country bumpkin

When Sun Zitao finished dinner that evening, he heard from Kong Xiujuan that her second daughter had dropped out of school and returned home. He wasn't too shocked, but he confirmed it twice.

"Erni, are you sure you don't want to continue your studies? Have you thought this through? Don't blame your mother and me for not persuading you when you grow up. If you want to continue your education, our family will sell everything we own to support you."

Yunya was getting a little impatient. She felt that her father's words sounded awkward, and she didn't understand what he meant by "selling everything."

It's not like my family is poor and can't afford the tuition. Isn't saying this just because you're afraid I'll blame them when I grow up?

She didn't regret the decision she made, so Yunya firmly said, "Don't worry, I will never blame you no matter what. Besides, I don't regret it now, and I won't regret it in the future."

She was heartbroken! She was simply not cut out for school; she couldn't learn new things and had forgotten the old ones.

Especially physics, is it something that ordinary people can understand? She suffered a lot from learning it, and even rote memorization was useless; she still couldn't solve problems.

She felt like she just didn't have the brains for learning.

Okay, now that Kong Xiujuan and Sun Zitao had settled the matter, they stopped worrying about it. They then started discussing what Yunya could do at home.

They can't possibly let a 14-year-old girl work! They don't want child laborers!

After discussing it, they decided that Yunya would stay at home to do laundry, cook, and clean.

Kong Xiujuan was also running a small business at this time. Yunya came in handy again, helping her wash and prepare vegetables.

In winter, Kong Xiujuan sells fried meatballs, fried potato strips, and fried sweet potato strips.

Making these fried meatballs requires washing and chopping radishes. Also, the potatoes and sweet potatoes need to be peeled – these are all Yunya's chores.

Because business is good, they wash huge basins of radishes every day. After washing, they chop them into filling, filling a medium-sized basin at a time.

Once, when Yunya was peeling something, she got distracted and accidentally peeled off a piece of flesh from her left index finger.

My heart ached for a moment, because my fingers are connected to my heart. Then, blood trickled down my face.

Yunya panicked and didn't know what to do. She quickly grabbed some toilet paper and wrapped it up.

The bleeding wouldn't stop, and within seconds, the toilet paper was stained red.

Yun Ya was terrified; she had never encountered anything like this before. The toilet paper couldn't stop the bleeding, so she took a small handkerchief and wrapped it around her finger.

The bleeding stopped only after the blood dried and congealed.

When your hand gets cut, you have to stop what you're doing.

Sun Limei returned home from school at lunchtime.

Yunya felt like she had found a pillar of support. She ran over and showed the piece of flesh that had fallen from her index finger to her sister, hoping that she could help her think of a solution.

"Sister, guess what this is?" Yunya asked Sun Limei, holding up the item for her to guess.

Sun Limei looked at what Yun Ya was holding in her right hand and said, "Oh! Where did you get this pig's head meat?"

Yunya: "...Sister, do you want to eat pig's head meat? How could our family not have pig's head meat to eat?"

Sun Limei: "If that's not pig's head meat, then what is it?"

Yunya calmly said, "This is my flesh. I accidentally cut off a piece of flesh from my finger?"

Sun Limei: "Let me see your hand?"

Yunya obediently stretched out her hand. "Look, the bleeding has stopped now. At first, the toilet paper was soaked with blood. The wound was really bad."

Sun Limei was a year older than Yun Ya, and more cunning than Yun Ya. She was startled when she saw the hand outstretched in front of her, a small handkerchief stained bright red.

She said to Yunya, "Let's go to the village clinic and see if we need bandaging or stitches."

Seeing her sister's expression, Yunya became frightened as well, realizing it was quite serious. So the two sisters went to a small clinic.

Upon arriving at the clinic, the doctor inquired about her condition while removing her handkerchief. Once the handkerchief was removed, the wound was revealed.

A small piece of flesh is missing from the tip of my left index finger; it's been cut diagonally and is slowly bleeding.

Sun Limei was shocked. Her sister wasn't stupid; how could she be so badly injured? Didn't she know to come to the clinic for a checkup?

It seems my younger sister isn't very clever; you can tell from the fact that she used to grab a knife and attack people when she was little.

Now I feel even more that my sister isn't very bright.

In fact, her family members have said, openly or secretly, that Yunya is a bit dim-witted and lacks common sense.

My sister is a very straightforward person; she says whatever comes to mind, and everything is written all over her face. She's inflexible and doesn't know how to adapt.

My mother said that people like that will suffer a lot in society later in life. And that's exactly what happened.

The doctor disinfected the wound with iodine solution and then sprinkled anti-inflammatory powder on it. Finally, the entire finger was wrapped with medical gauze.

She then instructed them not to touch water for another week. Only after Sun Limei gave them the money did the two sisters go home.

When she got home, Kong Xiujuan was also back. Not seeing the children, she started cooking.

In the past, when she came home, there was always food ready, because Yunya had already prepared the meal. Today, when she came home, she didn't see Yunya, and she assumed that Yunya had gone to buy steamed buns.

Kong Xiu found it strange that Yun Ya and Sun Limei came back together.

She asked, "Where did you two go? Why did you come back together?"

Before Yun Ya could speak, Sun Limei began to explain.

"Mom, Yunya cut her hand, so I took her to the clinic to get it bandaged."

Kong Xiujuan said calmly, "Oh, it's all bandaged up now. Don't let it get wet for the next few days, or it'll get infected. When I get back this afternoon, I'll buy you a pair of waterproof gloves. You can wash the radishes and potatoes now!"

Yunya thought she could rest for a few days because she couldn't touch water with her hands. But when her mother told her that waterproof gloves were available, she immediately wilted.

She knew in her heart that if she stopped going to school, she couldn't just stay home and eat for free. Her older sister and younger brother were both in school, and they were both doing a great service.

If they can get into university, they will bring honor to their families.

I am just free labor in the family, and the only opportunity to demonstrate my value is by working.

She does a lot of work, washing clothes and cooking for her family, taking care of all the housework. She also helps her mother with her business.

Yunya has lacked a sense of security ever since she returned to the city to attend school at the age of 6. Now she is 14 years old and still lacks a sense of security.

She dared not offend her mother, because her grandmother had told her not to make her mother angry, otherwise her mother would dislike her.

In fact, Yunya had always known that her mother favored boys over girls, and that she treated her older sister and her differently.

When she was little, she was immature and argued with her mother and fought with her sister. Now that she's grown up, all she can do is try to please others.

People who lack a sense of security are prone to developing a people-pleasing personality. Yunya's insecurity is also related to her maternal grandmother.

Grandma once told her that if she got old and passed away one day, Yunya should listen to her mother, get along well with her sister, and find someone she could rely on.

Because Yunya is naive and too straightforward, they were afraid she would suffer losses, so they could only rely on her mother.

Yunya had also thought about it: if her grandmother passed away one day, who would she be able to rely on? The thought made her feel heartbroken.

Yunya sometimes wakes up from nightmares, afraid of having no one to rely on. Grandma is gone, and her heart went with her; her heart is empty.