CHAPTER 136: CHAPTER 136: DRINKING YOGURT

Zhao Cheng carried Zhao Zhitong’s small bundle, allowing her to walk lightly at the very front, hopping and skipping. Qiao Muchen followed closely behind her, while Wei Shulan and Zhao Yue walked side by side behind him. Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu brought up the rear, watching over the children to prevent them from getting lost.

Along the way, the little ones were chirping and chatting, discussing the wildflowers by the roadside, the stones on the path, and could even spend ages debating a single tree, their energy seemingly endless.

However, they soon came to a halt.

They had reached a fork in the road and needed to choose which path to take. The children stood at the junction, looking left and then right.

Qiao Muchen asked, "Tongtong, which way should we go?"

He had only accompanied Grandma Qian twice, and both times they had taken an ox cart. Thus, he had no clear memory of the route and could only pin his hopes on Zhao Zhitong, who had been to the county town several times.

The others were in much the same situation.

Logically, Zhao Cheng, being the oldest, should have remembered the way to the county town, as he had gone there with Zhao Dong before. However, he had always been preoccupied with helping Zhao Dong push the cart, keeping his head down the whole way, so he had no recollection at all of this fork in the road.

Zhao Zhitong blinked, looking at the two paths, both of which felt very familiar.

Seeing Zhao Zhitong silent, Zhao Yue shouted, "Wow, Zhao Zhitong, don’t tell me you don’t remember the way! Didn’t you say you’ve been to the county town many times?"

Zhao Yue’s gloating voice piped up at just the wrong moment, and Zhao Zhitong’s small face flushed red with shame. She glared at him indignantly, her round eyes blinking. "Who says I don’t remember? I... I was just momentarily stumped. I’ll recall it if I just think for a bit!"

Wei Shulan, ever supportive of her best friend, immediately nudged Zhao Yue. "Shh, don’t disturb Tongtong while she’s trying to remember."

At this, the others fell silent, their eyes fixed on Zhao Zhitong without blinking.

Zhao Zhitong blinked, carefully trying to recall which path she and Zhao Dong had taken on their most recent trip to the county town.

After thinking for a long time, Zhao Zhitong remembered a huge locust tree on their route; she recalled smelling the sweet fragrance of locust blossoms on one return trip.

Staring at the ground before her, Zhao Zhitong suddenly pointed to the path on the right and declared confidently, "This one! It’s this one!"

Everyone looked at the right-hand path, then back at her.

Under the scrutiny of seven pairs of eyes, Zhao Zhitong nodded confidently once more. "That’s right. Let’s go."

With that, she took the lead, and the group happily set off again.

Qiao Muchen looked up at the sun and asked, "Tongtong, where should we look for the people bullied by Landlord Qin?"

Wei Shulan thought for a moment and said, "That Landlord Qin is so wicked. There must be many people on the streets who have been bullied by him. We can just investigate there."

Zhao Yue jogged a few steps to catch up with them, panting slightly. "That’s too dangerous, isn’t it? If we attract Landlord Qin’s attention, won’t he know we’re planning to report him? Might he kill us to silence us?"

As he spoke, he fearfully touched his own neck.

His sudden words made everyone hesitate, a wave of uncertainty washing over them.

Especially Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu; they immediately pulled Zhao Zhitong back and suggested, "Why don’t we go back first? We can go once we’ve found other people who’ve also been bullied."

That Landlord Qin is so wicked; if he knew they were gathering evidence of his misdeeds, he would definitely have them captured.

Having come this far, Zhao Zhitong didn’t want to give up. She shook her head firmly. "No, we can’t go back. If we don’t look for them today, how will we find others who have been bullied? We just need to be careful and not let Landlord Qin discover us."

Qiao Muchen found her reasoning sound and agreed. "Yeah, we can’t give up. Teacher said that giving up halfway is the worst thing to do when you start something. So, we just need to be careful and not let anyone know what we’re up to."

And so, they continued forward.

However, children, no matter how energetic, eventually tire after walking for so long.

Thus, their pace gradually slowed considerably.

Seeing his little sister’s flushed, tired face, Zhao Cheng lifted her onto his back and carried her.

Zhao Zhitong didn’t refuse. She really was exhausted; her legs felt like jelly!

As they walked on and on, the sun climbed higher. The autumn heat was not to be underestimated. Once the sun was fully out, its rays beat down on the earth, making it oppressively hot.

Finally, Zhao Yue, who had fallen to the very back, plopped down on the ground, wailing, "I can’t go on! I’m not walking anymore! I’m dead tired!"

Qiao Muchen and Wei Shulan were also extremely tired, so they too stopped and sat down on the ground.

Zhao Cheng looked at the sky, then led the little ones under a large tree, letting them sit on the grass to rest for a while before planning to set off again.

Everyone felt the road was incredibly long. They had been walking for such a time but still hadn’t even seen the gates of the county town. Consequently, Zhao Yue began to suspect Zhao Zhitong had chosen the wrong path.

He yelled, "Zhao Zhitong, did you pick the wrong road? I remember it didn’t take this long to get to the county town with my dad!"

The others also turned to look at Zhao Zhitong.

Zhao Zhitong insisted she hadn’t made a mistake, pouting as she retorted, "Are you silly, Zhao Yue? You always went with your dad before, and he pushed the cart so quickly. Of course, he was much faster than us kids walking on our own."

Hearing this, the others felt her argument made some sense.

To bolster her credibility, Zhao Zhitong even pulled her big brother, Zhao Cheng, in to vouch for her. "My big brother has been to the county town too! If you don’t believe me, ask him. I definitely didn’t pick the wrong way!"

Zhao Cheng, who unconditionally believed in and supported his younger sister, immediately nodded to back her up. "Mhm, that’s right. We’re not on the wrong path."

Zhao Zhitong took out the yogurt Sun Mei had packed for her and handed it to Qiao Muchen and the others. "Here, this is for you all to drink."

Qiao Muchen took it first. He initially thought it was water, but after one sip, he froze, his eyes sparkling. "Wow, what is this? It’s amazing! So sweet and tangy!"

Zhao Yue was also thirsty. Seeing Qiao Muchen drinking, he unconsciously gulped and then rushed over to snatch the bamboo tube from him. "Let me have some!"

Qiao Muchen clutched the bamboo tube tightly, his cheeks puffed out in annoyance. "Tongtong gave this to me! I haven’t finished yet!"

Zhao Yue didn’t yield. "Zhao Zhitong gave it to all of us! We should share it, one sip each!"

Zhao Yue snatched it and took a large gulp. The sweet and sour taste of the yogurt was so good that he couldn’t resist taking several more.

Qiao Muchen flew into a rage, trying to grab the bamboo tube back. "Zhao Yue! That was way more than one sip! You’re drinking it all! Give it back, I only had one little sip!"

Zhao Yue retorted, "No, I didn’t! I only took a tiny sip!"

...

And so, the two children sat under the tree, squabbling over the yogurt.

Sun Mei had packed two bamboo tubes of yogurt, and Xiao Ge was carrying both of them. So, Zhao Zhitong took out the other tube, drank some with Wei Shulan, and then shared it with her big brother and Xiao Ge.

This yogurt from her space was one of the few remaining flavored yogurt drinks—strawberry flavored, sweet and sour, with fruit bits inside. It was the kind kids loved most.