Chapter 59

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

As for the other well-off people in the village, such as Liu Zhanggui who previously earned money working with his saintly constitution and now opened a motorcycle repair shop for his son, selling motorcycles on the side...

There's also Zhang San who does grain purchasing, Song Qingshu who runs a supermarket, Li Guohua who sells insurance part-time as Women's Director, Chai Laosi who raises laying hens, Chai Youren who got rich by building roads and in the process ruined his own house, Chai Zhongguo who became County Magistrate...

Of course, the County Magistrate doesn't have to do anything; just relying on his salary he can eat and wear without worry...

But the most miserable thing is, those few surnamed Chai are all distant branches of Chai Mi's family, long since past the Five Degrees of Mourning.

Chai Mi's own clan relatives, each one lives worse days than the last.

"Nothing at all... not a single relative to bask in reflected glory from; to change fate, I still have to do it myself with my own hands."

Chai Mi murmured.

Chai Mi idly thought about things, and before she knew it, noon had arrived.

Chai Xiu went out to play; she's only eight years old, and although the weather was scorching, she still wanted to go out and play with her little friends for a while, so Chai Mi didn't stop her. Now it was noon, Chai Mi got up, wanting to go out and find Chai Xiu first; it was time for lunch.

Just as she was about to go out, she saw Chai Xiu running into the house in a panic, looking exhausted and covered in sweat.

"Eldest Sister, Eldest Sister, it's bad. Big Brother... Chai Dajun, is ruining crops in our family's field..."

Chai Xiu entered the house and began telling Chai Mi, even crying: "They asked me to go dig wild vegetables by the river bend, so I went. After that I saw Chai Dajun in our family's field by the small bridge on the west river bank, pulling up our corn seedlings by hand. I went to ask him, and he directly pushed me down..."

Chai Mi saw dried mud on Chai Xiu's body and knew Chai Xiu wasn't lying.

"Pushed you into the river?"

"Mm-hmm..." Chai Xiu pursed her lips and said.

Chai Mi didn't get too frantic; she said first: "Xiu'er, go change your clothes and shoes."

Then she said: "I'm going out for a trip; you stay home and watch the house well."

Chai Xiu nodded.

Chai Mi casually grabbed a sickle for cutting grass and headed toward her family's field.

West of Sanjiacun, there's a small river called Niuhe River; the channel is very narrow, the current very swift, surging like a newborn calf, hence the name Niuhe River.

In the middle of Niuhe River, there's a submerged bridge with no particular name; people usually just call it the small bridge.

By the river bend on the west bank, a lot of sand and soil have accumulated; when the water is high it overflows, when the water is low it's exposed.

Chai Mi's parents reclaimed two mu of land on that ownerless spot.

These past two years have been drier than before, but the harvest was still decent.

It's just past the Dragon Boat Festival now, temperatures are high, crops are jointing especially fast, almost changing daily; a few days ago the crops were only half a na tall, now they're already past the lower leg.

(Na: a local unique measurement description, calculated by adult palm; one palm is nearly twenty centimeters, half a na refers to nearly seven to eight centimeters up to ten centimeters.)

Chai Mi's home is still quite far from there, about three or four li of road; otherwise Chai Xiu wouldn't have had her wet clothes already dried by the time she ran home.

Today's temperature is very high, Chai Mi wore ordinary cloth shoes with thin soles, burning her feet until they ached a bit.

Leaving the village, walking briskly for about ten minutes, Chai Mi finally reached that field on the west river bank.

Looking out, stalk after stalk of corn seedlings already wilted from the sun lay on the ground, nearly three furrows' worth...

This field was originally only two mu, seven or eight furrows; Chai Dajun has already ruined nearly half of it...