Farmhouse Green Plum

I beat him so hard yesterday, I wish I didn't have Song Tian as my son. It was only one night...

"Sister, let me help you carry the backpack, you go and release the ducks." At this time, Song Yuan suddenly rushed in and saw the eggshells covered by a few pine needles at a glance.

He blinked in confusion, then turned around and shouted at the top of his voice: "Grandma, my brother stole the eggs!"

While shouting, he picked up the eggshell and ran out to show it to Li.

Li waved her rake and stopped Song Yuan from far away from the mat: "Don't step on the millet, it's for eating."

Song Yuan stepped off the mat and walked around to the other side to get closer to Li. He stood on tiptoe and tried to hold the eggshell in front of Li: "Grandma, my brother stole the eggs and threw the eggshell into the woodshed."

Li ignored him and looked at Daya who came out with a backpack, "Go wash clothes when you're done, the sun will be bright later."

Daya was stunned, and then her heart felt sour. It turned out that grandma had known it all along.

She bit her lip and forced the tears back into her eyes little by little. She went into the house, stuffed the dirty clothes into the backpack, picked up the wooden barrel, opened the cage, picked up the bamboo pole, and drove the ducks out.

"Sister, wait for me!"

Song Yuan was holding the eggshell and trying to explain to Li that he had not wronged Song Tian. Seeing her walking out with her head down, he hurriedly threw the eggshell away and chased after her.

Daya swallowed the tears that were already in her throat and said, "Hold the rope."

The washed clothes were very heavy and difficult to carry. She went to the river alone to wash clothes for the first time when she was six years old.

That day, she walked for an hour and a half to carry the basket of clothes back home. Both of her shoulders were left with deep bloody marks, and even blood beads oozed out, staining her clothes red.

Later she thought of an idea. She took a hemp rope and tied it between two trees on the shore to make a temporary clothes-drying place. She washed one piece and hung it up to dry. By the time she finished washing, the clothes in front were almost dry, making it much easier to carry them.

Later, her friends also learned from her. Whenever they made an appointment to wash clothes together, the river bank was filled with clothes that fluttered in the wind, becoming a unique landscape of Xinghua Village.

Because there were limited trees suitable for drying clothes on the river bank, the adults would take advantage of their free time to drive several wooden stakes into the grass on the river bank for them to use to dry clothes.

Song Yuan, who had already run to the gate of the courtyard, heard the words and ran back like a whirlwind, picked up the hemp rope for drying clothes and followed Daya out of the house.

"Keep an eye on your brother and don't let him get close to the water." Li, who was busy drying the grain, raised her head and shouted to Daya.

"I know." Daya responded sullenly.

When they first drove the ducks to the silted fields and then to the river, Lai Di and Xiao Xiang had already arrived and were pounding the dirty clothes with laundry beaters.

Lai Di and Daya were born in the same year and month, and Xiaoxiang is only half a year younger than them. Since they can remember, the three of them have often made plans to work together, and they have the best relationship among their partners.

Seeing them, Daya's gloomy mood finally brightened up a little. After instructing Song Yuan not to go near the river, she hurried over.

Just as she squatted down and before she dumped out her clothes, Lai Di said listlessly, "I know why Aunt Liu San wanted to sell Sister Xiaohua."

Her voice was low, full of sympathy and fear.

Daya pursed her lips, her voice also filled with fear, "Her brother wants to marry a wife, and he wants to sell her for the bride price."

Last night she was worried that her second aunt and the others would be tempted by the 30 taels of silver, and she was in a state of panic. She did not understand this point, and tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Thinking about the conversation between her grandmother and the others, she finally understood why Sister Xiaohua was sold.