After returning home, I was scolded by Zhao Yu Zhen as expected and was ordered to go feed the chickens and ducks.

  Zhou Xiaoyun gave Er Ya, who was being held in Zhao Yuzhen's arms, a hateful glare, feeling that at least half of the darkness of her childhood was brought by her.

  The young Er Ya didn't know what her sister was thinking, lying contentedly in Zhao Yu Zhen's arms, and even started giggling. Zhao Yu Zhen felt a pang of tenderness towards this youngest child, coaxing her like a treasure.

  The chickens and ducks that were scattered around have been put into simple sheds. People live in grass houses, and the sheds are not particular either. They are just low thatched huts. One room holds a dozen or so chickens, one room has twenty or so ducks, and the largest room raises two thin pigs.

  The eggs laid by these chickens and ducks are taken to the market to sell for some money, which is used for a family's daily expenses. The pigs raised every year are also an important source of income for the family. Therefore, in the Zhou family, feeding these livestock has always been more important than feeding the children.

  Zhou Xiaoyun naturally understood in her heart how important it was to feed the chickens and ducks, so she scattered the chicken feed prepared by Zhao Yuzhen into the shed.

  A dozen or so hens rushed up and scrambled for the chicken feed made from cornmeal, grass, and some wheat grains.

  Because the family's pocket money mainly relies on these dozen or so hens, Zhao Yu Zhen is very willing to feed them good food in order to make them lay more eggs. Apart from catching insects and pecking at gravel every day in front of and behind the house, they are fed three meals a day on schedule, more punctual than Zhou Xiao Yun's brother and sister eating their meals.

  The ducks at home were raised from over 40 to only 20 now. Ducks are not as precious as chickens, because duck eggs have a strong earthy smell and fewer people buy them, so the price is cheaper, so they are fed poorly. They are only fed once a day, then driven to the nearby pond for grazing.

  While letting the ducks out from small to large was Zhou Xiaoyun's job, Da Bao would at most accompany her to the edge of the pond and then slip away without a trace. Xiao Bao was not in good health and Er Ya was too young, so this important task fell squarely on Zhou Xiaoyun's shoulders.

  After feeding the chickens, without waiting for Zhao Yu to speak, Zhou Xiaoyun took the initiative to take a long bamboo pole and drove the ducks out of the enclosure. For a while, the ducks flew, jumped, quacked, and made a big fuss.

  Zhao Yuzhen looked at Zhou Xiaoyun with a pleased and admiring gaze, thinking that she had finally come to her senses and from now on would have to be properly trained in doing household chores.

  Zhou Xiaoyun would have been furious if she had known what Zhao Yuzhen was thinking, but now she is walking towards the distant pond with a nostalgic attitude.

  In front of a group of lively ducks, Zhou Xiaoyun leisurely followed behind, occasionally using a bamboo pole to hurry them along when they ran wildly. Fortunately, the ducks were used to being let out to forage and had somewhat of a familiar route, so it wasn't hard work.

  After walking for about eight or nine minutes, we arrived at the pond in the west of the village. The ducks didn't need to be driven, they automatically waddled and splashed into the water, their heads submerged in search of small fish and shrimp.

  This pond is very large, covering an area of several mu. There are many small fish and shrimp in the pond, and occasionally people catch fish weighing over three kilograms from it. Many families have long-term contracts to raise ducks in this pond.

  Surrounded by a large forest, Zhou Xiaoyun still remembers that as a child she loved to play in the forest, where there were many unknown wild fruits that made greedy children linger and forget to return.

  Mischievous and brave boys like to climb trees, dig out birds' eggs, and use homemade slingshots to shoot birds. Occasionally bringing down a small sparrow can make the children ecstatic, having both a delicious meal and becoming heroes in the eyes of other kids.

  In the distance was a field of crops, where the rice had grown tall and dense at this time. When the wind blew, it rippled like waves.

  Looking at the clear water, green aquatic plants, red and blue unknown wildflowers, sunny sky, lush shrubs, Zhou Xiaoyun couldn't help but feel: It's really a beautiful era without pollution!

  More than twenty years later, this place has been replaced by a factory building, and the green pond has disappeared without a trace.

  Having grown accustomed to living in an environment filled with car exhaust and littered with trash, where flowers and grass are nowhere to be seen and only small trees as thin as fingers can be found, Zhou Xiaoyun felt moved as if she had arrived in heaven.

  Zhou Xiaoyun sat by the pond, enjoying a carefree and comfortable life she had never experienced before. The first half of her life was spent taking care of children, cooking, washing dishes, sweeping floors, doing laundry, and going to work, it's been ages since she last sat down and rested properly.

  At this moment, there is no laborious life and no heavy burden, only herself.

  Since things have come to this, she decided not to think about things she couldn't change anymore.

  Sorry, Niu Niu, Mom didn't intentionally abandon you. Mom didn't intentionally want to forget about you either. In Mom's heart, she will never be able to forget you and will always love you and think of you.

  Endless tears won't make up for reality and daily regrets can't change the fact of reincarnation.

  People can't always live in self-pity and regret, people can't just live in memories and pain, no matter what, they have to face the present life.

  After a car accident that had already claimed his life, he somehow got a second chance at life. So, let him bravely face this brand new life.

  Zhou Xiaoyun secretly vowed to herself: she must live a different kind of brilliant life, and never repeat the same mistakes again! And this new life would start from the beginning of the new semester two months later!

  She wants to go to school ahead of time, her previous self stayed at home to take care of younger siblings and raise ducks until she was eight years old. If she can advance by two years, she will be able to catch up with the good times when job assignments are available!

  Carefully analyzing it, the first thing she needs to solve is her parents, only after getting their permission can she take the first step of a beautiful life!

  It's decided, when I go home today, I'll bring up the matter of studying, no matter how my parents oppose it, I must find a way to achieve my wish.