the 26th

Taohua was furious when she heard the news. There was a group activity in the afternoon, why wasn't she notified? Why was she not allowed to participate?

Why should Lan Tian, a little beggar from outside, be allowed to participate? She hastily stuffed her new books into her bag and ran out after them, with Cha Hua following behind her.

"I want to go catch crabs."

The group headed out and Taohua demanded to join the activity, casting a proud glance at Lan Tian. She thought just because Tie Jun and the others didn't invite her, she wouldn't know about it and they could exclude her - no chance!

Lan Tian didn't even look at Taohua, picking up her and Shitou's schoolbags and leisurely walking back home.

.........

Mo Yuanle and Zhao Li were living together with Lan Tian, and it was Zhao Li who would tie Lan Tian's hair into a bun every morning. After combing her hair and tying the bun adorned with bells, she would hold Lan Tian's face, looking from left to right with sparkling eyes.

"White and tender like a steamed bun, makes me want to take a few bites." Afterwards, she peppered Lan Tian's cheeks with 'smack, smack' kisses, kissing her until Lan Tian rolled her eyes.

After breakfast, Lan Tian put on her schoolbag, while Mo Yuanle, who was still eating, stood up to follow her. Lan Tian glanced at him and walked outside. When she saw he was still following, she stopped, puzzled, and asked, "Uncle?"

"I'll take you."

Lan Tian almost knelt down, quickly regaining her senses to firmly refuse.

"No need, I can go by myself. In our village, kids go to school on their own."

What a joke, aside from the first day of school when parents go to pay the tuition fees, their mission is accomplished.

From then on, school commutes are the kids' own business. Lan Tian didn't want to become Mo Village's only peculiar sight, adamantly disagreeing.

Mo Yuanle had no choice but to give up, his woeful puppy-eyed gaze following Lan Tian, making her so uncomfortable she urged him to go back to his meal and took off running.

After running some distance, she saw that no one was following, so she breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, having never encountered such a clingy parent.

On the way, she ran into Shitou, and they chatted and laughed together. As they passed by Mo Junhua's family yard, Mo Junhua suddenly came out and handed her a roasted sweet potato, rubbed Lan Tian's bun, and told her to study hard before returning to his yard.

The incident was so sudden that Lan Tian hadn't even recovered, holding the sweet potato and giving Shitou and the yard a confused look.

What kind of act was that?

"For me?" Lan Tian looked at Shitou in astonishment, and he nodded, eyes pointed at the sweet potato in her hand.

Lan Tian looked at the delicious sweet potato, then back at Mo Junhua's yard, feeling conflicted. She didn't want too deep an entanglement between them, thus wouldn't chase after him to return it.

Sweet potatoes are common in the countryside, grown by every household. They can be eaten by humans or pigs and don't mean much. With the person gone, she couldn't just throw the sweet potato away! At the worst, she could give it back to him next time, keeping their relationship clear of debts.

It was a perfect opportunity since she hadn't eaten her fill in the morning, and she could eat a bit more. She simply split it in half, keeping one part for herself and giving the other to Shitou. The two of them merrily munched on the sweet potatoes on their way to school.

The little girl only thought about giving back what she received to keep things even, without any debts. She never considered that reciprocal exchanges indicated an already established connection. As time goes by, these small interactions accumulate, and the ties would only deepen; not even realizing this much, she might as well not have lived for over a hundred years.

Frankly, kindergarten is all about playing in school, singing songs, dancing, playing games, and then school's out.

Lan Tian packed her schoolbag and waited for Shitou so they could leave together. Shitou asked Lan Tian to go ahead as he wanted to stay and play at school. First to sixth graders still had two periods left, and he would go home with his brother later.

Shitou's brother was in the third grade, and Lan Tian accompanied him to find his brother. Once they met, Lan Tian swung her schoolbag and nonchalantly headed home.

At the gate, she ran into Fourth Grandpa sauntering along with his hands behind his back, bringing a few of his granddaughters towards her house. Lan Tian glanced at them, intuitively guessing their purpose, casually greeted, "Hello, Fourth Grandpa," and pushed the gate open to enter.

"Grandma, I'm back!" Lan Tian shouted as she got inside the yard.

Mo Yuanle and his wife moved over to live together, and one evening, the family held a meeting about grandma's work points. They voted with a show of hands on whether Grandma Sun should earn work points – no hands went up. For those in favor of Grandma Sun staying home to do chores, Mo Yuanle, Zhao Li, and Lan Tian raised their hands; it was unanimously passed.

Grandma Sun stared at the three raised hands, flustered, protesting against the unfairness, demanding her right to participate in the vote.

The three looked at each other, their expressions solemn, and nodded heavily to agree. The vote was held again, and with a three-to-one majority, they overwhelmingly decided against Grandma earning work points.

Then, they scattered, each retreating to their rooms to sleep, lest Grandma Sun came to her senses and demanded accountability. Lan Tian lay in her bed, stifling laughter until she almost suffocated.

Grandma is so adorable, isn't she!

No response from inside the house, Lan Tian carried her schoolbag in search of people. After looking around and finding no one, just as she was about to search outside, Mo Yuanle, carrying a basket, returned from outside followed by Grandma Sun and Zhao Li.

When Mo Yuanle entered the yard and saw a large group of people had arrived, right in the center stood his grand uncle.

Old Mo Fourth drew on his cigarette holder, squinting at him with a glance, smacking his lips and taking a drag, the slender pipe shaking, exhaling smoke towards Mo Yuanle and nodding as if bestowing a blessing.

Lan Tian glared at Fourth Grandpa and noticed that after her uncle came in, Fourth Grandpa seemed a bit happier, his mouth cracking a smile, somewhat resembling a laugh, at least not the stern old-fashioned look he gave her. Fourth Grandpa's granddaughters, upon seeing Mo Yuanle, turned somewhat pale and instinctively hid behind their grandfather.