Liang Yuan came back at noon and saw a few rabbits, but scolded Zhu Xingtong, saying that she was running around instead of staying at home.
Zhu Xingtong knew that she was worried about him, so he waited until she finished scolding him before saying that he wanted to raise a rabbit.
Liang Yuan became a little worried because neither the original owner nor she knew how to raise rabbits.
Zhu Xingtong said that Old Zhu could do it, and she smiled happily. She followed Zhu Yuetong and squatted in front of the rabbit, reaching out to touch the rabbit's head from time to time.
After dinner, Liang Yuan went to deliver food to Zhu Youliang, while Zhu Xingtong used wooden planks to build a small nest for the rabbits along the backyard wall. To prevent them from burrowing and escaping, he tied a fine woolen rope around one of their feet and tied it to a wooden stake. As for the little rabbits, he left them alone.
The two rabbits were very timid and stayed in their nest, not daring to come out. No matter how Zhu Yuetong called them, they would not come out. Even so, Zhu Yuetong just stood by the nest, chattering.
Zhu Xingtong ignored him and moved a stool to sit in the shade, ready to sit for a while to cool down, when he heard someone calling him. He went to the front yard and saw that it was Zhu Chunhua.
"Atong, it's good that you are at home. Let's go jump rope." Zhu Chunhua said happily.
Zhu Xingtong wasn't really seven years old. She was a little interested in jumping rope at first, but after two tries, she lost interest and didn't want to go anymore. Just as she was about to refuse, Tongtong ran out from the backyard, "Sister Chunhua, why isn't Xiaozhu here?"
Zhu Chunhua said, "He's playing marbles."
Tongtong immediately went to pull her sister's clothes and said, "Sister, let's go."
Zhu Xingtong was helpless, thinking that it was tiring to take care of the children at home, and besides playing by himself, there was also someone to play with, so he had to nod.
Zhu Chunhua's home wasn't far away, on the last row of the village. Near her house stood a large mulberry tree, and with the open ground around it, the children from the village loved to play there. There were people skipping rope, playing hopscotch, and even playing marbles; it was a lively scene. The busy farming season was almost over, and the children didn't have much to do, so after a bit of farm work in the morning, they could play in the afternoon.
Before Tongtong reached the place, she broke free from her sister's hand and ran towards Xiaozhu.
Zhu Xingtong was dragged by Zhu Chunhua to join the group of girls. It turned out that Zhu Chunhua was a rubber rope skipper. No one wanted to be in her group every time, but she loved it. Every time this happened, she would drag Zhu Xingtong to her group. It just so happened that Zhu Xingtong was good at rubber rope skipping and could lead her to victory, so even if Zhu Xingtong was not there, she would still call him over.
School was on vacation, so Zhu Xiangxiang was there today. She was wearing a blue suspender skirt her cousin had discarded, which made her stand out among the crowd of gray jackets. When she saw her two cousins approach, she only glanced at them before continuing her conversation with the other girls nearby.
Zhu Chunhua and Zhu Xingtong shouted "Sister Xiangxiang" and were called over by a little girl. Rubber bands were put on their legs and they started dancing.
"Car, beep beep, Malan blooms twenty-one, twenty-eight, twenty-five, six, twenty-eight, twenty-five, seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty-one..." The girl's clear voice rang out. Zhu Xingtong stood there, feeling dazed for a moment, as if she were dreaming. If she hadn't come here, what would she be doing now? She would probably be practicing in the house.
Before she could express her feelings, it was their group's turn.
This jump lasted for a long time. No matter how bad Zhu Chunhua was, Zhu Xingtong could save her. Zhu Chunhua was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. The other two girls were not happy at all. They simply said they didn't want to play anymore and switched to catching stones. Most of these stones were made from the bottoms of broken bowls. Zhu Xingtong was annoyed by the dust on the ground, so he said he was tired and found a tree stump to sit down. As soon as he sat down, Tongtong came over.
The little guy crawled on the ground for a while, and the color of his clothes could no longer be seen.
Tongtong pointed to her nose and then to her pocket: "Sister, snot."
Zhu Xing agreed and took out his handkerchief to help him wipe his nose. The little guy was very fond of the handkerchief and was afraid of getting it dirty, so he asked her for help.
After wiping his nose, the kid ran away again.
"Atong, why didn't you go grab some stones?" Huang Juhua suddenly came over with Chen Xiaofang.
Zhu Xingtong smiled at the two of them and said, "I'm a little tired, sit for a while." Then he moved aside and let them sit.
Chen Xiaofang tugged at Huang Juhua's clothes. "Juhua, let's go play somewhere else." She knew that the villagers wouldn't let any of the other children play with her, fearing they'd be influenced by her. If they did, they'd be disliked by the other children. Uncle Zhu Liu had just helped her yesterday, and she couldn't let Zhu Xingtong be disliked too.
Huang Juhua patted her hands: "Xiaofang, don't be afraid. You haven't done anything wrong, why should you be afraid of them." After that, she turned to look at Zhu Xingtong: "Atong, do you want to play with Xiaofang?" She heard from her mother yesterday that Uncle Zhu helped Xiaofang escape a beating, so she felt a lot closer to Zhu Xingtong.
Before Zhu Xingtong could nod, Zhu Xiangxiang came over with a few girls, "Tong, if you play with Chen Xiaofang, we won't play with you anymore."
Huang Juhua said calmly, "Zhu Xiangxiang, who do you think you are? Why don't you let others play with Xiaofang? The teacher said that your behavior is judging others through tinted glasses, which is wrong."
Zhou Yan, the girl holding Zhu Xiangxiang's arm, said, "Huang Juhua, we're not talking to you, why are you butting in?"
Chen Xiaofang didn't want to get into a conflict. After all, she had no one to rely on, and she was counting on the parents of these children to speak up for her at a critical moment. Upon hearing this, she said, "Chrysanthemum, let's go."
Huang Juhua said, "Don't be afraid, we won't leave. This is not their place. Why can't we come here when they are here? We are looking for Atong to play, not them. Do you think I care?" After saying that, she looked at Zhu Xingtong.
Zhu Xingtong felt it was a bit ridiculous, but still nodded.
Huang Juhua said happily, "See, I knew it. Uncle Zhu Liu is a reasonable man. Ah Tong must be no worse than him. He won't look at people with tinted glasses."
Zhu Xiangxiang's group was so angry that they fell backwards. Zhou Yan even said harshly: "Atong, although you are Xiangxiang's cousin, I will never play with you or talk to you again." The others echoed.
Zhu Xiangxiang nodded and turned to look at Zhu Chunhua. "Chunhua, do you choose Atong or me? If you choose me, I promise to give you the red flower for a day."
Zhu Chunhua hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose Zhu Xingtong. Although he didn't have a headband, Atong's temper was much better than Sister Xiangxiang's. Besides, if Grandma knew about this, she would definitely favor Atong, and maybe they would reconcile then.
Zhu Xiangxiang stomped her feet angrily, first looked at Zhu Chunhua, then looked at Zhu Xingtong, said, "Traitor!", turned around and left.
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