There is running water at home, but it is only available for two hours a day. They usually store the tap water in a water tank at home for daily use.

When they were thirsty, they would just use a ladle to scoop water from the tank and drink it. There was no concept of drinking warm water. The three sisters almost always drank cold water all year round.

These three sisters are typical examples of left-behind children. Other left-behind children at least have elderly people or relatives to look after them, but these children are left alone.

The Liu Laokou couple, as the villagers called them, went out to work when their eldest daughter was about ten years old, leaving the eldest daughter to take care of the two younger daughters alone.

Thanks to the kind neighbors around, when these children don’t understand or can’t do something, their neighbors will teach them.

Logically speaking, the couple should have earned much more money working outside than farming in the village, but they never brought any money back.

Occasionally, when I come back to buy clothes for my children, I only buy clothes for the eldest child. After the eldest child wears them, the second child wears them, and after the second child wears them, the third child wears them.

If the clothes were torn and there were no new ones, the eldest child would mend them. Nowadays, although the villagers were not very rich, it was rare for them to wear patched clothes for their children.

But the clothes worn by the Liu family's daughters were all patched. Just like the short-sleeved shirts that Sun Aimin and his friends saw now, Da Ni and Er Ni were wearing and they didn't know how many years they were old. They looked a little small and worn, and their original colors were no longer visible after being washed.

The pants they wore had patches on the knees, were gray in color, and looked baggy. They looked like adult clothes, probably leftovers from their mothers.

The transparent plastic sandals on his feet were dirty, and you could see traces of sticky marks from being burned.

Not to mention that the villagers felt sorry for the children, even Sun Aimin and his companions felt uncomfortable when they looked at the two girls in the house.

The villagers were straightforward and didn't care about hurting their pride. In front of the two girls, they said to Sun Aimin and others, "The Lius are really stingy with their daughters. Look at the children, they have grown up so much, what are they wearing?

Sometimes we villagers can’t stand seeing them and give them some half-new clothes to wear, otherwise they will look even more pitiful than they do now…”

Sun Aimin echoed, "The couple are usually very frugal with their spending, and they save all the money they earn..."

The villagers said: "They are very calculating. They want to save that little money for their sons to marry off in the future."

When the two girls heard what the villagers said, they were so embarrassed that they stood there, not knowing where to put their hands and feet.

Zheng Xiaojuan asked the two girls, "Where are your third sister and youngest brother? Why aren't they at home?"

Dani lowered her head and timidly replied, "Sanni took my little brother out to play!"

Zheng Xiaojuan asked again: "How old is Sanni this year? Can she play with her younger brother?"

Dani replied, "Sanni is six years old now and can hold her brother. She should be back for dinner soon..."

Zheng Xiaojuan said, "Can you call Sanni back? We'll make sure you're all okay so we can explain to your parents!"

Dani and Erni didn't believe Zheng Xiaojuan's words. Their parents never asked how they were doing, and every time they came home, they only left them a little money. When Dani got her period, she didn't even have money to buy sanitary napkins.

Or maybe she didn't even know what sanitary napkins were, let alone how to use them. She used the same kind of riding cloth that the older generation used during her period.

She used to add wood ash to her riding cloth. Her mother taught her how to do it. Later, a neighbor discovered that Dani used wood ash during her period and taught her how to use knife paper.

But her parents didn't leave them any money, and Dani was reluctant to even spend money on knives and paper, so she still used the old method.

At the beginning of the year, Mr. and Mrs. Liu caught some piglets and bought some chicks, and asked their three daughters to raise them at home. At the end of the year, they came back to sell them, but the money never reached their three daughters.

Now the land in their village is divided according to the number of people, and each person gets three mu of land. The little boy hasn't got any land yet, so it is considered that there are five people in the family, and they get one mu and five mu of land.

The land wasn't huge. The eldest daughter was fifteen, the second daughter was twelve, and both were no longer in school. Besides taking care of the household, they were also working on the land. So the youngest, the third daughter, took care of the little boy more.

Originally, the three girls thought their family was poor and were very sensible. It was not until their parents brought the little boy home during the Chinese New Year that they realized their parents were willing to spend money on their little brother.

At that time, the little boy was already eight or nine months old. The clothes the couple dressed him in were both beautiful and soft, and they had several sets of such new clothes.

They also bought milk powder for the little boy and told the sisters how to make it. When they left, they bought several more cans from the county town. They also specifically warned the three sisters not to steal it.

Their parents left after the Chinese New Year, and it has been more than half a year now. They haven't come back once. They just called the neighbors twice to ask if their son is growing well, if he has any milk powder left, if he has enough clothes, etc. During the whole call, they never asked about the three sisters' living conditions.

Because of their parents' partiality, Da Ni and Er Ni deeply disliked their little brother, so they usually used work as an excuse to ignore him. It was because the youngest child was young and didn't know much that he found the little brother quite attractive.

In addition, when the third child was making milk powder for her little brother, she would occasionally sneak a few sips, and the rest of the little brother's milk would all go into her stomach.

When the milk powder ran out and they couldn't contact their parents, they started feeding the little boy rice porridge and had him eat adult meals with them.

Erni went out to look for Sanni and came back twenty minutes later.

Sanni's clothes were dirty and her hair was tangled like a tangle of dead grass.

The little boy was quite chubby, but also very dirty, with a black face. It seemed like he hadn't washed his face in a long time.

It was a hot summer day, and the little boy was only wearing a bellyband, with his bare little butt clumsily held in Sanni's arms.

When Zheng Xiaojuan saw Sanni holding the child, she was afraid that if she wasn't careful, she would fall and hurt the child.

They were also from the countryside, but I couldn't understand why such a family had so many children. All four children were left to their own devices. The couple probably only spent a little money on the little boy, but left the girls to fend for themselves.

But they may not be that good to little boys. If they really love boys, they should at least have an adult to take care of them, right?

Zheng Xiaojuan hurried over and took the child from Sanni's arms. Seeing that it was a stranger, Sanni subconsciously hid for a moment, but finally handed the child over.