Chapter 46 Preparing New Year's Goods for My Sister's School Transfer

After visiting all the creditors' homes, Yao Xiaoyu, relying on her existing manuscripts, temporarily abandoned her daily two thousand-word novel writing. Instead, she frantically filled her material library while she still had the memory, working on it day and night, grinding away for nearly ten days. Only when she was sure her brain could produce no more did she look at the three thick volumes in front of her and let out a satisfied sigh.

She carefully put the notebook away, went upstairs, and lay down in the soft quilt, just as she was about to drift off to sleep, when she heard her younger sister, who should have been asleep, speak softly.

"Sister, there are some things I need to talk to our parents about before school lets out for the holidays. Can you come?"

Are there parent-teacher meetings at this time of year?

Wait, it's so late, why isn't this girl asleep yet?!

...

"The formalities have been completed, and you will return to your original school next semester."

Yao Xiaoyu patted her younger sister's head, carefully memorizing the appearance of Yao Xiaoli's math teacher. Jobs are hard to find these days, but once you find one, as long as you don't make any major mistakes, you won't be easily replaced.

Poor teaching ability, serious gender discrimination, self-taught PUA... These are things that would ruin a teacher's reputation in modern times, but they are nothing in schools in this era. It is extremely difficult to force someone to leave the education field or even resign.

However, this difficulty only applies to ordinary people. If it were a powerful family, they could simply send someone to say something and have that person blacklisted in the education sector. But how could a family that sends their child to a two-dollar school be associated with power and influence?

Knowing this, the math teacher acted with such impunity.

Yao Xiaoyu understood this, which is why she decisively transferred Yao Xiaoli to another school. But this was not a sign of weakness; rather, it was a transfer of family members before the battle began—the battle of intellectuals was bloodless, and the pen she used to write was the gun in Yao Xiaoyu's hand.

However, it takes time for the article to be published, for public opinion to ferment, and for the results to emerge. Yao Xiaoyu did not intend for her younger sister to continue studying with this teacher during this period. After consulting with her sister, she simply transferred her to another school.

She was glad that she had impulsively agreed to her sister's request to attend the parent-teacher conference. Otherwise, according to current common perceptions, the math teacher's behavior would have been normalized by the rest of the family, and it would have been difficult to correct Yao Xiaoli once she was completely misled.

"If you feel uncomfortable with this teacher, why don't you tell us?"

While having the pastry shop owner pack up the jujube paste recipe, Yao Xiaoyu asked softly.

Tao Erniu stayed five steps away from the two sisters, maintaining a safe distance that allowed her to react quickly in case of danger without overhearing their conversation.

Yao Xiaoli remained silent, and Yao Xiaoyu did not press her for answers. She simply took a bite of the jujube paste Liu Bei's head. This shop used small, tightly-skinned jujubes, which were very sweet even without added sugar. The mold was from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a set of twenty-four characters, each with a distinct charm.

"I said that."

After Yao Xiaoyu finished eating the three brothers from Taoyuan, Yao Xiaoli slowly opened her mouth, her voice so soft that Yao Xiaoyu couldn't hear her clearly. After swallowing the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, she leaned closer to listen.

What did you say?

Yao Xiaoli grabbed Zhao Yun in her hand and repeated:

“I’ve told my parents about it. My dad said he would talk to the teacher, but he hasn’t gone yet. My mom said the teacher was right. Girls aren’t as smart as boys anyway, and since they’re going to get married anyway, it doesn’t matter if they don’t finish their studies.”

“You and your older brother, Grandma are busy all day long, I don’t want you to be even busier.”

Yao Xiaoli bit off half of Zhao Yun's body made of jujube paste and chewed it fiercely. Yao Xiaoyu listened and felt her head buzzing. She was so angry that her face turned red.

Compared to the other members of the Yao family, Yao Xiaoyu was the least familiar with her younger sister. This was mainly because her sister was always at school when she had free time, and when she came back, apart from helping with chores at home, she didn't talk to her much and didn't have much of a presence in her life.

But Wenrou and Yao Pingan...

That night, the Yao family had a huge argument. Yao Xiaoyu went all out and verbally abused Yao Ping'an and his wife until they fainted three times without using any foul language. Zhou Chunhua took the lead and decided that Yao Xiaoli would not only be able to transfer back to her original school, but her family would also support her if she could get into middle school. Wenrou wanted to say something, but Zhou Chunhua silenced her with a look.

The old lady is shrewd. Yao Xiaoli is only in second grade now. It will take at least five years to graduate from elementary school. Yao Tianrui can graduate in four years. It won't be difficult for him to find a well-paid job then. The debt should be paid off in a few years. Yao Xiaoli's tuition is just a drop in the bucket and will have little impact on her now.

Moreover, the world has changed in recent years. Although some wealthy families still prefer to marry traditional women, believing that they are virtuous, many families are willing to marry female students, believing that only educated women can give birth to intelligent children. Yao Xiaoli has no dowry and wants to marry into a good family, so her graduation certificate is her confidence to back her up!

"Sister, you're amazing!"

After things became clear, Yao Xiaoli looked at Yao Xiaoyu with stars in her eyes. She knew that her parents might not know the real situation of the teacher, but that didn't stop her from being happy to get rid of the math teacher. Although she was a little reluctant to part with the classmates she had finally become familiar with, she could see her familiar classmates again when she went back, so it wasn't a bad thing.

“Study hard. If you can get into university, I will pay for your tuition and living expenses.”

The little girl's eyes widened immediately, and she asked her older sister in a small voice:

Can girls go to university?

She had only ever heard people tell her that her brother should go to university and bring honor to the family; no one had ever had that expectation of her.

"OK."

Yao Xiaoyu answered affirmatively that it was 1914 now, and in five years, universities would be open to women for the first time. After the 1920s, female university students would become more common. Even if Yao Xiaoli didn't skip grades, she would have to wait until the mid-1920s to take the university entrance exam. As long as her score was high enough, she would definitely be able to go to school.

But this statement sounds somewhat prophetic, so...

"University entrance scores are very high. You need to start working hard now to get into the best high school so that you have a chance to go to university."

The contract only allowed Yao Xiaoyu to receive support until she graduated from middle school. She was willing to cover Yao Xiaoli's university tuition, which was more of a help to a woman of the same sex, but she didn't pay much attention to it—if she could study, she could; if she couldn't pass the exam, so be it.

The reason she insisted on Zhou Chunhua and Wenrou learning to read was this: in the decades to come, literacy would still be a minority. Being one step ahead in this area would give them many more opportunities than others, and even one more person of the same gender who could gain an advantage would be a good thing.

But Yao Xiaoyu wasn't a victim of injustice. Once they had learned the commonly used characters, she wouldn't continue to push the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to study.

Knowing common characters is Yao Xiaoyu's bottom line for the members she lives with, regardless of who they are or whether they are willing to learn. If Yao Xiaoyu were to go to the Zhang or Li family instead of the Yao family, she would still grab everyone and teach them to read and write, but that would only be basic literacy.

"I will definitely study hard."

Yao Xiaoli clenched her fist and assured Yao Xiaoyu, who just smiled.

Learning is not for others, but for yourself.

Yao Xiaoyu used to think that she could hear these words so often that she would get calluses, but now she realized that they were truly wise words. She lay down on her pillow, closed her eyes, and fell asleep in no time.

...

Maria Hospital has great benefits. Except for the staff who have to stay on duty, the rest of the staff will be on holiday from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month until after the Lantern Festival. Yao Xiaoyu was feeling cooped up at home, so she went out with Zhou Chunhua to buy New Year's goods.

Since paying off her first debt, Zhou Chunhua has become much more relaxed. She even agreed to Yao Xiaoyu's request to use her New Year's manuscript fees to buy things instead of handing them over after a little persuasion. If it weren't for the fact that she was haggling with the vendor over fried peanuts the next moment, Yao Xiaoyu would have almost thought that her grandmother had changed her mind.

“My granddaughter is young, but I am not. Don’t try to spend any extra money unnecessarily.”

Okay, she's still that little old lady who saves money from the smallest things.

"Grandma, this hat is pretty."

While her grandmother was arguing with the New Year picture seller, Yao Xiaoyu took a cotton hat from the peddler's basket and put it on Zhou Chunhua's head. The peddler was a clever fellow. He kept praising her with different words, while taking money with his left hand and giving change with his right. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the crowd.

Zhou Chunhua felt a warmth on her head, and before she could react, the transaction between Yao Xiaoyu and the peddler was over. As she turned around, she saw her troublesome granddaughter looking at the copper coin in her hand against the light.

The person giving change wasn't cunning; the pattern was neat and tidy, not one of those small, unusable copper pieces.

Zhou Chunhua was relieved for a moment before realizing something was wrong. They had just spent money in silver dollars and silver coins, so where did this girl get copper coins?!

"Return this one. I'm old and can withstand the wind."

Zhou Chunhua took the hat off her head with a stern face. Her head, which had just warmed up, instantly turned cold again. She could even feel the cold wind blowing directly into her temples, but she just handed the hat to Yao Xiaoyu without letting go.

"I bought it from a peddler, but he's already gone. You can wear it though, it looks nice."

Yao Xiaoyu took the hat and quickly put it on Zhou Chunhua's head while rambling on. She said that she couldn't afford new clothes this year, but the old lady still insisted on buying new cotton shoes for everyone in the family. Only she herself had no plans to buy anything new. Yao Xiaoyu couldn't bear to see her like that, so she bought her a hat.

The old lady's head was afraid of being blown away by the wind. Her own grandmother would wear different hats every winter. She was very good at online shopping and bought all kinds of hats, such as cotton hats, pom-pom hats, and beanie hats... covering most of her forehead completely, and she would wear a different one for half a month.

Even looking ahead, wealthy old ladies still wear headbands in winter to keep their heads warm, ensuring they stay safe and sound until spring arrives again.

"If you say that again, I'm going to make a scene."

Yao Xiaoyu tried to persuade her for a while, then pretended to be angry. Zhou Chunhua was intimidated and stopped mentioning returning the goods. Although she was still muttering to herself, you could tell from her wide smile that the old lady was secretly pleased.

From the eve of the Lunar New Year to New Year's Eve, Yao Xiaoyu and Zhou Chunhua painstakingly prepared for the holiday, their gleaming silver coins dwindling day by day, while their New Year's items piled up, especially food. Taking advantage of the cold weather making it easier to preserve food, they practically hoarded it at home for free.

The shops all adhere to the old rules, closing on New Year's Eve and reopening on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. Without a week's worth of food, you can't get a hold of the food shop even if you're offered gold.

On the 28th, Yao Tianrui was given a holiday and was immediately dragged by Yao Xiaoyu to make hand-beaten beef balls. The fresh beef was pounded a full 18,000 times, leaving Yao Tianrui so exhausted that his eyes were glazed over, and he didn't even have the mind to look at the beef balls that were more bouncy than ping-pong balls after they were cooked.

On the 29th, Zhou Chunhua folded the newspapers that Yao Xiaoyu had deemed useless into three or two layers, put simple dust-proof hats on the whole family, tied firewood to the brooms to extend them manually, and began a thorough cleaning.

Thirty, fry meatballs, steam buns, boil peanuts, take an exam.

On New Year's Eve, Yao Xiaoyu went out to visit friends.

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Author's Note: What other stories would you like to see me write? My mind is full of stories about time travel, rebirth, and real/fake heiresses, and I'm a bit out of inspiration.

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[1] Beef soup soup soup soup soup soup: This is a reference from the animated series "Big Ear TuTu". In one episode, TuTu's mom goes out to look for a job, so TuTu's dad and TuTu eat leftovers at home every day. One day, TuTu asks what this dish is, and this is how TuTu's dad answers. This expresses Yao Xiaoyu's strong disinterest in leftovers.

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