Song Tan's Notes

While Song Sancheng was carrying an umbrella on the back mountain, he couldn't free his hands to hold the umbrella while bending over to move stones. He had moved the stones but hadn't dug up any earthworms, and he was already soaked.

After finally groaning and snorting, he dug up a few small red earthworms, then sneaked back into the room to change clothes like a thief.

Aunt Lotus, who had just finished mopping the floor: ...

It was just a few footprints; she could just mop it up with the floor scrubber later—not a lot of work. But Ulan hated those clueless people who wouldn't lift their feet even when the mop was right in front of them. Seeing Aunt Lianhua take the floor scrubber, she immediately understood—

Just then, a loud wailing sound came from outside the courtyard.

The only reason this rain is so loud is because of the soundproofing! Before, you could hear it before you even turned the corner, but now everyone's only surprised when they get to their doorstep.
Is that a child crying?

How many families in their village have their children back for summer vacation?

The whole family looked out curiously from the corridor.

As I watched, a burst of laughter preceded the sound of people, mingling with the child's pitiful cries, creating a strangely comical effect.

After waiting a while, Liu Baoni from the village came in carrying a large umbrella. She was holding the hand of her granddaughter, who was wearing a raincoat and rain boots with little yellow ducks on her arm. One was crying and the other was laughing.

Looking further back, wait a minute, there's another goose!
This goose is only half-grown, probably not well cared for; its feathers are already bald in patches. And it's huddled up in the rain, completely lacking the spiritedness of their big white goose; it actually looks rather pathetic.

"Oh!" Ulan laughed, "How could you bear to come to my house today? Come, come in and sit down. Let me offer your granddaughter something to eat—how about some watermelon?"

Old Song's stuff is too expensive, so people usually feel embarrassed to come over.

If it's a bit pricey, then there are definitely people who are deliberately trying to freeload, or who have no good intentions. But to be so much more expensive—

God!
I heard that watermelons are going for 20 yuan a pound this year.

In that case, people will only come over to get a dollar or two when they really need something; it wouldn't be good to do more than that.

The reason why the whole village is so simple and honest is—ah! It's because they want to buy vegetable seedlings from his house and also work in the fields, in short, they want to make more money!

In short, Liu Baoni was also very open and generous:
"How did you know? I just wanted to bring my granddaughter here to have a taste and cheer her up from crying. Oh dear, I don't know how she's raised in the city. She's been howling for an hour and is even hiccuping, but she won't stop."

He's really strong.

She started laughing again as she spoke. Her granddaughter pouted and said, "Waaah, hiccup, wheeze, I hiccup, I can't stop hiccuping now..."

Look at that poor little thing!

It's unethical, but it's getting funnier and funnier.

But if you cry for too long, you really can't stop. Therefore, Ulan quickly called out to her:

"Come in and have a couple of slices of watermelon, it'll help you feel better."

The little girl was being led to stand in the corridor, sobbing.

He folded his umbrella, took off his raincoat, and changed into his rain boots, all in an orderly and serious manner, though he was slow and deliberate. He would occasionally hiccup and then cry out a couple of times, which was both pitiful and hilarious!
But having come through the rain, Liu Baoni felt a little embarrassed looking at the clean floor.

"You've dirtied the ground."

This time, Aunt Lianhua had something to say: "No, look, we were just about to drag it out, it won't affect anything!"

Pointing again, a wet, dripping stain of dirty water spreads forward, along with mud rubbed off clothes.

Liu Baoni: ...

She seemed inexplicably relieved.

Then I looked at my granddaughter. She's small, so I brought her a small stool.

The child, no more than six or seven years old, was sitting very seriously on the small stool, his back straight, hands on his knees.

"I hiccup, boohoo, I didn't come here to eat watermelon! My family hiccup! My family has, hiccup! I came here to support, to stand up for my baby! You guys hiccup! You have to, you have to apologize to my baby hiccup!"

Yo!
Despite his young age, he spoke haltingly yet with considerable force.

Ulan was even happier now. She quickly picked out a small watermelon, sliced ​​it with a crisp sound, and handed her a slice while making little noises like "uh-huh."
"Okay, we'll back up your baby! Here, have a bite of watermelon first to clear your burp, otherwise you won't be able to speak clearly, and we won't know why we're backing you up."

The little girl hesitated for a moment.

The watermelon in front of me had bright red flesh and a faint fragrance, and it seemed a little different from the one I bought at my grandma's house.

But, but her baby was bullied!

She came here to seek justice; wouldn't it be inappropriate to eat someone else's watermelon?

The thought had barely crossed his little mind when another surge of energy rose from his chest and abdomen—

"belch!"

She couldn't help but pout and feel like crying again.

Actually, she had long since stopped wanting to cry, but she just couldn't stop!

Don't kids have any pride?
The little girl choked back a couple of sobs, but her tiny hands finally managed to take the slice of watermelon.

But we still have to say the harsh words:

"Thank you, Auntie, hiccup! Even if you treated me to watermelon, hiccup! I still have to apologize to my baby! Hiccup!"

Who could resist laughing? The fact that no one laughed out loud was the greatest respect everyone could show the little girl.

Ulan couldn't help but chuckle: "You eat first, and after you've finished, make things clear and then tell us why you need to apologize?"

"Look, we've stayed home and haven't gone out."

"Besides, who's your baby?"

This little one looks so small, he's still a baby himself, and he already has a baby?

Looking at Liu Baoni, she was already eating watermelon with gusto, completely ignoring her granddaughter's baby.

The little girl opened her mouth, looking anxious, as if she had a lot to say.

But she couldn't make out what she was saying, and the watermelon in front of her smelled so tempting that she finally lowered her head and took a bite.

Wow!
Children's reactions are the most straightforward. When the watermelon went into her mouth, she almost jolted awake, her eyes wide with surprise, her whole face screaming:

Wow!

Then, like a little hamster, it chewed quickly, and in no time, it had completely forgotten about the baby and took another big bite.

With guests present, Aunt Lianhua felt embarrassed to keep tidying the floor. At this point, the Song family all sat down and started eating as well.

Rain has many drawbacks, but at least the temperature has dropped.

The temperature dropped to an awkward 31 or 32 degrees Celsius. If you don't turn on the air conditioner, it's too dry; if you do, it's too cool.

Finally, Ulan, who is always frugal, made the decision: it won't be held.

Eating a watermelon like this now is a good way to cool down; the temperature is just right.

Just as Song Sancheng had changed his clothes, prepared his gear, and opened the door to come out, he found a group of people outside...

He could only close the door expressionlessly and nonchalantly, then nod cheerfully to the villagers before turning and heading back outside. In the corridor, a bald, featherless goose, resembling a quail, was huddled up, its head tucked in. Seeing people come out, it let out a weak "goose" sound before shrinking its neck back in.

Song Sancheng: ...

Whose goose is this behaving like this?

Look at how cowardly he is, like he's been beaten eight hundred times a day.

……

Song Sancheng continued his fishing business like a thief. Meanwhile, inside the house, the little girl finished a slice of watermelon, sobbing and fidgeting, when Wulan stuffed another slice into her hand.

Let's eat together after we finish eating.

When it came to the fourth piece, Liu Baoni reached out and stopped it:
"She's just a child, she shouldn't eat so much."

Looking at her granddaughter again, she had indeed stopped hiccuping, and her eyes were following the watermelon, clearly having forgotten about the baby.

Then Ulan brought over a plate of rice candy.

The popcorn was made from their own rice, and Seventh Uncle and Lu Chuan made rice candy together. It's just that the peanuts weren't cooked. Otherwise, if they had added some more peanuts, it would have tasted so much better.

Despite its unremarkable appearance, this rice candy has an exceptionally rich and sweet flavor.

Liu Baoni declined twice, but eventually gave in and she and her granddaughter each took a piece of candy and started eating it.

What baby?
Rice Flower Baby?
The adults were chatting animatedly, while Liu Baoni complained:
"His parents are so carefree. They just left the kid in their hometown and don't care anymore. They just say he can't play on his phone... It's a good thing it's raining. Otherwise, they'd be too busy working in the fields to take care of the kid."

Taking children to the fields exposes them to snakes, insects, rodents, and the sun—it's a real ordeal.

If you want her to stay home peacefully and not do anything dangerous, then you have to keep a cell phone in her mouth.

Before long, the kids became addicted to their phones, and the parents started complaining...

Damn!

Liu Baoni sighed deeply, "It's so hard to raise kids these days."

Anyway, she doesn't plan to move to the city to live with her children when she gets old; staying in her hometown is fine. She can work as long as she can, and even if she can't, she still has some savings.

If you really feel unwell, there are people in the village who drive private cars too!
And their Party Secretary Zhu is not bad either.

Let's not even talk about the old Party Secretary. If he had to bring a couple of bottles of wine to renovate his house, nothing would get done.

When we come to Secretary Zhu's place, she has already found out all the procedures beforehand. We just follow the steps one by one, and she will do what needs to be done.

Moreover, the welfare benefits for the elderly living alone are good. Not only does the village care about them, but the Song family, being so generous, provides them with thick cotton-padded coats and trousers for winter, and grapes from a while ago...

In short, Liu Baoni used to feel that the village was becoming increasingly desolate, which made their hearts feel empty as well.

just now……

Have you finished tidying up the vegetable garden?
Have all the vegetable racks been set up neatly?
When city dwellers come to buy vegetables, where are the tenderest ones growing?
If all else fails, Old Song's family owns such a large mountain; there's always some work they can spare each day.

The problem right now is a shortage of people, not a shortage of work.

As for whether it's lively or not... Once Zhang Hong's tofu shop opened, Dr. Guo's reputation gradually spread. Not to mention that it was packed with people on weekends, it was also bustling from Monday to Friday.

It's just that it's been raining these past few days, so the village is inaccessible. As a result, most of the people coming to see Dr. Guo are his patients, and they're concentrated in that area.

Otherwise, as you walk around the village, you'll often see city folks pointing at cucumbers in the fields and saying they want to break off a cucumber to try.

In short, there's so much to say about these rural topics.

Moreover, with more people coming, there's more gossip, starting with a single sentence—

Do you know so-and-so from Village X?

Starting with this sentence, the gossip could spread for miles around!

Not only does Ulan love to listen, but Song Tan does too.

Why did she plant so many sunflowers this year? Besides being pretty, they're also a bit lacking in this aspect.

The atmosphere is incomplete without sunflower seeds.

Then look at the six or seven-year-old girl, still sitting upright on the stool. She's wiped her hands clean, her eyes wide open, listening to the adults speak, half understanding, but—

"Grandma, please don't talk now, let me talk, okay? My story is more important."

Upon hearing this, everyone finally came to their senses:
“Yes, the young lady wants to seek justice for the baby. This is an important matter. Bonnie, stop talking and let her talk.”

Liu Baoni had only told half of her gossip when she gave everyone a wink, deciding to wait until the child's matter was resolved before coming over for a private gathering of adults.

Next, it's time to listen carefully to the child's needs.

The little girl who didn't hiccup had obviously thought about it seriously for a long time:

“My baby was playing in the village when a really, really big, really fierce goose knocked out his feathers—Grandma said it was a goose from Grandma Wulan’s house.”

She clenched her small fists, her expression very serious:
"It's wrong to bully geese, and I want justice for my baby!"

He's got a whole repertoire of little phrases, and look at how serious he is, everyone almost couldn't help but laugh.

Song Tan looked out into the corridor and saw the poor, half-grown goose huddled against the wall, motionless.

It seems that both the body and mind have indeed been ravaged.

However, while the little girl is protecting her baby, Song Tan also has to protect her Big White.

He then took the initiative to ask:
“Our Dabai is a good baby too! It’s very obedient and sensible. It never bullies other geese. Besides, it has its own job. It has to patrol every day and lead the ducks out to beg for food. It doesn’t have time to wander around the village at all. So how could your baby be bullied?”

The long message left the little girl completely bewildered. She carefully read through it line by line, and suddenly became anxious:

"I saw it!"

She stood up from the bench, spread her arms and swung them back, mimicking the way Baymax flaps its wings, while also stretching her neck forward forcefully.
"That fierce goose, it's like this! Like this—"

At this moment, she even pouted, trying to imitate the spirit: "Just like that, she grabbed our baby by the neck and pulled out a big tuft of hair."

"Then they pulled on our baby's back, and all its big feathers came off!"

"Baby is in so much pain, she keeps screaming!"

Then she got anxious and, undeterred by the ferocity of the white beast, bravely rushed forward!
Once she spread her arms wide, shielding her baby behind her back, she finally saw the huge white goose that was almost as tall as her—

The little girl was so scared that she burst into tears, but this sentence will be omitted, we won't talk about it!
Anyway!

The fierce-looking white goose stretched its neck, let out a "goose" sound, then casually flapped its wings, glanced at her with its domineering beady eyes, and then waddled back into the river.

Anyway!

As a new mother, she was furious! (End of Chapter)