Ke Meiyu went out to find a basin of water to dilute the spiritual spring water.
She had just wandered into the kitchen when Grandma Ke stuffed a basket of wild eggs and two pounds of wild boar meat into her hands.
"Yu Bao'er, are you busy? If you're not, help Grandma deliver this basket of wild eggs and wild boar meat to your Uncle Qingxi's house. Yunyue is getting engaged today, and we're busy cooking for the workers. Only your grandpa has time to go and sit at the banquet."
Ke Meiyu said "oh," holding the wild eggs, and saw her nephews looking at her expectantly.
She smiled and said, "Come on, let's go and soak up some of the festive spirit together."
The children cheered. Aunt Yu was the most powerful person in the family; they didn't need to ask their parents for permission to speak to her.
Ke Meiyu, remembering her disastrous grades and looking at her nephews who only knew how to play around every day, asked seriously, "Did you have your midterms?"
The cheerful children were put on pause, their laughter becoming extremely unnatural.
"You've already taken the exam? How did it go?" Ke Meiyu was all too familiar with the expressions of underachievers, so she didn't need them to speak before continuing to ask.
The children pushed and shoved each other, none of them having the courage to announce their grades.
"I, Aunt Yu, ranked tenth in the class this time," the student with the best grades stepped forward and whispered.
"Hmm, it's alright," Ke Meiyu nodded.
The remaining children also spoke about their grades and rankings with some hesitation, and they seemed to be much better than she had imagined.
Why are the Ke family children considered stupid compared to the three mischievous children from the Yu family?
“Aunt Yu,” a little girl said dejectedly, “our primary school is the worst in the county. Very few students can go to junior high school in the township.”
“Aunt Yu, the junior high school in the village isn’t very good either, so not many students go to high school in town. Basically, the high school places in town are taken up by a few junior high schools in town.”
In other words, even with their best efforts, they can only go as far as junior high school graduation.
"What are your teachers' educational backgrounds?" Ke Meiyu couldn't help but ask.
“Our school pays low salaries, and the teachers we hire all have only primary school education. The only one with a junior high school education is the principal.”
Primary school education?
If the teachers themselves haven't even mastered the material, how can they teach their students well?
Ke Meiyu suddenly realized that she wasn't so bad at studying; at least she managed to get into an ordinary second-tier university. It's just that in the elite circles where everyone has one-on-one tutoring from famous teachers and is starting their education from a young age, she's not quite up to par.
"What about the high school teachers in town?"
"High school diplomas are enough; even college graduates don't stay in our small town."
Ke Meiyu patted her chest with great ambition, "From now on, you will study with your aunt and uncle, and I guarantee you will go to high school in town and even college!"
College students in the 1980s were the pillars of the nation.
The children couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh. How could Aunt Yu, who hadn't even mastered pinyin, teach them?
They listened, but still kept it in mind.
"Elementary school stuff is too easy. Whoever gets a perfect score, Auntie will reward you with a pheasant, how about that? If you get into junior high, a roe deer! If you get into high school, a wild boar!"
They were all meat, and each one was bigger than the last.
The children's mouths watered just thinking about it. "Auntie, are you serious?"
"Of course! When have I ever gone back on my word? Or are you questioning my status as a lucky charm?" she asked mysteriously in a low voice.
They shook their heads repeatedly, showing absolutely no doubt.
Given Aunt Yu's lazy and listless appearance, the fact that she could lead them to sweep through the reed marshes and catch all the rats in the fields was nothing short of a blessing. They really couldn't find any other reason for this.
Furthermore, although Aunt Yu is unreliable, she always keeps her word.
Moreover, Aunt Yu kindly encouraged them to study, so no matter what, they had to study hard so they wouldn't have any regrets.
"Alright, now let's recite some ancient poems together," Ke Meiyu said with a smile, "Ode to the Goose, by Luo Binwang of the Tang Dynasty..."
The children reluctantly accompanied Aunt Yu as she recited ancient poems that even three-year-olds could recite.
In the time it takes to read two poems, they arrived at the village chief's house.
"Seventh Sister is here? Oh, so many little tails! Come in and have some candy," the village chief's wife greeted them with a smile.
Ke Yunyue got engaged to Huang Fangbin, an educated youth. Because it was inconvenient for the groom's parents to come, the banquet was attended by the bride's close relatives and four other people from the educated youth community.
Ke Meiyu nodded with a smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes as she swept over everyone.
Huang Fangbin wasn't very tall. He wore a white shirt and blue pants, his hair was parted to the side, and he wore round-framed thick glasses on his nose. He was fair-skinned and had a somewhat pedantic, intellectual air about him.
When Ke Meiyu looked over, he slightly raised his chin and glanced at her sideways. His narcissistic and pretentious arrogance was simply offensive.
Li Shuisheng, who was on good terms with Huang Fangbin, was dark-skinned and strong. He seemed honest, simple, and straightforward, but in reality, he was the strategist who harbored treachery and liked to hide behind Huang Fangbin and come up with crooked ideas.
Ke Meiyu could get a pretty good sense of a person's character at a glance.
Qin Yuanjiu is now the legal man on her marriage certificate, so she also has a responsibility to seek some interest for the fact that he was tricked into almost drowning!
The village chief's family and the Ke family were very close. Ke Qingxi greatly admired Grandpa Ke and liked to consult him on many important village matters. It could be said that the two families were almost as close as one.
The younger generation's playful bickering does not affect the adults' interactions at all.
The village chief's wife pulled Ke Meiyu along, saying, "Your uncle just took your brother Yuanyuan up the mountain the other day and found a huge wild beehive. I'll cut some for you to take back later, and your grandma can make you some water to drink."
"Auntie," Ke Meiyu whispered in her ear, "How could you and Uncle really agree to Yunyue marrying Comrade Huang? Comrade Huang is from the provincial capital. If you give him a worker-peasant-soldier college student quota, wouldn't that be letting him go home?"
"Even if Yunyue goes back to the past, do you think she can fight against that whole family?"
The village chief's wife sighed, "What can your uncle and I do? She's refusing to eat or drink and making a scene, and..."
"Anyway, we have no choice but to agree. We've done everything we can. Let's just leave it at that. Yue'er has always been stubborn. She won't turn back even if she hits a wall."
Moreover, the only thing she and the village chief were thankful for was that Yunyue didn't marry Qin Yuanjiu, who lived in a cowshed.
“Xiao Huang came from here as an educated youth. If he has done anything to wrong Yue’er, your uncle and I will go directly to his school and his work unit! We are country people, but we are not afraid of them.”
Ke Meiyu knew this would be the outcome of her persuasion, so she wasn't disappointed.
She had taken the children back before Ke Yunyue came out.
The village chief's family is the village chief's family, and Huang Fangbin is Huang Fangbin. If this person tries anything wicked again, she will make him pay for his crimes in blood! The same goes for Li Shuisheng.
On the way back, Ke Meiyu led the children in reciting two more poems.
When she got home, she said a few words to the old lady and Ke's mother, gave the wild honey to the old lady, and then carried the bucket into the house. She saw that the bowl on the table was empty!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
