Jiaxi and Jia'an, two naughty boys, talked about how they fell while chopping firewood during the day and got covered in mud, which made everyone in the family laugh.
"Giggle!" Jiayin, lying on Grandma Li's lap, joined in the laughter at her brother.
Grandma Li nuzzled her granddaughter's cheek, looked at Li Jiaren who was drinking his porridge politely, and made up her mind.
"I plan to send my children to study in the county town."
The moment those words were spoken, the dinner table fell silent.
Everyone looked at Grandma Li in surprise, not understanding why she said that.
After all, even if they don't go hungry these days, education is too expensive, and the burden is still too heavy for the Li family!
Wu Cuihua was the first to object.
"Mother! How much money does it cost to send them to school? Where will we get so much money? If you send them to school, we won't be able to make ends meet!"
She was practically jumping up and shouting, terrified that if she supported her children's education, she would go hungry.
"Studying is a good thing, Second Sister-in-law, why are you making such a fuss?"
Zhao Yuru couldn't bear to look at Wu Cuihua like that and couldn't help but say something.
"Good news? Good news that you three families are paying for it? There's only a few coins left in the family. If you give it all to the children's education, we'll starve!"
Wu Cuihua didn't know how much wealth the old lady had, but buying the courtyard and land cost a hundred taels, so she guessed it wasn't much.
"Alright, shut up, all of you!" Old Mrs. Li glanced at Wu Cuihua with a dark face, and shut her up with just one sentence.
"I plan to send only Jiaren to school."
"Huh?" Wu Cuihua was stunned. So she only sent her son to school!
She glanced at her eldest son, wishing she could take back everything she had just said, and gave an awkward laugh.
"Mother... Mother's word is law."
No one dared to say anything to her, but their gazes were anything but friendly.
Wu Cuihua quickly lowered her head and drank her porridge, not daring to say another word.
Li Jiaren felt even more ashamed for his mother. He put down his rice bowl and said...
"Grandma, we've just settled down here, and there are many expenses. I'm not in a hurry to start school. Let's wait until next year when we have a good harvest."
Grandma Li was very pleased that her grandson was so sensible, but once she made up her mind, she would never change it.
“If our family wants to truly settle down here, this is not enough for now. Helping the villagers with small favors or acquiring property are just short-term solutions. If we want our Li family to prosper in the long term, we need our children and grandchildren to receive an education.”
Grandma Li glanced at everyone, and seeing that they all nodded, she continued.
"Isn't there a saying that goes, 'If a family has no scholars, where will officials come from?' Even if they don't become scholars or graduates, but only pass the preliminary examination, outsiders will have to think twice before trying to bully the Li family."
"Jiaren, Grandma thinks you're good at studying. Go to school, we can afford it!"
Jiaren really loved reading. Whenever he had free time, he would always find something with words on it to read, or he would write words on the ground with a stick.
Not only Grandma Li, but the entire Li family has seen this.
Both Li Laosan and Li Laosi expressed their support, saying, "Yes, Jiaren can go to school. We can definitely afford to support him with our earnings."
"Grandma, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle..."
Tears welled up in Jiaren's eyes. He took a deep breath, stood up, and bowed to his elders.
"I will definitely study hard and make my family proud!"
"Good child!" Old Mrs. Li finally showed a slight smile.
Once Wu Cuihua saw that her son's schooling was a done deal, her mouth stretched from ear to ear in a wide grin, and she grabbed her son's hand and started talking.
“My son is the most obedient, he’ll definitely study hard, as long as we don’t end up like your uncle, who died from studying too much… Oh dear!”
Before Wu Cuihua could finish speaking, Li Lao Er quickly pinched her arm hard, making her cry out in pain.
Just as she was about to start cursing Li Lao Er, she belatedly realized that Li Lao Tai's face was as black as ink...
Wu Cuihua suddenly remembered the taboo in her family and panicked.
Before she could even try to salvage the situation, Old Lady Li smashed the porridge bowl with a crash, sending scalding hot porridge splattering everywhere.
One of the lumps landed right on Jiayin's exposed arm, making her flinch in pain.
But Old Mrs. Li was clearly in a bad mood, and Jiayin held back and didn't say anything.
"You heartless bastard!"
Fearing that seeing Wu Cuihua would make Li Laotai even angrier, Li Lao Er grabbed her arm and dragged her back to the side room to teach her a lesson.
With his two sons still outside, Li Lao Er couldn't beat his wife until she was bruised and swollen, so he found a washboard and made Wu Cuihua kneel with half a copper basin of water on it.
Wu Cuihua looked miserable as she listened to her husband's scolding. Her knees felt numb and itchy, as if countless ants were crawling on them.
In less than half an hour, she started crying and begged for mercy in a low voice.
"Second brother, I know I was wrong, I will never talk nonsense again."
Li Lao Er completely ignored her, saying, "You can get up when Mother has calmed down."
Wu Cuihua started sobbing and struggled to get up, but Li Lao Er raised the ruler in his hand, and she could only kneel obediently.
They had hoped their son would come to plead for them, but no one came to see them even late into the night…
Hearing the reprimands coming from the side room, everyone cautiously glanced at Old Lady Li's expression and dared not pick up their bowls again.
Jiayin twisted her little head, looking around. Seeing that everyone in her family wanted to know the reason, she became even more curious.
So her uncle, who had never shown his face, was a taboo subject, something that couldn't even be mentioned?
Jiayin was eager to know her uncle's story, but she couldn't speak, so she could only raise her hand to touch Grandma Li's face and coax her with babbling words.
Grandma Li couldn't eat, so she simply carried her granddaughter back into the house, leaving everyone at the table looking like huddled quails.
As soon as Grandma Li put her granddaughter on the kang (a heated brick bed), she noticed a bright red patch on the granddaughter's forearm.
She quickly went over to check and felt a still-warm splatter of porridge on her sleeve, immediately realizing that her granddaughter had been burned.
But the child didn't cry at all just now. Could it be that she scared him?
Grandma Li was filled with regret and heartache. How could she have forgotten that her granddaughter was in her arms and smashed the porridge bowl?
She quickly picked up her granddaughter, raised her little arms, and kissed and blew on them.
"Is Fu Niu'er in pain? It's all Grandma's fault. Grandma shouldn't have lost her temper. Did she scare our Fu Niu'er...?"
Jiayin couldn't say it hurt, she couldn't say it anyway, she could only respond with a giggle, hoping the old lady would feel less guilty.
Seeing her granddaughter's wide eyes, she reached out and touched her face as if to comfort her.
Grandma Li felt increasingly distressed, and finally she hugged her granddaughter and cried.
Jiayin was held upright in Grandma Li's arms, her head resting on her shoulder, and she could truly feel her grandmother's trembling body.
Hearing the suppressed sobs again, her heart ached terribly.
Grandma has always been the backbone of the Li family, the head of the household, and she is decisive and extremely strong in her words and deeds.
He led a dozen or so people on their escape from famine, and never shed a tear, no matter how difficult the journey.
But now she's crying so hard...
She tried to rub her little face against her grandmother's, and even tried to reach out and wipe away her tears.
Unfortunately, her little hands weren't quite obedient yet, and in the end, it turned into a slap in the face...
Ever since Wu Cuihua was taught a lesson by Li Lao Er that day, she has been limping for more than ten days and has never dared to say a word at home again.
They were afraid that if Old Lady Li got upset, she would prevent her son from going to school.
That day, Li Laosi went hunting in the mountains early in the morning.
But when he still hadn't returned by noon, Old Lady Li worried that something had happened, so she asked her second son to go out and meet him.
As soon as Li Lao Er arrived at the courtyard gate, he was startled. A man covered in blood rushed in, carrying a deer on his shoulder!
He was about to call for help when he took a closer look and realized that the man was none other than Li Laosi!
"Qiusheng? What happened to you? Are you injured?"
For a moment, Li Lao Er didn't know whether to look at Li Lao Si or the deer.
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