It's November, and the weather is still very hot, with the highest temperature reaching 24 or 25 degrees Celsius.
At this time of year, it would already be cold on the island, and people would be wearing sweaters and long underwear. Now, even wearing a skirt feels too hot.
The most comfortable time of day is during my morning exercise, when the temperature is just around 10 degrees Celsius.
After dinner, Gu Ye went to work, while Liu Jiu and San Qi went to school with the Xu siblings from next door.
Bao Ni and Aunt Zhang saw the four children walk away together, passing by Xu Mei's house. Her little girl was quite interesting; she rolled her eyes at Liu Jiu and snorted twice.
Liu Jiu clenched her fist, and the little girl ran home in a flash. Liu Jiu's fight wasn't for nothing; she not only made new friends but also made some naughty children afraid to mess with her.
"Why are you back again?" Xu Mei asked, puzzled, looking at her daughter who had returned.
"The kid next door wanted to hit me and swung his fist at me, so I'm too scared to leave." The little girl's first words were a complete lie.
Xu Mei has been very upset lately. Wang Haiyang has become too independent and no longer indulges her. He dumps all the housework on her, and her hands have become rough. Her father also stops siding with her and just tells her to adapt. But what is she supposed to adapt to?
A surge of anger welled up inside her. "Come on, Mom will take you to settle accounts with them."
"Lin Baoni, is your daughter a bandit?" Xu Mei grabbed her daughter and ran out angrily, shouting at Baoni.
Bao Ni and Aunt Zhang were about to go inside when Xu Mei came out, her tone unpleasant.
"Why do you like to label others so much? If my daughter is a bandit, what are you then, a spy?"
"Don't talk nonsense. I've explained everything clearly. But your daughter blocked my child from going to school and even threw punches. What is that if not a bandit?" Xu Mei felt she was in the right, and her voice rose eight octaves.
Bonnie and Aunt Zhang exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.
"Your daughter said that my Baoni stopped her from going to school and even threw a punch?" Baoni couldn't help but take another look at Xu Mei's daughter, who was about ten years old and quite pretty.
"Yes, that's what my daughter said. She never lies!" Xu Mei said proudly. Her daughter was very honest and never lied.
"It's truly a family tradition. Your daughter doesn't lie, she just loves to fantasize. There was more than one woman watching her child go to school nearby just now. Ask her what happened. If I tell you, you'll think I'm lying and taking sides with my own child."
There were several women around here just now, watching their children leave home, either worried about them or afraid they would skip school halfway through.
"Oh dear, Sister Xu, your daughter just saw Liu Jiu and a few others passing by. First, she rolled her eyes at them, then she snorted a few times. Liu Jiu just brandished her fist and went to school without stopping." An impatient sister-in-law clearly understood what had happened and didn't embellish it.
"Comrade Xu Mei, you can go home and ask your children what the facts are. Our relationship is destined to never be good neighbors, and I'm not that magnanimous. You should warn your children to keep to themselves and not interfere with each other, otherwise, I will fight to the end."
Bonnie greeted the other sisters-in-law and went inside; she had other things to do.
Standing outside, Xu Mei felt that everyone was laughing at her and pointing at her.
Xu Mei has abandoned her child and run out of the residential compound to find her mother next door. The girl, left behind by her mother, screamed and ran home, refusing to go to school.
Bonnie cleaned up the mess and fed and watered the chicks.
Bonnie looked at the bamboo wall behind the chicken coop, which she had cut down herself from the mountain. Previously, Xu Mei and the others had complained about the smell of raising chickens, so Bonnie thought it best to avoid trouble. There was plenty of bamboo here, so she cut down a lot and turned this area into a bamboo wall.
If Bao Ni had known what Xu Mei would do next, she wouldn't have bothered building this bamboo wall.
However, having a bamboo wall is also good; it provides a barrier between us and our neighbors, so we don't have to see it and worry about it.
I don't want to think about it anymore. Ideally, we could all live peacefully, without interfering with each other. Otherwise…
Bonnie picked up the bamboo basket, which she had specially exchanged from a nearby village. She had exchanged several bamboo baskets of different sizes, as well as bamboo trays for drying clothes, which she had also exchanged quite a few of.
Bonnie plans to go to the mountains to find some fruit, dry it into dried fruit, and send it to Sister-in-law Gu and her family so they can eat it during the Chinese New Year.
There wasn't much fruit available in the north at this time of year, and dried fruit was also hard to buy; you needed ration coupons.
There are also Uncle Shen, Uncle Xiao, and Uncle San, all of whom need to send some. There are also Gu Ye's childhood friends, Han Weidong and the others, Sister-in-law Ya Ru, Xiao Haiyan... All in all, the amount needed is quite considerable.
"Is Bonnie ready yet? Let's go." Aunt Zhang called out from the yard.
"They're here."
Bonnie carried a basket on her back and then took a bamboo basket and hung it on the handlebars of her bicycle.
"Sister Zhang, let's go."
"You're carrying so many baskets? Do you have that many?" Sister Zhang also pushed her bicycle out, carrying only one basket on her back.
"I don't know, just in case, I didn't take it back." Bonnie was the first to get on her bicycle, not knowing whether Qu Hong had arrived yet.
At the entrance of the family compound, Qu Hong and Su Mo were also pushing bicycles and carrying bamboo baskets, dressed similarly. Qu Hong and Zhang's bicycles were borrowed; their families didn't own any. Su Mo's bicycle belonged to her family; it was part of her dowry.
Once everyone had arrived, they rode their bicycles out of the residential area.
It was only a little over 20 li (about 10 kilometers), but I arrived in no time. I parked my bicycle at the nearby bike shed for five cents, which was safe.
Bonnie led the way, with Qu Hong bringing up the rear; her hometown was also mountainous. Zhang's wife and Su Mo were in the middle, neither of them having much experience.
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