The next day, the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen's Pastry Shop reopened.
Li Yumei was the most proactive; if she didn't open her shop and do business soon, she would run out of money.
School starts in ten days and I have to pay another six or seven hundred yuan. What a pain! What's the point of studying here?
Perhaps it was because I hadn't eaten Chen's pastries for about ten days. After the shop reopened after the New Year, it was able to sell two batches of osmanthus cake and two batches of water chestnut cake every day, earning about a hundred yuan a day.
After the Lantern Festival, Li Yumei was overjoyed with the settlement of over 1,100 yuan. However, the next day, Chen Lao Er took 800 yuan to pay tuition for a few girls. She felt like cursing again; she had worked for nothing. But being an educated woman, she held back!
The first half of 1991 passed quickly, and the entrance exam for junior high school was at the end of June.
Chen Jinhua has also been working hard for the exam. If she doesn't get into the county's top high school, her fifth sister will refuse to teach her self-defense. She has been nagging her for more than half a year, but her sister still refuses!
On June 29th, the entrance exam for junior high school was held. It was a one-day exam, covering Chinese and Mathematics.
English is not included in the academic ranking. Elementary school English is a course that has only been offered for one or two years!
On July 3rd, primary and secondary schools started their summer vacation. Before Chen Xihua knew it, almost a year had passed since she transmigrated here!
She gradually got along well with the Chen family, especially the six siblings. Chen Xiaoliu was the most attached to her, even his own mother was second in importance.
In Chen Baohua's eyes, his fifth sister would play various games with him and teach him to read. However, sometimes for some reason, his fifth sister would scold him very seriously and even spank him. Only when he admitted his mistake would his fifth sister hug and kiss him!
Chen Xihua treats Chen Lao Er and his wife as ordinary parents and does not deliberately antagonize them, but she still cannot relate to the feelings she had for her parents in her previous life.
Mr. and Mrs. Chen run a pastry shop every day, earning one or two thousand yuan a month, and they haven't caused any major trouble.
When Li Yumei returned home, she would often lash out and nitpick whenever things didn't go her way!
A week later, the results came out, and Chen Jinhua was admitted to the county's No. 1 High School as she wished, just barely making the cut-off score. She was in the last batch, but there were more than a dozen people with that score. She proudly said that she was not the last one!
Chen Chunhua, who is about to enter the second year of junior high school, ranked fifth in her class. The county's No. 1 Middle School is a key school with fierce competition, and English is also part of the ranking. Her English foundation is weak, so she is struggling a bit. She has been listening to English audio tapes every day, otherwise her overall ranking would be even lower!
The third sister, Chen Meihua, was of average ability in the class, while Chen Xiuhua, the bookworm, still came in first place.
Chen Xihua didn't feel any pressure during the exam, nor did she expect to get a perfect score. She felt a bit cheated and only scored slightly over 90 points in each subject!
That day at Chen's pastry shop, Chen Lao Er met a fellow villager from Shanghe Village who worked in the transport team. He passed on a message for Village Chief Li, saying that he had seen Li Lao Da and his wife living in the old house left by his mother-in-law, and asked if their family had given their consent!
Back home, Chen Xihua told Li Yumei about it, and the Chen family overheard as well. Chen Xihua was particularly unhappy. "Dad, let's go back and take a look! My sisters and brothers haven't been to Shanghe Village. Let's all go back and visit! We should also offer incense to Grandma; it's been a year!"
After thinking it over, Chen Lao Er decided that he should go back to pay respects to his mother-in-law and return to his hometown for a day.
In the afternoon, Chen Lao Er went to find Mr. Hu, the owner of the furniture store. They were quite familiar with each other, so he asked Mr. Hu to drive his small truck to take his family home, as it was inconvenient for a large group to take a bus.
Li Yumei was reluctant to close her business for a day so she couldn't sell pastries and make money!
On the morning of July 10, the Chen family took a small truck and returned to Shanghe Village after two and a half hours.
When they saw a small truck entering the village, the villagers who were taking shelter under the trees by the roadside gathered around and followed the truck until they arrived at the old house of Chen Xihua's grandmother!
"Li Yumei's family has struck it rich; they've even bought a car?"
"No, no, it's borrowed. This is Mr. Hu, the owner of the furniture store in the county. The car is his!" Chen Lao Er hurriedly explained.
"Li Yumei and her whole family came back. Didn't it always just the couple who came back before?"
"These five daughters are so beautiful. They're raised in a better environment than in the county. Look at that little boy, so chubby and fair-skinned. I'm so envious!"
"We only have one son, how could we not raise him to be healthy and chubby!"
"Jianshe, Yumei, you're back!" At this moment, Village Chief Li and the old village secretary, Fifth Grandfather, also arrived at the gate of their old house.
The courtyard gate was open. Hearing the commotion, Old Lady Li and a hunchbacked old man came out and said somewhat guiltily, "Yu Mei, you're back! Why didn't you tell us beforehand? Your father and I just moved here. Your brother's family has four children, and they're all grown up now, so there's not enough room in the house!"
"Uncle, Aunt," Chen Lao Er and his wife called out.
"Yumei, did you know that your uncle's family moved here?" the old village secretary asked.
"No, I don't know. I just left a spare key so my uncle's family could look after the old house!"
Seeing so many people, Li Yumei was in a dilemma. The house was left to her by her mother, who had lived there for over forty years. She didn't know whether to just give it to her uncle's family or not. But this person had moved in again, and it seemed inappropriate to kick them out!
“This is our Li family’s house. My second brother and sister-in-law have both passed away. Since there is no son to inherit it, it has to be returned to our Li family. Yu Mei is a married daughter and can’t take care of it!” said the hunchbacked old man Li.
“Dashan, what you’re saying isn’t right. There are national regulations that allow daughters to inherit a family’s house! Besides, this house doesn’t belong to Li Yumei!” The nearly seventy-year-old village secretary said calmly.
Everyone present was stunned. It wasn't Li Yumei's? Then who did it go to?
“A month before Aunt Zhang passed away, she transferred the house to her fifth daughter, Chen Xihua. At the time, my fifth uncle, the old headmaster, and I were there, and all the necessary documents were prepared, but they were temporarily stored with me!” Village Chief Li explained!
“Yu Mei, don’t blame your mother for not leaving anything for you. She wanted to give Wu Ya a way out. At the time, she was worried about how you would treat Wu Ya…”
"Uncle Village Chief, we understand!" Chen Lao Er interrupted Village Chief Li, stopping him from continuing. He saw that Village Chief Li was also finding it hard to say that the house was not left to his only daughter, but to his granddaughter, which might upset Li Yumei.
"Given it to Fifth Sister? I... I don't care, we want to live here!" Old Mrs. Li shouted, throwing a tantrum!
"Yes, Fifth Uncle, look, how can a mere girl inherit the house of the Li family in Shanghe Village!" Old Man Li was also caught off guard by this news and looked abruptly at the old village secretary, Fifth Grandfather!
"Fifth girl, do you agree to let your great-grandfather live in the house?" Although the old village secretary was old, he was very clear-headed. Instead of answering, he turned to ask Chen Xihua!
"Great-Grandpa, I disagree. Since the house was given to me by my maternal grandmother, I will inherit and cherish it. I don't want to give it to anyone else. When I have money, I will renovate the house and keep it. This is also our home, and we will come back to visit often in the future!" Chen Xihua answered with reason and evidence. She would not agree to let Old Man Li live in the house.
In the original book, Li Yumei's preference for sons over daughters and her mistreatment of her daughters were influenced by this family.
Later, Li Yumei gradually grew closer to her biological parents and was brainwashed by them. They told her that she should be good to her younger brother and that all the money should go to her younger brother and son. They said that their daughters were only for exchanging dowry money and that girls were a waste of money!
"Grandpa Village Chief, could you please look after my house? You can keep the key. If any family in the village has guests and they don't have enough room, they can come and stay for a couple of days!" Chen Xihua felt that entrusting the house to the village chief was the safest option, as the village chief and the old village party secretary were the most impartial people!
"Then, Li Dashan, you and your wife should move back to your own home today! It's not good for Yu Mei's family to have nowhere to stay when they come back!" The old village secretary spoke up, and few people in the village dared to object. He was the most respected person in the village!
"Pah, what bad luck!" Old Mrs. Li's tantrum failed, so she started packing her things. She couldn't gain any advantage over her third daughter's family. She should have strangled her when she gave birth to her.
Old Man Li stared intently at the Chen family members, his eyes filled with a sinister light!
The Chen siblings were a little scared when they saw this!
Chen Lao Er and his wife shared the osmanthus cake and water chestnut cake they had prepared with the village chief and the old village party secretary. After some consideration, they also gave a box to Li Lao Tou's family. The villagers were all watching!
Chen Xihua and her six siblings distributed the milk candies they had bought beforehand to the villagers present, giving each person one or two pieces!
Chen Xihua also took a box of osmanthus cakes and slipped away to the old principal's house.
She was tested by the old principal and made to write a few characters with a brush. Fortunately, she had practiced her handwriting based on the original owner's handwriting over the past year, and it was normal for her handwriting to have changed a bit after a year!
At lunchtime, the Chen family and Boss Hu ate at Village Chief Li's house. When they left after the meal, Chen Lao Er gave the village chief's wife thirty yuan.
When they returned to the old house, Old Man Li and his wife had already left. The house was in a mess. After tidying it up, they prepared things to go to Grandma's grave!
"Fifth Sister, where is Grandma? Why isn't she at home?" Chen Baohua asked this question every time she walked a short distance along the mountain path, asking about every tree and rock she saw!
"We're almost there. Grandma's up in the mountains. She got tired and went to rest there!" Chen Xihua said, feeling a little sad.
It was the first time for all four of Chen's older sisters to climb a mountain. They were excited at first, but apart from the second oldest, Chen Jinhua, the other three were panting after just fifteen minutes. Chen Meihua, in particular, asked with a spoiled yet slightly disgusted expression, "How much longer?"
Chen Baohua, this chubby kid, is also tired, but he has his father, Chen Lao Er, who carries him on his back from time to time!
Half an hour later, we finally arrived at my grandmother's grave. It was still very new and didn't need much repair. After paying our respects, we headed back, as we had to return to the county town in the afternoon!
Mr. Hu was a very kind person. He escorted the Chen family all the way back to Shanghe Village, and after waiting for a long time, he escorted the family back to the county without showing any impatience.
Although Chen Lao Er had given Hu 30 yuan for the fare, he was still quite grateful to Hu for personally picking him up and dropping him off. After returning to the county town, Chen Lao Er said to Hu, "Mr. Hu, thank you very much. I must treat you to a meal later!"
"No problem, no problem!" Mr. Hu readily agreed and drove off! He was even more grateful to Mr. Chen for ordering furniture from his store; that year, the store made a good profit from selling bunk beds!
Back in her room, Chen Xihua took out a piece of paper from her small cloth bag. It contained a prescription for hemostatic medicine. She was a little excited, unsure if it was true or not, and would verify it later!
This is what Chen Xihua found in the crevices under the bed board where her grandmother slept when she went to her grandmother's room today after returning to Shanghe Village!
Last year, she had a head injury and didn't pay attention to it. Only today did she realize that her grandmother's bed was a canopy bed carved from the finest wood.
Although it couldn't compare to precious woods like rosewood, Grandma's bed was still quite nice. She was very curious about these antiques, so she looked at them from all angles and touched them with her hands. Suddenly, she discovered a hidden compartment under the bed board containing a yellowed prescription: a hemostatic medicine.
Grandma might have forgotten it before she passed away, or perhaps it was just a matter of fate; whoever finds it can keep it, and if they can't, so be it. After all, if it's a truly effective remedy, not everyone can keep it!
Chen Xihua carefully put it away, planning to test its effects in the lab after she went to university. She didn't know anything about medicine or herbs, and it wasn't appropriate to take it out now!
Just then, Chen Jinhua suddenly sneaked into the room, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Xiao Wu, I got into the county's top high school! When are you going to start teaching me self-defense techniques?"
Oh dear, I almost forgot! If my second sister hadn't mentioned it, Chen Xihua would have really forgotten. It's been almost a year, and my second sister is still thinking about it!
"Anytime is fine, but second sister, you can't say that I taught you. You also need to be discreet when you practice, so that no one finds out!"
"Oh, my classmate Zhang Weibing wants to learn too! Do you remember him? He was there during that fight, the skinny one!"
"Just him? Where are the others?" Chen Xihua remembered that there were three male classmates at the time.
"Yes, he saw what you did and wanted to do it too. His father served in the army but died in the line of duty. His mother remarried, and he and his sister lived with their grandfather. Once, when he was being bullied, I helped him out, and he insisted on becoming my little brother!"
"Give me back my little brother! If he learns to fight, I'm not teaching him anymore!"
Chen Jinhua panicked, "No, Xiao Wu, I won't fight. I've learned to protect you, and I won't start fights!"
"Guarantee!?" Chen Xihua didn't believe it. However, her second sister had learned something, so at least she could protect herself and knew where not to hit with force, and she would try not to seriously injure others. With her strength and temperament, it was inevitable that she would have conflicts with others. For now, she could still keep her in check.
Chen Jinhua said very seriously, "I promise, Xiao Wu, you have to believe me!"
Chen Xihua: "Where does Zhang Weibing live? Is it convenient for him to come and learn? Find a place, not at home. You'll learn after a few lessons, but you have to practice often!"
"Zhang Weibing's home is in Zhangjia Village, in the western part of our county, a half-hour walk away!" Chen Jinhua had never been there, but he heard it from him!
"Alright, starting tomorrow, I'll teach you for half an hour every morning at seven o'clock in the suburbs. After a week, you can practice on your own!"
"That's great, Xiao Wu, I like you so much!" Chen Jinhua excitedly picked up Chen Xihua and spun her around a few times!
"Stop! Stop! You're strangling me! You're so strong!" Chen Xihua cried out in pain.
"Fifth Sister is mine, Second Sister, you can't like her, let go of Fifth Sister!" At this moment, a boy wearing only a pair of shorts walked in through the door; it was Chen Baohua.
Chen Xihua pulled her over and asked, "Why did you take your shirt off?"
"Fifth Sister, I'm hot, so hot!" Chen Baohua said uncomfortably.
Chen Xihua held the child and found that Chen Xiaoliu's whole body was a little hot, as if he had a fever. Could it be that he was not used to being in the sun for most of the day after returning to Shanghe Village?
The lights were dim at night, so she looked closely and noticed that Chen Xiaoliu's face was flushed!
She immediately picked up Chen Baohua and went out to the dining room. "Dad, come quick! Chen Xiaoliu seems to have a fever!"
Just as Li Yumei was about to give her son a bath, she heard the news and panicked. She picked up her youngest son and walked out the door with Chen Lao Er to the nearest clinic.
The five Chen sisters waited anxiously at home. Around 10 p.m., Chen Lao Er and the others finally returned home. Chen Baohua fell asleep in Li Yumei's arms, but she wasn't very comfortable and kept frowning.
"Dad, how is it? Is my brother feeling better?" Chen Chunhua was the first to speak, asking with concern.
"Xiao Bao had a slight fever. The doctor treated him at the outpatient clinic and applied a fever-reducing patch. The fever has gone down now. He was also prescribed some medicine. We'll see him again tomorrow!" Chen Lao Er said wearily. He had been busy all day, and his son's fever had worried him to death.
Li Yumei quietly held her son. Her son rarely got sick after he was born, but this time he frightened her. She shouldn't have gone back to Shanghe Village. He must have been frightened by something!
That night, the Chen family did not sleep well. The next morning, Li Yumei found that her son no longer had a fever, and she finally felt a little relieved.
After waking up, Chen Baohua was not feeling well and insisted that his fifth sister feed him breakfast. Then, his fifth sister had to coax him before he would take his medicine.
It's a sweet torment: Chen Xiaoliu has become even more clingy to her since he got sick!
Three or four days later, Chen Baohua recovered. Everyone says that children can't fake illness. After recovering, he was a completely different person, jumping around everywhere. He was the lively, cute, and clever Chen Xiaoliu again!
After a few days' delay, this morning, Chen Xihua began teaching her second sister, Chen Jinhua, self-defense techniques, while Zhang Weibing waited early in the suburbs.
When Chen Xihua arrived there, she saw a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old waiting at the other end of the road. "Is that your sister?"
"Yes, she's worried about me. My sister won't tell anyone, Chen Xihua, please don't stop teaching me!" Zhang Weibing said cautiously, with a hint of worry and fear.
"Alright, let's begin. Let's do a few warm-up exercises first..."
Chen Xihua didn't necessarily want to keep it a secret, but once people found out, she couldn't explain it to them. They asked her how she learned it.
Forget it, although there are indeed veterans in Shanghe Village, if anyone really asks, I can just blame it on my grandmother again.
Chen Xihua realized that her grandmother was a really good person. Even after her death, she was still being used as a tool by her. Wasn't that a bit inappropriate? Chen Xihua felt a little guilty, but she still had to use her when necessary. Hahaha, her grandmother loved her the most, no, she loved the original owner the most!
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