After breakfast, Lin Feng went to buy a temperature controller. He managed to buy one quite easily.

The children learned that the eggs that could hatch into chicks would arrive today. They awaited with bated breath, constantly peering toward the door.

When it was nearly time for their nap, Lin Feng had to coax them for a long time before they reluctantly hopped into their little beds.

Tuan Tuan said, "Daddy, when the eggs arrive, will you tell me, please?"

Lin Feng nodded. "I know. Go to sleep."

The children had just fallen asleep when the owner brought over the fertilized eggs.

Lin Feng had bought thirty, so the owner sent over one chicken, one duck, and one quail egg as a bonus.

"Thanks, boss!"

"You're welcome. Call me if you don't understand something. This is my contact info."

"Alright."

Following the owner's instructions, Lin Feng let the eggs rest for a while with their larger ends facing up. About an hour was enough. Next, all he had to do was wait for the children to wake up.

Zhao Lizhen and Zhang Fuyong grew interested when they heard Lin Feng was going to use a rice cooker to hatch chicks.

Upon waking and learning the eggs had arrived, the children rushed downstairs, their little feet going PITTER-PATTER. They huddled around Lin Feng, craning their necks to see.

After inspecting each egg, Lin Feng began to prepare the incubator. He placed two sturdy plastic bags inside the rice cooker and poured warm water into them. The water level was about one-third of the height of the rice cooker.

Then he placed the probe of the temperature controller inside. The hatching temperature needed to be very precise, around thirty-eight degrees. The probe on the temperature controller Lin Feng had bought would automatically cut the power when the rice cooker's temperature exceeded the set level. It would turn back on after cooling down. However, residual heat would cause the temperature to continue rising even after the power was cut. This meant there was a significant margin of error. The young woman in the video added water bags to act as a buffer.

In fact, waterbed incubators all work on this same principle, and plenty of people use this method. The person in the video, for instance, had just used a rice cooker.

Lin Feng marked the top and bottom of each egg to make turning them later easier. He also let each child pick their favorite color to paint on their eggs. Each of them got six.

The remaining three eggs were for Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi.

The incubation period for quails is 15 to 17 days. To prevent the quail chicks from being crushed by the heavier chicken eggs when they hatched, he put them in a separate, smaller rice cooker. Once the temperature of the water bath stabilized at around thirty-eight degrees, he placed the eggs inside and covered them with a small blanket. He did the same for the quail eggs in their own cooker.

Lin Feng stood up. "Alright, now all we have to do is wait."

The children asked excitedly.

"Daddy, what do little chicks look like when they first hatch?"

"They must be very cute!"

To satisfy his little ones' curiosity, Lin Feng found a video online to show them. The children watched intently, barely blinking. To them, the birth of life was magical and incredible.

From then on, Lin Feng had to turn the eggs three times a day. To let the children participate, he made sure they helped with the task. For the following period, the children were filled with anticipation.

Since their return from camping, the temperature had dropped suddenly, and there hadn't been much sun for the last few days. Modu is geographically in the south, though it leans toward the north. But the temperature felt just like the north! It even snowed occasionally, but that did nothing to affect the pervasive chill. Fortunately, the house had underfloor heating, so it didn't feel cold.

「In the blink of an eye, a week passed.」

It was time to candle the eggs to check for blood vessels. Lin Feng said to the children gathered around him, "Do you see this tiny black spot inside the egg?

"It's still moving. This is the baby chick when it's very, very small.

"We're going to keep incubating them until they grow big enough to break out of their shells and meet us!"

The children were fascinated, feeling that all their waiting had been worthwhile.

After candling the eggs, 5 of the 33 had gone bad, leaving 28. As it happened, each of the children had one egg that went bad. The three eggs belonging to Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi, however, were fine.

"It's normal for some to go bad! Look, we still have a lot of good ones, don't we?" Lin Feng comforted the children.

For the next few days, a sudden change in the weather kept most of them indoors. Zhao Lizhen and Zhang Fuyong occasionally went out, while Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi stayed at home with the children. The weather remained this way for the next week.

The one thing everyone looked forward to was the quail eggs hatching at the end of the week.

Lin Feng put the eggs in warm water, and the children gathered around to watch. They could see the eggs floating on the water's surface begin to move. Some moved slightly, while others were quite active.

Lin Feng told the children, "Do you see? The little chicks inside are moving!"

The children's eyes widened in amazement as they watched intently.

Tuan Tuan pointed at one of his eggs and said, "Daddy, the baby in this one is moving a lot!"

Lin Feng said with a smile, "Yes, that means the chick inside is very lively and healthy!"

Even though San Bao was such a gentle little boy, his eggs were very active. They trembled nonstop in the water, which thrilled him to no end.

For the next few days, the children waited for the quail eggs to hatch with great anticipation. This time, Lin Feng bought three iron cages with lattice bottoms. After decorating the cages with the children, the little nests were finally ready. Waiting for the quails to hatch now became the thing they looked forward to the most.

Since there was heating in the house, they planned to use a "little sun," a small heat lamp, to keep them warm later on. To allow the children to witness the hatching firsthand, the quail eggs were moved into the bedroom. Barring any surprises, they were expected to hatch within a day or two.

"Time to eat!"

Lin Feng came upstairs to call them, but the children, gathered around the rice cooker, refused to leave. Seeing this, Lin Feng sighed and went downstairs. When he returned, he and Zhang Yuxi were carrying a small table. Then they brought up the children's meals, allowing them to eat in the bedroom.

Even during their afternoon nap, the children were preoccupied with thoughts of the eggs. They repeatedly reminded Lin Feng to wake them if the eggs started to hatch. It wasn't just the children who were excited; Zhang Yuxi was, too.

"Honey, do you think the quails will hatch today?"

"I don't know!"

When Lin Feng woke from his nap, he went to check and was surprised to find that one of the quail eggs had cracked. This was probably a sign it was about to hatch. Lin Feng hurried to wake the children and Zhang Yuxi. Groggy at first, they were instantly alert upon hearing that a quail was hatching.

San Bao broke his own personal record. It was the fastest he had ever gotten up in his life.

Everyone gathered around the small rice cooker to watch the quails hatch.

The second, the third…

Of the ten quail eggs, five had started to crack open. The children held their breath, watching without blinking. A quail used its beak to peck open the eggshell.

The quail that had shown movement last was actually the first to emerge. The other quails followed suit, hatching one after another. Zhao Lizhen and Zhang Fuyong also came up to watch, utterly fascinated.

The newly hatched quails looked like they had just been pulled from the water; it would be a while before their down became fluffy.

They were so, so tiny…

Lin Feng signaled for everyone to quiet down, so as not to scare the baby quails.

The first to hatch was one of San Bao's, followed by one of Er Bao's, then Tuan Tuan's...