The sun was still blazing, and in the distant fields, the villagers were working hard.

Song Yueying took out a parasol under the cover of the cloth bag and held it above her head.

The parasol was small; it was fine to shield one person, but a bit cramped to shield two. Song Yueying didn't like being too close to people, so she didn't call Wang Qianqian to come under the umbrella.

Song Yueying didn't only have one parasol, but if she took it out, she would definitely be suspected.

Upon seeing the parasol above Song Yueying's head, Wang Qianqian was taken aback at first, then exclaimed, "Teacher, your parasol looks so small and cute!"

“I think so too.” Song Yueying wasn’t just saying this to appease Wang Qianqian. It was the truth; she bought the umbrella because she thought it was small and cute.

"Teacher, let me hold the umbrella for you!" Wang Qianqian suggested enthusiastically, feeling that as a student, it was only right for her to do so.

Wang Qianqian offered to hold an umbrella for her, and Song Yueying naturally had no objection. Glancing at the medicine box she was carrying, she decisively shook her head, "No need."

Wang Qianqian was already carrying a first-aid kit. If she were to hold an umbrella for him as well, wouldn't it seem like he was bullying her?

Song Yueying held up a parasol, while Wang Qianqian carried a medicine box as they walked back. Because rice was drying in the dam area, they could only pass by the edge of the dam.

Several aunties and three young wives who were drying rice in the middle of the dam saw them and stopped what they were doing to come over and talk to them.

Among the aunties and young wives in charge of drying the rice, only the team leader's wife, Aunt Zhang, was someone Song Yueying knew.

Aunt Zhang looked at the parasol above their heads with curiosity and said with a smile, "Oh my! Dr. Song, the parasol you're holding is so small and pretty."

Wang Qianqian said, "Aunt Zhang, the umbrella my teacher is holding is a parasol. A parasol is only used to block the sun, so it is naturally smaller than an umbrella."

She knew that the teacher didn't like to say trivial things, so these words had to be said by her.

"This is a parasol!" The young woman in red smiled and reached out to touch the parasol. Remembering Song Yueying's temper, she withdrew her hand.

Others also looked at Song Yueying's parasol. An auntie wearing a blue overall top sighed, "You know, city people really know how to enjoy life."

Another aunt chimed in, "That's right, sunbathing is perfectly normal! We've all been sunbathing since we were little, why bother with a parasol?"

There were four aunties and three young wives drying rice on the dam. Four of them were already talking, and the other three also chimed in.

"Dr. Song, Young Wang, where have you been?"

“Oh dear, you don’t know, not long ago Zhang, the educated youth who went back to the educated youth settlement to cook, rushed out and said he was going to invite Doctor Song.”

"Yes, yes, I heard what Zhang, the educated youth, said too. It was Zhang who went to invite Doctor Song and Xiao Wang, because she said the new educated youth was sick!"

"Is the new educated youth sick? I really haven't heard that!"

“You were working the whole time and didn’t notice. I heard it from Aunt Xu. She saw Zhang, the educated youth, run to find Doctor Song and Xiao Wang, with her own eyes.”

"Dr. Song, Young Wang, you went to see that new educated youth. How is his illness? Is it serious?"

"Yes, yes! What illness does that new educated youth have? How serious is it? Can he still work? Can he participate in the double harvest?"

"If you ask me, these educated youth from the city are just spoiled. Many of them got sick as soon as they arrived in our village and couldn't work. How can they support our rural development?"

"The main problem is that these educated youths are all too young."

"Young? Young men and women in their teens and twenties, how are they young? In our village, people of that age are already strong laborers in their families."

"Exactly, some of them are already married and have children."

“As you said, this is the situation in our village. People in the city are busy with work, and those who don’t have jobs are still studying. Very few people get married this early.”

“The young educated youth have never done farm work at home. They suddenly come to this unfamiliar place, so it’s no wonder they get sick!”

"What are you complaining about? The most helpless person is our brigade leader. He knows that the educated youth can't do much work, but he still has to keep them here."

Listen to the aunties and young wives chatting about the educated youth.

Song Yueying calmly ate the melon seeds and listened to the gossip. Although the sun was very strong, she had a parasol, and she also had handkerchiefs to shield herself from the unpleasant smell of the aunties' sweat.

In short, I can tolerate this minor flaw in order to listen to gossip.

As the pampered educated youth the aunties talked about, Wang Qianqian blushed with embarrassment. Her eyes darted around, wishing she could dig a hole and bury herself in it.

Aunt Zhang noticed Wang Qianqian's expression and felt a little embarrassed.

The woman in work clothes reacted even faster, quickly trying to smooth things over by saying, "Oh dear, you guys are really something, how can you talk like that! How can you generalize and condemn everyone based on a single example?"

"Besides, not all educated youth are spoiled. Little Wang is a good example!"

Aunt Zhang said, "Yes, Xiao Wang, the educated youth, was very good. When she first came to our brigade, she was not familiar with farm work and suffered a lot, but later she became very efficient at it."

"And her husband, Wang Zhiqing, was also a very capable worker."

The aunt in work clothes chimed in, "That's right. It's not just Xiao Wang and Wang, but many other educated youths are also quick and efficient at their work. We can't generalize and condemn them all."

“Yes, yes, that’s right.” The others quickly echoed.

“Who says otherwise!” an aunt said sourly. “If Xiao Wang, the educated youth, wasn’t good at her work, Dr. Song wouldn’t have chosen her as his apprentice.”

The villagers had a lot of opinions about Song Yueying choosing Wang Qianqian as her apprentice.

The villagers' thinking was simple: they all lived in the same village, and were somewhat related, so they considered each other family.

Wang Qianqian was a sent-down youth from the city, not a native of the village, so she was considered an outsider.

But Song Yueying chose Wang Qianqian as her apprentice.

Everyone knew very well that there were many benefits to learning medicine from Song Yueying.

The villagers were naturally puzzled! Why would Song Yueying choose an outsider as her apprentice instead of one of her own from the village?

Because Song Yueying had previously left the villagers with the impression of being too shrewish.

Even if people have opinions about this matter, they can only keep them to themselves and dare not ask her directly.

The aunt who made the sarcastic remark had a daughter and daughter-in-law who were about the same age as Song Yueying. She felt even more resentful that Song Yueying had chosen an outsider as her apprentice instead of her daughter and daughter-in-law.

"Speaking of being efficient at work..." The aunt in work clothes also has a daughter, and seeing that someone brought this up, she couldn't help but say a few words.

"We have so many young women and wives in our village, and they're all very capable at work. Each one of them is much more efficient than the educated youth from the city!"

“That’s right!” the auntie chimed in sarcastically. “But Dr. Song just had to choose young Wang, the educated youth, as his apprentice. It’s really hard to understand.”

Song Yueying finally understood that the two aunts were trying to elevate her by working together.

Thinking that there was strength in numbers, she was compelled to teach more people medicine.

Unfortunately, their plan was destined to fail.

Seeing the two aunties steer the conversation toward Song Yueying, their words dripping with hostility, Wang Qianqian's heart skipped a beat.

She looked at Song Yueying with some worry, afraid that the other aunties would also join in and attack her. Soon, Wang Qianqian realized that her worries were unnecessary.

“The aunties have made a mistake,” Song Yueying said calmly. “Qianqian is not my apprentice, she is my student.”

Song Yueying clearly distinguishes between apprentices and students. She has said she will not accept apprentices, and she definitely will not.

Hearing Song Yueying say that, Wang Qianqian felt overjoyed. Teacher Song had finally acknowledged her as her student! So happy! So happy!

She wanted to hold the umbrella for the teacher again.

He's not an apprentice, he's a student.

Everyone was stunned by those words, and they all looked at Song Yueying and Wang Qianqian with puzzled expressions.

In their minds, there is no difference between apprentices and students.

"She's not an apprentice, she's a student." The aunt who made the sarcastic remark realized what she meant and looked at Song Yueying with a mocking expression. "Aren't apprentices and students the same thing?"

The other women also realized what she meant when she heard that. Yes, apprentices and students were the same; they were all people learning medicine from her, there was no difference.

“It’s different.” Song Yueying said these three words and then fell silent. She took out a handkerchief from her bag and, under the guise of wiping away sweat, wiped the tip of her nose.

"What's different?" asked the young woman in red.

Song Yue didn't answer. She was doing her own thing and wasn't bothering anyone. There was no need to waste time explaining the difference between an apprentice and a student to these people.

Several aunties were waiting for her to continue, but then nothing happened.

Everyone was getting impatient, but Song Yueying still hadn't said anything more.

The young woman in red was even more anxious; she quietly tugged at Aunt Zhang's sleeve.

He wanted to get Aunt Zhang's attention.

When Aunt Zhang looked at her, she made a pleading gesture. She glanced in Song Yueying's direction and looked at Aunt Zhang with a pleading expression.

Aunt Zhang immediately understood what the young woman in red meant.

This was intended to get her to speak well of Song Yueying and encourage her to learn medical skills from her.

Leaving aside the educated youth in the educated youth camp, there were countless young people in the village who wanted to learn medical skills from Song Yueying.

It's not like she could persuade Song Yueying to teach everyone medicine just by saying nice things. If she had that kind of ability, she would have already fought for it for her daughter-in-law.

Wang Qianqian knew that Song Yueying was too lazy to explain, so she could only explain it to everyone herself: "What the teacher means is that, in her eyes, apprentices and students are different."

"The teacher doesn't accept apprentices, and I'm not the teacher's apprentice either."

"I am a student of the teacher, and I learn medical knowledge from the teacher."

While the other women were still debating the difference between apprentices and students, the woman in work clothes was already asking, "Young Wang, do you mean that Doctor Song doesn't accept apprentices?"

"But you can teach students, right?"

Wang Qianqian nodded honestly, knowing exactly what the aunt was up to. But she couldn't say anything, because she was a student chosen by the teacher.

Many people want to be the teacher's student, and if she prevents others from doing so, she will offend everyone.

People will think she's getting a good deal but acting innocent.

Song Yueying saw Wang Qianqian's predicament and didn't want her to become the target of everyone's attacks. She directly stated, "I don't accept apprentices, nor do I want to teach multiple students."

This statement clearly tells everyone that she doesn't want to teach multiple students, but only one.

The aunt in work clothes ignored Song Yueying's words and advised her, "Dr. Song is willing to teach students. Teaching one student is teaching, and teaching two students is also teaching."

"Why don't we teach my two daughters too!"

"Don't worry, Dr. Song, my two daughters are both very capable."

"They are also hardworking. They will do whatever you ask them to do without a single complaint."

One of the aunties introduced her daughter to Song Yueying. Not to be outdone, the other aunties also introduced their own daughters or daughters-in-law.

The young wives naturally introduce themselves or their sisters-in-law.

The main point is that anyone can learn medicine, as long as Song Yueying is willing to teach them.

Unfortunately, Song Yueying didn't want to teach any of them. She was only teaching Wang Qianqian because she wanted someone to do the work for her.

"Aunties, sisters, you..." Wang Qianqian was originally standing next to Song Yueying, but she was soon pushed aside by the aunties.

Before she could finish speaking, she was pushed aside, and Wang Qianqian was very anxious.

In the two days she's been with the teacher, she's already realized that the teacher doesn't like others getting too close to her.

The enthusiasm of these aunties and sisters was truly overwhelming.

Song Yueying held up a parasol, and the people around her got closer and closer. They were all talking at once, their breath and the smell of sweat hitting her nose.

With a sweep of her parasol, Song Yueying instantly cleared a path and walked away, holding the parasol.

By the time the aunties and three young wives reacted, Song Yueying had already walked quite a distance. They had no idea how she had escaped their encirclement.

Especially seeing Song Yueying walking at a leisurely pace, they became even more suspicious.

Wang Qianqian followed behind her, saying something to her.

"Song Yueying is really going too far."

"That's right! We've tried to reason with her like this, but she still won't budge an inch."

"She not only wouldn't budge, she also explicitly told us that she wouldn't take on apprentices, but she could teach students. She just wouldn't accept our child as a student! What kind of person is she?!"

The aunties were all grumbling and venting their frustrations. However, the three young wives didn't join in speaking ill of Song Yueying.

They were still pondering how to change Song Yueying's mind. It didn't matter that she disagreed with teaching medicine today; she wouldn't be discouraged.

As the saying goes, three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang. With so many of them, they would surely find a way to persuade Song Yueying to teach them medicine.

Even if you don't teach them medicine, you should teach their younger sisters or sisters-in-law.

Who told her to set a precedent like Wang Qianqian! If Song Yueying hadn't taken on any students, they wouldn't have been so persistent.