Ye Wenxue was naturally unaware that Su Jiu had almost lost her mind from anger, nor did she care.
She held her little Yuanyuan in the kitchen, watching the wood ear mushrooms and minced meat being stir-fried in the pot, smelling the slightly pungent aroma, and felt inexplicably hungry.
The two squatted in the kitchen tending the fire, while Dazhuang, quite maturely, held the spatula and stir-fried the vegetables.
A bitter medicinal broth was simmering on the stove next to them.
Upon seeing Ye Wenxue and Yuanyuan enter, Dazhuang took a moment to ask, "Mom, are you hungry? We'll be eating soon."
Ye Wenxue hummed in agreement and picked up a pair of chopsticks: "Let me taste it, hmm... I need to add some salt."
Yuanyuan puffed out her little face and kept reaching for the chopsticks that had picked up food.
Ye Wenxue stepped aside, put down her chopsticks, and instructed Dazhuang: "Remember to cook an egg custard for Yuanyuan, add some chopped green onions for extra flavor."
Dazhuang agreed, continuing to stir-fry the vegetables, and said:
"Mother, Mr. Su said that Uncle Xu's poison has been almost completely removed, and now we can treat his eyes."
Treating eye diseases is far more complex than treating poisoning, and it would take at least a month.
Ye Wenxue responded with an "Mmm": "Su's character is hard to judge, but his medical skills are truly excellent."
Su Jiu, who had just stormed outside, ready to cause trouble, was speechless.
Ye Wenxue is quite adept at giving a slap on the wrist and then offering a treat.
But who can blame him for being so broad-minded and kind-hearted? It's just being tricked into eavesdropping all the time; it happens all the time, so why get angry?
The three of them continued in the kitchen.
They added firewood to both stoves and eagerly asked, "Mother, can I not learn to read from Mr. Su?"
Ye Wenxue sat down at the table away from the stove: "What's wrong? Did he give you a hard time?"
Judging from her tone, Su Jiu, who was outside the door, knew that if Shuangshuang had said "yes," Ye Wenxue would probably have come to warn him.
They put down the firewood, their heads hanging low: "He asked me to write four large characters every day, but I... I also have to practice horse stance and martial arts on weekdays, so I really can't write that many."
Ye Wenxue and Su Jiu: "..."
You're really something.
Ye Wenxue flatly refused: "No, Su Jiu is in charge of the literacy matter. I cannot interfere."
Besides, Shuangshuang's reason is really a bit excessive.
Both of them immediately lowered their heads and stopped talking.
Ye Wenxue advised her, "Look, Siwang didn't say anything. He's younger than you, but he still has to write four pages."
"He didn't just not say anything, he clearly didn't write anything. He always managed to get away with it by acting cute," Shuangshuang muttered softly.
As soon as Dazhuang heard what she said, he knew something was wrong. He glanced at Ye Wenxue, and even Yuanyuan, who was not good at reading people's expressions, was frightened by Ye Wenxue's expression.
Dazhuang quickly served the dishes and put them on the table, explaining a few words for Siwang:
“He was still young, and he lacked energy when writing, and his hands would easily hurt, so Mr. Su allowed him to submit his larger characters later.”
Ye Wenxue smiled and asked, "He's a few days late in submitting his letter?"
Dazhuang stammered and remained silent for a long time.
Ye Wenxue shoved Yuanyuan into his arms and went out of the kitchen to drag Su Jiu away.
Su Jiu reacted too slowly and was caught red-handed.
“How about,” Su Jiu glanced at Ye Wenxue’s expression, “I’d like to reduce his workload? Four and a half years old… is a bit young.”
However, he started learning to identify herbs, recognize acupoints, and memorize meridian charts from his father when he was three years old... Ye Wenxue's fourth child is a bit spoiled.
Ye Wenxue slowly shook her head: "Reduce his workload a bit. He can write two pages a day, but he has to hand them in on time."
Su Jiu had no objections and agreed, secretly adding two more pages of homework for Shuangshuang.
It's really going too far that she doesn't like to study at such a young age and even has her own mother intimidating her husband!
Da Zhuang couldn't stop her, so he could only watch helplessly as Ye Wenxue dragged Si Wang to plant and water the crops every day.
After finishing his work, Siwang still had to make up for the large characters he hadn't submitted earlier, as well as the new characters he had learned that day. Life was miserable for him.
Shuangshuang wasn't much better off. She already had a lot of work to do every day, and she would tie sandbags to her body and practice martial arts stances, and her eyes would get dizzy from writing so much.
The only one who was somewhat better off, Sanyuan, had learned quite a few characters, but Su Jiu grabbed him to identify herbs and had to memorize the medicinal properties and effects of each herb.
He didn't have time to run around with Siwang anymore; he fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.
Time flies in the mountains, and soon the first snowfall stopped.
Since the temperature plummeted, it has been snowing continuously, day and night, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but it has never stopped.
When Dazhuang saw that the snow had stopped in the morning, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief, cheered a few times, and then ran to fetch water to cook.
Seeing that the food was ready and her younger siblings were still asleep, she happily ran off to water the fields.
After the seeds were planted, the charcoal kiln was kept burning every day, making it even warmer than a room with a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed).
Dazhuang came in carrying a wooden bucket and immediately saw Ye Wenxue weeding and the knee-high crops in the dim firelight.
When Ye Wenxue saw him come in, she took out a cucumber from her spatial storage, washed it in a bucket of water, and handed it to Dazhuang's mouth: "It's crispy, eat it."
Da Zhuang glanced at the unripe crops around the charcoal kiln: "..."
Dazhuang understands that the most important thing in life is not to keep asking questions until you get to the bottom of things.
For example, the water that mysteriously appeared in the water bag when fleeing famine, the goose that seemed to have a special sense of direction, and the cucumber in the mother's hand.
He hesitated before taking it, then took a bite, and his eyes immediately lit up.
These cucumbers are so juicy, sweet, and crisp.
Dazhuang swallowed a mouthful and then stopped eating, intending to leave it for Shuangshuang and the others.
Ye Wenxue patted his head: "Would your mother mistreat them?"
Da Zhuang pretended to hesitate and quickly finished the cucumber before Ye Wenxue could glare at him.
The two watered the vegetable garden.
After several days of digging, the charcoal kiln, which was only the size of two vegetable plots, has been expanded considerably, now being three plots in size.
I planted some sweet potatoes and peppers, and with my supernatural abilities, they will mature quickly.
The soil left in the cave was not very good, and even with charcoal to keep the temperature, only half of the seeds germinated and grew, and the rest were wasted.
After watering, Ye Wenxue straightened up, her eyes aching from the medicine, and complained:
"I don't think Su's medicine is working. I've been drinking it for so many days and I'm still not feeling better."
Da Zhuang didn't understand the meaning behind her words and said seriously, "Mr. Su said that this medicine cannot be stopped and that I need to drink it for a longer period of time to gradually regulate my body."
Ye Wenxue was used to modern, fast-acting medicines and had little patience, but since Dazhuang persuaded her, she didn't say much.
"Alright, I'll drink for a while longer."
The two left the charcoal kiln and gazed at the empty valley after the heavy snow. They both sighed softly, "I wonder how Zhixing is doing in the prefectural city."
Longxing Prefecture City
Zhixing encountered a crisis.
The charcoal brought along wasn't much; if they really started selling it, it would be sold out in ten days to half a month.
He decided to buy up scattered charcoal like the people in the small town at the foot of the mountain, but it was still very difficult at the beginning.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
