country bumpkin

The holiday ended on October 8th and school started again. Yunya got up early as usual, made a pancake, and ate some pickled radish.

Sun Limei had had enough of pancakes, so she soaked a steamed bun in boiling water with lard and chopped scallions, and ate it with great relish.

After the two sisters finished eating, they put on their schoolbags and went to school. Yunya walked out of the front door and called out to the neighbor across the street, "Feifei, Feifei, Feifei, it's time to go to school."

A series of running sounds came from Sun Fei's house, along with the sound of doors closing inside.

Sun Fei ran over and said, "Wait a minute, Yu Yu will be out soon too."

Gu Yu lived nearby and heard Yun Ya's shouts, so she ran out of her house.

A few girls chatted excitedly as they walked to school.

After the children left, Kong Xiujuan got up to do housework. First, she led the donkey to feed it, then washed her hands and face and cooked.

Once all that was done, Sun Zitao got up, ate, and then pulled the donkey cart to wait for work.

Sun Guoqiang had just woken up when Kong Xiujuan started taking care of him, dressing and feeding him. After finishing that, Chu Yiping arrived with her son.

The two rode their tricycle to cut grass again. Today they went to the fields in the southwest.

While passing through an urban village, they saw a clothing clearance sale stall.

The stall was surrounded by people, mostly women and elderly people.

Chu Yiping's eyes lit up, thinking it would be good to buy some cheap clothes for her family. She stopped the tricycle and squeezed in with her son.

The clothes on the stall were outdated in style, but they were cheap.

Chu Yiping picked and chose, and finally settled on a blue cloth shirt, which was perfect for her husband to wear while working.

Just as she was about to pay, an older woman next to her muttered, "This dress is probably imported junk, how come it's so cheap?"

The stall owner immediately got angry and loudly argued that he was selling at a low price because he was clearing out his inventory.

Chu Yiping began to have doubts. She carefully examined the stitches and fabric of the clothes and felt that they did not look like second-hand goods.

But the woman's words made her hesitate. Just then, her son tugged at her sleeve and said, "Mom, let's go. I'm worried this dress isn't good."

Chu Yiping gritted her teeth, put down her clothes, pulled her son through the crowd, and rode away on a tricycle.

Behind her, she could still hear the stall owner cursing, but Chu Yiping was only thinking that she shouldn't be greedy for small gains and end up suffering big losses.

Kong Xiujuan remained silent, waiting for Chu Yiping by the roadside. She rarely bought new clothes. Except for buying a new outfit for her child during the Lunar New Year, she wore old clothes the rest of the time.

Seeing Chu Yiping return empty-handed, Kong Xiujuan asked her, "Sister Yiping, why didn't you buy anything?"

Chu Yiping said, "It's too cheap. I'm afraid it's just refurbished second-hand clothes."

Kong Xiujuan thought it made sense and nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's true. Even if we're just clearing out the warehouse, the boss won't lose money selling the goods; he'll just make a little less profit."

The two felt that what they said was right, so they stopped worrying about it and hurried on their way to cut grass.

The two arrived at a village in the southwest of the city's outskirts. This village was called Man Niu Village.

The village was full of fields, and the grass grew very lushly. They took out their sickles and began to cut the grass, chatting as they did so.

Chu Yiping talked about how hard her husband worked to earn money, and how they saved every penny they could. Kong Xiujuan sympathized with her, saying that Sun Zitao and his colleagues now pull donkey carts, and their work is unstable; sometimes they don't earn much money in a day.

As they were talking, Kong Xiujuan suddenly noticed a cloth bag in the bushes. When she opened it, she found several small-denomination banknotes inside.

Chu Yiping exclaimed in surprise, "Who left this here? They must be so worried!" Kong Xiujuan nodded in agreement and decided to wait for the owner at the spot.

After waiting for a long time, a young woman finally rushed over and anxiously asked if anyone had seen a cloth bag.

After confirming the contents, Kong Xiujuan returned the bag to her. The girl was moved to tears; it turned out she had accidentally dropped it, and the money and valuables were very important to her.

To express her gratitude, the girl took out two yuan and gave them to Kong Xiujuan and Chu Yiping respectively.

The two had no choice but to accept the gift, their hearts filled with warmth. They felt that although they hadn't bought any cheap clothes that day, they had received a more precious kindness.

With this good mood in mind, the two quickly finished cutting the grass and returned home with a full load.

When Kong Xiujuan got home, Sun Limei and Yunya had already been back for a while. She quickly went to cook.

Yunya and Sun Limei helped unload the cut grass at the gate and place it on both sides of the gate.

After unloading, the hay was spread out to dry. Once dried, the hay was stored away to feed the donkeys in winter.

Kong Xiujuan needs to cut grass frequently throughout the summer and autumn. If the grass she cuts that year is not enough to feed the donkeys in winter, she also has to spend money to buy some peanut vines to store.

Yunya and Sun Limei had finished spreading out the straw and pushed their tricycle back to the yard. By then, the meal was ready.

A simple stir-fried potato shreds and stir-fried eggs with chives. I heated up some leftover steamed buns from yesterday and made a hot egg tea; that was my makeshift meal.

Kong Xiujuan was worried about not having enough time, so she made simple meals to save time. She didn't want the children to be late for school because she had to mow the lawn.

Yunya and Sun Limei wolfed down their meal, and it was almost time for school.

Sun Fei and Gu Yu arrived on time to call Yun Ya to go to school. Sun Limei also went with them.

At home, Kong Xiujuan fed her son and also steamed egg custard for him. She ate the same food as her daughter.

Sun Zitao didn't come back for lunch; it seems he's taken on another long-distance delivery job.

He often traveled long distances to deliver goods to other towns or villages. The goods he delivered were varied, including: wood, red bricks, tiles, sand, cement, glass, etc.

There aren't many people driving small trucks these days; most people use motorized tricycles or donkey carts for hauling and delivering goods.

Donkey carts are slower than motorized tricycles, but they are cheaper and can carry more.

People generally choose donkey carts, and only choose motorized tricycles when there is an urgent need.

Today, Sun Zitao took on a job building red bricks for houses. The village he happened to be visiting was the village of his second aunt, Gao Qingzhi.

He hadn't heard from his second aunt for a long time, and he was a little worried, wondering how she was doing.

Having accepted Grandma's request, I must keep my promise. Thinking this, I continued driving the donkey cart forward.

Halfway there, Sun Zitao stopped the cart to rest. He drank some water himself and gave the donkey some water in a small porcelain basin. After resting for about five minutes, he continued on his way.

Sun Zitao finally arrived at the village where his second aunt lived. Upon entering the village, he saw a group of children playing. After asking around, he learned the location of his second aunt's house.

When he arrived at his second aunt's house, he saw her drying beans in the yard. His second aunt was overjoyed to see him.

"Taozi, what brings you here?" Auntie greeted him warmly.

"Second Aunt, I've been thinking of you since I haven't seen you in a long time. I just happened to be delivering goods here, so I came to see you." Sun Zitao replied with a smile.

His aunt hurriedly invited him into the house, but Sun Zitao politely declined, saying, "Auntie, let me familiarize myself with the place first. I need to deliver the goods to that person first, and I'll come back to talk to you later."

Gao Qingzhi nodded quickly in agreement. "Okay, go ahead! Remember to come back for dinner later, and then go back after you've eaten."

Sun Zitao didn't stand on ceremony, "Okay, Auntie, I'll be right back." His aunt was so warm and welcoming that he felt much closer to her.

After saying that, he pulled the donkey cart away. After walking for another ten meters or so, he kept asking the buyer, Huang Tianye, for his address.