The sun shone warmly on the farm, and the door to the chicken coop opened slowly with a squeak. The mother hen shook her golden feathers and walked out with her seven fluffy chicks.
“Children, come and eat your breakfast!” The mother chicken called in a soft voice.
The chicks ran happily to the trough and scrambled to peck at their mother’s carefully prepared breakfast. Only one little chicken with a particularly golden coat stood on the sidelines, picking at the food in the trough with his little claws.
“Little yellow fur, why aren’t you eating?” The mother chicken asked worriedly.
The chick, Huang Xiaomao, raised his head, his little mouth curled up, and said, “Mom, I don’t want to eat these green leaves, I only want to eat rice!”
The mother chicken looked down and saw that Huang Xiaomao had pushed the green vegetables aside and was only picking up the golden rice grains to eat.
“Baby, you have to eat the green vegetables as well!” While gently stroking Huang Xiaomao’s little head with her wings, the mother chicken advised him, “Only by eating all kinds of food can your body grow up healthy.
“I don’t want it! Green vegetables are bitter, rice is fragrant, I only want to eat rice!” Huang Xiaomao twisted his little body in a petulant manner and stubbornly refused.
Mother Chicken sighed and pointed to her siblings eating happily next to her, “Look at them, they are all eating happily.
Huang Xiaomao turned around to see the other six chicks eating the mixed food in the trough with gusto, rice and bok choy together, and Big Sister Jin Xiaohua looked up and said to him:
“Little Mao, the bok choy is actually quite tasty, would you like to try it?”
Huang Xiaomao beamed and shook his head firmly, “I don’t want it!”
The result of not liking bok choy
Time passed day by day, and life on the farm was busy every day. Early in the morning, the mother hen would take the chicks for a walk in the yard and teach them how to catch bugs; in the afternoon, the chicks would chase each other and play in the straw pile; in the evening, they would all sit around and tell each other the interesting stories of the day.
But slowly the mother hen noticed a problem. The feathers of the other six chicks were getting brighter and brighter, and their bodies were getting stronger and stronger. Jin Xiaohua, in particular, could jump over small puddles in a single bound.
But Yellow Hair was still skinny, with dry feathers and no shine, and she always walked slowly.
One afternoon, the other chicks were happily playing hide-and-seek in the yard, and their laughter could be heard all over the farm. But Huang Xiaomao was hiding in the corner, looking so depressed that he could hardly open his eyelids.
“Come on, Xiaomao, let’s play together!” Second Brother Brown Little Bean ran to call him.
Huang Xiaomao shook his head and weakly said, “I don’t want to play ……. I’m so tired ……”
Brown Xiaodou looked at him with a crooked head, “Are you sick?”
At this time, the mother chicken also came over, and when she saw Huang Xiaomao’s listless appearance, her heart thumped. She gently touched Huang Xiaomao’s forehead with her beak and felt hot.
“Child, are you feeling unwell?” Mother Chicken asked worriedly.
Huang Xiaomao nodded, his voice small: “Mom, I have no strength …… all over my body.
Mother Chicken immediately decided, “No, let’s go to the doctor tomorrow morning!”
The experience of going to the doctor
Early the next morning, the chicken mother took Huang Xiaomao to the farm clinic.
The doctor at the clinic was Dr. Hippopotamus, who wore round glasses, always smiled, and had a very reassuring appearance.
“Good morning, Mrs. Chicken, what’s wrong with little yellow chicken?” Dr. Hippo asked, lifting his glasses.
The chicken’s mother explained Little Yellow Hair’s situation in great detail. Dr. Hippo nodded his head and began to examine Little Yellow Hair carefully. He listened to the heartbeat, checked the feathers, observed the eyes, and took the body temperature.
After the examination, Dr. Hippo asked, “Little Yellow Hair, what do you usually eat?”
Little Yellow Hair lowered his head and replied in a low voice, “I …… I only eat rice ……”
Dr. Hippo heard this and immediately came to a realization, “Oh, the problem is found! You are typically malnourished!”
“Malnutrition?” Mother Chicken and Yellow Hair’s eyes widened at the same time.
Dr. Hippo took out a colorful food chart and patiently explained, “Each food has different nutrients. Rice can give you energy, but rice alone is not enough. Green vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals, and they make your feathers shiny, your bones strong, and your body more resilient.”
He pointed to the green part of the diagram with his thick finger and said, “If you don’t eat green vegetables, you will lack these important nutrients, so your body will become weaker and weaker.
Huang Xiaomao listened in surprise and fear, not realizing that the consequences of not eating green vegetables were so serious.
Dr. Hippopotamus added, “To build a house, you need bricks, cement, and rebar, just like your body, it needs all kinds of nutrients, you can’t have one without the other.
The mother chicken asked anxiously, “So, Doctor, what should we do now?”
Dr. Hippopotamus smiled and patted Huang Xiaomao’s head, “Starting today, Huang Xiaomao should try to eat all kinds of food, especially green vegetables. You might not be used to it at first, but as long as you stick to it, you will soon become healthy and energetic!”
Huang Xiaomao looked at the doctor with bright eyes and nodded, “I will definitely try!”
A small change, a big improvement
When they returned home, Mother Hen immediately called everyone together for a small family meeting.
Golden Little Flower was the first to stand up and encourage her brother, “Little Mao, I didn’t like carrots before either, but Mom told me that carrots are good for your eyes, so I tried eating them, and now I think they’re really good!”
Brown Xiaodou also nodded his head, “Every food has its own benefits, take your time to discover them!”
Encouraged by her family, Huang Xiaomao decided to try a different kind of food.
That night, Mother Chicken prepared a special plate of finely chopped tender greens for him, mixed with Huang Xiaomao’s favorite rice.
“Come on, take a bite first.” Mother Hen smiled and encouraged him.
Huang Xiaomao took a deep breath, carefully picked up a small piece of bok choy, chewed a few times, and his eyes immediately lit up, “Huh? The bok choy seems less bitter this time!”
Mother Chicken winked and said with a smile, “That’s because Mom chose the freshest tender leaves and added a little special seasoning – Mom’s love!”
From that day on, Huang Xiaomao ate a little more greens every day. Although he still frowned sometimes, he always insisted on eating them when he thought of Dr. Hippo’s words. Mama Chicken also changed the way she cooked, sometimes chopping the greens and mixing them with rice, and sometimes making hot vegetable soup, so that Huang Xiaomao wouldn’t be so reluctant to eat them.
A miracle of growth
One week later, Huang Xiaomao was surprised to find that he was less sleepy when he woke up in the morning; two weeks later, his feathers began to become soft and shiny; one month later, he was even able to jump over the small puddle that he had previously found too big!
“Look! I can jump this far!” Yellow Flower called as he flapped his wings proudly.
Golden Flower ran over happily and touched his head, saying, “Little Mao, you look so handsome now! Your feathers are even shinier than mine!”
Mother Chicken stood by and smiled as she watched her children playing in the sunshine. Her heart was full of relief and joy. Now Huang Xiaomao was as healthy and happy as his siblings, no longer the sickly little chicken.
That night at dinner, Huang Xiaomao ate all the vegetables on his plate and happily said to his mother, Chicken:
“Mom, I understand now that every kind of food is a gift from nature, so we can’t be choosy, we have to appreciate it!”
The mother chicken spread her wings, took all the chicks in her arms and gently said, “Babies, a healthy body comes from a balanced diet, as long as you remember this, you will grow up healthy and happy!”
Warm night
The moonlight fell softly on the farm, and the henhouse was quiet. The seven little chicks cuddled up to their mother and dreamed sweet dreams.
In his dream, Huang Xiaomao turned into a mighty rooster, his golden feathers shining in the sunlight, as beautiful and brilliant as his hopeful future.
