country bumpkin

Kong Xiangwei watched her flee in a flustered manner; she was so cute, so small. He turned around and went back to his own field to continue working.

In Mu Shuyun's field, Kong Xiangdong and Kong Tongming were digging up sweet potatoes.

Mu Shuyun and Zhou Caiyun squatted on the ground, twisting the hairpins on the rice seedlings. Xiao Qingsheng was asleep in the bamboo basket on his back.

Woven bags were sewn onto the outside of the basket's vines. This way, it wouldn't be affected by wind or dust when in the field.

A straw blanket and a small cotton quilt were placed underneath. A thin blanket was then placed on top. The little one slept soundly, neither too hot nor too cold.

This child sleeps more than other children, so he's easy to take care of. As long as he's eaten and drunk his fill, he's basically asleep. He doesn't interfere with Zhou Caiyun's work much.

Qingsheng is already one year old, but she still can't talk, only make "ah ah" sounds. However, she can stand and feel her way along the edge of the table, and she's been standing there for quite a while now. Some babies can't even stand steadily at one year old.

Qingsheng isn't fat, but he's very energetic. When he's awake, his two little eyes dart around, looking at everyone. When others are talking or eating, he always stares intently at their mouths.

That adorable little face melted Zhou Caiyun's heart.

By noon, the entire plot of land had been dug up and the seedlings had been prepared. All that was left was to pack all the sweet potatoes into bags, and then they could be taken home.

Zhou Caiyun wanted to get a drink of water, and just then, the baby woke up. She ran over, picked up the baby, and helped him urinate.

After the child finished urinating, perhaps feeling that his stomach was empty, he started nuzzling against Zhou Caiyun's chest, looking for something to eat.

Zhou Caiyun, carrying the child, walked to a spot in the field where weeds were plentiful and sat down on the ground.

She draped the baby's small blanket over her own head, using the blanket to support her chest, and fed the baby.

After the child had eaten, he became much more well-behaved. She carried the child back, handed him to her husband, and went to get a drink of water.

Kong Xiangdong held his son and played with him, and the child's giggles could be heard from time to time.

The work in the fields was finished, and all that was left was to load the truck. Mu Shuyun called to Zhou Caiyun, who was carrying a basket on her back, ready to go home.

They went home first to prepare food. The plot of land wasn't very big, and they estimated it would only take half a day to harvest, so they didn't bring any lunch and had to eat at home.

They told Kong Xiangdong and Kong Tongming to stay in the field and wait for the donkey cart to come and haul the crops. Half an hour later, Kong Tiezhu pulled the donkey cart, which swayed and wobbled, to the edge of the field.

He called out, "Third Uncle, is everything packed? If it's packed, let's load it onto the truck!"

Kong Tongming replied, "Okay, let's move Tiezhu now."

Kong Xiangdong called out "Brother Tiezhu" and started loading bags of sweet potatoes onto the donkey cart.

The three of them worked quickly, and the truck was full in about twenty minutes. Kong Tongming's eyes crinkled with a smile as he looked at the huge truckload of sweet potatoes.

Because the cart was loaded with too much cargo, it moved very slowly. Kong Tiezhu didn't dare get on the cart, fearing he would damage the cart and exhaust the donkey.

He was in front, holding the steering wheel and handlebars, while Kong Xiangdong and Kong Tongming were on either side of the vehicle, pushing it hard.

The group of people and a donkey, carrying their heavy loads, made their way to the house. Once they arrived, they drove the donkey cart directly into the yard.

The new gate is much better; it's safer to lock and more convenient to use. Donkey carts and cars can both drive into the yard.

After unloading the sweet potatoes, Mu Shuyun came to the washbasin and told everyone to wash their hands. Then she went to fetch the food.

Kong Tongming invited Tiezhu to stay for dinner, and Tiezhu, who was indeed hungry, did not refuse.

The whole village is busy with the autumn harvest recently, but the harvest time is about three or four days apart, otherwise it would be really difficult to catch up.

There were two other families in the village with vehicles, one with an oxcart and the other with a donkey cart. People living on the south side of the village would ask the family closest to the south for help hauling their crops.

Those living in the north went to Kong Tiezhu to haul away their crops. And those living in the east and west directions, whoever had a free car, went to ask for help.

Anyway, they get paid for hauling crops; it's not like they're doing it for free, so the families with trucks are all very enthusiastic.

After harvesting sweet potatoes, we'll continue harvesting corn and peanuts.

At noon, everyone sat around the table to eat. Although it was just some home-style dishes, everyone enjoyed the food especially since they had worked all morning.

During the meal, everyone discussed the farm work arrangements for the next few days. Kong Tiezhu said, "We need to harvest the corn quickly; the weather forecast says it might rain in a few days." Everyone nodded in agreement.

After the meal, Kong Xiangdong and Kong Tongming followed Kong Tiezhu to inspect the donkey cart and farm tools to ensure that there would be no mistakes when harvesting corn later.

Mu Shuyun and Zhou Caiyun stayed at home to sort and store the sweet potatoes they had just harvested.

Little Qingsheng was playing in the cradle next to him, his little hands holding a rattle and shaking it happily.

Suddenly, a car horn sounded from outside the village. Everyone was curious; why would a car be entering the village at this hour?

It turned out that the village chief had returned with several city dwellers. The village chief explained that they were officials from the Agriculture Bureau who had come to inspect the autumn harvest and learn about agricultural product sales channels.

When the officials saw the sweet potatoes piled up like a small mountain in the yard, they praised this year's harvest as excellent.

They also asked if the villagers had encountered any difficulties, and the villagers smiled and said that everything was going smoothly so far, and that with everyone working together, they would definitely be able to complete the autumn harvest successfully.

After recording some information, the cadres moved on to the next household, and the village returned to its busy and orderly work atmosphere.

The village is busy with the autumn harvest, while the city schools are holding their sports meets in full swing.

Yunya sat in the stands watching the game, and she had never been so excited.

This was her first time participating in a sports meet. Although she wasn't an athlete, she participated nonetheless.

After watching the competition, she returned home excitedly, eager to share the fun she had at the sports meet with her family.

Especially the student athletes older than her, their agile figures and fighting spirit were inspiring. Her family listened, their faces beaming with smiles.

Yunya thought about her classmates' wonderful performances at the sports meet and felt envious. She secretly decided that she would also participate in the sports meet next year.

She ran into the yard and jumped around like an athlete, which made Sun Guoqiang clap his hands.

Sun Limei smiled as she watched Yunya jumping around and said, "Yunya, jumping around like that is not right. You have to follow the rhythm."

Yunya looked at her unhappily and said, "What's wrong with it? They all dance like this."

Sun Limei argued, "No, it's not like that. Gymnastics requires proper movements; you can't just gesticulate randomly. You should study properly in PE class!"

Yunya snorted indignantly and ran inside to watch TV.

Seeing that she had angered her younger sister, Sun Limei lost her good mood and muttered, "She can't even say anything if she doesn't know something herself. What's there to be angry about? She's so petty."

Sun Guoqiang, who was in the yard, heard this and ran into the house to tell his second sister what his eldest sister had just said.

Yunya got even angrier after hearing this, and ran angrily to the yard to talk to her older sister.

Seeing that the two sisters were about to fight again, Kong Xiujuan quickly tried to break them up. After finally separating them, Sun Guoqiang got angry because his mother was ignoring him.

Kong Xiujuan sighed wearily, "These children are so hard to take care of."