"Okay, Mom."
Qin Nian nodded.
"Xianjun has taken the kids for morning exercises, and breakfast is ready. I'm going out with Aunt Wang later, so I won't wait for you guys."
Yang Yufen added, then took a basket, packed the breakfast, and went next door.
"Why are you here? Didn't you say you weren't going today?"
Aunt Wang had just finished getting ready.
"Going, of course I'm going. Today Xianjun and Niannian are taking the two kids to buy clothes, so I'm free."
Yang Yufen said calmly, and Aunt Wang gave a knowing smile.
"Then let's go. Little Fang is also taking her two kids to buy clothes today to prepare for the new semester."
The two old ladies each carried a basket, put on their straw hats, walked out of the compound, took the bus, and headed for the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Now they no longer needed Wang Shuo to arrange work for them. After getting familiar with the students in the academy, there was almost always more work than they could handle; it just depended on whether they wanted to do it or not.
"Aunt Yang, Aunt Wang, do you have any assigned tasks today? If not, come and help us. Today is the day when the chicks are hatching, and we need some hands to pick up the chicks."
"Sure!"
At the thought of the fluffy chicks, Aunt Wang readily agreed. Yang Yufen had no objections; she raised quite a few chickens herself and was very experienced.
"This is the incubator. It's so big. How many chicks can it hatch at one time?"
Yang Yufen was quite shocked when she saw the large - scale egg incubator and couldn't help but express her amazement.
"Before, there were people sent to the countryside to teach us how to hatch chicks with quilts. At that time, many people thought it was impossible, but it actually worked. However, at that time, hatching a few hundred chicks at a time was already very remarkable."
She thought using an electric blanket to hatch chicks was already a luxury, but she never expected there would be such a professional chick - hatching machine now.
"One of these machines can hatch six thousand eggs at a time. Now the country encourages it, and these are all ordered by the farms. There will be more later. After hatching the chicks today, a new batch needs to be put in promptly."
The student proudly introduced the situation to Yang Yufen and Aunt Wang.
As the chirping sounds became more and more frequent, they could see through the glass that the chicks were breaking out of their shells and moving inside.
Yang Yufen and Aunt Wang listened to the instructions on how to pick up the chicks and classify the defective ones. They needed to finish all this work in one day.
"What if some chicks hatch late?"
Yang Yufen asked.
"If they're late, they'll have to be considered defective. We can't let a few affect the use of the machine."
Yang Yufen nodded. In the morning, they first picked up a batch of chicks whose feathers had dried. They were so fluffy that they felt extremely soft when held in the hand. After picking them up, they were placed in the boxes beside.
After lunch, they started the second round. After picking up the chicks, they could take a short break. At three o'clock, they had the last round of chick - picking. They needed to clean and disinfect the machine before five o'clock for use the next day.
"Where will these defective chicks go?"
Yang Yufen looked at the defective chicks. They were all alive, but some had only partially hatched, and some hadn't hatched at all. The ones that had died after hatching were cleaned up separately.
"People will buy these unhatched eggs. As for the ones that have broken their shells, there's nothing we can do. They'll be sent away together and finally become fertilizer."
The student felt a bit sad, but there was nothing he could do.
Yang Yufen nodded.
"Actually, these can be raised, but they might not grow well. If you want them, Auntie, you can take them."
"Really?"
Yang Yufen was quite surprised.
"Of course. Our tutor also said so before. It's just that we can't raise them all, so in the end, we just leave them in the storage area to fend for themselves."
Yang Yufen looked at the live chicks, took out her basket, spread some leaves in it, picked up quite a few, and filled the basket. The chicks were crowded together.
"Can you raise so many?"
Aunt Wang looked at the full basket of chicks and asked.
"I definitely can't raise them all by myself, but there are quite a few people in our compound who want to raise chickens. I'll take them back and let them exchange something for these chicks."
Yang Yufen whispered to Aunt Wang.
"Then take my basket too. In case they can be raised, it'll save them from being eaten by mice or starving outside."
Aunt Wang handed her basket to Yang Yufen.
Shen Xianjun didn't expect that when he and the kids got back home, his mother had already gone out.
"Why didn't Mom take the bike?"
"Mom asked us two to take the kids to buy clothes. And the kids also need to buy stationery for the new semester, so Mom left all the bikes at home."
Shen Xianjun nodded. He guessed that his mother was trying to give him a chance, but, Mom, if you had taken the bike, he would have had an even better chance!
"One of you sit in the front and the other in the back."
Shen Xianjun directed the two kids. Li Wu took the seat on the crossbar without hesitation and left the back seat for Li Wen.
Shen Xianjun gave a push with his foot, and the bike glided forward. Qin Nian followed behind, keeping a certain distance.
Shen Xianjun looked back and unconsciously slowed down.
Qin Nian had been keeping a steady speed. When she found that the distance was getting closer, she realized that Shen Xianjun had deliberately slowed down.
"Mom, mom, hurry up! Dad is too slow!"
Li Wu felt that the wind wasn't as cool anymore. Immediately noticing something was wrong, he turned his head and shouted at his mother.
"You little rascal."
Shen Xianjun's bike wobbled a bit, and he gritted his teeth.
Hearing this, Qin Nian couldn't help laughing. She increased the force on the pedals, and the bike sped up.
"Hey, you don't have to wait for me. I know the way and can ride fast."
After saying that, Qin Nian glided past Shen Xianjun.
The feeling of riding in the wind on a summer morning was very pleasant. There were big trees along the road.
Qin Nian arrived at the department store first. She parked her bike in a spot and turned around to see that Shen Xianjun had also arrived.
Shen Xianjun was looking at Qin Nian. With a lift of his leg, Li Wen only felt a gust of wind with a certain force, and then his butt hurt. He sat on the ground in a daze.
By the time Shen Xianjun felt something on his leg, it was too late to retract it. His leg was still in the air as he watched the child fall to the ground.
"Oops!"
Two words flashed through his mind. Just as he was about to let go of the bike to help the child, fortunately, he saw Li Wu. He kicked the footrest, and Li Wu jumped off the bike. Qin Nian also rushed to the child's side.
"Brother, how are you?"
"Baby."
Qin Nian reached out but dared not pick up the child.
Li Wen shook his head: "I'm okay, it's just... just..."
His butt hurt, and his pants seemed to be torn, but Li Wen was too shy to say it. He looked at Li Wu with a resentful look.
"Where does it hurt? Tell Mom, and Mom will take you to the hospital."
Qin Nian got anxious and gritted her teeth as she reached out to pick up the child.
"Let me do it."
Li Wen felt a coolness on his butt, and he was already in Shen Xianjun's arms.
"No, no."
Li Wen struggled and shouted. Qin Nian thought Li Wen was afraid of Shen Xianjun and reached out to snatch the child from Shen Xianjun's arms.
"I'm okay. It's just that my pants are torn."
