The world is broken, the cubs mend it

"Then can dad's eyes grow as big as a cow's?"

Yuanyuan tilted her head to look at him, and used her little hand to gesture at the cow's eyes. She made a small circle with her index finger and thumb, and held it up to compare with her father's eyes.

"Can't…"

Chen Jiahe spread out the child's clothes, and the wrinkles between his brows deepened.

Hastily!

The water temperature was a bit high and the egg liquid on the clothes turned into frangipani, which made it more difficult to wash.

"Whose eyes can grow as big as a cow's?"

“It probably won’t work.”

"How about Lele's dog?"

"..."

Children are sometimes particularly persistent in answering such mindless questions. Chen Jiahe let out a long sigh, pursed his lips and didn't want to continue responding.

He thought the child would be quiet like this, but when the little guy saw that he didn't answer, he tiptoed over and asked another question in his ear.

"Dad, is Lele's dog okay?"

Chen Jiahe, who was concentrating on picking frangipani, was so frightened that he almost threw the clothes in his hands away.

"Dogs have dog eyes, people have human eyes. Everyone has their own eyes, and they cannot have other eyes."

"Oh…"

Yuanyuan seemed to understand, nodded vaguely and turned to leave, but his father's face looked strange.

By the end of March in the Gregorian calendar, the rain became abundant, with heavy rain for several days in a row.

Aunt Wang's family needed to dry the earthen bricks to renovate their house, but after a continuous rain, the bricks were soaked and turned into a pile of mud.

I don’t know if it was a retribution from God, but the family had to rely on the kitchen to shelter from the rain. The two old people had fevers one after another, and Aunt Wang and her husband also had a severe cough.

Village chief Wang came to see them several times and always felt that their symptoms were somewhat similar to Wangdi's back then. This time, they were willing to spend money to see a doctor for themselves.

However, this resulted in a lot of savings being wasted, and Wang Jiaqiang's tuition for the new year became a problem.

Speaking of school, Lele has reached school age this year, and Yingying's birthday is in the first month of the year, so she should be able to go to school in the fall.

But she was not as happy as before. Yuanyuan sat on the edge of the field watching the cows eat grass, and Yingying had been unhappy since she came to play with her.

"Sister Yingying, are you unhappy?"

There was not a trace of smile on her face, and the corners of her mouth were almost drooping to the ground.

"Even if I tell you, you may not understand..."

Yingying sat on the stone with her legs hugged, sighing in a very mature manner.

"Oh…"

Yuanyuan pouts her lips. She can count from one to ten and can still understand a lot of things.

"Forget it, I'll just tell you."

Yingying was still young, and she felt uncomfortable because of something going on in her heart, so she couldn't help but confide in her.

"My parents originally promised me that I would go to school this fall, but they said next fall."

"Not next fall?"

Yuanyuan looked at her in confusion; it sounded similar.

"It's not a matter of time. My mother told me last night that girls don't need to study so much and that my brother will need money to marry a wife in the future."

Yingying couldn't help crying as she spoke. She understood what her mother meant.

This is not only mother's intention, but also father's. He was unwilling to speak up and let mother be the bad guy.

She suddenly started crying just as she was talking. Yuanyuan stood up in panic, raised her two little hands, not knowing what to do, and could only pat her shoulders gently.

"Don't cry, I'll ask my dad to teach you how to write. My dad also knows a lot of words."

"I feel like my parents are partial..."

Yingying originally wanted to say that they were partial to her brother, but when she thought of how good her brother was to her, the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't utter them.

She hated her parents for only wanting to leave the money to her brother, but she didn't hate her brother.

"What should I do? Why don't you just come to my house?"

Yuanyuan paced back and forth anxiously. She couldn't think of a good solution no matter how hard she tried. She didn't know how to help her good friend.

"..."

Yingying sniffed and wiped the tears from her face, amused by her thoughts.

"What are you talking about?"

Wang Lele came over carrying a small bundle of pepper seedlings. He seemed to have seen Yingying wiping tears just now.

"Nothing..." Yingying didn't want others to know that she had just cried.

"Are you going to school in the fall? My parents said I'm going to start first grade in the fall."

Wang Lele hit the nail on the head accurately, and the atmosphere immediately dropped to freezing point.

Seeing that no one was talking, he seemed to understand something.

Yingying's parents always change their words and have never said exactly when they will send her to school.

"I don't know. Go read it first."

Yingying looked at him with envy in her eyes, but it was still unclear whether she could study.

"It's okay. Once I distribute the book, I'll bring it back so that everyone can read it together."

Wang Lele patted his chest. He had heard from the village chief that the country was promoting nine-year compulsory education, which would ensure that every child would go to school.

"Can I watch it too?"

There was some anticipation in Yuanyuan's eyes. She had seen Yingying's brother's textbook, which had many words and pictures on it.

"Of course!"

Wang Lele shook the pepper vines in his hand. He had to leave first as he had to take them home.

"Sister Yingying, don't be sad, look at me."

Seeing that she still had a tense face, Yuanyuan covered her mouth and eyes with her two little hands and made a face at her.

“Pfft…hahahaha…”

Wang Yingying was originally feeling sad about going to school, but she couldn't help laughing when she saw her funny look.

The sunlight cast mottled spots of light through the dense green leaves, and the children's unhappiness was blown away by the breeze.

At noon, after finishing his work, Chen Jiahe came over to lead the cow home. Yuanyuan followed behind and opened her arms to sit on the cow's back.

"What if it falls?"

"Daddy holds me up so I won't fall."

Yuanyuan stood on tiptoe, but unfortunately she couldn't even touch the cow's back.

Unable to resist the child's nagging, Chen Jiahe picked her up, put her on the cow's back, and walked back slowly.

The old ox showed no intention of resisting and walked firmly step by step with the little guy on its back.

"Dad, Sister Yingying cried today because of school. Is there any way we can help her?"

Yuanyuan mentioned what happened in the morning, and her two little hands pressed tightly on the cow's back.

"Let's wait until autumn. There will always be a way."

Chen Jiahe could probably guess what was going on. It was difficult to go to school in his time, but now most children in the village can go to school.

Yingying's family situation is not very difficult. Her mother has no opinion, probably because her father is unwilling to pay.

Village Chief Wang will still come to persuade us when the time comes, but who can predict what will happen in the future?

"Will there be a solution in the fall?"

"Um…"

"Dad, what's further away?"

Yuanyuan sat on the cow's back and looked far away. The mountains in front of her blocked her view, like an insurmountable chasm.

“Further away there are houses made of cement.”

Chen Jiahe didn’t know what was further away, and he thought he might never be able to get out of this mountain in his lifetime.

But he wanted his children to go out and to a wider place.