The vast mountain range behind the brigade is so large that the children only dare to play on the outskirts. There are large beasts deep in the mountains, and the adults forbid the children from going in.
Xu Minglei led Xu Mumu and the others to their agreed meeting place—a giant Huai tree at the village entrance.
Tiedan was sitting on a slab of stone, carrying a large basket on his back with a blade of grass clenched between his lips, looking completely nonchalant.
Tiedan was also ten years old this year and had the best relationship with Xu Minglei in the brigade.
Tiedan's real name was Zhao Junjie, but to Xu Mumu, there was nothing about this kid that seemed impressive.
"Mumu, you're out too," Tiedan cheered upon seeing Xu Mumu. Xu Mumu didn't often come out to play, so as the sister of his good friend, she naturally became his sister as well.
"Yes," Xu Mumu replied with a faint smile. Tiedan didn't look skinny—he was somewhat spoiled in the Zhao family.
The group then headed up the mountain. Tiedan and the others frequently ran around here and naturally knew where the dry firewood could be found.
"Mumu, there's quite a bit of dry firewood over by West Mountain, but it's a bit far. Can you handle it?" Tiedan was bouncing around with a big basket on his back, and he turned to ask Xu Mumu.
Xu Mumu was petite, with delicate features, giving off an impression of fragility. That image is how she appeared to outsiders as well.
In the book, Xu Mumu was a "white lotus," and her face was definitely a tool for feigning weakness.
"Of course, it's no problem," Xu Mumu said helplessly. Despite this, her physical condition was poor; she was just worried about lacking opportunities to exercise, so running up the mountain was good exercise.
"No worries, sis. If you get tired, we'll stop and rest," Xu Minglei said calmly. As long as his sister was around, even if they didn't collect much firewood, their grandmother wouldn't say anything.
Previously, if Xu Minglei didn't want to work, he'd bring Xu Mumu along, do a little work, and then play.
It was already more than half an hour later when they reached the West Mountain that Tiedan had mentioned. Xu Mumu was exhausted and sat on a rock, while Xu Minglei and the others ecstatically climbed the trees.
There were many dry branches on the trees. They climbed up, broke them off, threw them down, and then gathered them up to take them home.
Even Xu Jiaojiao was quite adept at climbing. As Xu Mumu sat on the rock, she watched them swiftly climb up. Tiedan and Xu Minglei were even competing to see who could climb faster.
In the end, Xu Minglei won by a small margin.
"Mumu, do you want to climb up here?" Tiedan waved at Xu Mumu, then stomped on a dry branch not far away, causing it to break and tumble down.
"No, you guys climb. You break the branches, and I'll tidy them up," Xu Mumu said with a smile while looking up.
"Tiedan, my sister said she's a lady and doesn't want to climb trees. Clothes get dirty from climbing," Xu Minglei disdainfully glanced at Tiedan. He knew his sister cared greatly about her image in front of others.
The dampness in the mountains was heavier, and the temperature was slightly lower, but with the sun shining, it was still quite comfortable.
After resting for a while, Xu Mumu watched as the children had already gathered a pile of dry branches, happily climbing and playing in the trees.
Xu Mumu stood up and started picking up the branches on the ground.
Just then, Xu Jiaojiao came down from the tree, "Big sister, let me pick them up. You just rest." Xu Jiaojiao said sheepishly, knowing these chores were theirs to do.
If their grandmother knew they let their big sister work, she'd definitely scold them. The way Madam Chen disciplined the second household's children yesterday and today left a profound impression on Xu Jiaojiao, reminding them yet again of their big sister's place in their grandparents' hearts.
"It's alright, I can help too," Xu Mumu said somewhat helplessly, taking note of Xu Jiaojiao's fear of her.
Xu Mumu was rather strong, and her speed in gathering firewood increased significantly.
"Sis, did you all do this?" Xu Minglei and Tiedan asked when they came down from the tree, seeing the baskets uniformly packed with firewood.
"Of course, who else would have done it?" Xu Mumu replied, poking Xu Minglei's forehead with her finger. This boy only cared about climbing trees and playing with Tiedan, neglecting the task of gathering the scattered firewood.
"Big sister collected so much," Xu Jiaojiao said, lowering her head.
"Why didn't you do more? Big sister isn't fully recovered," Xu Minglei said disapprovingly, looking at Xu Jiaojiao.
"Jiaojiao did a lot too. Minglei, hurry up and pack the firewood; it's time to go down the mountain," Xu Mumu said calmly, acknowledging the boy's protective instinct, and opted to change the subject instead.
Besides Xu Mumu, each of them carried a large basket, but fortunately, the firewood was dry and not too heavy.
Xu Mumu felt a bit embarrassed for being the only one not carrying anything.
"Jiaojiao, if you get tired, I'll carry it for you," Xu Mumu said, looking at the frail Xu Jiaojiao.
"Big sister, I'm fine. This amount of wood isn't heavy," the little girl responded proudly. They often did this kind of work, and Xu Mumu's conversation with her while gathering the firewood made her feel that her big sister had become much gentler, and her speech more gracious.
Xu Mumu didn't say much more; she planned to take the load herself when they rested again.
On their way down the mountain, they coincidentally ran into Xu Xue gathering pig grass.
Xu Mumu exchanged glances with Xu Xue, and both quickly averted their eyes.
The pig grass Xu Xue was collecting was for the pigs raised by the brigade; there were quite a few of them. Besides the chores assigned by her family, Xu Xue also had to gather pig grass each day, earning several work points daily for this task.
Xu Xue purely disliked Xu Mumu and didn't even want to see her, as Xu Mumu still shirked all work, even worse than their youngest cousin Xu Jiaojiao.
Meanwhile, Xu Mumu wanted to avoid Xu Xue simply because she had been reborn; she was well aware of how she used to be and didn't want Xu Xue to suspect anything yet.
"Second sister," Xu Jiaojiao, unconcerned, called out with a smile, greeting Xu Xue, who was busy packing the pig grass into a wicker basket.
"Hmm," Xu Xue nodded but didn't say much more.
Xu Mumu noticed that at some point, Xu Minglei had picked up a rock, preparing to throw it at Xu Xue.
Xu Mumu's brow twitched, and she swiftly snatched the rock from Xu Minglei's hands while he wasn't paying attention.
"Big sis, what are you doing?" Xu Minglei asked unhappily. He most disliked the two cousins from the second household.