Juhua watched her brother with concern. Qingmu smiled reassuringly and said, "Don’t worry. It’s always like this at the beginning. It’ll be fine once we get busy." As he spoke, he started to put his shoes aside.
Juhua quickly said, "Let , I’ll put them in the basket. That way no one will step on them and get them all muddy."
Seeing how she doted on her brother, Zhang Huai was filled with envy and jealousy. He said nothing, simply holding his own shoes and staring at her—his gaze deeply forlorn.
Juhua looked up, saw his expression, and felt a little embarrassed. "Huai Zi, you can give your shoes to put away too!" she said quickly. ’Honestly,’ she thought, ’these two are like two peas in a pod. It’s just like that joke from the skits: "Everything’s communal property, except the wife!" Now if I want to show a little concern for my brother, I have to take care of them both at once.’
Zhang Huai smiled gently and handed his shoes to Juhua. He and Qingmu then turned and headed down into the pond.
Juhua was taken aback by his gentle smile. ’Such a nace!’ she muttered inwardly. Just then, she heard Little Shitou yell, "Juhua, you ca too?"
Juhua looked up to see Little Shitou and Gou Dan ignoring the dense crowd on the pond bank. Bent over with their rears in the air, they squeezed through the wall of people toward her side. The sight made Juhua’s heart pound in her chest—she was terrified they would fall into the ditch beside the path.
She set the basket down by her feet. "Have you been here all morning?" she asked Little Shitou as he ca up to her.
The children were on school holiday, running wild like freed calves. An event like harvesting the fish pond would have them swarming to the scene, leaping and cheering, and shouting at the top of their lungs on the bank.
Little Shitou said excitedly, "I got here early! My dad’s down there. Look, that’s him!" he shouted, pointing to Zhao San, who was hauling mud from the pond below.
Juhua saw his forehead was beaded with sweat and the cuffs of his padded trousers were sared with mud from the grass. "You shouldn’t be running around everywhere," she said. "It’ll be a real problem if you get knocked into the pond and co out covered in mud. You’re getting your shoes dirty running back and forth, and your mother is expecting a baby. If you get your clothes and shoes filthy, you’ll just make her wash them, and the water is freezing this ti of year. Besides, you’re a student now. How can you still be scampering about like a cowherd? Just stay here and watch with . We can see perfectly well from here."
Little Shitou listened, blinked a couple of tis, and nodded. He reached out, grabbed her arm, and leaned obediently against her side.
Gou Dan ca over too. His relatively new cotton shoes were caked in mud, as were his pant legs, his knees, and even the hem of his little navy-blue jacket. Juhua was aghast. ’Did this kid actually go down into the pond?’
Seeing his mud-caked appearance, Liu Xiaoi, who was standing beside them, couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
izi was so angry she grabbed him by the ear. "Where did you go to get covered in mud?" she scolded. "Did the village chief tell you to go in the pond? Now you’ll need another whole basin of clothes washed when we get ho. I’ll end up spending my entire day doing your laundry!"
Gou Dan yelped "OW OW OW!" as she pulled, tilting his head and trying to pry her hand off with both of his. "Ouch! Sis, stop pulling, that hurts! I just fell, that’s all."
izi let go with a huff. "No more running around," she said. "Just watch from here. Even Shi Tou has stopped."
Gou Dan saw that Little Shitou was indeed leaning against Juhua with no intention of moving, so he had no choice but to stand still beside him. He wasn’t quiet for more than a mont before he started to feel uncomfortable, squirming and twisting as if a pile of fleas were biting him. Then he shouted to the opposite bank, "Bianwa, co on over! Shi Tou and I are over here!"
Little Shitou quickly said, "Don’t call him over. If he cos, there won’t be enough room for us to stand."
izi got angry and reached for his ear again. "Look how sensible Shi Tou is! How have you been studying for months without showing any improvent at all?"
Gou Dan quickly dodged behind Shi Tou, yelling, "I’ll stop shouting, I’ll stop shouting, alright? Twist my ear again and it’s going to fall off!"
Juhua found the boy’s mischief quite amusing. ’Of course, it’s only funny because it’s none of my business,’ she thought. ’If he were my little brother, I’d probably be angry enough to hit him, right? Isn’t Laicai just like him? No wonder Gou Dan’s mother is always tempted to hit him, yet absolutely dotes on izi.’
Liu Xiaoi suddenly shouted and shook her arm. "Juhua! Look, a fish jumped! Whoa! What a huge carp!"
Juhua hurriedly looked toward the bottom of the pond. In the pool of water that Big Mouth Zhao, Qingmu, and the others were responsible for, the water was already very shallow, and fish were constantly flopping out of it. Soone would yell, "I’ve got a big one!" and bend over to grab it, only to shout again, "It got away! Huai Zi, it’s heading for you! Quick!"
Zhang Huai quickly bent down to catch it, but it slipped away from him as well.
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