Mission 1: Cleaning Chicken Coop!

When Tang Yu entered the kitchen, she found all the family members sitting in a semi-circle around the mud stove; everyone but Mu Yunsheng. Where did he go? As her slender frame blocked the day light coming through the doorway by half, all of them turned towards her. "Good Morning, everyone!" She greeted everyone, cheerfully.

Nevertheless, no one responded. Males simply went back to their conversation which mainly centered around farming.

Feng Bethsheba, the first daughter-in-law, was chopping cabbage, potato, and tomato.

Mu Hien, Mu Yunsheng's fourth sister, was rolling out the wheat-based dough in order to incase the filling.

Li Diu, the second daughter-in-law, was stuffing cooked veggies in the dough.

Song Huan, the mother-in-law, was setting them in a pot over boiling water, before putting a lid over the pot.

Mu Jiayi was brewing tea.

Helpless, Tang Yu tugged her lower lip between her teeth. The Mu family's negligence freed the memories of the host's acerbic words. Glancing around the kitchen, she grabbed a bronze platter and a chopstick, then tinkled out a bell sound. "Everyone, may I have your attention for a minute, please?"

Everyone paused. Females' hands suspended their respective work.

Tang Yu joined her hands above her chest. "I have to take this moment to sincerely apologize for all my misbehavior, knowing very well that I violated all sorts of politeness. I'm not anything great but a work in progress, which is yet to be fully developed. Forgive my shallow thoughts. I want to reform, not fleeing from here, but with you guys being in every step of my way. Please give me a chance."

A few seconds passed with everyone staring at her in silence, some of their eyes widening like saucers. A question paced back and forth in their minds — what came over the county magistrate's brat's mind? In lieu of doing her nut, she actually graced the kitchen to apologize?!

"You want to change?" Song Huan broke the silence. "Does it mean you are willing to adopt our lifestyle?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Tang Yu nodded without any ado.

Song Huan's sombre expression cracked. It was replaced with a hint of a smile that didn't even reach her eyes. "Then, go and clean the chicken coop." She bobbed her chin up.

This doubled everyone's interest in the scene unfolding before their eyes. And, they were preparing themselves for Tang Yu's ranting and raving.

"Huh?" Confusion gathered over Tang Yu's face for a split second before realization dawned on her. She didn't need to know them on a well grounded level to tell that they were kind of waiting for her to act out over her pride just like previously. After all, they all viewed her in a negative light.

"Are you backtracking already? Didn't you want to embrace our lifestyle?" Song Huan raised her eyebrows. "Everyone has to pull some weight in order for a big, harmonious family like ours to function." She too waited for Tang Yu to lose her marbles and go off on them.

Nonetheless, Tang Yu didn't fume over the order. Having some big ovaries on her, she smiled and happily stepped up to the plate. "Alright, mother! I'll give it my best shot!" She whirled around to go outside, beaming with sadistic excitement.

Everyone couldn't help exchanging befuddled glances with each other. They didn't think, rather believed it that the county magistrate's daughter would opt out of the responsibility.

"Did she really go—" Feng Bethsheba's sentence was cut short by a call.

"Mother…"

At once, everyone directed their gaze at the sound.

Tang Yu displayed her sparkling white teeth in a beautiful smile. "Mother, growing up with servants embedded in my life, I had always been on the outskirts of the domestic chores. Hence, I might not do it well, please don't get angry at me for that." Her sweet voice that delivered the request sent everyone to trip over their own thoughts. They blanked on appropriate responses until she disappeared from the view.

"I thought she has at least started trying to get her bearings with us." Li Diu's furrowed eyebrows bespoke a hint of disappointment.

"I'm telling you, mother, she is going to pull some shit on us again!" Mu Jiayi yelled, bouts of fury oozing out of her voice.

"Jiayi, you need to have less of a tone. You will be married off in two years! With this temper, you won't fail to put me to shame either." Father Mu gently rebuked his younger daughter, putting a stopper to the bubbling conversation. Somehow, he found it in himself to sympathize with Tang Yu. She too had to have her dreams of getting married off to a rich family. Truth was, the Mu family couldn't match her expectations. Hence, it fell heavy on the girl. He could only hope, with time she would be mature enough to accept his son. The pride of their village. "We are getting late for the field, give us breakfast quickly."

….

Tang Yu approached the chicken coop. It was a dwarf yet long abode, with its roof barely reaching her chest. She slid open the bamboo woven door, and immediately a wave of chicken poop odor struck her nostrils hard, before assaulting her lungs.

"Eww! Gosh!" She couldn't but retch, her gag reflex was triggered. Her eyes almost watered, she took a few steps back before the pungent smell could knock her to the ground. 'You have to accomplish the task, Yu! You got it, girl!' Apprehensively eyeing the coop a little, she decided to slide open the other door as well. The bamboo panels were free, not hinged with any post. This way, the coop now had three walls with its front completely open. Air flowed inside, dispersing the odor.

She crouched down three feets away from the coop, observing its condition. It was actually built around a huge boulder. There had to be multiple layers of dried chicken poop on the thin straw bedding which had hardened to the point of being stuck with the floor.

Tang Yu pushed out a heavy sigh out of her chest. Tough gig indeed. However, she couldn't put a dent on the beautiful day. Well, the very first day.

"Let's get started," She rotated her neck, and spotted a trough full of water. It might be the rainwater from last night. Well, she might not be equipped with any experience, but common sense was at her service. Scooping pails after pails of water, she began pouring them on the coop floor in order to let the hardened poop soften.

Growing up in a super renowned family of lawyers which acquired a great deal of animosity from powerful criminals of all sorts, Tang Yu had been mentally trained to blend into any kind of adverse situation. As she became an adult, life had started building blocks after blocks in her way. But, instead of retreating into her shell, she fought hard to overcome them. She fought with her soul and bone. The family pressure to be an overachiever, intense competition in both her academic and professional life left a peculiar taste on her mouth; to the point things without challenges tasted bland to her.

After emptying out the trough, thoroughly wetting the floor, Tang Yu went to stand by the bamboo fence that marked the Mu House's perimeter. Several fruits and coconut trees planted in a regular interval lined the perimeter. The Mu family dwelled atop a pretty big hill. The rectangular-shaped backyard itself was approximately ten thousand square feet. Left side of it had a pigsty and a stable, while the coop was built on the right side.

Next house was located on the hill beside. Wherever Tang Yu's gaze flew, there were only greeneries and greeneries. A serene smile soon touched her lips. A narrow ridge that extended for quite a distance connected another large mountain with theirs. Melody of a waterfall was coming from that direction. Tang Yu craned her neck, however, couldn't lay her eyes on it. It had to be far away. A few cows and horses were grazing in the terrains which slowly sloped away from the ridgh. Some males could be seen walking down the valley to their farmlands.

After it seemed like ten minutes or so, Tang Yu came back, took a rattan basket and a shovel which had been hanging from a bamboo post along with the fence. She had to hold her breath; wet beddings were emitting a gut-wrenching odor.

'Get down to work, girl! The sooner, the better." She squatted and began scraping the floor with a hand shovel, before shovelling the poop in the basket. It was a grunt work. The basket was getting full in seconds, and she had to discard the junk in the slope that dropped away in the right side of the backyard behind the coop.

Just as the front had been cleared, she duck-walked inside the coop, removing all bedding and poop from the floor. Who would've thought that a world-renowned fashion designer would one day be rendered to clean chicken poop?! Heh!