"Hey! Aunt Zheng, are you heading to the market? What's Qingmu carrying? Looks mighty heavy. Hop on, I'll give you a ride," Old Cheng said enthusiastically.
Qingmu was overjoyed and quickly said to Old Cheng, who had stopped, "My mother is going to the market to sell vegetables. I'm not going, just seeing her off."
The dark-faced Old Cheng grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "That explains it. I was wondering, aren't you in school? Why would you be going to the market?"
Mrs. Yang was secretly pleased. She climbed onto the cart, and with Qingmu's help, she heaved the two large baskets onto the ox-cart while chatting with Old Cheng's wife, Mrs. Huang, who was already on board. Once she was settled, she waved for Qingmu to head back.
Seeing that it had gotten much brighter, Qingmu didn't head home but went straight to the schoolhouse to study.
