"Alright, Yunduo, I'll stop here for you. You can carry it back by yourself, right?" Yun Cai stopped when they were about a hundred or two meters away from the old courtyard. She handed the basket to Yunduo and explained in a low voice, "It's not that I didn't want to take you there, but my second brother is still at the old courtyard. If he goes back and tells me what happened, I'll get scolded."
"Huh?" At first, Yun Duo didn't quite understand, but she quickly nodded and looked at Yun Cai, saying, "Oh, okay, thank you, Sister Yun Cai. You've already helped me a lot by carrying this here." As she spoke, she reached out to pick up the basket.
Looking at Yunduo's tiny arms and legs, which were as thin as firewood sticks, Yuncai was a little worried and said, "Why don't you put the basket here and go back to ask Grandpa to carry it?"
"No need, Sister Yun, it's only a few steps, I can carry it." Yun Duo quickly shook her head. She was joking, after all. She had pheasants and wild eggs in her basket, and the pheasant was only stunned by a back sting... Thinking that the pheasant was only stunned and not dead, Yun Duo suddenly became anxious. What if the pheasant woke up and struggled? Not only would it attract attention, but it might also break the eggs. Thinking this, Yun Duo suddenly put her arm into the carrying rope of the basket and pulled hard.
Yun Cai was both amused and exasperated, and said, "Don't worry, it's just a basket of firewood, nobody wants it."
"No, I really can carry it. I just carried it that far." Yun Duo knew that she was being too stingy, but in order not to go hungry and to recover her health quickly, she had to be frugal.
Seeing Yunduo like this, Yun Cai could only say, "Alright then, walk more steadily. If you can't carry it, shout loudly, and Grandpa will come to help you." As he spoke, he slowly loosened the basket, and only let go completely when he was sure Yunduo was carrying it steadily.
Yun Duo felt a weight on her shoulders, so she quickly gritted her teeth, bent her back, and tightened the rope, which seemed a little loose. After a while, she had the strength to speak: "Okay, thank you, Sister Yun Duo. I'll be going now."
"Alright, you go ahead, I'm going home too." Yun Cai said, watching Yun Duo take a few steps to make sure she was walking steadily before she hurried home.
The sun had set, and she had to chop the pig feed while it was still light, then call the chickens home and lock them up, and then start the fire to cook. Since her grandparents no longer lived with her, these chores fell to her.
Yunduo walked slowly toward the old courtyard, as if she were a snail crawling, but she still didn't call her grandfather to come out and greet her.
However, the old courtyard was surrounded by a fence, and although they cut bamboo strips to re-enclose it in the afternoon, the outside could still be seen.
Lu Zhimin, with his sharp eyes, spotted Yun Duo before she even entered the courtyard. He quickly put down the piece of wood he was carrying and rushed out to help her, saying, "You silly child, you can't carry it, don't you know to ask someone to help you? What if you break it?"
Yun Duo was covered in sweat, and her eyes were blurry. After Lu Zhimin took the basket from her, she felt as if a mountain had been lifted off her shoulders. After catching her breath, she quickly followed behind Lu Zhimin and obediently said, "Thank you, Uncle Village Chief."
"No need to thank me, it's just a small favor." Lu Zhimin said as he put the basket on the ground. Before he could put it down properly, the basket suddenly moved by itself, and a muffled "cooing" sound came from it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
