King of the Wilderness

Chapter 409: Chapter 234: Christmas Eve and the Chicken Coop (Part 2)

”They will be surprised, curious, and treat us as bar talk, which is quite normal. But they won’t judge us, and certainly won’t reject us.”

”Because here, surviving and living well is the most respectable thing one can do.”

He finally held Emily’s hand tightly and made a promise in an indisputable tone: ”So, my dear, you have nothing to worry about.”

”You just need to focus on getting well and happily waiting for our third child to arrive. I’ll shield us from the storms and idle gossip outside.”

”I will make sure everyone knows we are a strong, complete, and respectable family. No one can insult us without consequences!”

After hearing this, Emily nodded heavily, the worry in her eyes finally faded a lot, replaced by an incredible sense of peace and trust.

Aliya’s eyes filled with pride as she said, ”Did you hear that? That’s our man. Not only can he fight off black bears in the wilderness, but he can also provide us shelter from public scrutiny.”

Seeing that the last bit of doubt within the family was completely dispelled, the atmosphere at the dining table became unprecedentedly relaxed and joyful.

Lin Yu’an then brought the topic back to daily life. He looked out at the darkness and curiously asked, ”By the way, what have you all been doing during this month-long polar night?”

Mentioning this, a hint of pride appeared on Aliya’s face.

”I’ve been preparing a surprise for you~”

She smiled mysteriously and then pointed to the two large dogs drooling by the table, ”But, it’s also thanks to these two champions.”

”Just last month, the temporary coop you set up before you left was almost destroyed by a cunning fox.”

”It took advantage of the blizzard, trying to dig a hole from a weak spot at the bottom. Luckily! Luckily Whiskey and Honey discovered it in time!”

Emily added, lovingly stroking Honey’s big head, ”That night, the two of them were like maniacs, barking nonstop in the direction of the coop.”

”We went out to look, and the fox was already cornered by them, with its paw halfway in. If we had been a few minutes late, the consequences would have been unthinkable.”

Aliya’s expression turned serious: ”Although Whiskey and Honey did a great job that time, it also served as a wake-up call for us.”

”That temporary pen can’t possibly keep out these hungry predators. So from that day on, I decided not to wait for you, a ’real coop’ must be built immediately!”

She took a sip of coffee and continued, ”But this brought up a new problem: rebuilding the coop in the same place leaves our twenty Chanticleer chickens without a home!”

”I had no choice but to bite the bullet and call Uncle Stan on the satellite phone. He agreed very readily, ’My coop is big enough, twenty more wouldn’t be a problem, just bring them over.’”

”Do you know how difficult it is to put on a headlamp and catch twenty terrified chickens from a pen, stuffing them into boxes in a blizzard night?”

”Those guys were clucking and flying all over the place, feathers and wood shavings everywhere. Emily and I were like we were catching slippery fish, stuffing two folding poultry transport boxes full to the brim.”

Emily also laughed and added, ”That short stretch to Uncle Stan’s felt like a century. I’ve never heard so many chickens complaining at once in my life.”

”After safely depositing them at Uncle Stan’s, I finally had my hands free. I combined the energy-saving solutions we discussed earlier, drew up a blueprint, and got to work.”

She rubbed her shoulders, her face showing both fatigue and excitement: ”The wood and insulation materials you stocked up helped a lot.”

”This past month, I’ve spent almost all my time on the construction site. At my pace, it should be done in a few days.”

She looked up at Lin Yu’an, her green eyes full of laughter and a sense of relief.

”But now that you’re back, I think... maybe we can move those chickens into their new home today.”

Listening, Lin Yu’an felt overwhelmed. He never imagined that during his absence, Aliya was not only guarding this home, but also independently building it.

He vigorously rubbed Whiskey and Honey’s heads, whispering praise: ”Well done, good pups, protecting our little chickens.”

His voice was full of impending battle crispness and decisiveness: ”Aliya, show me your blueprints, and take me to inspect the ’Chief Engineer’s’ construction site.”

A brilliant smile spread across Aliya’s face, sweeping away her previous fatigue. She picked up a rolled blueprint from the table and responded briskly:

”Here are the blueprints! The lights are fully charged and ready, just waiting for you, the general contractor, to inspect and finish up!”

Lin Yu’an was already wearing his coat. He took the blueprint, unrolled it, and immediately grasped the essence of Aliya’s design.

Passive solar heating, compost heating circulation, external egg-checking ports... every detail was perfect, even more thorough in structural reinforcement than his initial ideas.

He looked up at Aliya, a hint of a smile on his face: ”It’s a fantastic design. Let’s go; let’s finish our first ’couples joint project’ before tonight.”

At the southeastern corner of the cabin, about fifty meters from the main house, a half-finished structure stood silently in the darkness.