The taxi stopped on the rural road outside the old house. It wasn't too hot at 10 a.m. The neighbors' doors were locked. In the distance, people could be seen working in the fields, bending over with sickles to harvest rice.

The taxi stopped, and the draft from the vehicle also stopped. The temperature inside the box-like van gradually rose.

Xia Minmin was awakened by the high temperature and didn't come back to her senses for a long time. Looking at the unfamiliar scenery outside the window, her brain, which had been idle for a long time, finally connected to the server and realized that they had arrived at the old house.

The adults on the bus had all gotten off. The sunlight shone on Xia's face. He frowned and turned around. The sunlight shone directly on his head. Darkness absorbs heat, and he woke up on his own not long after.

"Miss, where is this?" The child, who had just woken up, asked in a childish voice.

Xia Minmin pointed to the house not far away, "This is the house in my hometown."

Xia's mouth gaped open, looking very surprised. "This house is ours? It's so short and dilapidated."

Children who grow up in big cities have never seen bungalows with black fired tiles on the roofs.

After Xia Minmin got out of the car, she was about to carry Xia Xiao out of the car when the naughty boy jumped off the van and fell flat on his face. Luckily, the straw cushioned his fall and he was not injured.

He looked around nonchalantly, got up, patted his soiled clothes, and then walked towards the gate with a square gait, a gait he apparently learned from some period drama.

The drying ground of the old house was piled high with rice grains, probably dried by the neighbors. Even the weeds on the drying ground had been cleaned up.

Li Chunmei walked out of the house, where her daughter and nephew were standing under the eaves. "You two little lazybones are finally awake?"

"Mom, why didn't you call us when you got off the bus?"

"I didn't wake you because you were sleeping so soundly."

"Auntie, aren't you worried at all that my sister and I might be kidnapped?"

Xia had many questions in his mind. His parents always told him not to leave the sight of adults, but this time, no one cared that he and his older sister were sleeping in the car.

Li Chunmei explained, "Haha, Xia, this is your hometown, which is much safer than Shenzhen. Besides, we're all in the main room, so we can see what's happening in the car. That's why we let you and your sister sleep in the car."

"oh."

The taxi driver came out of the house, saw that the two sleeping children had gotten out of the car, and said, "Sister, I'll be going now."

"Okay, thank you for your help today. Be careful on your way back."

"You're welcome. Call me if you need a ride." The taxi driver tossed his keychain up and down in his right hand as he walked past the drying wheat and drove away.

Xia held Xia Minmin's hand and followed her as they explored the unfamiliar mansion.

It had been many years since I'd been back to the old house; it felt both familiar and strange. The main room was covered in dust. Cobwebs, layer upon layer, were everywhere on the corners and the wooden ceiling. There were even rat droppings on the table in the main room.

The backyard was overgrown with weeds, the well that was originally usable was now rusty, and the wooden door to the storage room was wobbling and probably wouldn't last much longer.

The small gate leading from the backyard to the vegetable garden was open; the three of them must have gone to the vegetable garden, where there were probably more weeds than in the backyard.

"Miss, where are my mom and dad?"

Xiao Wu's loud voice came from across the courtyard, "Second brother, there's another pumpkin here."

"I haven't been home for several years, but I've gained quite a bit."

Xia's eyes lit up, and she turned and ran towards the back gate. Xia Minmin quickly followed. Various vines and weeds grew haphazardly in the vegetable garden. A green path extended from the small gate, with the weeds on both sides brushed aside.

Xia Xia was also timid at this moment and dared not step over the small gate in the backyard.

Before long, the three people in the backyard returned with a full load, each carrying pumpkins, cucumbers, and loofahs.

"Xia, you're awake?" Xia Xiaomei asked.

"Okay, Mom, let me help you."

Xia Xiaomei handed over a small pumpkin, and Xia Xiao took it and followed her back to the main room.

"Second sister-in-law, look what we brought!" Xia Xiaomei held up the pumpkin in her hand.

Looking at the things in their hands, Li Chunmei was truly surprised that the unattended vegetable garden could still yield a harvest.

"Why are there loofahs and cucumbers too?" In Li Chunmei's memory, these two should be grown on trellises.

Xia Xiaomei said, "I don't know. There are many more in the field, but they are ugly and have strange shapes."

"So you picked them back for what purpose?"

Li Chunmei asked what Xia Minmin wanted to ask: Why pick so many? We're not going to cook here, so there's no use in picking them.

The three of them laughed awkwardly. Xiao was indeed useless; seeing such beautiful fruits, he couldn't resist picking them and bringing them back.

Xia Jianguo coughed and said, "We can give them to the neighbors to feed their chickens."

Summer is the harvest season, and every household has a bountiful harvest of fruits and vegetables. All these surplus fruits and vegetables serve as feed for the poultry.

Li Chunmei took four wet wipes out of her bag and handed them to them, "Hurry up and wipe yourselves. You're going to look for the sickle, so where's the sickle?"

Then the group remembered the sickle that had been forgotten in the vegetable garden.

"I'll go get it!" Xiao Wu turned and ran to get the sickle.

Li Chunmei said, "The incense and candles at home are all damp. Jianguo, shall we go buy some?"

"Okay, Xiaomin, Xiaxia, do you want to come with us to the convenience store?"

Looking at the blazing sun outside, Xia Minmin immediately lost any desire to go outside.

"I'm going! Uncle, I want to go with my older sister!"

Xia Minmin looked completely bewildered.

The next second, Xia was already dragging Xia Minmin outside. Xia Minmin, who didn't have time to put on a hat, had to walk along the shade of the trees. This brat really deserves a beating. When we get back to Shenzhen, I'll definitely give him a good beating.

The shop owner was the same one Xia Minmin had met when she was a child; ten years had passed, and time had left its mark on his face.

"Isn't this Jianguo? When did your family come back?"

"Just arrived today."

The shop owner looked at Xia and said, "Is this your youngest son? He looks just like you."

Before Xia Jianguo could say anything, Xia shouted, "My mother is Xia Xiaomei, my father is Xiaowu, my name is Xia, and this is my uncle, not my father."

The shop owner awkwardly scratched his head and said, "I'm sorry, it was my mistake."

"snort……"

"Your family looks so alike, if you didn't know better, you would think you were a family of four."

“It’s normal for a nephew to act like his uncle.”

They didn't chat much. After buying incense, candles, and firecrackers, and some snacks for Xia, they returned to the old house.

At this time, people were returning home from the fields one after another. When they bumped into each other, they inevitably exchanged pleasantries. Xia was mistaken for someone else time and time again, which made him very unhappy. He was still complaining when he got home.