"What’s up? Wasn’t he injured? Why did he go out?"

Wen Ran was taken aback. According to her plan, Xiao Chenye should be staying home recuperating.

"Oh, don’t mention it. Early in the morning, a young man came, said a few words to Xiao Chenye, and before he even had breakfast, he walked out."

Mrs. Xiao also felt helpless. As the children grow up, disobedience has become a common occurrence.

Besides, her son is not the type to act recklessly. If he’s in such a hurry, there must be something urgent.

It’s just...

The fact that he left without a word made her feel uneasy.

Xiao Chenye disappeared for five or six days after leaving.

The Xiao Family was worried at first, but later, a young man came and delivered a message, even dropped off a letter, so Mrs. Xiao was no longer anxious.

But soon after seeing off the young man warmly, she turned into a living Yama.

The way she gritted her teeth was quite menacing.

If Xiao Chenye appeared at this moment, Mrs. Xiao would surely pounce on him and bite him to death.

That troublesome child, he truly infuriates people.

Time, oh, time passes so stealthily and quickly.

You close your eyes and open them, then open and close them again.

Day after day, it passes by swiftly.

Spring plowing is about to end, everyone wears a smile that won’t fade away.

"Oh my, the light rain these two days has been wonderfully nourishing."

"Yes, indeed!"

"Once spring plowing is done, shall we take a break and head up the mountain? My family’s Goudan played on the mountainside, saying there are loads of mushrooms up there."

Mushrooms are such a good thing; you can stir-fry them, make soup, or turn them into mushroom paste.

The most important thing is, when the sun is out, you can dry them into mushroom jerky, soak them in the winter, and you’ve got a rare dish.

Some daring folks gather fresh mushrooms, dress up a bit, and head to the county with a small basket.

In the countryside, these things might be everywhere.

But in the county, if you want to eat a spring onion, you have to take money and tickets to get some from the grocery.

Fresh mushrooms are quite tasty.

When aunties gather, there’s not much else to do other than eating and drinking or gossiping about children; sometimes, a young lady joins in.

Experienced aunties all exchange glances and start teasing suggestively, embarrassing the young lady so much her head stays down.

Once the young lady gets married and has children, when they see a newly grown young lady, there’s always a tacit exchange of glances, and they start playfully teasing.

Oh dear~

Life is just about these little things.

Wen Ran was already quite relaxed, but with spring plowing over, she felt no burden at all.

On the contrary, Mrs. Xiao was cursing her son’s unreliability at home every day.

He comes home just to sleep.

Without eating a bite, he’s off and running again.

Wen Ran remains quite calm about it.

For men~

If he comes home, she’ll spend more time sweetening him up; if he doesn’t, let it be, she’ll focus on living her own little life well.

As she walks along, she suddenly senses something wrong and instinctively moves aside.

In the next second, a child, like a cannonball, rushes past her side.

With too much momentum, the child stumbles after a few steps and directly falls.

He falls flat into the dirt.

Wen Ran: "...?"

She’s utterly astonished.

Good heavens, this has nothing to do with her.

That child fell hard and didn’t dare lift his head, scrambling up swiftly and limping away.

Wen Ran: "?"

Confused by the situation, Wen Ran is mildly bewildered.

Could it be she’s unknowingly offended someone?

It shouldn’t be.

Watching that child’s skinny silhouette, Wen Ran slaps her forehead.

Oops, she nearly forgot that mother with her three kids.

This build, could it be Xiao Jinbao?

Doesn’t seem like it.

Xiao Jinbao is young. Even stretching out, he hasn’t reached the age, and the nutrition isn’t enough.

Then, is it Xiao Aizhong?

But isn’t Xiao Aizhong a girl?

This messy short hair...

The more she thinks, the stranger it seems, and Wen Ran, being someone who can’t hold back curiosity, slaps her head, not fretting over it, and goes directly to the Xiao Family.

Not understanding, she decides to ask someone who can explain it.

Upon reaching the Xiao Family and speaking of this incident, Mrs. Xiao’s eyes grow complex; she sighs, "It’s the mother and her three kids. The one who pushed you was Xiao Aizhong."

"But, that good child, why has the hair been ruined like that?"

"Ranran," Mrs. Xiao says helplessly, "Those three, in the county, are like street rats everyone chases away, and here, it’s hard for them to even get some food.

Do you think that hair is of any use to them?"

These days, there are people going door to door collecting hair, presumably, Zhong Xiaonan sold Xiao Aizhong’s hair for money.

"Auntie," Wen Ran becomes more solemn, "From now on, when you go out, you must be extra careful.

That child went astray, just tried to push me. If I hadn’t reacted fast, I’d surely have fallen hard."

The ground has plenty of stones now.

If lucky, a fall on dirt might mean some bruising for a few days—hurts for a while and then heals.

If on a stone, injuring bones, tearing skin, that’s real suffering.

She’s still young and strong, but Mrs. Xiao is older; a fall could be significant trouble.

"Don’t worry," Mrs. Xiao assures her. "I’ll be careful from now on, and you and Hongguo should also be cautious."

Thinking about it, Mrs. Xiao felt helpless.

Zhong Xiaonan with her two kids in the brigade is almost like a festering sore.

But the brigade isn’t governed by Mrs. Xiao.

If she could, she would chase those troublesome folks away.

Really.

If not openly, dealing with them secretly isn’t any different.

Wen Ran quickly starts plotting, but before she comes up with a good idea, someone arrives, forcefully pushing the door open.

"Sister-in-law Shilan, bad news! Xiao Hua is being bullied again."

Mrs. Xiao: "..."

What can I say? This scene hasn’t occurred for quite some time.

When it happens, she feels quite uneasy.

"What’s wrong again?"

"Oh, don’t just stand here, let’s go," the person props her waist, gasping, "I fear, if we wait a bit longer, your sister-in-law who’s like dough will be bullied to death."

Mrs. Xiao: "."

Fine, since you’ve spoken this far.

There’s no option but to go.

Besides, Mrs. Xiao and Li Xiaohua have a close relationship.

Otherwise, when going to Northwest, she wouldn’t have left a yard full of livestock for Li Xiaohua to take care of.

This bond has weathered storms for twenty to thirty years.

She can’t just watch her sister-in-law being bullied.

She immediately rolls up her sleeves, "Let’s go!"