Chicken

During a casual dinner chat, Vivian asked my mother, "Have you ever kept any pet - say, chickens ?"

"Why, I did keep some chickens when I was a child. I remember very well, there were seven of them." My mother was always precise with numbers, "You know, the result was gorgeous."

"Result ?" My wife and I were confused.

"You know, I bought them as little chicken at a cost of $1 each. They were kept at practically no cost - one of my neighbour was a vegetable vendor, and I used those broken leaves and stems left in his trash, as well as our own leftovers, to feed the chicks. When they grew up, my mother used one for the Winter Festival, another for the New Year, and so forth. We were so happy - a 2-catty chicken was sold at $5 at that time. Without my little farm, my family could hardly afford any poultry for the celebration."

"Ah ..." I gave a meaningful sigh, and she continued, "And there's more. They were all hens and, not too long after I bred them, they started laying eggs. You know, eggs were sold at 10-cent each at that time."

"Too bad you did not keep more and sell them for a profit," I concluded, "Otherwise you could well be another Warren Buffett !"