal someone else's chicken." Anxin explained in a soft voice, with an obviously somewhat insufficient tone.

  Ansu An listened with a calm heart, but still dared to quibble. Mei's eyes widened even more, and she said in a hateful tone, "Even if you found this chicken outside, it's not ours. How do you explain these two jars of seasoning and the wooden boards?" Ansu An looked down at the seasonings on the ground and the burning wooden boards, her tone filled with a sense of disappointment and frustration.