Chapter 435: Fighting

Chapter 435: Bantering

Lu Hanchuan looked at his wife affectionately. "Go on. Should we kill a chicken for the hotpot?"

Ye Xiaoxiao's smile vanished instantly. "No! They’re still babies. That’s so mean!"

Lu Hanchuan played along. "Chicks are the most tender. If not now, then when?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "..."

Absolutely not.

Lu Hanchuan was just teasing Xiao Xiao. Those chickens we just got were precious—forget raising them, eating them now was off the table.

"Let’s see how to build a chicken coop tomorrow. There’s still some space on the east side of the yard."

The next morning, Ye Xiaoxiao was woken up by the crowing of the roosters in their yard.

She turned over irritably, burying her face in the pillow. "Maybe we should eat a rooster after all."

After all, hens don’t need a rooster to lay eggs.

Lu Hanchuan couldn’t help but chuckle softly. "Sexist much?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "I had no idea they’d be this loud."

Though other people kept chickens in the neighborhood, none were this loud right outside our window.

She was also worried whether keeping these two roosters would disturb the neighbors.

Since she couldn’t sleep anymore, Ye Xiaoxiao sat up.

"Want me to make porridge? I can make some for you."

They had an electric rice cooker at home. After checking that there was electricity, she headed to the kitchen.

Lu Hanchuan didn’t say whether he wanted any or not, simply pulling Ye Xiaoxiao back down.

"Don’t trouble yourself, babe. Why not just eat at the canteen?"

"Pfft, you just don’t want to eat my porridge."

Though she said that, she didn’t move again. She reminded Lu Hanchuan, "Don’t forget we’re having hotpot today."

"I remember," Lu Hanchuan ruffled Xiao Xiao’s hair. "I’ll grab the pot later."

Ye Xiaoxiao and Lu Hanchuan lay in bed for a while longer, but when neither could fall back asleep, they just got up.

Before leaving, Lu Hanchuan stood in the yard and looked around. "We don’t have enough wood at home. We’ll need to buy some."

In this era, metal was hard to come by, so an iron cage wasn’t an option. The best option was to build a wooden chicken coop.

"I’ll go check outside to see if anyone’s selling." If we’ve got cash, we can surely buy some.

But Lu Hanchuan insisted he’d handle it. Wood was cheap, but if Xiao Xiao went to buy it herself, hauling it back would be a pain.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Fine, but hurry up."

Because right now, she didn’t dare let those chickens out at all. Without a coop, the garden’s veggies would get wrecked sooner or later.

After breakfast, Ye Xiaoxiao prepared to go out to buy stuff for hotpot. Since it was just her and Lu Hanchuan at home, she didn’t need to buy too much.

Besides, with the weather getting hotter, meat and other stuff would go bad fast.

As Ye Xiaoxiao was heading out, she happened to see Kong Xuelan riding her bicycle out.

"I heard the rooster crowing in the yard this morning. Did you buy it?" Kong Xuelan asked.

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded. "It’s ours. A patient gave it to me instead of cash."

Kong Xuelan: "That’s great. I’ve been thinking of keeping something in my yard too, but I don’t have any experience."

Kong Xuelan looked enviously at the vegetables in Ye Xiaoxiao’s yard. She had wanted to clear a patch of land in her own yard to grow some vegetables but gave it a shot but quit.

She had mentioned it to Lao Li, but he didn’t have time either, so it had been delayed.

Chickens or ducks would be easier—just let them roam in the yard.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "I don’t have experience either, but it shouldn’t be too hard. If it goes south, we’ll cross that bridge later."

Kong Xuelan was off to teach at school, so after leaving the compound, she split up with Ye Xiaoxiao.

"If you and Deputy Regimental Commander Li come back early, come by for hotpot," Ye Xiaoxiao invited.

Kong Xuelan laughed. "Hotpot in this weather?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "We’ve got a fan going at home. It won’t be hot."

Ye Xiaoxiao felt this place was much cooler than the capital, and summer’s the best time for hotpot.

Hearing this, Kong Xuelan agreed, "If we get back early, we’ll totally crash your dinner."

After parting ways, Ye Xiaoxiao headed to the store.

But as soon as she arrived at Hai Yan’s small store, she saw a few men standing at the entrance.

They didn’t seem like shoppers—more like they were up to no good.

With the military base so close, who’d dare cause trouble here?

Ye Xiaoxiao walked into the store.

Hai Yan was sitting behind the counter as usual, but she wasn’t her usual cheerful self when she saw a customer enter.

"I’m sorry, but we’re closing for the day," Hai Yan apologized to Ye Xiaoxiao.

Ye Xiaoxiao frowned—no way. She couldn’t let her hotpot night get wrecked.

Her gaze shifted to the men in the store. The leader, a burly man, snapped at her, "Didn’t you hear the boss say we’re closed today?"

Ye Xiaoxiao looked at Hai Yan. Was something wrong?

"It’s… a private matter."

Family stuff. Hai Yan didn’t want to involve others and just waved her off.

Before Ye Xiaoxiao could go, the leader turned to Hai Yan and said with a sneer, "This time, we’ve found you a decent match. Mom and Dad have already said that once you’re married, this store will be mine to run."

Ye Xiaoxiao finally understood that this man must be Hai Yan's relative.

"Yu Dahai, in your dreams! This store was opened by me alone, it has nothing to do with you. Even if I get married, it’s none of your business."

Yu Dahai glared at Hai Yan fiercely. "Seems like you’ve grown too bold. Your money is family money, plain and simple."

That was complete nonsense. Seeing the situation turn bad, Ye Xiaoxiao thought she should get out of there and come back with backup.

But before she could step out of the store, the young man who had previously helped Hai Yan watch the shop also came in.

Yu Dahai was furious at the sight of him and immediately called on his buddies to jump him.

The young man wasn’t one to back down either—even outnumbered, he held his own.

The store took the worst of it, with several bottles of soda by the entrance smashed to pieces.

With a loud *bang*, Yu Dahai’s head was busted open, blood streaming down from his scalp.

"Holy shit..."

"Make one more move, and it won’t just be your head getting busted open."

The young man’s gaze was fierce, like a feral pup.

Hai Yan stepped forward and shoved Yu Dahai. "You still here?"

Yu Dahai had wanted to get his boys to charge, but the others were also injured to varying degrees and were too scared to move.

"You just wait."

Yu Dahai threw out a threat before leaving with his brothers in tow.

The small store was trashed.

"So... who exactly were those people?"

Standing by the door, Ye Xiaoxiao hadn’t been caught up in the chaos, but she was still worried about Hai Yan.

A woman running a shop alone would inevitably face all kinds of trouble.

And Hai Yan was almost thirty—how could her family still call the shots on her marriage? It was utterly unreasonable.

"Miss Ye, just take whatever you need, if there’s anything left here."