Ch 12: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

Goose, Goose, Goose

“You young fellows, I can tell you don’t do much work at home. It’s your first time seeing chickens and geese and not knowing the difference.”

The old woman lifted a corner of the straw cage, and the goslings inside shrank their necks from the cold.

“It was because we were far away earlier; once we got closer, I could see it clearly,” Qin Xia explained, though he certainly knew the difference between chicks and goslings. He just couldn’t understand how Yu Jiuque had spotted it from such a distance.

The old woman, assuming Qin Xia was just being stubborn, said, “This is a batch I hatched from the stove. If you want some, go ahead and pick two.”

But there wasn’t really any need to buy geese. Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque were already busy with their food stall, leaving them limited time to care for poultry. At most, they might keep a few chickens for eggs.

Chickens were also easier to care for than geese.

Since they were already here, Qin Xia decided to inquire about buying chicks. If none were available, he would consider buying adult egg-laying hens, even if they were more expensive. In the winter, a hen could lay an egg every two or three days, which would eventually add up to a decent meal.

While Qin Xia chatted with the old woman selling geese, Yu Jiuque noticed one of the goslings in the cage looking particularly listless. He crouched down, picked it up gently, and stroked its head with his fingers.

“Auntie, is this gosling sick?” Yu Jiuque asked.

The old woman glanced over and replied, “It’s not sick. If it were sick, I wouldn’t have kept it with the others. My big dog stepped on it earlier, and it probably got scared out of its wits. It was already looking unwell when I brought it out this morning, and now it seems like it won’t make it.”

She shook her head with a regretful expression. A gosling could sell for fifteen coins, more valuable than chickens or ducks.

The little gosling shivered in Yu Jiuque’s hands. When he tried to put it back, the more aggressive goslings immediately stretched their necks to peck at it.

For a moment, Yu Jiuque was stuck, unsure whether to raise or lower his hand.

Seeing the sympathy in Yu Jiuque’s eyes, Qin Xia thought for a moment and asked the old woman, “Will you sell this one?”

Yu Jiuque looked up in surprise.

“Huh? You want this injured one?” The old woman hesitated, then added, “But let me warn you, if it doesn’t survive, don’t come back here looking for me.”

Qin Xia just wanted to try, “We understand that, we’re not the type to make trouble.”

Hearing this, the old woman didn’t hesitate much. It would likely die anyway, so she might as well make a few coins from it.

“Just give me three coins. If it survives, you’ll have made a big profit.”

Qin Xia handed her three copper coins, which the old woman pocketed.

“And about what you asked earlier—if you go further down this way, you’ll see a woman in a floral jacket. She’s a relative of mine, and she’s selling some egg-laying hens because her family needs money. You can take a look if you’re interested.”

As Yu Jiuque carefully placed the gosling into his coat and stood up, he was still a bit dazed. They hadn’t planned on raising geese, yet Qin Xia had spent three coins on a gosling that might not even survive the night.

“If it makes it through, we’ll give it a name and keep it as our guard goose,” Qin Xia said with a smile.

Yu Jiuque was stunned. So Qin Xia didn’t plan to raise the goose for food?

Qin Xia had just thought of it. His grandfather in the countryside used to have two big geese that were fiercer than dogs. They would flap their wings and chase after strangers, but they always remembered him, even though he only visited during the winter and summer holidays.

He suddenly felt that having a goose as a guard pet would be interesting.

Moreover, geese can live for decades, even longer than dogs.

If Yu Jiuque left in the future, Qin Xia didn’t plan on marrying or having children, so he might as well have a companion.

“Let’s hope it has the fortune to survive.”

If it could survive this ordeal, it would, like him, find a good home.

Yu Jiuque gently stroked the gosling’s little head again with his finger.

After that, they successfully bought two egg-laying hens, both just over a year old and in their prime. Originally priced at sixty coins each, Qin Xia bargained them down to fifty coins, spending a total of one tael of silver to bring them home.

With the addition of these three little creatures, the two of them were busy as soon as they got home. Yu Jiuque used an old rattan basket and some old clothes to make a temporary nest for the gosling, placing it on the kang to keep it warm.

Afterward, they went to the backyard to help Qin Xia clean up the long-unused chicken coop. Noticing a hole in the roof, Qin Xia covered it thickly with some dry straw.

“It’ll have to do for now. We’ll make a new one when we have more time.”

With just two hens, they didn’t need much space. Since the weather was cold, they would have to keep them in the kitchen at night to prevent them from freezing to death, or else the money spent would be in vain.

The two hens, once on the ground, rushed to hide in the chicken coop, clearly not yet accustomed to their new environment. Watching the hens huddled together, Yu Jiuque thought of the gosling inside and worriedly suggested, “I remember that Auntie Fang has chickens at home, and she always knows more about these things. Why don’t we go and ask her for advice?”

Qin Xia also realized that he might have underestimated how difficult it would be to raise poultry, finding it more challenging than cooking.

“That sounds like a good idea,” he agreed with Yu Jiuque’s suggestion.

Worried that the gosling might not survive, they hurried to Auntie Fang’s house with it in tow. At that moment, Fang Rong was soaking beans at home. When she saw the two of them rush in, she thought something had happened. But it turned out they had just impulsively bought a sickly gosling and a couple of shivering hens, which made Fang Rong laugh.

“I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when you two have children.”

She took the gosling, looked it over, and muttered, “This gosling does look unwell, it’s hard to say. Take it home, keep it warm, provide clean water and food, and mix some boiled rice bran with chopped greens. See if it’ll eat. If it doesn’t, pry open its mouth and force-feed it. As long as it can swallow, it might survive.”

As for the hens, she said, “The hens are even easier. Just give them food and water, make sure they don’t get scared again, and in a few days, they should be fine.”

Hearing this, it indeed didn’t seem too difficult.

Since they were already there, Fang Rong decided to keep them for dinner. Last time, Qin Xia had cooked a great meal, and she couldn’t keep taking advantage of them, so now she had the chance to return the favor.

“It’s already late, and you’ve both had a long day. Why don’t you stay for a simple meal? I’ll make bean curd rice.”

After Qin Xia agreed, Fang Rong noticed how much Yu Jiuque cherished the gosling and realized he had a kind heart. She called over Liu Douzi, who was working in the backyard, and said, “Help your sister-in-law’s gosling get something to eat.”

Later, when Fang Rong and Liu Douzi went to the kitchen to cook, they didn’t let Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque help. The two had no choice but to stay in the room, watching over the gosling in the basket.

When they offered it food, the gosling didn’t eat, only drinking a bit of water. Qin Xia followed Fang Rong’s instructions, prying open its mouth and force-feeding it.

“It’s swallowing! It’s swallowing!” Yu Jiuque, closely watching, exclaimed excitedly when he saw the gosling swallow.

Qin Xia wiped his hands and smiled. “Let’s see how it does tonight. Hopefully, it’ll start eating on its own tomorrow.”

Yu Jiuque nodded with a smile and reached out to gently touch the gosling’s cool beak.

In the following days, they had to bring the gosling with them to their stall because it still wasn’t eating much on its own. They feared that if they left it at home, they might return to find it had died.

Fortunately, the gosling was still small, only about the size of a palm. The basket they used as its nest was kept clean, with fresh straw regularly replaced, so even when placed under the food stall, no one noticed it.

The idea of naming it was put on hold.

They still weren’t sure if it would survive, and naming it might only make things more painful if it didn’t.

In the past few days, many people have learned that there is a new food stall on Liubao Street.

They sell during the breakfast and lunch hours, and once they run out of food, they close up shop. The iron plate tofu and grilled cold noodles they sell are unique in the entire county, and gradually, people started going out of their way to come and try them.

“I can’t go a day without eating something from your stall; otherwise, everything else just tastes bland and flavorless.”

This was said by Xing Yiming. Although he had a luncheon at Changyue Tower, one of the top restaurants in Qinan County, where a single table’s meal could buy several of Qin Xia’s stalls, Xing Yiming still found himself wandering over to buy a portion of grilled cold noodles after the meal.

Coincidentally, his wife had brought their daughter to the shop, and his daughter, who had inherited his taste, also liked these two snacks. So Xing Yiming decided to bring her along.

“Little duck!”

Xing Yiming’s daughter, Xing Yuan, was five years old, with her hair tied in two buns adorned with pearl flowers. Her face was a bit chubby and round, looking very blessed.

“My little darling, that’s a goose. Let Daddy teach you: pointy beak for a goose, flat beak for a duck. Look, doesn’t it have a pointy beak?”

Xing Yiming, who had this daughter after turning thirty, treated her like a precious gem. Qin Xia couldn’t help but notice how his tone changed when he spoke in front of his daughter.

Seeing that Xing Yuan was interested in the little goose, Yu Jiuque lifted a corner of the cloth covering the basket.

“If you like, you can gently pet it.”

“Really? Then I’ll just touch it lightly.”

The two squatted down together to play with the gosling. With Yu Jiuque helping to watch over her, Xing Yiming wasn’t worried about his daughter running off and focused on waiting for Qin Xia to prepare a portion of grilled cold noodles. After taking a bite, he smacked his lips and said, “I feel like you could add a bit more to these grilled cold noodles. The food at your stall is too plain; it could use some meat.”

“For example, adding some chicken strips, pork tenderloin, grilled sausages, or meatballs?”

Qin Xia recited a list of possible meat additions for the grilled cold noodles, successfully piquing Xing Yiming’s interest.

“What are chicken strips? How are grilled sausages made? Can pork tenderloin really be added?”

After a string of questions, Qin Xia smiled and said, “These are all things I’ve tried adding to my food at home, and they taste great. But selling them at the stall would raise the price, and I’d need to invest more in ingredients.”

Being in business himself, Xing Yiming understood Qin Xia’s reasoning. Currently, the most expensive item Qin Xia sells is the egg, and adding meat would increase the price of a portion by at least seven or eight coins. Few people are willing to spend that much on a snack. Since Qin Xia’s stall is still new and not well-established, it would be a waste if he prepared these and they didn’t sell.

Xing Yiming sighed with regret, “If only there was something affordable and tasty that had the texture of meat.”

He wasn’t necessarily looking for meat from Qin Xia’s stall but purely wanted to enhance the texture of the grilled cold noodles, which felt a bit monotonous at the moment.

Since Yu Jiuque was still accompanying Xing Yuan with the goose, Qin Xia packed up the food for Xing Yiming himself. Hearing this, he had an idea.

“I just thought of something that might work. If it turns out well, it could be just what you described—affordable, with a taste similar to meat.”

Xing Yiming clapped his hands in delight.

“I knew you’d come up with something! And while we’re at it… how about making me a portion of those chicken strips and pork tenderloin you mentioned earlier?”

He was really craving them!