??63: Chapter 63: Picking Mushrooms_1
63: Chapter 63: Picking Mushrooms_1
Du Xinxin suddenly said with admiration, “I didn’t expect you to score so high on the monthly exam; we all thought you must have fallen asleep on the desk last year to have failed.”
Han Ting had the best scores among them, and he said that apart from English, the other subjects were not simple.
If one could score so high, the college entrance exam should be almost a sure bet.
“I don’t even know how I did on the exams before,” Li Qiao said with a silly smile, taking the notes from Du Xinxin and heading back to her room.
Walking side by side with her, Du Xinxin said, “Right, I still need to trouble you to co over to my place.
There are a few questions I don’t quite understand.
Han Ting and Wang Nannan have explained them several tis, but I just can’t get it.”
Li Qiao: “Wait for
to brush my teeth and wash my face.”
“Eh.”
Li Qiao quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, drank a couple of sips of hot water, and then followed Du Xinxin to the youth spot.
She taught them English and then helped Du Xinxin with the tough problems she couldn’t figure out.
She also reviewed their test papers.
Han Ting scored a total of 565, which was unexpected for her; if he kept up the montum, attending a top-ranking university in the future should be no problem.
The others were passable.
But there was ti left.
Taking Du Xinxin as an example, even though she scored the lowest, she had 469.
That was already better than more than half of the students in the school receiving a systematic education.
It seed it wasn’t that the students were dumb, but that they weren’t trying hard enough.
“With a few more months to go, those of you who scored under 500 really need to revise harder,” she said.
“I’ve been so tired these days, I could fall asleep standing up,” Du Xinxin said, yawning.
Li Qiao laughed, “You should still make sure to get so rest.”
She pointed out what each of them needed to focus on and flipped through their existing materials, deciding to select two slightly challenging sets of materials for them to work on when she went to the county for the competition next weekend.
She shared her thoughts with them.
Everyone naturally couldn’t wait.
“You need tickets for a regular bookstore; I’ll ask soone to get a few,” Han Ting said.
“Also, each of us will give you five yuan, do you think that will be enough?”
Li Qiao: “It shouldn’t take that much, but take it in case you need to buy sothing else.
Just give
the money and the ticket before Sunday.
Oh, and from now on, whoever cos to
for help should bring a girl.”
The others looked at each other.
Han Ting’s face turned red.
Was it because he was seen visiting last ti and it sparked gossip?
He had considered that she might be seen by her classmates, so he had deliberately kept away from the school entrance.
…
By this ti, the sky had brightened.
Whistling could be heard outside.
A group of people were busy leaving.
Li Qiao: “Aren’t you guys going to eat?
This is really tough.”
She had complained about her own study environnt before, but compared to them, she was indeed lucky.
“We have to take it with us,” they said.
Li Qiao left first and when she got ho, Qin Jin had already gone to work.
After tidying up the house and finishing her al, Li Qiao fed the rabbits, then boiled water for a bath before she began her needlework.
When the sun was shining brightly, the aunties who had co yesterday were arriving one after another.
The two ladies who could never seem to learn said they practiced until midnight at ho and finally figured out the sequence.
They called Li Qiao over to see if it was up to standard.
After Li Qiao had checked, she felt it was good: “This is fine.
Quite good.”
Yu Feng, seeing that everyone else had learned except for her, got anxious and kept urging Peng Chunhua to knit faster.
Peng Chunhua was so frustrated that her lips turned white.
She really wanted to give it up and walk away.
Yet, unwilling to let go of the reputation of being virtuous and kind.
Suffering in silence.
Li Qiao was annoyed by Yu Feng’s voice hastening her, as this kind of work required concentration.
Everyone was silent except for her, chattering away.
She couldn’t help but say, “Auntie, Chunhua is still pregnant and should be resting more.
If you weren’t so idle, you could earnestly learn how to make a rope for her, to make her work easier, and it’s not even difficult.”
Yu Feng flatly refused to learn, “What didn’t I do when I was pregnant?
I was still harvesting rice in the fields close to giving birth.
Was I that delicate?
Besides, I am just anxious for her.”
“If she knows how to make it, why are you anxious for her?
Why not be anxious for yourself?” Li Qiao said, and there’s also Peng Chunhua, who had one idea after another when stirring up bad talk, but why did she beco a pushover in front of her mother-in-law?
Yu Cuiying chid in, “Elder sister is afraid that once we make enough, you won’t need hers anymore.”
Yu Feng’s old face turned red, “What nonsense are you talking about?
Am I that petty?
I love Chunhua; I didn’t even go to work when she was pregnant, I stayed ho especially to take care of her food and drink.”
Li Qiao replied, “Eat your two als and you’d make
work all day, if it were , I’d have to vomit what I ate just to return it to you.”
At this remark, everyone burst into laughter leaning back and forth.
Yu Feng felt humiliated and uncomfortable being ridiculed in public.
Because Li Qiao held the ans to her family’s wealth and she couldn’t afford to break ties, Yu Feng felt so suffocated that it was unbearable.
Peng Chunhua was secretly delighted but said aloud, “Mother is in charge of the household finances, and lately there has been less work with more mouths to feed, so she gets anxious and hurries .
Besides, it’s not just cooking at ho; she also has to do the washing and starching.
She even picks up and looks after Elder Sister’s two girls to and from school.
She’s busy the whole day; it’s not easy either.”
Yu Feng’s mood finally brightened from stormy to partly cloudy, “You’re the only one who understands my troubles.”
Li Qiao looked on, puzzled.
Peng Chunhua’s face could have twisted from anger at Yu Feng just monts before, yet how could she shalessly lie with open eyes?
Today is the weekend and there’s no school.
The village children are left to their own devices; they hardly need adults to fuss over them.
Oh!
It clicked; Yu Feng managed household expenses, and Peng Chunhua’s flattery aid at gaining control over them in the future.
Quite the scher.
Around noon, the aunts went ho to cook.
Li Qiao prepared ingredients for pork sauce, chopping the at, ginger, and garlic, but couldn’t find any green onions.
“Grandma, are we out of green onions at ho?”
Old Mrs.
Qin replied, “I used them all yesterday in the wonton filling.
Go around the threshing field to the team’s vegetable plot and sneak a couple of stalks.”
“Isn’t that bad?
I rember soone guards it, and if they catch , won’t I be criticized by the brigade over the loudspeaker?
How embarrassing would that be?”
“If you’re caught, just say you were about to register.
The folks from our village won’t actually let you be criticized publicly.”
Li Qiao couldn’t help but smile; was that even possible?
Why not just register honestly; how many work points would two stalks of green onions cost?
She took the main road, and the person guarding the vegetable patch was Feng Fugui’s father.
Learning she was there to pick onions, he simply waved her in.
Li Qiao grinned with a grimace, “Thanks, Mr.
Feng.”
The rain had stopped the day before, the water on the road had dried up, but the ground was still damp.
There was a straw hut at the edge of the field, and she stepped on the straw to get closer.
She paused abruptly, her pupils constricted; in a sunny corner sheltered from the wind by the hut, there was a small cluster of morels.
“Qin’s wife, why are you dawdling there?
Hurry up and pick them and go.” Not even registered and still taking her ti.
Li Qiao turned around, “Mr.
Feng, why don’t you pick these mushrooms and take them ho to eat?”
“Don’t you think they look good and decide to make soup with them, be careful not to get poisoned.”
Li Qiao retorted, “I’m not afraid, I’ll just help you taste whether they’re poisonous or not.”
She didn’t bother with the onions and squatted down to pick mushrooms, having no place to carry them, she borrowed Mr.
Feng’s vegetable basket.
Mr.
Feng warned, “You’re really not heedful, soone had these before and ended up foaming at the mouth.”
Li Qiao didn’t believe it, these were clearly morels, delicious and nutritious.
After picking the mushrooms, she grabbed two handfuls of green onions.
Mr.
Feng saw soone approaching from afar and urged her to run quickly.
Li Qiao called out, “Mr.
Feng, I’ll return the basket to you later.”
“You better not eat those mushrooms!”
“Ah, I’ll take them ho to feed the rabbits.”
Only then did Mr.
Feng feel relieved.
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