country bumpkin

Chapter 328 A Visit to Yunhe Mountain

Back in their dorm, Qi Qiaodi first told her roommates how things had been resolved. Only then did she ask them if they felt better and if there was anything else bothering them.

Everyone said she felt much better, and Qi Qiaodi finally felt relieved.

Then she pulled Jiang Yuqing outside and began asking her why she wanted other people's contact information.

Jiang Yuqing blushed and explained, "Oh, Sister Di, why are there so many questions? I just wanted to express my gratitude, that's all."

Qi Qiaodi always felt that this girl had taken a liking to someone, but she wouldn't admit it, and she couldn't force herself to say otherwise.

The matter was quickly forgotten, and no one ever mentioned it or the person again.

Yunya and the others have been here for a while and have gotten used to this lifestyle.

Factories typically withhold one month's wages until the following month.

These young girls who are already working at such a young age have all come from hardship. They are all frugal, thrifty, and good children who care for their families.

So in the second month, Yunya and the other three girls received their first paychecks here, and everyone had a big smile on their face.

Their first paycheck came in over 2000 yuan, some receiving an extra ten or eight yuan. The pay varied depending on the job, but all were just over 2,000 yuan, no less.

Tong Jiahui lent Zhu Yanan 1500 yuan of her own money and kept 500 yuan for living expenses.

Yunya also lent Zhu Yanan her 1500 yuan, keeping 500 yuan for living expenses.

Zhu Yanan took out 500 yuan of her own money to keep for living expenses.

She put the remaining money, along with the money that Yunya and Tong Jiahui lent her, back home.

I mailed 4500 yuan at once, which is a lot of money and can help my family a lot.

When they received their second paycheck, they did the same thing again, lending money to Yunya. This time, Yunya sent the money home, and she was very excited.

She felt very proud and honored that she could earn a lot of money and help improve her family's living conditions.

Tong Jiahui will be paid next time, and her family is better off than Yunya and the others.

So it was only at the very end that she was allowed to send money home.

After that, everyone sent their own wages, once every two months, and they could save up 3000 yuan to send each time.

May Day arrived quickly, and the weather was warm and the temperature was just right.

Tong Jiahui and Zhu Yanan felt homesick, so they took a direct bus home. Yunya, however, didn't feel homesick, only occasionally thinking of her grandmother.

She didn't go home for two reasons: first, to save on transportation costs, and second, because she genuinely didn't feel homesick.

Bai Yan also stayed behind. She knew Yun Ya hadn't gone home either, so she came to find Yun Ya to play. She said she was going hiking the next day and even borrowed a camera, asking Yun Ya if she wanted to go.

Yunya was bored in the dormitory, so she also signed up to go hiking and sightseeing at "Yunhe Mountain".

The registration fee is only 50 yuan, which includes lunch, which is very cheap.

They've chartered a bus for the whole trip, and there's a corner of the sea not far down at the foot of the mountain where tourists can play on the beach for a while.

The girls lined up and boarded the bus, each carrying a backpack. Inside were cameras, water, toilet paper, parasols, sun hats...

They brought all sorts of things, and Yunya exclaimed, "Aren't you tired?"

The car moved slowly, with Yunya sitting in the front. She had brought two plastic bags with her, fearing she might get carsick.

Use one when you're going, and use another when you're coming back. For people who get carsick, long trips are a real hassle.

The air conditioning was already on on the bus, and the cool breeze felt very refreshing to Yunya, so she didn't get carsick.

She lay back on her seat, her eyes closed, ready to take a nap.

Suddenly someone walked up from behind. She recognized someone in the car and happily came over to greet Yunya.

Yunya never expected to meet a fellow villager on the bus, especially since he was an old colleague.

The girl was someone I met at the textile factory; she was Meng Hongping, the older sister of my classmate Meng Hongcui.

This is not her biological sister, but her half-sister.

Meng Hongping's mother passed away from illness, and her father remarried. Not long after their marriage, they had a daughter, Meng Hongcui.

Three years later, she gave birth to a son, Meng Qirui. Since a stepmother meant a stepfather, she was sent to be raised by her grandmother.

From then on, she never returned to her own home and lived with her grandmother.

When they worked at the textile factory, she and Yun Ya were in the same workshop. One night, when Yun Ya was vomiting outside the workshop, Meng Hongping helped her up and even got her water to rinse her mouth, so the two had a good relationship.

Meng Hongping didn't have many friends, Yun Ya being one of them. She wasn't talkative and didn't like making friends, perhaps because she grew up with her grandmother, or perhaps because she lacked parental love, which made her very timid.

The temperature in the textile factory workshop was too high, and her sweat glands were very active, causing her to emit an unpleasant odor, which her colleagues avoided. This was also a major reason why she had no friends.

Yunya used to have no body odor, but since becoming friends with her, she occasionally has an unpleasant smell when it's hot in the summer.

At the time, she even suspected that she had been infected by her. Later, when the weather got colder, the same thing never happened again, so Yunya stopped paying attention to it.

This time, she unexpectedly met her again on the bus, and these memories flooded back into Yunya's mind.

It's May now, and the weather isn't very hot, so I didn't smell anything unpleasant on her.

I don't know if she cured the ailment or if it was because the weather wasn't hot.

Yunya greeted her, and when she saw that she was from the same hometown or a former colleague, she smiled very happily.

Yunya felt sorry for her because she knew about her background, and she didn't want to hurt her, so she continued to be friends with her.

When Bai Yan saw that Yun Ya had met someone she knew, she turned around and greeted Meng Hongping as well.

The group chatted and laughed as they arrived at the attraction. The car stopped, and after agreeing on a meeting time, everyone dispersed for free time.

Yun Ya, Bai Yan, and Meng Hongping walked up the mountain path together.

Bai Yan, holding a camera, would stop every now and then to take pictures of Yun Ya and Meng Hongping.

The mountain scenery is beautiful, with lush green trees and many unnamed wildflowers dotting the landscape.

As they walked, they came to a fork in the road. One path looked flat and easy to walk, but a sign indicated that it was quite far from the summit;

The other road is rugged and steep, but it is said to offer better views and a faster way to reach the summit.

Bai Yan hesitated, unsure which option to choose.

Meng Hongping whispered, "I want to take the difficult one; the scenery might be really beautiful." Yun Ya nodded in agreement.

So the three of them set off on the rugged mountain path. The path was indeed difficult to traverse; the rocks were loose, and there were many thorns.

But the scenery along the way was truly breathtaking; they saw babbling brooks and strangely shaped rocks.

Bai Yan excitedly took photos non-stop. Meng Hongping even helped Bai Yan and Yun Ya take a group photo.

Just as they were about to reach the top of the mountain, Meng Hongping accidentally twisted her ankle. Yun Ya and Bai Yan quickly helped her up and checked her injury.

Fortunately, it was just a minor sprain. After resting for a while, the three of them helped each other and finally reached the top of the mountain.

The mountaintop wasn't high or steep; it was even flatter than the middle of the mountain. Standing atop the mountain and looking down, they saw a lush, verdant expanse of trees growing below.

The distant sea shimmered, and where the sea and sky met, they blended into one seamless color.

A gentle mountain breeze ruffled their hair, but it couldn't dispel the excitement and joy on their faces.

Bai Yan started taking photos again, wanting to capture the beautiful scenery and her feelings at this moment.

Yun Ya helped Meng Hongping find a flat rock to sit on, and took out water from her backpack and handed it to her.

Meng Hongping looked at Yun Ya gratefully and said, "It's all thanks to you two for being with me."

Yunya smiled and said, "We're friends, so it's only right that we take care of each other."

After resting for a while, they descended the mountain along another, relatively gentle path.

On the way down the mountain, Meng Hongping's feet were still a little sore, but with the help of Yun Ya and Bai Yan, she was able to walk slowly.

When they arrived at the meeting point at the foot of the mountain, they still had some time, so they played on the beach.

This is just a corner of the seaside; to see the panoramic view of the ocean, you have to climb to the top of the mountain.

Meng Hongping used her camera to capture Yunya and Baiyan chasing the waves at the beach, their laughter echoing across the shore.

Finally, filled with memories, they boarded the bus and embarked on their journey home.