Chapter 6

This day, Lily's mother didn't come to bring food. Instead, a little boy and a little girl came.

The little boy looked sturdy and energetic, wearing a hoodie and sneakers, covered in dirt from head to toe.

He held a bundle of bird eggs and said proudly, "Lily, I raided three bird nests! Look, there are over a dozen eggs here!"

The little girl wore a floral print jacket with patches on the knees and shoes. Though not dressed as well as the little boy, she was neat and tidy.

She blinked her eyes and said, "Lily, your mother said she went to cut pig feed, so she asked us to bring you food."

As she spoke, she took out two cornbread and handed them to me.

"Tommy? Emily?" I called out tentatively.

Emily nodded.

Tommy said, "What's wrong? Did your dad beat your head stupid?"

He stood up to examine my head.

"You've always been better at studying than me. It would be such a waste if your dad beat you into an idiot!"

As he spoke, he ruffled through my hair.

"Bah! Bah!" Emily pushed him away and scolded him: "Don't talk nonsense! How could Lily become an idiot!"

Tommy asked me, "Lily, are you really not going to town to study middle school?"

"I heard the teacher say that middle school, just like elementary school, is required by law. Not letting you attend is illegal," he said confidently.

Emily sighed: "But all the girls in our village only go to elementary school."

Tommy fell silent. After a while, he asked me again: "Lily, don't you want to ask your dad again? You're good at stud Emily. It would be a shame not to go to school."

I shook my head.

I didn't need to ask to know that no matter how good my grades were, John Smith would never agree.

I ate five or six of the bird eggs Tommy brought and hid the rest to give to Lily's mother.

In a daze, I heard a woman crying out.

It was Lily's mother!