Not only Su Yun'er and Old Lady Chen, but even the children in the house were disturbed by the sudden noise and tilted their heads to look over.
"Stop looking at it, focus on your own test. Pay attention to exam discipline." Su Yun'er tapped the door with the wooden stick in her hand.
The young test takers immediately shrank back into their chairs and continued to work on their papers.
Over there, Old Mrs. Chen was already gesturing for the newcomers to keep their voices down.
The visitor was Chunlai's wife from the village, whom Su Yun'er had to address as "sister-in-law" according to seniority.
"The children are taking exams. Don't disturb them. Come on, Chunlai's wife, let's sit inside and talk."
Grandma Chen smiled and invited Chunlai's daughter-in-law into the house to talk, but Chunlai's daughter-in-law dodged Grandma Chen's hand, clearly not wanting to go in. Her gaze was fixed on Su Yun'er, indicating that she had something to say to Su Yun'er.
"Sister Chunlai, is something the matter?" Su Yun'er asked politely.
"Oh my, you're such a clever wife, you figured it out right away. I'm here today because I really have something to discuss." As she spoke, she reached out to the side, only to find nothing.
"Huh? Where's Snowball?"
Xuewa is Chunlai's wife's son, a year younger than Xiaoshu and the others. He is usually clever, mischievous, and naughty, a troublesome child for the villagers.
As she asked the question, a small head popped out from outside the Chen family courtyard; it was Xuewa.
"What are you hiding there for? Come here quickly!" Chunlai's wife called to her child.
But Xuewa peeked out, looking a little shy and reluctant at his mother's greeting.
"Mom, I don't want to go to school."
The child's words revealed the purpose of Chunlai's daughter-in-law's visit today.
Su Yun'er and Old Lady Chen exchanged a knowing glance but said nothing.
But Chunlai's wife became anxious.
She took a few quick steps, grabbed Xuewa by the ear, and dragged her to Su Yun'er's side.
"You silly child, what nonsense are you talking about? Oh, Shanhe's wife, don't take it seriously. This child keeps saying he wants to go to school at home, but when he's in front of you, he gets embarrassed. Hahaha."
Snowball rubbed her reddened ear, pouting unhappily: "When did I say I wanted to go to school? I never said that!"
Xuewa has a childlike temper; she speaks her mind without lowering her voice, and the other children doing their tests in the room all heard her.
The boys pressed their faces against the window, laughing as they watched Snowman's ears, which had been twisted bright red.
"Xuewa, so this is how you are in front of your mother? You were bragging before!" Lin Xiaolan laughed.
Su Yun'er turned around and gave the children a sharp look, which immediately frightened them into shrinking back.
Su Yun'er then returned to the house and looked around at the group.
The children have already buried themselves in their worksheets again, as if they weren't the ones who were just watching the commotion.
"I'll reiterate the exam rules: no whispering, no asking for answers, no looking at your books, and no loud noises. The people and things outside are none of your business. You are taking an exam, so don't take this lightly!"
Su Yun'er deliberately adopted the serious attitude of a proctor, her gaze sharp. Lin Xiaolan looked up and glanced over, immediately lowering her head in fright, her hand trembling as she wrote.
"Considering that today is the first exam, we'll let the previous violation go for now. But if you do it again, you'll get ten slaps on the hand for each violation!"
The study was completely silent; the children were so frightened they didn't dare to breathe.
The snowman outside was also frightened.
Xuewa listened to Su Yun'er's reprimand in a daze, and when she heard the words "ten slaps on the hands," she trembled even more.
He watched with his mouth slightly open as Su Yun'er walked out again, still carrying the imposing aura of a proctor.
Suddenly, Xuewa started crying: "Mother, Mother, I don't want to study! Studying means getting my hands slapped! I don't want to study! I don't want my hands slapped!"
Not to mention Xuewa, even Chunlai's wife was frightened. However, unlike Xuewa's fear, Chunlai's wife believed even more the people's saying that "Su Yun'er can teach".
Because they had heard since childhood that the teachers in academies and schools were very strict, and that teachers who were not strict could not teach.
At this moment, isn't Su Yun'er just a very strict teacher?
"Silly child, do you know how precious it is to study? What other village has the same opportunities as us? You don't even know how to cherish it!" Chunlai pressed down on Xuewa, who was twisting and turning all over the place, trying to make him behave and quiet down so he could quickly become an apprentice.
But Snowball just cried even louder.
"Oh dear, what's going on here?"
Another figure approached from outside the courtyard wall.
"Tonghua, you've come too?" Old Mrs. Chen forced a smile.
Su Yun'er touched her nose: "The house is so lively today!"
Tonghua, another sister-in-law of Su Yun'er.
When Tonghua entered the courtyard, Su Yuer noticed that she was also leading a child, a girl with pigtails—Meiya'er.
"Aunt Chen, Shanhe's wife, Chunlai's sister-in-law, why are you all standing and talking? Why is Xuewa crying so hard?" Tonghua walked in with a smile, took out a piece of candy from her pocket and stuffed it into Xuewa's hand. Su Yun'er recognized it as the peanut candy she had distributed yesterday.
As Chunlai's wife watched Tonghua approach with her daughter, she suddenly sneered and said, "Tonghua, why do you like to eat other people's leftovers so much? Are you so eager to imitate others? I just brought the child to Shanhe's house for a visit, and you rushed over here too. What do you mean by that?"
Outside, the women glared at each other. Inside, apart from Xiaocao, the boys all pricked up their ears, listening to the commotion outside.
However, Su Yun'er had specially arranged for the walls and windows of this room to be thickened, which greatly improved the sound insulation. With the doors and windows closed, it was difficult to hear any noises outside.
Suddenly, someone outside shouted.
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