After transmigrating into the body of a widow, I became the richest man in the capital.

Chapter 32 Beggar Chicken

Su Xiaoxiao waved her hand and said, "It's okay, these wild mushrooms are not poisonous."

As she spoke, she tore off a piece of wild mushroom and put it in her mouth to eat.

Freshly picked mushrooms definitely look fresher. It would be even better if I had a pot; I could stew some fresh wild mushrooms in soup every now and then, which would be very delicious.

"Mom, we want a bite too."

Da Bao and Xiao Bao watched Su Xiaoxiao eat wild mushrooms, and the two children couldn't resist trying it themselves.

"Let's eat it when it's done roasting." Su Xiaoxiao estimated that the beggar's chicken was almost ready, and she calculated the time.

Su Xiaoxiao went to the fire and told Sanlang to hide to the side. She used a stick to dig the beggar's chicken out of the fire.

The large, dark clod of earth, still sparking, had initially been met with applause and cheers from Da Bao and Xiao Bao, but now they were both silent.

"What is this? Where is our chicken?"

Everyone was very confused, but Su Xiaoxiao ignored them.

Once the sparks on the black clod of earth had died down, Su Xiaoxiao finally managed to break the clod of earth off the beggar's chicken.

Inside, chicken wrapped in leaves was revealed, and its aroma had already wafted far and wide.

After Su Xiaoxiao tore open the leaf, she revealed the golden-brown, glistening chicken inside.

Su Xiaoxiao knew that wild pheasants are very active, so their meat is very delicious. With this cooking method, apart from the lack of salt, it's absolutely delicious.

Su Xiaoxiao first tore off a chicken leg and handed it to Sanlang.

"Eat it!"

Saburo took the chicken leg; its golden color was enticing, and its aroma was irresistible.

Sanlang was very surprised, as was Su Xiaoxiao. She realized that instead of handing the chicken leg to the two children first, she chose to give it to Sanlang first.

"You eat first. You must be very hungry after all this time."

Su Xiaoxiao then gave the chicken legs and chicken wings to Da Bao and Xiao Bao respectively.

"This method of preparation is called beggar's chicken."

The two children began to wolf down their food.

Su Xiaoxiao also started eating. The meal was hot and fragrant, much better than just eating dry rations.

Seeing her children eating so heartily, Su Xiaoxiao was very happy.

"Eat slowly. If you like it, Mom will make it for you again!"

Da Bao and Xiao Bao didn't even bother to wipe the oil from around their mouths, and nodded repeatedly at Su Xiaoxiao.

They quickly finished the beggar's chicken, and after they were full, they started picking wild chrysanthemums.

They didn't head home until the sun was almost setting and each of their baskets was full of fruit.

As dusk fell, Su Xiaoxiao led Sanlang and their two little ones home. When they returned to the village, the villagers, who had finished their meals and were sitting in twos and threes in front of their houses, looked at the baskets the family was carrying and wondered what they had gone up the mountain to do.

"Did you guys see that pretty boy walking in the middle?"

One of the villagers pointed to Sanlang walking in the middle of the group and said.

"Wow, that's impressive! They actually dared to bring it out!"

"That's right, he doesn't even feel ashamed!" A woman said, looking at Sanlang walking in the middle of the group. "How come this man is as good-looking as a young woman? No, he's even more beautiful than a young woman."

One of the women quickly stopped her, "Hurry up and wipe the drool off your mouth! What are you thinking? So what if you're pretty? Nobody will even look at you!"

"He likes young widows!" At this moment, a burst of laughter erupted from the crowd. Those people were indeed bored and had nothing better to do.

No matter what these people say, Su Xiaoxiao feels that they must be jealous.

Sanlang probably heard it too, and his reaction was to not react at all. However, he was a little worried that Su Xiaoxiao would be affected by these gossips.

To everyone's surprise, Su Xiaoxiao didn't care about my opinion at all. She even took Sanlang's hand and walked home with him in a very open and generous manner.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao, standing behind Su Xiaoxiao, both felt something was off.

"When did Mother and Sanlang start looking so close?"

Sanlang was a little confused when Su Xiaoxiao pulled him along, and his face immediately turned red.

Back home, Su Xiaoxiao pondered what to make for dinner.

Saburo must have been exhausted; he went to bed early.

Su Xiaoxiao made some porridge, and after the children finished eating, they all lay down to sleep.

Su Xiaoxiao was also tired. Looking at the wild chrysanthemums, she thought she should get up early tomorrow to dry them in the sun.

When I came back tonight, I saw a sunset, and unsurprisingly, tomorrow will be another sunny day.

At this time of day, most families in the village are asleep.

Su Xiaoxiao was about to lock the door and go back to her room to rest; she was exhausted from picking wild chrysanthemums on the mountain today.

As I entered the courtyard and was about to close the gate, a deliberately coughing sound came from outside.

"cough……"

Su Xiaoxiao was annoyed by this kind of attitude. "Just say what you want to say, why put on airs?"
"Su Xiaoxiao, close the door later!"

The light was a bit dim, but you could tell from the sound that it was her cleaning Li Dongmei. The other day, they had such an unpleasant argument, and Su Xiaoxiao almost broke her fingers. Was she here to cause trouble again?
However, Su Xiaoxiao realized that she should rein in her temper.

She casually said, "Sister-in-law, you're here? It's so late, is something the matter?"

That was quite polite; if it had been before, Su Xiaoxiao would have already smacked her with a broom.

"You went hunting in the mountains again today, didn't you? What good stuff did you bring back?"

Su Xiaoxiao frowned. "You didn't bring anything. Is there something you need?"

Da Bao and Xiao Bao nervously burrowed into Su Xiaoxiao's arms, clearly quite afraid of this older woman.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Qiaoqiao, you're so stingy, you won't even let your sister-in-law go in and have a look?"

Li Dongmei said with some displeasure.

"Sister-in-law, you can say whatever you need to say here. We're about to go to sleep!"

"Asleep? That makes sense. With a handsome man suddenly appearing in the house, you should hurry up and go to sleep!"

Li Dongmei sneered sarcastically.

Su Xiaoxiao quickly covered the two children's ears and said, "Sister-in-law, please watch your words. The two children are still here."

Li Dongmei's face darkened. After hearing Su Xiaoxiao's words, she immediately thought of the time when Su Xiaoxiao almost broke her finger. Her hand was so swollen from the pain that it took several days for it to subside, and she was furious.

She decided to cut to the chase and get straight to the point with Su Xiaoxiao.

“Let me tell you, you beat your older brother Liu Dazhuang so badly that he’s now lying on the kang (heated brick bed) unable to move. He can’t do any work, and the housework has been delayed for several days. He can’t go hunting in the mountains either, and our family hasn’t had any meat for days. You must have hunted a lot of good stuff in the mountains today. Why don’t you give some to our family? What’s wrong with that?”

(End of this chapter)