country bumpkin

School has been in session for a month now, and the National Day holiday is just around the corner. Yunya has already learned from Sun Limei that her maternal grandmother has gone back to the village.

Her mother was lying to her; she wasn't actually going to her aunt's house to sew quilts. Yunya cried all day the day she found out the truth, and even sobbed in her sleep that night.

Yunya was overjoyed when she heard from her classmates that they would have a seven-day holiday. She packed her change of clothes several days in advance.

The gifts for the children in Kongjia Village are also ready.

After spending a month in the city, she noticed that her mother's house had many things that her maternal grandmother's house didn't. So she prepared some daily necessities for her maternal grandmother to take with her.

In rural areas, people use leaves or clods of dirt to wipe themselves after defecating. In the city, however, everyone buys toilet paper. Even the bare minimum is using old, used student notebooks after they've finished writing.

In rural areas, people use baking soda and soap to wash clothes, while in cities, people use laundry detergent. Clothes washed with laundry detergent are both fragrant and clean.

The soaps are also different. In rural areas, the soaps are smelly, and the lard soaps usually have a strong odor and are cloudy white-yellow.

There are several kinds of soap in the city. The soap for washing your face is floral scented, and the soap for washing clothes is a clear yellow soap that not only doesn't have that strange smell but also smells quite nice.

Besides these, there are also eating spoons. When she was little, her grandmother fed her with heavy iron spoons. In the city, they use small and lightweight aluminum spoons.

Even the towels used to dry the face are different. Rural towels are made of nylon, which doesn't absorb water and pills easily. City towels are all pure cotton, absorbent, clean, and don't pill at all.

There were many good things in the city, but Yunya couldn't carry too many at the moment. So she could only pick a few things that she thought she might be able to use.

Yunya had prepared herself and packed everything she needed to take back to the countryside. She was just waiting for the day she could go catch the bus.

Yunya was especially happy when she came home from school on the afternoon of September 30th. The excited little one couldn't sleep at all that night.

The next day was National Day. Yunya asked Kong Xiujuan to take her to the station early in the morning, and she finally boarded the bus back to the village.

Kong Xiujuan recognized the driver; he was none other than Niu Pozi's second son, Kong Tieshuan.

The eldest son, Kong Tiezhu, earned money by driving a donkey cart at home, while the second son, Kong Tieshuan, earned money by driving a car.

I told him I'd park when we arrived. Yunya, a child by herself, rode back to the village in the car.

The bus was quite crowded, mostly with villagers returning home from working away from home. Yunya, clutching her bundle, gazed brightly at the scenery rushing past the window.

After driving for a while, the car suddenly started to bump, and the driver, Kong Tieshuan, shouted that there was road construction ahead and they had to take a detour.

This disrupted the originally planned itinerary. Yunya was a little anxious because she hadn't seen her friends in a long time and wanted to get back to play with them. She also missed her grandmother and wanted to stay as long as possible.

After finally getting the car back onto a smooth road, Yunya realized it was almost noon.

She clutched her package tightly, silently praying that she would get home safely.

Finally, the car slowly drove onto the main road in the village. Yunya couldn't wait to get out of the car and ran towards her grandmother's house.

Walking through familiar streets and alleys, I felt a mix of emotions I couldn't quite describe. Familiar yet strange, it seemed like nothing had changed, yet everything had changed.

Passing by Granny Niu's house, Kong Chunhua was still sitting under that big tree, sewing insoles.

Yunya greeted her and continued running. After a few steps, she reached the gate, pushed it open, and the familiar feeling returned.

As Yunya ran, she called out, "Grandma...Grandma...Grandma, I'm back."

When "Little Yellow" saw Yunya at the kitchen door, it jumped up excitedly and wagged its tail vigorously, making anxious "zzzzzz" sounds.

Mu Shuyun was sewing a quilt in the room when she heard Yunya's voice. She was so excited that she didn't know where to put the needle and thread. She quickly stuck the needle in the pillow, slipped on her shoes, and ran to the yard.

Just then, I bumped into Yunya, who ran over and threw herself into her grandmother's arms. She cried and cried, "Grandma, I missed you!" But then she started laughing again.

Mu Shuyun felt extremely distressed and held Yunya tightly for a long time before letting go.

Yunya looked at her grandmother, whose face was sore from laughing. She said, "Grandma, my face is sore, it hurts a little, hehe! Gaa gaa gaa..."

Mu Shuyun rubbed Yunya's cheek and asked, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"

Yun Ya nodded obediently and sat on Mu Shuyun's lap. Mu Shuyun sat on a stool in the living room, with Yun Ya sitting on her lap, and they talked in this position.

Yunya told her maternal grandmother everything that had happened at her mother's house. Mu Shuyun felt another pang of heartache after listening.

She told her, "Yun, be good at your mother's house. You and your sisters should get along well and not make your mother angry. School is expensive, and your mother and father work very hard. We should be sensible and good children."

Yun Ya listened without interrupting, only giving a soft "hmm." In her heart, however, she thought, "If they don't provoke me, I won't go looking for trouble." Her personality dictated her style of doing things: I won't offend others unless they offend me first.

Kong Chunhua was sitting at the gate when her daughter ran out to play and asked her, "Mommy, who were you talking to just now?"

Kong Chunhua said, "Oh, it's Yunya back. I'm talking to her!" Upon hearing this, Caixia happily skipped and ran off to play with Yunya.

Meanwhile, Xiang Hong and Xiang Yang also heard that Yun Ya was back, so they came to find her to play. The group of friends surrounded Yun Ya and chatted together.

Yunya shared the small gifts she brought with everyone. The children curiously and excitedly played with the novel items, treating them like treasures.

Yunya didn't have any money either; she only had the lucky money she received from her grandmother last year when she kowtowed to her during the New Year. She could only buy some small snacks and toys to share with her friends.

Yunya smiled happily. Although the journey had been full of twists and turns, at this moment, she felt the joy in her heart.

When Kong Tongming returned home that evening and saw Yunya, he was so happy that his face ached from smiling.

Mu Shuyun made a lot of delicious food, and Yunya ate until her belly was round and full.

After the meal, Yunya mysteriously took out a package and handed it to her grandmother, saying it was a snack from the city that she had brought especially for her.

When Grandma opened it, she saw that it was a delicate peach shortbread, and one bite was full of sweetness.

At this moment, Yunya remembered that there was one more important thing she hadn't taken out.

She ran to rummage through the package and found a small bag of laundry detergent. "Grandma, this is great for washing clothes! It's much better than baking soda and soap."

Grandma held the laundry detergent, looking at it from left to right, then smelling it, her face full of curiosity.

Yunya continued taking things out. As she took things out, she explained what they were.

Two large rolls of toilet paper, two medium-sized bags of laundry detergent, three bars of laundry soap, three bars of hand soap, a pure cotton towel, and a lightweight small spoon.

Looking at these things, Mu Shuyun's eyes stung, and tears fell. She stroked Yunya's hair and said in a trembling voice, "Our Yunya always sides with Grandma; she always thinks of our family when it comes to good things."

Yunya smiled proudly and replied, "That's right. Mom's family has everything, but Grandma's family doesn't have any good stuff. Next time I come back, I'll bring Grandma even more good things."

Mu Shuyun smiled and said, "Good, good, it has to be our Yunya, always thinking of Grandma."

At night, Yunya lay on her familiar bed, covered with the quilt her grandmother had mended, and smelled the familiar scent.

Early the next morning, Yunya dragged her friends to the washing basin by the well.

She took out the soap she had brought from the city and handed it to her friends to wash their hands. The friends looked at the soap on their hands and burst into laughter.