The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family

San Ya glanced at her and pushed the firewood onto the cloth together with Pei Qin.

Si Ya didn't know what to say, glanced at Pei Qin, and crouched down to drag out the fragments from under the cloth.

Pei Qin didn't say anything and tied the four corners diagonally.

San Ya saw the knot wasn't very secure and tied it again.

A bundle larger than all three sisters, not very heavy, but still not easy to carry back home from the mountain.

Resigned, Pei Qin handed the carrying pole to Si Ya, "You just need to help out a bit." After all, she was in her late twenties, nearly thirty; she couldn't exploit child labor.

But the original owner of the body had tumbled down from the mountain, and although not severely injured, she had nonetheless perished, allowing Pei Qin to travel through time. Faced with such a large bundle of firewood, she wanted to carry it alone, but that was just a wish.

Si Ya rolled her eyes at her discontentedly, "Aren't there straps sewn on the cloth? Just have several people carry it."

Pei Qin tried three times, but couldn't walk more than thirty feet; she had to abandon the idea of carrying it back alone and let the two child laborers, San Ya and Si Ya, help.

The three sisters struggled with the large bundle of firewood, slowly moving down the mountain.

The way up the mountain was easy, but the way down was difficult. They had only covered half the distance when they saw an old woman cursing and running up, "I had my eye on those tree leaves yesterday and even circled them, waiting to gather them today for cooking. Some wild brats from a broken home have come and stolen the firewood I gathered!"

Pei Qin's gaze was somewhat cold as she looked over, it was Grandma Miao from the village.

Si Ya's face was dark, "There are plenty of tree leaves on the mountain, and they don't belong to anyone. No one has the right to stop others from gathering them!"

"Let's go! If we return too late, grandma will scold us again," San Ya urged her.

Thinking of this, Si Ya held back and hurried them along.

Wild brats, she didn't know who had started calling them that, but more and more people in the village were whispering behind their backs, calling them and their brothers wild brats, not of their real father's seed, yet shamelessly claiming to be so. Some kids would even shout this at them to their faces.

Pei Qin felt the large bundle slipping and put in extra effort, ready to pull it up.

What she didn't know was that Si Ya had suddenly let go of her hold.

Pei Qin was puzzled, just a moment ago they were insistent on helping, and now they had dropped it halfway? She turned her head, but Si Ya was nowhere to be seen. Pei Qin looked quizzically at the quickly fading figure of Si Ya, "Where did she go?"

Not far down the road, an old man was leading a cow towards the village.

Si Ya had run off after them.

Pei Qin watched her unusual figure and couldn't help but facepalm.

Si Ya ran to the roadside and stopped quickly, broke off two branches, took several large leaves, and folded them into a bowl shape, then deftly... scooped a heap of cow dung from the road right into the leaf bowl.

Because the cow dung was somewhat dry and had just been deposited, Si Ya easily scraped it up. She then found a few more large leaves to wrap it tightly.

Pei Qin watched her smooth and efficient actions, and could hardly keep from wanting to howl in distress. At this time, without readily available commercial fertilizers, the manure for the fields was whatever each family had been able to accumulate on their own. Depending on just the droppings from their own people and livestock was insufficient for the land, so to have the crops grow well and to apply more manure, they had to pick up any outside dung.

These people would sometimes hold their urine until they got home to use it, and if caught short while visiting relatives, they would only urinate, always holding back bowel movements until they got home, thus keeping all potential fertilizer for their own fields. As the saying goes, don't let your manure water flow into another's field.

Pei Qin pictured the scene and couldn't help but twitch at the corners of her mouth.

She was still reeling from the shock when a quarrel broke out nearby.

The old man leading the cow was Old Man Hu from the west end of the village. When he inadvertently turned his head and saw Si Ya picking up the dung left by his cow, his face soured as he began to curse, "You little wretch! Put down my cow's dung! How dare you pick up my cow's dung, you stray brat! Are you looking for a scolding or a beating?"

Si Ya frowned, staring back at him fearlessly as she confronted him, "Which eye of yours saw me picking up your cow's dung? Is all the dung on the road and in the grass yours every day?"

Old Man Hu cursed in anger, "You shameless, brazen stray brat, you still deny it? Give back my cow's dung! Otherwise, you'll see if I won't beat you!"

Not a pushover, this man was notoriously unprincipled in Back Mountain Village, from a young rogue to an old one.

Pei Qin saw that Si Ya was at a disadvantage with Old Man Hu leading the cow to grab her; she left San Ya to watch the firewood and quickly walked over with a rake in hand.

San Ya, Si Ya, and their brother San Lang were all born to their eldest uncle Jian Shen. Pei Qin was also related by blood through her father, though the villagers only regarded her slightly better.

As Old Man Hu saw her approaching with the rake, he scoffed, "What now? You pick up my cow's dung and refuse to return it, still planning to grab a tool and hit someone?"

Pei Qin knew that Old Man Hu was difficult to deal with and signaled Si Ya to return the dung to him. Provoking such a person brought trouble; the cow dung was nothing, but getting hit or kicked would hurt. Moreover, Old Man Hu had the cow with him, a sizable yellow beast swishing its tail and snorting through its nostrils. If it kicked or gored anyone with its horns, that could very well mean losing half a life.

"So just because you say the dung is yours, it's yours? Did you see your cow do it? Seeing someone else with dung, you want to steal it, bullying kids!" Si Ya, clutching the leaf-wrapped package, refused to give it back. The more dung stored at home, the more grain they would have next year, and the more food she and the others could eat.

Pei Qin looked up to the sky, wondering how a dispute over a pile of cow dung had sparked such an argument, and couldn't help but feel exasperated.

Old Man Hu was furious and came over to grab Si Ya, intent on taking back the dung.

Naturally, Pei Qin could not watch an eight-year-old child be mistreated; she held the rake horizontally between them, glanced at the determined look on Si Ya's face, and coldly eyed Old Man Hu, "How do you prove the cow dung in someone's hand is yours?"

"That dung is from my cow, just before the road was clean, only my cow and I passed by! You won't deny this, give back the dung to me now!" shouted Old Man Hu angrily.

"If you say the dung is yours, call it and see if it answers you!" Pei Qin said solemnly, her heart nearly spewing out a mouthful of old blood. She must have sinned greatly in a past life to end up in a place where she was arguing over a pile of cow dung.

Old Man Hu, about to speak, choked on her words. If it were a cat or a dog, it might have responded to its owner, but cow dung wouldn't answer back no matter how hoarse he shouted. That brat of a girl was being utterly tricky!

Si Ya's eyes suddenly lit up. She gave Pei Qin a puzzled look; her older sister might really have a point. She saw Old Man Hu's momentum falter, "If this dung answers when you call it, then I will give it back to you!"

Old Man Hu, facing the sisters' obstinate denials, was about to strike out.