There were too many people watching the fun, and the children couldn't squeeze in at all, so they had to turn around and walk towards the woods behind.
On the way, Zhu Chunhua couldn't help but say, "If I had known this would happen, I would have been nicer to Chen Xiaofang. Then maybe I could have a hairband too."
Zhu Xingtong said with a smile: "I can lend it to you for a few days."
"Really? Ah Tong, take out the hairpin and let me try it. You don't know how long I begged Sister Xiangxiang for it last time, but she refused to agree and was so stingy. I think the hairpin Chen Xiaofang gave you is even more beautiful than Sister Xiangxiang's red headband."
Zhu Xingtong had just taken out the hair. Zhu Chunhua was about to take it, but when she saw her hands were stained dark purple by the mulberry leaves, she retracted her hand and said, "Forget it. I don't want to waste such a good thing. I'll wash my hands after I get home and then put it on. There's no mirror outside to look at myself."
Zhu Xingtong nodded and prepared to put the flower away. He caught a glimpse of Sanya and Siya staring at the flower in his hand, so he said, "I'll lend it to you for a few days when the time comes."
Sanya and Siya were very happy to hear this and quickly said, "Thank you, Sister Atong."
Zhu Xingtong waved at the two of them and continued walking forward.
As for Tongtong and Xiaozhu, they didn't pay any attention to the hair flower at all and were happily eating the milk candy.
When they reached the mulberry tree, Zhu Chunhua was already there. The tree wasn't big enough to support more than a few people, so Zhu Xingtong didn't climb up. Instead, he joined the other children in picking mulberries. Soon, their small basket was half full. Seeing that the remaining berries were still unripe, Zhu Chunhua descended from the tree and led the others to the small pond nearby. She had them wait under the poplar tree by the pond while she, carrying her small basket, washed the mulberries in the water. She returned a short while later.
The frogs in the pond were croaking, and there was green everywhere. Several children were sitting on the grass, eating mulberries and chatting.
Soon, half a basket of mulberries was gone. Zhu Chunhua suggested playing house, but Zhu Xingtong disagreed. Later, she suggested lobster fishing, which Zhu Xingtong, who had never done before, agreed to immediately. However, Tongtong and the others disagreed, preferring to play house. Zhu Xingtong thought for a moment and suggested she could play the father out lobster fishing. Zhu Chunhua thought about it and decided she would play the mother, immediately directing the children to pick flowers and herbs for cooking.
The original owner had fished for lobsters before, usually picking up a stick with a line tied to one end and a dead frog tied to the bottom. When a lobster took the bait, she'd place a net bag tied to the stick underneath to catch it, otherwise the lobster might fall into the water before being pulled up. She asked Zhu Chunhua to watch over the little ones while she went home to get a net bag and catch a frog, then began fishing for lobsters.
While fishing, I suddenly heard a rustling sound in the grass nearby. I turned my head and saw Liang Youqing standing behind a tree with his back hunched.
Seeing her looking over, he didn't say anything, but walked forward a few steps, put two wild duck eggs on the ground, whispered "thank you", turned around and ran away.
Zhu Xingtong went over, picked up the two wild duck eggs and put them in his pocket. He watched Liang Youqing walk around the pond and disappear in the half-man-high thatch before he sat back down.
Perhaps her luck wasn't great; after fishing for half a day, she didn't catch a single lobster. She stood up, plucked a leaf, and held it in her mouth. Her original form could produce crisp sounds with leaves, and after a few tries, she mastered it, gradually developing a tune. She only knew one song: "Going to War."
Liang Youqing hadn't actually run very far; he was actually herding cattle on the opposite slope. He was crawling in the haystack, peeking over to the pond, and saw that the tune was indeed played by Zhu Xingtong. He was puzzled that on such beautiful days, there wasn't a hint of joy in the music. But he quickly gave up on the question because he was hungry. He finally found two wild duck eggs and gave them to Zhu Xingtong. With that in mind, he turned over and began searching the field for sweetgrass roots.
Time flies, and soon it is July.
In order to let Zhu Youliang and his wife concentrate on preparing for the exam, Zhu Yourong took care of all the big and small things in the house. Even her four children were under her control and were not allowed to disturb them while they were reviewing.
Zhu Youliang and Liang Yuan weren't nervous at first and even tried to dissuade her from doing so, but she persisted. Inspired by her attitude, they both took the exam seriously. July 20th arrived quickly. The couple woke up early, each enjoying a bowl of noodles with an egg, and then rushed to the village entrance. They boarded a tractor with the other candidates in their group and headed to the county.
The Gaokao exam consists of five subjects, both liberal arts and science, all on the same test paper. The couple chose science, taking Chinese, math, English, physics, and chemistry, for a total score of 500. They didn't pass the exam last year, but they did quite well this year. No one laughed at them, and many people envied them. They even ran into many classmates along the way. To avoid being exposed, they feigned nervousness and managed to get by.
The exam lasted three days. To avoid disrupting the exam, the two, like everyone else, stayed near the testing center. They didn't review their answers afterward, returning to review. Soon, the final exam was over. A classmate invited them to explore the county, but they didn't go, instead following the tractor that came to pick them up from the village.
After returning to the village, whenever anyone asked how their exam results went, the couple would reply, "It's OK." Seeing their indifferent expressions, everyone wondered how they'd fared. Behind their backs, all sorts of rumors spread, but the couple simply ignored them. Old Zhu and Huang Mei did argue a few times, though they didn't really end up fighting; they were simply arguing about their children. As for Zhu Yourong, she silently prayed that her younger brother and sister-in-law would pass. As for the children, they didn't take the matter to heart.
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