RDD 51

Chapter 51



After making posts for the barrier, Santiago and I returned to where Alberto and the others were. 


We're going to make the chicken and duck coops this time. 


When Penelope learned that Alberto and Corazon would rear chickens and ducks, Penelope said that it would be good to sell eggs. After all, eggs was an everyday food. Many families eat eggs every day. 


Eggs were must-have ingredients for baking. Besides, eggs were easy to harvest, the hens would do their job and they just have to get the eggs. 


So building a chicken coop was the right thing, this was the place where the chickens would lay eggs. It was better than laying eggs in different places. 


The chicken and duck coops were made of wooden material. In fact, there were thousands of bamboo woods in the river and we are free to get them. 


Helping the family, I carried the bamboo wood. Obviously, we have another ground to dig to create a foundation. 


Thankfully, most of the men helped build the coops.  Few men didn't join, such as Señorita's husband. Her husband went to the sea to fish. Dagupan, Pangasinan was next to a sea after all. Most people near the shore obviously have a job related to fishing. 


When the afternoon came, we already finished building the coop for the chickens. We would make the duck coop tomorrow. 


On December 28, I spent most of my days helping my in-laws. Not a problem, I treat this as a relaxing vacation. It was better than wasting my time inside a taxi car the whole day. 


As a taxi driver, most of my time would always be inside the car. It was a tiring and boring job. Of course, I met a lot of interesting people... I even met a pair of criminals that almost killed me. Probably the main reason why I didn't want to be a taxi driver again. 


I returned to the room and found my children eating two slices of cake...


"Where the cake came from?"


"My sister went to the city. I asked her if she could buy a cake for us. Here's your portion."


"Thanks, Honey."


Except for Señorita who has a loose screw in her head, Penelope had a good relationship with his siblings. 


"What about you Honey? Let's eat this cake together."


"No, I already ate mine." She smiled and put the plate on the table. 


"Are you sure you don't want to eat with me?"


"... One, no, two bites. I just want to eat two bites."


I chuckled and let her be. Women like sweets.


We were together for almost six years and I know my wife very well. She likes eating delicious sweet, fluffy cakes and such. However, she always prioritizes our kids. 


As long as our kids eat, we're already good. 


There was a point where we have to eat nothing just to make sure that the kids have their stomachs full. 


My wife and I started eating the cake... I realized that my wife ate most of it, but who cares. She could eat more. 


"I- I'm sorry, I didn't realize that..."


"It's fine. We still have fresh celery, I'll eat that instead."


"Y- Yeah. I'll cook you fried eggs later."


Perhaps guilty of her crime, Penelope felt bad and promised me fried eggs. 


.........

......

...


"Hehe! Mommy, look! I can swim now!" Sophia was kicking the water. And no, she was not swimming at all. She was just paddling. 


"Sophia, don't go to the deep water. Just stay close to us, do you understand?"


"Yes, Mommy!"


Sophia and Penelope were swimming in the river. We promised that we will take the kids to the river. This might be the first time that Sophia swims in the river. 


The rivers in Manila were nasty as fuck. I saw some kids swimming in the river and I don't know how can they stomach swimming in that polluted river. 


Unhealthy industrialization killed the city. With no respect for the environment, factories would throw their waste in the river. Even normal citizens treat rivers as dumpsters. 


Perhaps the government was part of the reasons as well. No one implemented a 'real' law that throwing waste in the river was illegal. Even if there was a law, no one treated it seriously. 


Why? Because no person was sent to jail after throwing trash in a river. In a way, the government was too lenient with its citizens. 


Fortunately, the river near the village was pure. It was gorgeously blue, almost like the ocean. 


Roman was playing with his cousins, having a competition about who can swim the fastest. Naturally, Roman had the place because he was not good at swimming. 


As for me, I was swimming well. We had a swimming pool at my parents' house. I could swim whenever I wanted to, to the point that I got tired of swimming. 


As for Penelope, she was swimming near the ground, watching Sophia. The mother and daughter were having their time. 


'Hm? A carp?'


When I saw the fish swimming next to me, my hunter instinct manifested and I grabbed it with my hands.


"Yosh!"


The fish splashed and tried to escape my grasp. I quickly threw it to the ground to make sure that it would not escape. 


The carp was big, almost the size of my arm. It was jumping, fighting for its life. 


"Looks like we will eat a carp tonight."


I grinned. Eating the food you hunted was the best.


"Wow! Jajjy, you're amwazing! I wuv you!"


Sophia was shocked to see my feat. 


'That's right sweetie, praise me more! Muwahaha!'