country bumpkin

Granny Zhang talked on and on, finishing the gossip about the village chief's family and then starting to gossip about Jinbao's family.

Granny Zhang slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh dear, there's another big news, you know what I mean? Remember Jinbao, the simpleton from our village? His wife is pregnant again."

Upon hearing that it was about Jinbao, Yunya immediately thought of that handsome, fair-skinned young man. Oh, right, she had to call him uncle.

Yunya listened attentively, and then Granny Zhang continued, "Their first child was a boy. I heard from their neighbors that the child was slower to react than normal children. I wonder if he inherited Jinbao's intelligence. Everyone in the village says he might be mentally challenged."

Mu Shuyun said in disbelief and doubt, "Impossible! When the child was little, I passed by his house once and saw him with my own eyes. His grandmother was holding him, and he was very well-behaved and even smiled at me!"

Grandma Zhang hesitated and said, "I've never seen it, so I don't know if it's true or not. But the neighbors around their house are saying that the child only knows how to giggle and is three years old but can't speak."

Granny Zhang brushed a strand of hair that had fallen to the corner of her mouth and continued, "Some people even say that if the first child is mentally challenged, having a second child is simply a sin!"

Mu Shuyun neither thought so nor refuted it, but only sighed and said, "Alas! Jinbao and Xiuer are both unfortunate. One suffered brain damage from a high fever when he was young, and the other lost his father at a young age and was also tormented by his stepmother. I hope their child will be healthy and happy."

Although Granny Zhang loved to gossip and favored sons over daughters, she wasn't a particularly wicked person and agreed with Mu Shuyun's statement.

She only wronged her daughter in the matter of her son getting married; she didn't do anything wrong elsewhere.

The family that swapped wives with her son did indeed live quite well. The only problem was that the man had a slight limp. When her daughter first married into the family, they treated her very well.

The daughter started to suffer because her in-laws found out about her past relationships, and gossip spread in the village.

This whole thing is all the fault of that idle, gossipy woman who spread rumors. Otherwise, her daughter and son would both be living happily ever after. She might even have grandchildren by now!

As Granny Zhang gossiped, she thought of her daughter and hesitated before looking at Mu Shuyun, saying, "Sister, you're so lucky. Your son and daughter are both filial, and they're both living happily."

Mu Shuyun comforted her, saying, "Older sister, don't think about those unhappy things. Think about the good things. By the way, didn't your daughter and son-in-law bring their child back to see you before the New Year this year?"

Old Mrs. Zhang's eyes were slightly red as she said, "Don't laugh at me, but my daughter didn't even call me 'Mom' when she came back this time. Only my son-in-law and grandson greeted me. Maybe Jiaojiao is still blaming me for making her suffer so much. It doesn't matter if she ignores me, as long as she can come back to visit often, I'll be content."

Mu Shuyun didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only say, "Jiaojiao has always been a sensible child. She is kind-hearted and soft-hearted. She will forgive you in time."

Granny Zhang smiled bitterly, "I hope so!" She then went on to gossip about a few families in the village. It was already quite late outside. She looked up at the time and saw that it was 10 o'clock. It was time to go to bed, so she didn't want to stay any longer. She got up, said goodbye, and went home.

Mu Shuyun saw her to the front gate, and Yunya followed her out.

After Granny Zhang left, everyone quickly washed up and went back to their rooms to sleep.

Midsummer is the hottest time of year, and the nights are hot too. Rural courtyards typically have vegetable gardens, which attract a lot of mosquitoes.

Kong Xiangyao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. It was either too hot or the buzzing of mosquitoes in his ears was giving him a headache.

He got up and went to the yard, where a gentle breeze occasionally blew, making it a bit cool.

However, there were a lot of mosquitoes. At least there were mosquito nets inside the house, but there were even more mosquitoes in the yard than inside the house.

He grabbed a straw mat from a single bed, along with a pillow, and headed to the threshing ground. At the west end of the village was a small square where villagers dried their crops.

In the summer, many men sleep here because there are many big trees, making it very cool. The wind is also strong, blowing away all the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes can't even stand here; they're all blown away by the strong wind.

When Kong Xiangyao arrived at the threshing ground, he looked around and saw that half of the area was already filled with people lying down, and he could hear snoring all around him.

He found a quiet spot, laid out a straw mat, put his pillow on it, and slowly lay down, preparing to sleep.

I fell asleep after lying down for about ten minutes. There were no mosquitoes and it was cool here, which made me very relaxed, so I fell asleep very quickly.

Women used to sleep here, but ever since the rape happened, no woman dares to come out to sleep anymore.

There are a few elderly women around 60 years old who occasionally come here to sleep. But they only dare to come if they have an elderly man with them.

At Yunya's house, Yunya lay on the bed, fast asleep, occasionally scratching her fingers that would itch.

I guess she swatted the mosquito net away again, leaving a gap, so one or two mosquitoes got in.

Mu Shuyun is a light sleeper. When she heard mosquitoes buzzing in her ear, she quickly sat up, turned on the light, and bent over to catch the mosquitoes.

"Slap, slap, slap!" I swatted two mosquitoes to death. My belly was full from drinking, and my hand was covered in blood.

She got up to wash her hands, then came back and carefully checked the mosquito net again. Finding it spotless and without a single mosquito, she turned off the light and lay down to sleep.

She shared a bed with Yunya so that she could catch mosquitoes for her.

Kong Tongming went to sleep in the east room. He felt it was too hot and wanted to sleep alone in a bed, where he could sleep comfortably without the crowds and it would be much cooler.

Kong Xiangyao's bed was in the northeast corner of the living room, separated from the living room by a large curtain.

When we were little, many kids would squeeze together to sleep, and there was enough room in two beds. Now that we're all grown up, we still feel like we're short on beds because we've grown up and take up more space, so we have to sleep separately. At most, only two people can fit in one bed.

During the day, Kong Tongming and Kong Xiangyao discussed building a bigger house so that their daughters would have a place to stay when they came back for the New Year.

Everyone was asleep by then, except for the cicadas chirping "zhi...zhi...zhi" in the big tree outside, making the quiet night still lively and cheerful.

The next day, it was light before 5 a.m. The morning was muggy and humid, with not a breath of wind.

The children inside were still fast asleep. The adults had already gotten up and started planning their day.

The threshing ground was cooler than the houses, so most of the sleeping villagers were still asleep. Occasionally, one or two old men would wake up, quietly roll up their straw mats, and tiptoe back to their homes.

They wouldn't wake anyone. Once, a young man woke up a group of people and was slapped by one of them. Since then, no one has ever gone looking for trouble.