Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 17 - 16 Little Buns Go to Town by Car (Part 1)

"Hey," the issue of agricultural tools being stored in the space made Xiao Xian unable to enjoy her dinner well. Fortunately, Zhu Shijun did not ask about it, and the neighbor who borrowed the tools also had several sets of agricultural equipment, so it was embarrassing to ask the Zhu Family to return them. After a few days, the matter was also forgotten.

Sister-in-law Lian returned from the city yesterday, bringing back many delicious and fun things. She bought Xiao Xian a floral hat and a box of peanut nougat. For Zhu Shijun, she brought a bottle of Red Star Erguotou and a whole plate of sliced beef bought from the city.

Last night, before going to bed, Zhu Shijun quizzed Xiao Xian on the math she learned during the day. He found that his granddaughter's memory had improved a lot, remembering units from ones to thousands very well. Happy, the old man rummaged through the closets and found a soft yellow backpack with Mickey Mouse on it and gave it to Xiao Xian, rewarding her with five yuan to spend on snacks she liked when they went to town. The old man was deliberately fostering Xiao Xian's independence, as she would turn seven next year. Zhu Shijun planned to buy some children's books at a bookstore in town.

Hesitating, Xiao Xian finally stuffed a few pears and candies into her bag, as for that slip of paper she could use to buy food from the mountain, she kept it tucked in her pocket.

Xiao Xian also got up early the next day and tied her own braids. When Sister-in-law Lian was not around, it was Zhu Shijun who tied them, and how the braids turned out was better left unsaid.

After breakfast, the village chief Jin Dafu came to their home. There were indeed many people going to the market in town. The villager Qi Shitou's son, San Gouzi, who did short-distance transportation, had bought a new Jianghuai Medium Card a couple of years ago. When he bought it, he had promised broadly that if the villagers needed to go to the market, he'd be the first to drive them, charging only three yuan for adults and one yuan for children for the oil cost.

"Everyone keeps their children on their laps, no looking around on the road, if you fall out, I'm not responsible," San Gouzi stood on the truck, pulling adults and carrying children, and soon the truck was packed.

"Director Zhu, you and Xiao Xian take the front seat," the village chief helped his own spouse into the truck. While no one else was looking, he slipped San Gouzi a pack of cigarettes, securing a special seat for the grandfather and granddaughter from the Zhu Family.

The truck's engine "put-putted" as it started, Xiao Xian sat on Zhu Shijun's lap, holding her knees, and smelled the fresh gasoline scent from the driver's seat.

"Mr. Zhu," San Gouzi had not stayed in the village much, didn't know much about Zhu Shijun's situation, but his few years of experience in transport outside made him sure that the elderly man beside him was somewhat distinguished, "What are you doing going to town? It's a bumpy three-hour drive."

"Three hours?" Zhu Shijun looked uneasily at Xiao Xian. He was fine, as this month-long visit to Black Dragon Mountain had cured many of his old ailments, but could Xiao Xian handle it? When she got on the truck, she was stiff as a rock.

The truck's shock absorption was poor, but the front driver's seat was somewhat better. With the windows open, the sunlight and mountain breeze rushed in, blowing away the uncomfortable gasoline smell.

But the villagers squeezed in the back suffered quite a bit, all crammed together like piglets. You could hear people vomiting from time to time. The mountain road was winding, and there were quite a few who were motion sick.

Remembering his last visit, he had ridden in a tractor borrowed by the village chief, which seemed not to take three hours. Perhaps this Medium Card wasn't even as good as that old styled tractor. Even on the tractor, "Xiao Xian" had vomited several times, her face as white as a sheet.

Zhu Shijun looked at his little granddaughter on his lap, noticing her rosy complexion and steady breathing. Her eyes, round and rolling, kept darting between the truck and the scenery outside the window, restless. It's said that children adapt quickly, and it seemed to be true in Xiao Xian's case.

"Mr. Zhu, the last time you came here, you took the route from White Dragon Pond, didn't you? The mountain road over there in Miao Village is different from this one. The village wanted to build a dam last time to store water for irrigation from the White Dragon Pond. The people of Miao Village said it would offend the spirits, and the two villages had a quarrel, so they blocked that road, and now we can only use this road. But don't worry, in about half an hour we'll be on the newly built highway, and it won't be bumpy anymore." San Gouzi, who was driving, was quite skilled, and after a while, as the road conditions improved, everyone in the vehicle felt more comfortable.

"Little girl, surprisingly, even though we mountain folks aren't used to riding in vehicles, you seem quite at ease, eh?" San Gouzi, observing the well-behaved Xiao Xian, thought to himself that the kids from the city are well-mannered, quiet and easy to soothe in the vehicle.

A bit of bumpiness couldn't bother Zhu Xiaoxian; when she first started using the Cloud Ascension Technique, the feeling of flying and leaping was like encountering a large storm at sea, not at all susceptible to motion sickness.

San Gouzi couldn't guess what Xiao Xian was really thinking about at that moment. The little girl from the city asked innocently, "Uncle San Gouzi, is this truck made of iron?"

"Yes, why, did you get bumped?" San Gouzi was puzzled. The boys and girls in the village, upon seeing the truck, would run around it, eager to hop in and ride around. But this little girl from the Zhu family seemed only interested in the material of the truck. What were these city kids filled with in their brains? Thinking Xiao Xian was interested in his truck, he was ready to explain everything about it in detail.

The truck ran over a particularly large rock blocking the road, jolting abruptly, causing the villagers sitting in the truck bed to exclaim in surprise.

San Gouzi quickly slowed down the vehicle, unaware that Xiao Xian was not interested in the vehicle itself but was coveting the iron it was made of, thinking if she could just get this big fellow into her space, how long it could last.

"Then, Uncle San Gouzi, how much would all this sheet metal cost?" Xiao Xian squinted, hatching a cunning plan. She still had five yuan stuffed in her pocket; last night, Zhu Shijun gave her the money, which also stirred up some of Zhu Xiaoxian's memories about money. In the late '90s, for a six-year-old child, five yuan was a considerable fortune, typically given depending on the parents' mood. Money was one aspect Zhu Shijun hadn't touched upon in educating his little granddaughter.

San Gouzi grumbled, his truck, treasured more than his wife, was being seen as just a load of sheet metal, "This uncle of yours spent several thousands on this, and you, kiddo, sharp-tongued, call it sheet metal."

"That would be several thousand five yuan notes," Xiao Xian's five yuan note still carried her warmth, and San Gouzi's words left her greatly disappointed. She could not afford such a big item.

Two hours later, the car finally wound out of the mountains, and in front of them was a majestic river, with more vehicles from various places on the road.

"Little girl, take a look outside the window, see the famous Chishui River of Qianbei," San Gouzi grinned, turning his head toward the endlessly flowing river.

(Sisterhood is in a bad mood, sent to appease them; the heat makes people irritable. Tomorrow's update in the deep night, next week there's a promotion, well, if the figures are promising, consider more updates.)

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