virtuous wife and loving mother

"Little sister~ ...

At the intersection, Li Guojian and Qian Mancang were waving. The moon was already high in the sky. Her words were cut off. "Goodbye."

Lin Shaocheng nodded and waited quietly in the moonlight for Li Guojian to leave until his figure was no longer visible.

Qian Mancang was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Cheng looks really good today. He's wearing a white Dacron shirt and navy blue suit pants. From a distance, he looks like a movie star. But look at what I'm wearing. Although it's also quite neat, it just looks a bit dowdy."

Li Guojian narrowed his eyes, Qian Mancang gripped the wooden bucket tightly with his left hand, and Li Guorong remained silent, clutching a small white flower in his hand, his mood seemingly suddenly sour.

Li Guojian said, "Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse. When we dress up, we're no worse than people in the city."

Li Guorong suddenly said angrily, "Alright, it's so late, hurry up and go home for dinner."

Li Guojian took out a few yuan from his pocket, and Li Guorong took out two yuan from it, saying, "Take the rest back to Mom. If you, with your pig brain, dare to embezzle it again, I'll teach you a lesson."

Li Guojian pretended to surrender and cried out, "Little sister, spare my life!"

When they reached the front of his aunt's house, Qian Mancang called out to Li Guorong. He took out a hair clip that he had originally bought for his sister and said, "I can catch bamboo rats now. If you're willing to come with me, you'll never go hungry."

Li Guorong was startled. In her previous life, Qian Mancang had confessed his feelings to her the day before he joined the army. Their relationship deepened through correspondence until the letters were somehow lost and they could no longer contact each other. That's when she chose to go on blind dates and met her good-for-nothing husband, Ye Fan. But why was Qian Mancang confessing his feelings to her so early in this life?

Li Guorong had been looking forward to this day for a long time, but now he felt a little uneasy. Besides, wasn't this hair clip worn by Qian Duoduo in his previous life?

Li Guorong remained silent for a long time, and Qian Mancang felt a little disheartened. He continued, "I know you can earn money now, and I'm not good enough for you. But I will work hard to ensure you have a comfortable life. I'll give you all the money I earned from my military service. You just need to take care of the family. We're from the same village and know each other well. If there's anything I'm not good at, tell me, and I can change."

Li Lanfang shouted from upstairs, "Li Guorong, why aren't you up here yet? It's so late!"

Li Guorong said awkwardly, "My aunt is calling me. Can I think about it for a few days? Brother Mancang." He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran back upstairs.

Li Lanfang pointed to the table, "Let's eat."

Li Guorong kept his head down, not daring to look up at his aunt's expression.

Li Lanfang said, "You made a few mistakes today."

Li Guorong felt she hadn't done anything wrong, but she didn't dare say so. "One thing?"

Li Lanfang sneered: "First, she didn't do her housework; second, she didn't finish her homework; third, she and her husband went to the mountains alone; fourth, it was late at night without a matchmaker or betrothal."

Li Guorong couldn't help but retort, "Auntie, it's already the new China."

Li Lanfang was so angry that she banged the ruler loudly. "In the new China, a man and a woman going out together won't be talked about. Don't you care about your own reputation? Your eldest sister isn't married yet, and your brothers aren't married either."

Li Guorong then realized that this was not the 21st century, and it was normal for men and women to go out together. "I'm sorry, Auntie, I'll be more careful next time."

Li Lanfang then sat down again and said, "Qian Mancang is not a good family, I don't agree."

Li Guorong's temper flared up. If Qian Mancang was bad, was Ye Fan good too? "I think Brother Mancang is pretty good."

Li Lanfang then realized that Li Guorong had become stubborn as a mule, refusing to move no matter how much she tried to lead him, and even pushing him back. She had seen him hesitating upstairs, but now that he said it wasn't suitable, Qian Mancang was like a treasure. Li Lanfang didn't intend to persuade him anymore; someone would naturally deal with Li Guorong.

"Alright, hurry up and eat. I'm going to test what you learned today later."

Li Guorong didn't dare to argue back. He took out two yuan from his pocket and said softly, "This is for my aunt. I'm sorry to have troubled her."

Li Lanfang took the money and sneered, "I'd rather you stay home and study for a day than earn this kind of quick money."

Li Guorong didn't understand. She didn't understand her daughter, nor did she understand her aunt. They were all different from her mother and sister. She quickly ate her rice and followed her aunt back to the room.

Li Lan sat in the chair, her slender frame seemingly brimming with boundless energy, "6*8"

“42”

"36 divided by 4"

"9"

·······

What is this?

“Ing”

“Ong”

"Read this article aloud."

"······"

Li Lanfang finally showed a satisfied expression. "It's alright."

After saying that, she took out the second-grade textbook and began to teach. Li Guorong was very tired, but she knew that her aunt was even more tired, so she had to try her best.

The night was already deep, the candlelight still flickered in the wind, and a small white flower swayed in the breeze in front of the window. It was clever and quick-witted, and Li Guorong couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Her aunt took out the Book of Songs and found the poem for her. She had never imagined that such a book existed, or that she could read such a book. "Lin Shaocheng, how can you be so good at praising people?"

She lay in bed, her brows furrowed, thinking again of Mancang, whom she couldn't forget from her past life. Amidst her inner turmoil, Li Guorong finally fell into a deep sleep.

In the morning, Li Guorong got up early, started cooking, washing clothes, tidying up the house, and then began learning how to solve word problems.

Her aunt got up and ate breakfast together. Her aunt then taught her new knowledge, and she felt like her head was full.

The sheer volume of knowledge she had been accumulating these past few days left her no time to think about Qian Mancang and Lin Shaocheng, or whether Lin Shaocheng actually liked her.

"Sister Guorong, come to my house! My little nephew has arrived."

Li Guorong stood up. It was Qian Duoduo. "Where's your brother?"

Qian Duoduo replied, "He went to catch bamboo rats."

Li Guorong's eyes lit up, and she quickly grabbed the book and went downstairs. She loved children the most, and she wanted to go see them.

The Qian family's two-story wooden house was quite old, creaking underfoot. Even at noon, it was pitch black inside. In the middle of the first floor, there was a table, and Qian Yingying was holding her baby and soothing him. Qian Yingying smiled and said, "It's just in time that you've arrived. I'll go out for a bit."

After saying that, she placed the child in Li Guorong's arms. The child was a bit heavy, and his face felt smooth to the touch.

Qian Duoduo exclaimed in surprise, "She really likes you!"

Li Guorong gently held the child. At this moment, Aunt Qian came in and saw Li Guorong holding the child. She said with some dissatisfaction, "It's not comfortable to hold the child like this. You should hold him like this." She adjusted Li Guorong's posture, but Li Guorong felt uncomfortable in this position. Just as he adjusted, Aunt Qian stopped him again.

Li Guorong had no choice but to hold the child in an awkward position. After a while, he got tired and put the child on the bed. He picked up his book to prepare to recite his lessons. Aunt Qian came over and saw that the child was asleep. She said, "Guorong, come and help me wash the vegetables."

Qian Duoduo fell asleep while watching over her nephew, so Li Guorong had to get up and help Aunt Qian wash the vegetables.

Aunt Qian said, "These are all edible, why did you throw so much away? My goodness, I would have thought you were some young lady from a wealthy family."

Li Guorong could only laugh awkwardly. In her previous life, ever since she got married and started earning money, she had never cooked, and her aunt never asked her to cook complicated dishes.

Li Guorong finished tidying up and was about to go read a book when Aunt Qian said again, "Oh dear, my back hurts so much. Guorong, can you cook for me?"

Li Guorong had no choice but to heat the oil in a wok.

"Oh dear, how can you put so much oil in? Who can afford this?" With that, she deftly put the oil back into the bowl.

Li Guorong could only purse her lips and continue cooking. Finally, the meal was ready, and she was soaked in sweat.

Qian Duoduo finally woke up and started crying.

Li Guorong quickly stepped forward, "What's wrong?"

Li Guorong held the baby and touched his diaper. He found that the baby had wet himself. He hurriedly changed the diaper. After changing the diaper, the baby was still crying and sucking. It seemed that the baby was hungry. Li Guorong had no choice but to sit at the table and feed the baby warm milk.

Aunt Qian and Qian Duoduo ate slowly, and soon only a little cornmeal and half a sweet potato were left.

Li Guorong asked in confusion, "Aren't Brother Mancang and Sister Yingying eating?"

Aunt Qian pointed to the leftovers, "This is for Yingying."

Li Guorong's stomach rumbled. She put down her child, who was asleep after eating, and prepared to go home for dinner. But then Aunt Qian called out again, "Chop some firewood in the backyard."

Li Guorong couldn't help but frown. She was a guest; how could she do such a thing? In the past, his brothers would always chop firewood for the family.

Aunt Qian said, "You don't know, my Mancang is very popular in the village lately. He can farm and catch bamboo rats. Several matchmakers have been asking me about him."

Upon hearing this, Li Guorong's heart skipped a beat. In her past life, she and Mancang had missed each other. Was she destined to be apart in this life as well? Her thoughts raced through her mind.

She started chopping wood in a daze, one stroke after another. What was Lin Shaocheng thinking? Her wish in her past life was to marry Mancang, wasn't it? Why was she still hesitating?

Aunt Qian came over a while later and said with dissatisfaction, "Why are some of the wood coarse and some fine? You can't chop wood like this when you're a wife. Come and clean the house and wash the diapers."

Li Guorong wiped the table, which he couldn't get the original color out of, from the first floor to the second floor, not even letting go of the stair railings. He finally finished wiping and before he could even rub his sore back, he was dragged into the sun.

Three large piles of clothes were waiting for her to wash. She mechanically scrubbed them back and forth. The scorching sun made her skin oily. She had never washed so many clothes before. In her previous life, she only washed her own clothes in the summer. If she didn't want to wash them, she could use the washing machine. In this life, all the women in the family washed clothes together.

These days, because she hadn't done farm work while studying, her fair and delicate hands were wrinkled again from being washed by the water. The wild grass on the ground drooped listlessly. Li Guorong gave a bitter smile. Was this the life she wanted? In her previous life, Ye Fan's parents died early, and she even envied other people's in-laws who could share the burden.

"I'm back."

Li Guorong perked up. It was Qian Mancang returning. She stood up and ran away through the back door like a rabbit. The houses in this area were built by the water, and the back doors were often by the water, leaving a narrow path that only two people could pass through. Going down the stone steps, you could reach the stream, which was convenient for washing clothes and cooking.

She hid behind the house. Qian Mancang entered the house with pork in his left hand and cotton cloth in his right. Li Guorong quickly ran to the opposite side and returned to her aunt's house.

Qian Mancang put down his things, saw the books on the table, and asked, "Mom, Mom, is Guorong here?"