The Qinghe Village, where the original owner lived, had a big mountain at its back. Yuan Chun left the village and headed up the mountain.

Three hours later, Yuan Chun was heading down the mountain carrying two wild chickens, half a basket of mushrooms, and a small bundle of purslane.

At the mountain’s edge, she saw two of her frugal granddaughters cutting pig fodder.

"Daya, Erya, stop cutting and come back with Grandma," Yuan Chun called out to her two frugal granddaughters.

Daya glanced at the nearly full basket and said, "Grandma, just a bit more, and it’ll be full. That can exchange for two work points. I’ll cut for just a little longer and then go back."

Yuan Chun pointed at Erya’s basket and said, "Stop cutting, you two together can exchange for three work points. Come back with Grandma, Grandma has other chores for you to do."

Upon hearing this, Daya and Erya picked up their baskets and followed Yuan Chun down the mountain.

Daya and Erya delivered the pig fodder to the pig farm for exchange of three work points. After getting home, they saw their grandmother cleaning mushrooms at the kitchen door.

At Grandma’s feet also lay two wild chickens.

Daya’s eyes lit up, "Grandma, you caught wild chickens."

"Grandma, are we having wild chicken for dinner tonight?" Erya cheerfully asked.

Yuan Chun nodded with a smile, "Hurry and boil the water, these wild chickens are dead, the hot weather won’t preserve them. If we don’t prepare them soon, they’ll spoil."

"Grandma, I’ll go fetch the firewood."

Daya ran to the wall outside the yard, pulled out a bundle of pine needles from the woodpile, and carried them to the kitchen.

Erya scooped half a pot of water into the pot.

The two sisters, both skilled in housework, didn’t need Yuan Chun’s direction. Half an hour later, they had neatly cleaned the two wild chickens, chopped them into pieces, and started stewing them in the pot.

Yuan Chun took half of the cleaned mushrooms to dry, washed the other half, and put them in the pot to stew with the wild chicken for soup.

In the evening, on the Ma family table was a large pot of fragrant stewed chicken soup.

The whole family surrounded the chicken soup, constantly swallowing in anticipation.

The grandson Da Linzi, who was Ma Laoer’s eldest son, reached out to grab a chicken drumstick, "Grandma, I want to eat the big drumstick."

With a snap, Yuan Chun slapped his hand away and said, "You didn’t do any work, yet you want to eat the drumstick? You can have a chicken rump instead."

She fished out four drumsticks, scooped a big bowl of soup with plenty of mushrooms, took a few wheat buns, handed them to Qian Hongmei, and instructed, "Take it inside for your eldest."

"Grandma, Grandma, I want the drumstick, that’s my drumstick. I don’t want to give it to Uncle," the eldest grandson started to cry and fuss as he saw the big drumstick being taken away.

Yuan Chun picked up chopsticks and tapped the eldest grandson’s head a few times, "What drumstick of yours? I specially went up the mountain to get it to nourish your Uncle’s body. The fact that you get to eat chicken rump is thanks to your Uncle."

"Waaa... you old wretch, you hit me, I’m gonna tell my dad to beat you to death."

Slap slap slap...

Yuan Chun, with a face full of anger, grabbed the eldest grandson by the clothes, gave him several slaps on the face, and then kicked him away, "You unfilial little brat, dare to curse at Grandma? If you don’t want to eat, then get out! This old woman doesn’t want to raise an ungrateful grandson who wants to beat Grandma to death."

"Da Linzi..." Wang Cui screamed, quickly helped the eldest son up, held him, and yelled at her mother-in-law, "Mom, why did you hit Da Linzi, he’s still young, what does he understand..."

"Pah, they say ’by three, see the old,’ this ungrateful grandson is already nine, what doesn’t he understand? He dares to curse me to my face as an old wretch, who knows behind my back he might be wishing I die soon. This unfilial grandson, I’m not keeping him anyway."