Summer vacation had arrived, and children could be seen everywhere in Baijia Village.
In the fields, children bent their backs alongside their parents, toiling away with their faces to the dirt and backs to the sky. They had long since grown accustomed to this agricultural labor; rather than a hardship, it was a responsibility—and even a joy. On the grassy banks of the river, children straddled the backs of water buffaloes, tending the cattle while playing short flutes. The melodious, enchanting music drifted quietly along with the winding stream. Beneath the thatched eaves, children holding long bamboo poles decorated with red silk ribbons patrolled the threshing floor from time to time, repeatedly shooing away mischievous sparrows that sneaked in to eat the harvested grain.
After breakfast, behind the wooden fence in front of the Qiao family home, Qiao Xue stood holding a watering can, bent over to water her flowers. Bright red Chinese roses, deep orange bananas, purple four-o'clocks, and the grand, winding morning glories trailing along the wooden fence all looked increasingly tender, fresh, and breathtakingly lovely under the nourishment of the cool river water.
Chapter 44