Grandma Sun and Zhao Li were also looking over there. Usually, by this time, Lan Tian would have already arrived, but today she hadn’t been seen yet, and the two of them felt worried and anxious. Guihua’s mother, from the same village, kept nagging beside them, "Second Aunt, why haven’t I seen your granddaughter today? I’m dying of thirst, just waiting for her water. Why is she so slow!"
Looking like she took it for granted, Zhao Li nearly passed out from frustration, her stomach boiling with anger, pointing to the nearby ditch, "Want to drink water? There’s plenty over there, drink as much as you want." Zhao Li had a fiery temper, and with Mo Yuanle’s imposing presence, ordinary village women dared not provoke her. Once Zhao Li lost her temper, Guihua’s mother didn’t dare make a sound, and onlookers suppressed their smiles, feeling it served her right for liking to take advantage.
Turning her head to comfort Grandma Sun, Zhao Li said uncertainly, "She must have gone to play, right?" Kids tend to get carried away when they play, meet others along the way, get caught up and forget themselves,
"No, you don’t know Lanlan. She won’t do anything else before she finishes her tasks. Nothing must have happened, right? I’ll go back and check." Grandma Sun said, heading toward the rice ridge, with Zhao Li following her. Both climbed up the rice ridge and saw Mo Junhua carrying Lan Tian towards them.
"Grandma, Aunt," Lan Tian, seeing her Grandma and Fifth Aunt from a distance on the rice ridge, waved her little paws at them.
The child pouted, his eyes sparkling, his fuzzy hair brushing against his face, nestled comfortably in his arms, reminding Mo Junhua of a cat he had raised when he was little, a smile flashing through his eyes.
"Second Grandmother, Aunt," when they reached Grandma Sun, Mo Junhua set down Lan Tian, Grandma Sun embraced Lan Tian examining her up and down, Zhao Li took the basket from his hands, poured a bowl of water for him, "Junhua, thank you for looking after Tiantian on the road, have a drink."
Mo Junhua, really thirsty, took the bowl without a word, ’gulping’ it down in one breath, returned the bowl to Zhao Li, wiped his mouth, "Thank you, Aunt, Second Grandmother, I’m leaving."
Before leaving, he took a quick glance at the well-behaved Lan Tian beside him. Lan Tian, seemingly unconcerned, was busy dealing with her grandmother’s scrutiny, but after Mo Junhua left, she thoughtfully watched his departing figure.
"Sigh, Junhua, take care on the road," Grandma Sun hastily looked up in response, and after Mo Junhua had left, she took Lan Tian’s hand to sit by the side of the road under a tree for some shade, murmuring, "Junhua is a good boy, I don’t know which girl will be lucky enough to marry him."
Not necessarily! In her past life, marrying him brought no happiness, but Lan Tian dared not say this out loud. Mo Junhua had a good image, was nice-looking and hard-working, and in neighboring villages, anywhere there were daughters, they secretly coveted him.
Zhao Li looked in the direction Mo Junhua had left, affirming, "Indeed, his mother says he has to wait until his two older brothers are married before it’s his turn, all those mothers-in-law out there must be anxious."
Previously, the family was too poor, and now that their circumstances are better, the eldest, over twenty, faces criticisms for being old, and the second is almost twenty, in a few years, he too will be considered old, and so far no matchmaker has approached them. With the two elders unmarried, the third, Mo Junhua, cannot marry either, it’s said two sisters caught someone’s eye. She poured a bowl of water for Grandma Sun, "Aunt, have some water first, it’s too hot today. After planting the rice, it will soon be time to harvest the corn, there’s a lot to do."
After Grandma Sun had enough with one bowl of water, Zhao Li quenched her thirst with two bowls, and after drinking, both inquired about Lan Tian’s journey to see if anything wrong happened on the way. Lan Tian recounted her argument by the river with Taohua, which delayed her a bit. It’s common for children to fight and then make up the next day, adults don’t mind it.
Guihua’s mother, watching the two drink water on the rice ridge, felt even thirstier, licking her lips and looking over, waiting for Grandma Sun to invite them to drink. Grandma Sun, seemingly oblivious to her longing, was cautious and held a grudge over her earlier disdain for her precious granddaughter.
After Zhao Li finished, the copper pot still had some water left, about two or three bowls, which she put in the basket for Lan Tian, "Tiantian, do you see the third plot of land up ahead?"
Lan Tian followed Fifth Aunt’s direction, the next plot over was not Mo Junhua’s family planting rice, Lan Tian had a bad feeling but still nodded.
"That big brother helped you carry the basket just now, there’s still some water in the pot, will you take it over for his family to drink, okay?" Lan Tian squinted, not wanting to go, in her past life Mo Junhua was a scumbag, but his parents treated her, their daughter-in-law, wonderfully, just like their own daughter.
Looking over, the sun was low, the two elderly sweating profusely from hard labor, hauling bags of grain, dragging them up the rice ridge, it was hard to watch and she eventually nodded. Carrying the wicker basket, she slowly walked over.
The people in the neighboring field had no civic sense, the straw was all piled up on the road, there was practically no path. Walking on the straw, soft and easy to trip on if not careful. Lan Tian was tripped by the straw several times and almost fell into the field, it was a scary journey.
Mo Junhua’s family of eight, except for the youngest Chun Mei, all were there. Lan Tian stood on the corner of the field watching, with Chun Tao and Chun Hua cutting crops, Ai Jun and Ai Guo threshing, the Mo family elders helping to pass the grains, Mo Junhua loading grains into a basket, the whole family busy bustling around, no one noticing Lan Tian’s arrival.
Lan Tian shook off her thoughts; once upon a time, she was one of them, unfortunately, things change with time.