Chapter 766 - 394: Dog-Pulling, Chicken-Grabbing Banli (2)

Chapter 766: Chapter 394: Dog-Pulling, Chicken-Grabbing Banli (2)

Juhua quickly said, "Grandma, we’re all family, don’t say things like that. Please, go get some sleep! And you, Mom, I told you to go to bed ages ago, but you insisted on sitting here and worrying yourself sick. Now that my brother and Huai Zi are back, you have confirmation. You know most people are on our family’s side, so you can finally rest easy."

The Yang Family nodded repeatedly. Only then did everyone disperse to get some rest.

The next morning, Juhua woke up bright and early. She washed and dressed the two little ones with swift, nimble movements. Since she didn’t want Pu Pao coming to their room to wait on them so early, Huai Zi was the one who helped fetch water to wash the babies’ bottoms and everything else. The two of them bustled about like a whirlwind, making it feel a bit like getting ready for work in her past life.

She helped Banli and Cong change into their little padded jackets, freeing their arms. The two babies immediately propped themselves up on the bed, crawling and rolling all over the place, their bright laughter filling the room.

Once everyone was ready, they each scooped up a baby and headed outside. As they walked, Huai Zi gently bounced Banli in his arms, calling out, "Let’s go see the big roosters!"

The courtyard was already a hive of activity. Zhang Dashuan sat under the plum tree, weaving a chicken coop. He and Aunt Liu were in the kitchen preparing breakfast. In one corner of the yard, Pu Pao was feeding the chickens. The Liu Family’s little Jing’er was also awake, sitting in a small wooden seat and staring intently at the chickens, while Grandma Liu watched over him from the side.

There was something about spring, when all of nature was coming to life, that put one in an inexplicably good mood. And on this particular morning, spirits were especially high.

When Grandma Liu saw them, she smiled warmly. "Banli is up? Come look at the little chicks with Jing’er. Young Madam, the ones that hatched during the new year have already started growing pinfeathers on their wings."

Juhua quickly walked over, smiling. "Is that so? Once they’re a little bigger, we can herd them out. Otherwise, they’ll make a mess of the courtyard, and there’ll be no clean place to walk."

The family now had over a hundred chickens. Aside from more than forty laying hens and a few roosters, the rest were all chicks. The chicks were from several different hatches; some were newly-hatched, fuzzy and yellow, while others had already grown pinfeathers.

As Pu Pao scattered the feed, she called to the chickens, "CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK!" A large flock gathered around her feet, a chorus of clucking and cheeping filling the air.

Seeing the colorful roosters, Cong and Banli waved their arms excitedly, babbling without end. With the Liu Family’s little Jing’er joining in, the courtyard was filled with the ceaseless laughter and happy noises of the babies, brimming with vibrant life.

At moments like this, the adults couldn’t help but feel happy too. They would steal a moment from their work to come and play with the little ones, or pinch their soft cheeks as they passed by. Zhang Dashuan, while weaving his coop, would frequently look up at his grandson and granddaughter, his face wreathed in a smile.

Holding the babies was getting tiring, so Juhua sat them down in their little seats—these were stationary, and each of the three children had one.

Banli and Jing’er, despite being only a few months old, were already displaying the mischievous nature of little boys. They wouldn’t sit still in their seats, and whenever the big dog wandered past, they would suddenly reach out and grab at it. Sometimes they would catch ahold of its fur and pull hard. By the time someone managed to pry their little hands open, they’d have a fistful of fur.

The first time she saw this, Juhua’s heart pounded in her chest, terrified the dog would turn and bite one of them. But as it happened more often, she realized that the dog, having been with the family for several years, was remarkably gentle. When one of the babies grabbed the fur on its back and pulled with all their might, it would just stand there motionlessly, never getting aggressive. Juhua found herself inexplicably touched by this.

Whenever this happened, Juhua would rub the dog’s back, pat its head, and give it a tasty treat, all while murmuring to it not to bite the babies or lick their faces. The big dog would lean docilely against her, its gaze soft as it watched the little ones in their seats.

’Still, grabbing a fistful of dog fur is dangerous,’ she thought. ’It would be even worse if they put it in their mouths.’ So she reminded Pu Pao, "Pu Pao, keep a close eye on your little brother and Banli. The dog might not bite, but it’s not good for the babies to be grabbing its fur. Make sure to wash their hands properly. It would be a disaster if they inhaled it."

Pu Pao quickly agreed. "I know, Young Madam. When I’m not around, my grandma is watching them. There’s always someone nearby."

After washing up, Huai Zi came over and picked up Banli. He squatted on the ground to look at the chicks, then glanced up with a smile. "They’re just too little right now. It’ll be fine once they’re older. When we were kids, we all loved to ride on the dogs, and I never heard of anyone getting bitten."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Banli leaned forward, snatched up a chick in his little hand, and giggled with delight, a long string of drool dangling from his chin.

His hand was too small to grab its body, so he’d simply picked it up by one of its wings. The poor chick’s tiny legs kicked frantically while its free wing flapped for all it was worth, its beak letting out a constant "CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!"

Juhua frowned, recalling Laicai’s infamous childhood exploits of grabbing dogs and chasing chickens. She said to Huai Zi, "Why do I get the feeling our son is exactly like Laicai was as a child? He’s only this big and he’s already yanking the dog’s fur and snatching chickens. Once this child learns to walk, all the chickens, ducks, and dogs in this courtyard are going to be in for it!"

No parent ever thinks ill of their own child, and Huai Zi was no exception. Supporting Banli under the arms with one hand, he used the other to take the cotton cloth sewn to the baby’s shoulder and wipe away his drool. He looked up at Juhua and smiled gently. "Banli’s still so little, only a few months old. Once he’s old enough to understand us, we’ll teach him properly. He definitely won’t be like Laicai was."

Seeing his confident expression, Juhua smiled and reminded him, "You should probably get him to let go of that chicken first. A little more manhandling and it won’t make it. And Banli’s hand needs to be washed clean. Sigh! What are we going to do with him, grabbing at everything he sees? Our Cong is so much more well-behaved."

Huai Zi gently pried his son’s little hand open and set the chick down. Then, carrying Banli, he went to the bucket by the well, ladled out some water, and scrubbed the boy’s hand clean. He brought him back to Juhua, grinning. "Let Mommy have a look. Our Banli’s hand is all clean now!"

Having lived with Juhua for several years, he had long grown accustomed to her habits, like her frequent hand-washing and how diligent she was about washing her hair, bathing, and changing her clothes. As a result, he had become more particular about cleanliness himself.

Juhua watched the father-son duo—Huai Zi with his brilliant smile and Banli with his cheeky grin—and felt her heart melt. She reached out to pinch her son’s chubby cheek and chided playfully, "You’re so mischievous. If you’re still like this when you grow up, Mommy won’t let you off the hook. You’d better watch that little backside of yours."

The pinch only made Banli giggle more. His little arms flailed about until he grabbed a fistful of Huai Zi’s hair, causing his father to yelp.

As the family of three laughed and played, Zhang Dashuan couldn’t just sit by and watch any longer. He pushed aside the half-finished coop, stood up, and dusted himself off. "That’s enough work for now," he announced loudly. "I’m going to play with my grandson." With that, he washed his hands and face and went to take the baby.

Huai Zi and Juhua couldn’t help but chuckle. Trying to hold back his laughter, Huai Zi winked at Juhua before sitting down in his father’s spot to take over the weaving.

This year, because Juhua wanted to raise chickens in the bamboo forest, they had hatched a large number of chicks. Any hen that went broody was allowed to sit on eggs, which meant they needed quite a few bamboo coops to house the young birds until they were big enough to be moved into the main run. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.com and vote with your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)