country bumpkin

Early autumn is always gentle, leaving summer behind during the day and bringing autumn breezes after sunset. The autumn sky is high and clear, and one's mood brightens accordingly.

In a farmhouse courtyard, a lively little girl with two braids in her hair walked with a bouncy gait, as cute as a little elf.

She was carrying a folded woven bag and was following her grandmother outside.

Mu Shuyun and Yunya arrived at the gate of Granny Niu's house and called out loudly to Granny Niu and Li Caixia.

They had already agreed yesterday to go to the fields to cut grass together today. They also planned to pick some wild vegetables and fruits while they were there.

Granny Niu came out carrying a willow basket and joined them. Li Caixia followed behind, also carrying a folded woven bag.

The four of them set off into the mountains in high spirits.

The sky was a clear, deep blue, and the sunlight was gentle; it was no longer the sweltering heat of summer, but rather a warm and comfortable atmosphere.

The roadside is lined with lush green grass. Walking along the country lanes, you can feel the breath of nature, hear the leaves rustling in the wind, see wildflowers blooming in the sunlight, and smell the fresh scent of earth and grass in the air.

The two little girls laughed and played around all the way. A gentle breeze brushed their cheeks, cool and refreshing.

We came to a patch of wild vegetables, where there were many edible wild vegetables, such as purslane, shepherd's purse, houttuynia cordata, and so on.

Purslane salad is Yunya's favorite food, and shepherd's purse and pork dumplings are also delicious. Houttuynia cordata can be eaten in a salad or stir-fried with eggs. Bitter lettuce is a bit bitter, and children don't like it.

Mu Shuyun and Granny Niu were digging for wild vegetables together when the two girls quietly ran off.

Not far ahead, there was an orchard surrounded by Sichuan pepper trees. The Sichuan pepper trees were not tall, with sparse branches and small thorns all over their trunks; if you weren't careful, you could get pricked and it would really hurt.

To the right of the orchard is a cornfield, where the corn kernels are already plump and nearly ripe, ready to be harvested in just half a month. They are still a little immature.

To the left of the orchard was a sweet potato field. Next to it was a field full of peanuts. In the ditches beside each row of peanuts, there were also soybeans, all ripe and plump.

The pepper trees around the orchard were very close together. Yunya and Caixia circled half of the orchard and found two places where the gaps were a bit too wide, enough for a stray dog ​​to squeeze through.

The orchard owner had placed dry thorns there, which was a bit scary. Yunya wasn't afraid. She looked around, found a dry branch, picked it up, and went over to clear away the thorny brambles.

Turning around, he whispered to Caixia, "Caixia, come here quickly, or we'll be discovered."

The two children, both happy and apprehensive, ventured into the orchard.

The orchard is planted with peach trees on one half and apple trees on the other half.

In the very middle of the orchard, there was a small house with the door closed, presumably the owner was resting.

There was a kennel outside the door. Inside the kennel, a yellow kennel was lying down, sleeping or dozing.

There was a well directly in front of the small house, and next to the well was a vegetable garden. Lush rapeseed, peppers, eggplants, and cilantro grew there, along with cucumbers trellised on trellises. It was quite an abundant harvest.

Yunya put her little index finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture. She blinked at Caixia and quietly returned to the fruit tree.

Caixia made no sound and quietly followed behind back to the fruit tree.

The two split up.

Yunya, as nimble and lively as a mischievous monkey, climbed an apple tree. Clutching a woven bag, she frantically picked apples, specifically choosing the largest, reddest ones.

Caixia was picking apples under the low apple trees. She carried a woven bag and moved quite quickly.

Yunya picked apples from an apple tree, picked all the big apples, and then ran off to pick peaches.

Following the same method, they nimbly and quickly climbed the tree, sat on the thick branches, and began picking peaches.

Caixia followed her to pick peaches under the peach tree.

In no time, the woven bag was already half full. The two girls were too young to carry much, so they decided to go out.

The two exchanged a glance, and Yun Ya easily jumped down from the tree, making a "thump" sound as she landed.

The sound of someone jumping off the tree woke up the stray dog, which barked loudly.

The two children immediately went on high alert, quickly grabbing their woven bags and running outside. Yunya remembered the way they came, while Caixia followed behind, dragging the bags with all her might.

Despite her small size, Yunya is surprisingly strong. She carried a small bag of fruit quite quickly; after all, she's not called a "glutton" for nothing—being able to eat a lot gives her strength.

Caixia chased after her with all her might, staying close behind.

Just as they were about to reach the exit they had come from, an angry voice rang out from the middle of the orchard.

"Who dares to steal my fruit? I'll catch you and beat you to death!"

The two children were terrified and quickly quickened their pace.

Yunya quickly darted out and pulled the woven bag out as well. She then turned back to pull Caixia out, who also darted out and pulled the woven bag.

Just as the two finished their work, the owner arrived. Seeing that it was two children, his anger subsided somewhat.

He thought that two little kids couldn't possibly have much strength; they were so small that even if he let them carry it, they wouldn't be able to.

When the two children saw someone approaching, they were so frightened that they grabbed their woven bags and ran away. Their destination was the cornfield on the right.

The cornfields were so tall and dense that even an adult couldn't find anything inside, let alone two children.

The two of them disappeared in no time.

The orchard owner threatened, "No matter who you are, I'm only giving you one chance. If there's a next time, I'll definitely send you to the police station."

Actually, the owner let the two children go; he just wanted to scare them a little.

If it were an adult, he would let the dog go and chase after it at the dog's speed, so that no thief could escape.

Before returning to the hut, the orchard owner gathered a lot of thorny brambles to patch up the gaps in the hole.

The two children waited quietly in the cornfield for a while, and only when they heard no more noise outside did they slowly walk towards their grandmother's direction.

Mu Shuyun and Granny Niu dug for wild vegetables for a while, but didn't find the two children. They assumed that the children had gone to find sour jujubes in the crevices of the rocks.

They had already filled half a basket with wild vegetables, but the two children were still nowhere to be seen, and they were getting a little anxious.

The search for the two children has begun.

Mu Shuyun and Granny Niu called out Yunya and Caixia's names as they searched towards the orchard.

The two were extremely worried, fearing that something might have happened to the child.

When we got close to the orchard, we saw two little guys slinking out of the cornfield, carrying bulging woven bags on their backs.

Mu Shuyun and Granny Niu immediately understood what was going on, and their faces turned very ugly.

Yunya and Caixia lowered their heads, not daring to utter a sound.

Mu Shuyun couldn't help but scold, "How could you do such a thing? If you get caught, it will be terrible." Granny Niu also sighed in agreement.

The two children burst into tears, crying and saying they would never do it again.

Mu Shuyun hugged Yunya with heartache, while Granny Niu held Caixia's hand, and the four of them silently walked back.

No one spoke a word along the way; the only sound was the rustling of the wind through the leaves of the crops.

After arriving home, Mu Shuyun decided to use this incident to teach Yunya the importance of honesty and rules, while Granny Niu was also scolding Caixia at home.

The two children truly realized their mistakes this time, and were filled with remorse and fear.

Yunya promised, "Grandma, I will never dare to do it again."

Mu Shuyun, who already felt sorry for the child, quickly changed her expression and said, "If you steal a needle when you're young, you'll dare to steal gold when you grow up. If you get used to stealing, you might want to steal anything you like, and you'll feel bad if you don't take other people's things. Do you understand?"

Yunya nodded and promised again, "I know, Grandma, I will never dare to do it again."

The matter passed quickly. Yunya went into the kitchen, washed an apple and a peach for Mu Shuyun, and handed them to her grandmother.

"Grandma, please calm down. Yunya will definitely change."

Mu Shuyun looked at her with affection and was no longer angry. She took the apple and took a bite. "Wow! This apple is so sweet."

After thinking for a moment, she added, "If you want to eat anything in the future, just tell Grandma, and Grandma will buy it for you."

Yunya nodded happily, "Okay, Grandma, I remember."

The unpleasantness from earlier was quickly forgotten.