### Chapter 5: Dynamics at Home
It was still early morning when grandma just woke up and started boiling corn porridge in the kitchen. The sun had barely risen.
Seeing Xia Yu coming down the stairs from the second floor, grandma glanced at her and casually said, “Little Yu, since you’re up, go feed the chickens.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Yu didn’t object and cheerfully went to the storeroom to fetch a basin of subpar rice grains, then headed out to tend to the chickens.
This task was something Xia Yu used to do, so naturally she took it upon herself now that she’d returned home. After all, things were expected to stay the same.
By now, some of the chickens had been replaced, so the new ones didn’t recognize Xia Yu. However, the old chickens were smart enough to know who their little master was.
“Coo-coo-coo!”
Xia Yu cooed as usual. She wasn’t sure why she did it, but according to the elders, it worked like magic. Maybe it was a way to call the chickens for dinner?
She poured the rice grains into the feeding bowl and watched as a bunch of little chickens gathered around, pecking away. Xia Yu found joy in watching them and even wanted to pet them.
However, the new chickens were unfamiliar with her and scattered in fear. But the older chickens knew Xia Yu’s touch well.
After playing around with the chickens for a while, Xia Yu was done with her chores and left with the iron basin of rice. Task completed, she returned the basin to the storeroom and washed her hands—finally free from duties.
Since no household work awaited her in the early morning, Xia Yu headed back upstairs. It was winter, and even her father, mother, older brother, and younger sister were still snoozing away like logs. This was the only time when she could comfortably watch her favorite TV shows.
With this in mind, Xia Yu flopped into the cozy living room sofa and reached for the TV remote.
Time always seemed to fly by quickly while watching TV, and pretty soon Xia Ling was up brushing her teeth. Spotting Xia Yu binging in the living room, she paused momentarily before bouncing back.
Oh right, Second Brother already came back last night.
Rushing through her hygiene routine, Xia Ling plonked herself right beside Xia Yu and snatched the remote. “Second Brother, my turn to watch TV now!”
Xia Ling might not win a remote battle against Xia Le or even her parents, but she always managed to take the upper hand with Xia Yu, who usually cedes the controller.
Sure enough, after the remote changed hands, Xia Yu didn’t fight it. Instead, she remained calm and suggested, “Little Ling, didn’t you want to come down for breakfast?”
Hearing Xia Yu’s reminder, Xia Ling suddenly realized she was indeed famished and wanted to munch on something.
“Oh yeah, I haven’t had breakfast, Second Brother,” Xia Ling grinned slyly. “Why don’t you grab me a few rice cake slices from downstairs? I’m too lazy to go down myself.”
“Alright, fair enough,” Xia Yu replied, rising from the couch and heading downstairs to get the rice cakes.
Watching Xia Yu retreat, Xia Ling couldn’t help but think how great it was having her Second Brother back, because now she could be lazy and skip the tiresome chores.
Meanwhile, Xia Ling lounged comfortably on the sofa, enjoying her leisurely wait for Xia Yu to bring up the rice cakes as breakfast.
Downstairs, Xia Yu picked up a bowl, filled it with five crispy rice cakes which grandma had made yesterday, and climbed back up…
