I became a poor little sophora japonica in the courtyard

During the National Day holiday in 1965, Xu Damao knocked on Jingyi's door early in the morning. Jingyi yawned and complained, "Brother, you won't even allow me to sleep in during the holiday?"

"I just came back yesterday from the countryside where I went to show a movie. I bought two old hens there, and my parents asked me to give one to you." Xu Damao untied an old hen from the handlebars and held up the chicken's legs to show Jingyi.

"If I want to eat it, can't I buy it myself? You should take it back and save it for my parents." Jingyi said subconsciously with sleepy eyes.

"I've got it all here! Do you want to raise it for eggs, or kill it for meat now? I think you should raise it first! It can lay an egg for you every day. I'll also have to build a temporary chicken coop for you at the door, and remember to feed it every day."

Xu Damao was still nagging, and Jingyi suddenly woke up. Two old hens? Is this plot going to start again? Rather than letting him steal the cheap chicken stalks to satisfy his craving, it would be better to eat them herself.

"Brother, help me kill it with a knife! Who has the time to raise this? If it's left outside and someone steals it, it's better to eat it first." Jingyi quickly ordered Xu Damao to work.

"That's fine! It saves me the trouble of building a chicken coop. First open the stove door to boil water, so I can take it to the public pool to slaughter the chicken." This dirty work of killing chickens, my sister can't do it. Xu Damao took it all on himself!

Jingyi washed her face with cold water, and her mind immediately became clear. In her previous life, she came here on November 3rd, and when she went to the backyard, she saw Lou Xiaoe feeding chickens. It was probably at the end of November when Banggeng's chicken-stealing plot began.

Before she knew it, Jingyi had been working at the Red Star Steel Mill for more than a year. She had passed the assessment, and by the end of this year she would be promoted to level 20, a second-level clerk with a monthly salary of 70 yuan.

This was decided and unanimously approved by the factory after she had managed to get along with everyone in the steel rolling mill and had not offended the leaders of the three major factions.

She is now the secretary of the Youth League branch of the steel mill and has great influence in the minds of young workers. Her political future is bright!

After the water on the stove boiled, Xu Damao took the tools in his left hand and the old hen in his right hand and went to the public pool in the middle courtyard.

The children in the yard gathered around to watch. Killing a chicken was a rare event during this period. Xu Damao's hand holding the knife began to tremble.

"Xu Damao, are you capable of this? Get out of the way! You still have to rely on your master Zhu for this kind of work."

Sha Zhu came over proudly, snatched the kitchen knife from his hand, and pushed Xu Damao aside. He quickly cut the meat, scalded the hair, and cut open the belly in one go.

Since Xu Damao had not lived in this courtyard for more than ten years, the hostility between the two mortal enemies had eased a lot. The two of them were no longer at loggerheads!

"Brother Zhuzi, I don't want the chicken head, chicken butt, internal organs or chicken blood."

Jingyi came over and saw Shazhu washing chicken intestines in the public sink. She quickly spoke up to stop him.

"Hey! You're not a good eater! Don't make the chicken offal and chicken blood too good. You can't make them into snacks for me. How about this, I'll stew the chicken for you, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the taste."

Sha Zhu took on all the responsibilities, and Jing Yi agreed to do it in order to save trouble. Yu Shui had to work overtime today for the National Day holiday, so he had to save some of the chicken soup for her at noon.

At ten o'clock, the aroma of stewed chicken began to waft through the courtyard. This was indeed a free-range hen raised in the countryside, and the children in the courtyard were drooling over it.

Banggeng started to make a fuss at home and wanted to eat chicken! Qin Huairu had no choice but to go to Shazhu to discuss it.

"That's impossible! The chicken isn't mine. If a whole chicken is missing a leg, aren't you insulting me?"

Sha Zhu is not a mindless licker, he still has his own principles. When he heard Qin Huairu asking for a chicken drumstick, he refused without a second thought.

Qin Huairu didn't achieve her goal, so she could only go back to the west wing with a sullen face. Banggeng rolled on the ground for a while, but when he saw that he didn't get even a chicken feather, he could only slam the door and walk out. He ran into Xiaodang in the front yard, and the two of them left the courtyard together.

After a while, Banggeng ran back again. While no one in the family was paying attention, he took Jia Zhang's scissors, ripped off a cabbage stalk in the kitchen, grabbed a handful of salt matches, and sneaked out again.

Seven-year-old Xiaodang stood at the entrance of the alley waiting for her brother. Seeing Banggeng running over with a bulging chest, she asked him, "Brother, do you want Huaihua to come with you?"

"Don't worry about her! She has good food to eat and never thinks about us." Banggeng was furious when he mentioned his little sister Sophora japonica. Today, Xu Yueling's family was stewing chicken in the backyard, and Sophora japonica must be included.

He took his sister Xiaodang to Fuxiang Hutong. A classmate of his lived in this hutong and he often came here to play. He saw a family here with a few chickens in the yard.

Banggeng pretended to pass by. He looked over and saw that the chickens were still there, but there were still people moving around in the yard.

"Wait a minute! Go to the archway and wait for me first." Banggeng asked Xiaodang to take the scissors and other items and asked her to go to the archway at the entrance of Nanluoguxiang.

Banggeng wandered around Fuxiang Hutong for a while. It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, and the old lady in the courtyard went into the house to eat. Banggeng saw the opportunity and tiptoed into the courtyard.

There were four chickens roaming around in the yard, and Banggeng immediately picked out the one closest to him. The chicken was pecking at the leaves on the ground in front of him, and he rushed over like a hungry dog, holding the chicken tightly in his arms. Then he turned around and ran!

The aunt in the house heard the screams of her chickens, so she came out to see the back of a child running out of the yard. She looked at the chickens in the yard again, and found that one was missing.

She quickly asked the family to chase the chicken thief. When they ran out of the yard, they found that the thief had disappeared. The aunt described the characteristics of the chicken thief, and the family began to search separately.

Bang Geng ran to the archway with the chicken in his arms and called Xiao Dang. The two ran across Gulou East Street and turned into Dongzhimen Inner Street. The municipal government was digging a pit on the roadside to drain the cement pipe. Today was the National Day holiday and the construction was stopped.

The two of them crawled into the cement pipe, and could not be seen from outside. Banggen asked Xiaodang to pick up dead branches and rotten wood to start the fire, while he used scissors to cut the chicken's throat to drain the blood. Then he plucked the chicken's feathers and gutted it.

Then he rubbed some salt on the chicken and wrapped it with a layer of cabbage stalks. He ran to the construction site and covered the chicken with mud. His technique was not unfamiliar at all, as if he had done it before.

Xiaodang found a pile of fire starters, piled them together, struck a match to light them, put the mud ball into the fire, and asked Xiaodang to continue looking for dead branches and wood.

The fire he lit was in a cement pipe, and only smoke could be seen from the outside, but no flames. The fire burned for more than half an hour before the flames gradually died out.

Banggeng used a wooden stick to pull the mud ball out of the ashes. He knocked it with the stick, and the mud ball cracked, and a strong chicken aroma immediately spread.

He let it cool there for a while, then endured the heat and pulled off the chicken neck and feet and handed them to Xiaodang, then tore off a chicken leg for himself and began to devour it.

The family that lost the chicken was looking everywhere. A young couple came in this direction. They searched all the way to Dongzhimen, but found nothing. So they walked back dejectedly!

The two were just passing by the pile of cement pipes under construction, and suddenly they smelled the aroma of roasted chicken. The couple looked at each other and quietly moved towards the two ends of the cement pipes.

The two of them stuck their heads in and looked inside. See! Two children, one big and one small, were eating roasted chicken in the cement pipe. Outside the cement pipe, chicken feathers and internal organs were scattered all over the ground. Judging from the color of the chicken feathers, it was their family's reed chicken.