"Mier, you're amazing! You actually caught a wild chicken!" Father Jiang looked at his son with surprise and joy. Wild chickens weren't easy to catch!
But looking closely at the chicken, it seemed more like a domestic one. It didn't look like the wild chicken his older son caught before.
Niley, standing nearby, heard Father Jiang say what she was about to say and felt a bit awkward. She also worried they might notice something strange, so she quickly stepped forward and said, "Yes, Mier is really amazing. But this chicken is really fat. It doesn't look like a wild one. Maybe it ate some kind of good herbs."
That would explain it!
The chickens in her space were all domestic chickens she had stored after the end of the world. They had grown up drinking spring water filled with energy—of course they'd be fat!
She said that just to stop them from being suspicious.
Father Jiang was still a little doubtful, but after hearing Niley's words, he nodded without thinking too much.
There had been traveling doctors who came to this area to collect herbs, so it wasn't impossible the chickens had eaten something rare.
"Should we keep them to eat ourselves or take them to sell in town?" Mier also felt the chickens didn't look wild anymore, so he gave up the idea of selling them.
If they really had eaten valuable herbs, it'd be better to let his younger brothers eat them to boost their health instead of selling them.
Father Jiang thought the same but still looked at Niley, wanting to hear her opinion.
Seeing that both of them wanted to keep the chickens, Niley agreed. After all, she brought them to be eaten.
Plus, chickens raised on spring water were super nutritious!
It would be perfect to help the young husband get stronger.
Since they all agreed, Father Jiang quickly took the chicken from Mier's hands, grabbed two pieces of dry grass to tie the chicken's legs, and put it in the basket Niley handed him.
While no one was paying attention, he covered the basket with a pile of dry leaves. Niley and Mier saw what he was doing and quickly helped pick up dry branches to help cover it.
After covering everything, the three of them headed back home. Mier took a detour to check the trap his older brother had set earlier, but it was empty.
Luckily, they still caught two chickens today, so it was a good harvest.
Mier led the way. Unlike before, he walked quickly and confidently.
Niley carried the basket and followed behind the two of them.
Soon, they reached the front of the house.
Mier saw Niley walking behind and pulled his father to the side to wait for her to open the door. To his surprise, Niley walked up and gently pushed the door—it opened easily.
"It's not locked?" he looked at her in shock.
Niley nodded.
She had placed an energy shield around the house, so even if the door wasn't locked, no one could get in. But she didn't plan to tell Mier about her powers—those things were hard to explain.
"Make sure to lock the door when you go out next time."
Mier pressed his lips together and still reminded her.
Father Jiang, who followed behind, also gave a warning. Since Niley had taken out five taels of silver today, word might have spread around the village. If someone had bad intentions, it could be dangerous.
Times were hard. They had to be cautious.
Seeing the two of them so worried, Niley nodded.
After entering the yard, she put down the basket and used a stick to mark a spot to separate the two chickens.
She never liked keeping animals because feeding and cleaning after them was troublesome. She only liked to play with them once in a while. But during the end of the world, things were different—animals meant food. Every time she saw one, she'd store it in her space.
"Mier, how about we eat chicken today?"
Seeing the chickens behave well, she turned to ask Mier.
Just then, Mier walked toward her holding the coat he had given his father earlier. But Father Jiang wasn't with him. "Why did you take off the coat? Where's Father? He's not coming in?"
Mier shook his head, still thinking about what Niley said earlier about eating chicken.
"Eating chicken sounds good."
As he passed by Niley, he lifted his eyelids and glanced at her, then slowly nodded after thinking for a moment.
They had two chickens anyway—eat one now and save the other for when his older brother got back.
But cooking it wasn't the problem. The hard part was killing the chicken. He didn't really dare to do it.
Niley saw that the door was already closed and nodded too.
"Do you know how to kill a chicken?" he asked. He usually did a lot of chores, but killing chickens was always done by his father and older brother. He only helped cook the soup. Seeing Niley first shake her head, then nod, he looked at her with doubt.
He saw her putting the chickens in a circle drawn on the ground with a stick, but she stayed far away from them. Clearly, she had drawn a temporary chicken pen. But that "pen" couldn't really hold the chickens in. As soon as they landed, they started flapping their wings like crazy, trying to break free from the dry grass tied around their legs.
Niley quickly jumped back and even pulled Mier with her.
Unexpectedly, Mier stepped around her, walked up, and caught the struggling chicken. He held it down and looked up at her with a slight smirk, "Please pass me a rope."
His eyes were full of amusement.
A grown woman afraid of a chicken—actually looked kind of cute.
Niley: …
Killing chickens shouldn't be that hard.
And she didn't really panic because she was scared of the chicken flying at her—it's not like she was afraid of something that would soon be food on her plate.
She just had a bit of a cleanliness issue, that's all.
After finding an excuse for herself, Niley looked up at Mier, pouted, and said awkwardly, "Don't laugh. You didn't see anything just now."
She said while walking inside to get two ropes and handed them to Mier.
Mier was holding the chicken wings with both hands. Hearing her, he held back his laughter and nodded, but his shoulders wouldn't stop shaking. Afraid the chicken might fly away again, he quickly handed it back to her to tie its legs.
"We'll keep this one in the house for now. Tonight, we'll eat the other chicken." Niley tied the legs, picked up the other chicken, and headed toward the kitchen while talking to Mier.
Seeing Mier dazed for a moment, she added, "Once it's cooked, let's give some to your father too."
Mier looked up at Niley. His long, narrow eyes were full of confusion. But when he met her gaze, he was a bit surprised. After a while, he softly nodded, "Thank you, Wife."
If it were someone else, forget about eating meat—they wouldn't even get to smell it. But she even offered to share the chicken soup with his father.
It was then that Mier really started to notice Niley—this woman who was so different from the others in Zhukeng Village.
She didn't have a strong build and only reached his shoulder in height. But in just one day, her kindness toward him was so unusual it was hard to believe.
She gave him warm clothes for winter, and even when they went out, she was worried about him and his father getting cold. She gave them her own clothes while she stayed cold.
Thinking of this, his eyes darkened slightly. Was it really because of that reason?
After all, not only did the people from Yichun House come looking for him, but there were others before with similar interests.
Could it be that she also…
He couldn't help but let out a low laugh. But so what? She had saved him from the brothel owner of Yichun House. And he had already agreed to be with her… so what was there to struggle with?
Mier told himself not to overthink it, but the tight feeling in his chest just wouldn't go away.