Only two days after the Great Heat, the weather turned cool.

Sun Miao'er got up early and dragged the sleepy Xiaoman out of bed.

Xiaoman rubbed her eyes and yawned several times. "Sister, you're up so early? I wanted to sleep a little longer."

Sun Miao'er held a stack of clothes in her hands, deliberately putting on a stern face, "You, it's already dawn, and you're still calling me early? If you go to school in the future, you'll have to start much earlier than this!"

"Do I have to get up this early to study?" Xiaoman muttered as she slowly dressed, her face full of reluctance.

Sun Miao'er picked up the clothes from his hand, "Don't wear this anymore, I made you a new one."

Xiaoman's eyes lit up, and she eagerly took the clothes. "They're so beautiful! Did you make these, sister?"

"What else?" Sun Miao'er snatched the clothes back and gestured to Xiaoman several times. "This was specially saved for you by Aunt Liang. You mustn't bully Er Ya next time! We must remember her kindness."

Xiaoman finished dressing, lifted her sleeves to look left and right, and became arrogant, "Who said I bullied her? Usually, she's the one bullying me!"

Sun Miao'er looked at Xiaoman in his new clothes and saw that he had indeed grown quite a bit taller. "That's right, Xiaoman. You're a man, so you should be more considerate of her. Don't let me catch you fighting with her for candied hawthorns!"

This outfit, along with her master's, was made by her working through two long nights in a row.

When I'm making clothes, I can't help but reminisce about how wonderful it was to have a sewing machine. Now I have to rely on myself stitch by stitch, and my eyes are sore from staying up all night when I wake up in the morning.

Unfortunately, she hadn't figured out how to hand over her master's clothes yet. Ever since she heard the line "There's nowhere to throw away my longing," she had been intentionally or unintentionally trying to avoid her master.

With the autumn harvest approaching, there's a lot of work to be done in the fields.

I got up early today to go to the fields to harvest corn.

Before they even reached the destination, intermittent crying could be heard from the riverbank not far away.

It was exceptionally clear in the open fields.

Sun Miao'er glanced at them from afar and saw that they were Wu Dali's parents.

The villagers searched downstream for several days, but couldn't find any trace of Wu Dali.

The Wu couple were devastated to lose their son in middle age, and they stayed by the river and wailed for several days.

He was muttering nothing more than things like "I want to see him alive, or I want to see his body if he's dead."

She was also puzzled as to why Wu Dali's body was not found downstream. If it wasn't there, where did Wu Dali go?

Upon hearing the crying, Sun Miao'er was reminded of Wu Dali's face from that night, and she quickened her pace, keeping a safe distance from the two men.

The corn planted in the field was already 80-90% ripe, and Sun Miao'er planned to save the remaining 10% as seeds to plant next year.

Although autumn has officially begun, the lingering summer heat is still intense. The sun is blazing, and there's not a shady spot in the cornfield.

Sun Miao'er skillfully picked the corn, only thinking about finishing the work in the field before noon.

Xiaoman has the nature of a child. He would husk corn for a while and then slack off for a while. Sometimes he would weave a grass ring with foxtail grass, and other times he would fold a whistle out of grass leaves to play with.

When the midday sun was at its hottest, the cornfield had been cleared. Sun Miao'er and Xiaoman, each carrying a basket full of corn, hurried home.

Passing by the river, the Wu couple were nowhere to be seen. It was the hottest time of day, and there wasn't a single stray dog ​​to be seen, let alone a person.

Sun Miao'er found a shady spot near the river, where the moisture was carried by the wind, making it very cool. She thought she would wait until this period was over before going home. Even if she could handle it, Xiaoman was too young to endure it.

The siblings fanned each other with leaves, and Xiaoman found some wild fruit from somewhere, took a bite, and found it sweet and sour and thirst-quenching.

Sun Miao'er took out a paper package from the bamboo basket. "These are the sesame seed cakes I made yesterday. Eat some quickly, so you'll have the energy to carry corn!"

Xiaoman was so scorched by the sun that she lost her appetite and lay listlessly against a tree, looking like she was about to fall apart.

Suddenly, he raised his head and walked around to the side of the tree root. "Sister, look."

Sun Miao'er looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman leading a child toward the reeds by the river.

She looked more closely and realized it was none other than Xiao Zhangshi leading Li Zuo Kui.

Sun Miao'er could roughly guess the intentions of the mother and son.

"Xiaoman, wait here for your sister, don't run around."

She hurriedly gave a few instructions and followed Zhang Shi in haste.

Ms. Zhang led her son into the reeds, carrying a food box in her hand. Only after entering the reeds did she carefully open the food box.

The food box contained nothing but paper money, incense, and candles!

Madam Zhang lit paper money and incense, muttering, "Dali, don't blame me, I had no choice. Don't worry, I will take good care of Kui'er. You can go in peace."

Seeing this, Sun Miao'er thought to herself, "At least this little Zhang has some conscience. She even knows to come and pay respects to Wu Dali." But then she thought again, "If she really had a conscience, why would she come so secretly? I guess little Zhang feels guilty and is afraid that Wu Dali's ghost will haunt her, so she came here."

After burning the paper money, Madam Zhang grabbed her son's hand and whispered, "Kui'er, kneel down and kowtow three times."

Even though Li Zuokui didn't understand, he couldn't resist his mother's words and did as she said.

Sun Miao'er peeked out from behind the bushes and suddenly spoke up, "Aunt Li, why aren't you resting at home at midday? What are you doing here, acting all mysterious?"

With such a good opportunity in front of her, she was determined to give Xiao Zhang a good beating.

Madam Zhang was shocked and turned around abruptly. When she saw that it was Sun Miao'er, she said, "What's it to you!"

Sun Miao'er smiled slyly, "I just heard Aunt Li talking about Wu Dali, could it be that Aunt Li has something going on with the missing Wu Dali?"

Ms. Zhang retorted repeatedly, "Pah! Don't talk nonsense. I'm perfectly clear-headed, what could possibly happen?"

Her eyes darted away, avoiding Sun Miao'er's gaze, and she said, "Wu Dali always followed the village chief diligently and helped our Li family a lot. I heard that something happened to him, so what's wrong with me coming to pay my respects?"

Sun Miao'er nodded thoughtfully, "That would be perfect. We can't let Village Chief Li's reputation be ruined, Aunt Li, don't you think?"

"I'm just here to pay my respects to him, not what you think. Don't go out and make up stories, or I'll..." In her anxiety, Xiao Zhang became incoherent.

Sun Miao'er retorted, "Aunt Li, how do you know what I'm thinking? Could it be..."

Knowing she was at a disadvantage in the argument and couldn't win against Sun Miao'er, Zhang gritted her teeth and trembled with anger, "Don't talk nonsense! But you, didn't you come here in the middle of the day too?"

"I came out to harvest corn because everyone has to go to the bathroom, hehe!" Now Sun Miao'er no longer needs to worry about Xiao Zhangshi. She originally intended to use Wu Dali as her backer.

Now that Wu Dali has vanished without a trace, Xiao Zhangshi is nothing more than Old Man Li's foot-washing maid, and has no chance of ever having any influence over him again.