country bumpkin

Chapter 1 A 7-Month-Old Baby

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and the north wind tore at the few remaining leaves. The air was damp and chilly. This was the first snow of the year.

A donkey cart travels along a narrow road. Snow has already accumulated on both sides of the road. The dry leaves and branches are buried by the snow, obscuring the last traces of autumn color.

There was no canopy on the vehicle; a large blanket covered a vegetable basket, and on top of that, a smaller blanket covered a tiny, emaciated baby.

The baby was about 30 centimeters long and looked like a wild monkey from a distance. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks were slightly bluish, and she was not crying. Her trembling lips indicated that she was still alive.

This baby was only seven months old and was premature. He was brought out the moment he was born.

If it were summer, it would be alright, but she was born in this icy wilderness, and her fate is uncertain. She doesn't know what awaits her. Does she even have a future?

This era was truly a time of intense competition for family planning. Every family wanted a son.

Regulations are regulations, and policies are policies. People will always find ways to exploit loopholes.

Whether in rural or urban areas, a family with one daughter can have another child. A family with one son cannot have more children.

The walls are covered with slogans: gender equality, having a son or a daughter is the same, having only one child is the most glorious.

Many couples and elderly people in this era still prefer sons to daughters.

Families with many children sometimes secretly gave away girls, or secretly sold them for money. Others were sent to distant relatives to help raise them.

…………

The donkey cart moved slowly forward, driven by a man who looked to be around 27 years old. This was his second daughter. There was also an older daughter on the cart, who was already one year old.

He wanted a son, but the government didn't allow three children. So he and his wife conspired to secretly send their daughter, who shouldn't have been born, to her parents' home in the countryside to be raised. That way, the outside world would only see that they had one daughter, his eldest daughter, Sun Limei.

His parents had always disliked having a girl, and this second child was also a girl. The moment the baby was born, the old woman was so disgusted she wanted to throw her away. Because everyone was poor in those days, babies were born at home, not in hospitals. So no one knew that their family had gained another girl.

She said, "I secretly aborted it, so that no one knew I was pregnant, and that I could have another boy later."

When my daughter-in-law was pregnant with her second child, she was thin and weak, wore loose clothes, and was always working. No one could tell that she was pregnant.

They didn't report it to the brigade committee, so they could pretend nothing had happened.

The man ignored his mother's words, silently snatched the child, wrapped him in a small blanket, put him in a large basket, covered him with another large blanket, and drove off without looking up.

His wife knew where he was going but didn't say anything. His mother-in-law stormed off, muttering under her breath, "Useless thing, only knows how to give birth to girls, can't even give birth to a big, healthy boy. All that food she's eaten for nothing, humph!"

When the couple was pregnant with this child, they had already discussed it: if it was a girl, they would secretly send her to her parents' home to be raised; if it was a boy, they would report it to the village committee.

This poor little thing was sent away without ever having a drop of milk or opening its eyes to see its "home" after it came into this world.

She was like the ice and snow outside, devoid of warmth and hope.

The donkey cart traveled for four hours before finally arriving at its destination.

It's November now, the weather is cold, and it's snowing, so the ground is a bit slippery, which is why it's taking so long. Otherwise, a donkey cart would normally only take a maximum of three hours to get there.

In rural areas, there are no gates; instead, there are stone walls around the courtyards. A gap is left, which serves as the gate. Some families also use tree branches tied horizontally to create a makeshift fence.

Of course, such a fence gate can't stop anything. It's just for peace of mind.

The donkey cart was pulled directly into the yard and stopped. After tying the donkey up, he carried a large basket and went straight into the house.

Inside the main room, the mother-in-law, Mu Shuyun, sat on a chair sewing a cloth bag. Seeing the newcomer, she looked up and was surprised to see it was her eldest son-in-law.

Mu Shuyun was quite surprised, "Why did you come on such a cold day!"

The man walked up to her and slowly put down the large basket. He took a child out of the basket and said, "Mother, please help feed this child. I'll come back to take him back when things calm down. I can't stay long; I have to hurry back so the officials don't find out."

Mu Shuyun nodded, understanding. She took the child with both hands.

He said, "Another girl? Sigh! They're all my own children, I'll take good care of them, don't worry! How's my eldest daughter, Xiujuan?"

The man said, "Mother, don't worry, Xiujuan is fine. It's just that this baby was born at seven months, and is too small and weak. I don't know if she can survive."

Mu Shuyun said, "I was wondering why she looked so small, so thin and tiny, not even as big as a puppy! This child is so pitiful, but I will definitely do my best to take good care of her. You go back first, and be careful on the road!"

As she spoke, she turned around and carefully carried the child to the bed.