A deeply unpleasant lunch finally came to an end.
In the afternoon, Mo Guoqiang took Mo Xiaoneng up the mountain to carry back firewood. Liu Fengying bustled about, helping Tang Yaxuan get her things ready for school the next day. Tang Yaxuan, in a foul mood and bored to tears, wandered out of the courtyard gate alone. She ambled along the village road, looking this way and that, wallowing in sentimental grief and self-pity. She even resentfully considered running off to confront Mo Xiaoman again. But after walking only a short distance, she saw a fierce-looking mother dog lying in the middle of the road and quickly turned back, not daring to challenge it for the path.
For once, the trio of Mo Xiaofeng, Mo Xiaozhi, and Mo Xiaohua were unusually quiet. They stayed cooped up inside the house and didn't come out to bother Tang Yaxuan.
