country bumpkin

Today is my last day at my maternal grandmother's house. Tomorrow is the day I return to the city, and school starts the day after tomorrow.

Zhang Haiyan and Sun Limei were also homesick. They were tired of playing in the countryside and longed to go home, just waiting for Yunya to go back with them.

Yunya wanted to stay until the last afternoon before going back, but the two sisters insisted on going back to the city today.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating; it started drizzling when I woke up this morning. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to take the bus back.

Sun Limei said that she was taking Zhang Haiyan home with her, but Mu Shuyun was worried that they might get lost, since they weren't as used to traveling independently as Yunya.

Rainy days make Yunya very happy because it means she can stay at her grandma's house for one more day.

Yunya has been playing wildly for the past few days and hasn't done any homework. Today it's raining and we can't go out to play, so we're doing our homework indoors.

Sun Limei took out her homework and started writing. Yun Ya, sitting opposite her, also took out her notebooks and textbooks.

Zhang Haiyan hasn't started school yet; she'll be in first grade next year. She should be in daycare (kindergarten) this year, but because her household registration isn't finalized, she has to wait. Anyway, kindergarten doesn't teach much; it's just childcare.

Her parents didn't register her birth because they wanted a boy, so they secretly raised her.

She only registered her household under her brother's name after he was born. She had to pay money to buy a household registration. Back then, it was called "borrowing a household registration."

By the time she starts school next year, everything should be ready, so it won't delay her starting first grade.

Zhang Haiyan wandered around the room out of boredom. Mu Shuyun called her to go to the living room to watch TV, so the two sisters who were doing their homework could only do it at the table in the bedroom.

The weather was bad today, and Xiang Hong didn't come to play with them. Cai Xia didn't go out either; she's probably at home doing her homework.

There was already standing water in the yard outside, because farmhouses are mostly made of mud, and small puddles would appear after it rained.

After lunch, the rain lessened a bit, so Yunya led the way to play in the puddles in the yard.

Sun Limei thought it was too dirty and didn't want to play. Zhang Haiyan didn't understand these things; she just watched Yunya happily splashing in the puddles in the yard, jumping and hopping around.

She really wanted to play, but her grandmother advised her not to, otherwise she would get wet and dirty her shoes and socks.

Yunya was afraid of getting her shoes dirty, so she ran barefoot to the yard to splash in the puddles. It was raining a little in May, and it was quite chilly to be barefoot.

Mu Shuyun wouldn't let Yunya play, and she couldn't stop her no matter what she did. She knew that Yunya had loved playing in puddles since she was little, especially when Yunya was 4 or 5 years old. If she didn't eat, she could play in the puddles all day.

Mu Shuyun didn't stop her anymore. She knew that Yunya could only let loose and have fun at "home" (here) and be genuinely happy.

Although her home in the city was her "home," she always felt that Yunya was living under someone else's roof there, like staying at a relative's house.

Mu Shuyun could tell that Yunya wasn't very happy there. But there was nothing she could do; children had to go to school and learn to read when they were young, otherwise how would they make a living and support themselves in the future?

Mu Shuyun thought a lot. She couldn't be with her granddaughter forever, so she could only try to make her happy every single day of the limited time she had left.

At this moment, Yunya got tired of jumping around in the yard, so she ran to the west wall, a meter away from the well.

There was an old, large iron pot there, with three egg-sized stones underneath it to hold the pot in place.

My family usually washes their clothes in this big iron pot.

Yunya put her feet into the large iron pot, which contained half a basin of well water and rainwater. The water was clean and odorless, with only a few fallen leaves soaking in the pot.

Yunya bent down and rubbed her left foot with her hands to clean it before taking it out. Then she put her right foot in and rubbed it clean as well, preparing to tiptoe back into the house.

At this moment, Mu Shuyun came out, carrying her shoes and a foot towel in her left hand, and a small stool in her right.

She called out, "Yunya, wait a minute, sit down, wipe your feet, and put on your shoes before you walk."

Yunya smiled at her grandma: "Hehe, okay grandma."

Mu Shuyun placed the small stool behind her, and Yunya sat on the stool, dried the water stains on her feet with the cloth, put on her shoes, and carried the small stool back into the house.

Mu Shuyun followed behind, holding a foot-drying cloth in her hand. Back inside, she hung the cloth to dry on a small stool in the corner of the east wing.

After finishing all that, Mu Shuyun asked, "Yun, do you still want to go out and play in the puddles later?"

Yunya shook her head with a smile: "Grandma, I'm not going. Jumping is too tiring. Besides, the water is too cold, my feet are freezing."

Mu Shuyun looked at her gently, "Speaking of which, I was thinking of pouring some hot water for you to wash your feet, and before I could even react, you ran off to the washbasin (big iron pot)."

Mu Shuyun said worriedly, "Are you still cold? Why don't you go warm your feet in bed before you come out?"

Yunya smiled mischievously, "It's okay, Grandma, it's warmed up now, it's not so cold anymore."

Yunya felt a warmth in her heart; only her maternal grandmother was the relative who loved her the most and worried about her the most.

After seeing Yunya go inside, Sun Limei and Zhang Haiyan realized there was no more excitement to be had, so they went about their own business.

Sun Limei continued doing her homework, while Zhang Haiyan continued watching TV. Yunya also obediently went to do her homework, otherwise she wouldn't finish it before school started and would get a beating again.

Thinking of Tian Bilian and Pan Guojiao's vicious faces, Yun Ya couldn't help but shudder.

She wrote incredibly fast, and her handwriting was naturally flamboyant and unrestrained, far from neat and tidy.

Right now, speed is all that matters, not quality; as long as I finish writing, that's fine. For math problems, it doesn't matter if they're right or wrong; just write down the solution using the methods you know.

When she encountered a problem she couldn't solve, she would ask her older sister. Even though Sun Limei couldn't explain it clearly, she would just write down the answer in a daze and call it a day.

She didn't stop writing until her grandfather got off work in the evening. She got tired midway through, went to the restroom, stretched her wrists a little, and then continued doing her homework.

One day, with just a pen, Yunya created a miracle all by herself. She finished six days' worth of homework in a single day.

After writing the last word in the evening, Yunya's wrists were so sore they were almost numb. Her back also ached from sitting so long.

She rubbed her lower back with her hands behind her back, muttering, "Doing homework is so tiring. This is inhuman work. It's even more tiring than working in the fields."

Mu Shuyun came over with concern to rub Yunya's back, but Yunya refused, saying, "Grandma, you've worked all day and you must be tired too. You don't need to rub my back, I'll be fine in a bit."

Mu Shuyun felt both heartache for her child's thoughtfulness and joy at his filial piety.

She thought the old saying was right: "You can tell what a person will be like at three and what they will be like at seven." Sure enough, Yunya had been filial to them since she was a child.

Even when Yunya grows up, she will still be a filial child.