Zhao San and Liu Shi had already gotten to this point, but Zhao Er Gou just stood by and watched coldly.
Zhao Tingzhang figured this was the best possible outcome. Zhao San and his wife were always arguing, year after year, making the village never peaceful.
He gritted his teeth and made up his mind.
Today, he'd rather tear down ten temples than let this marriage fall apart.
Few people in the village were literate, so they didn't know how to write the divorce papers. In the end, Chief Zhao had no choice but to have someone call over Zhao Yan, the only literate person in the village.
Zhao Yan was tall and thin, with a delicate and frail appearance, and he certainly had the air of a scholar.
He brought over a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and as Zhao Tingzhang spoke, he wrote down every word he was told.
"Tsk tsk... This kind of separation is a rare thing in our surrounding villages!" Sister Yulan sighed softly in He Tiantian's ear.
He Tiantian is a modern person, and she finds divorce to be very common and not unacceptable.
"Instead of enduring this in silence, it's better to separate sooner rather than later," He Tiantian advised.
"But...but what about a woman's reputation! People will probably gossip about her behind her back." Sister-in-law Yulan suddenly felt sorry for Liu. If this happened to her, she wouldn't want to live anymore.
He Tiantian looked at Sister-in-law Yulan with pity and said, "The one who should be talking behind her back is Zhao San. After all, he was the one who seduced women outside. He was the one who betrayed her first. What does it have to do with Liu Shi?"
These words startled Sister-in-law Yulan; He Tiantian's words completely overturned her previous understanding.
But she actually thought that what Maruko-chan said was right...
In front of many people, Zhao San and Liu Shi pressed their fingerprints on the divorce agreement, which was made in duplicate.
After packing his things, Zhao Dagou came out of the house. Seeing his younger brother's indifferent expression, he asked, "Ergou, are you going with Mother or staying?"
“I’m telling you beforehand, you can’t live like this if you stay with me and your mother. We have no house to live in, and we can’t even get enough to eat.”
After hearing what Zhao Dagou said, Zhao Ergou quickly got up and hid behind Zhao San.
He firmly said, "I'm not going. I want to stay with my father."
"what ever!"
Zhao Dagou took Liu Shi away on New Year's Eve. Fortunately, it didn't snow, otherwise the two of them would have looked even more destitute.
Zhao, the pavilion chief, quickly told everyone to disperse. They'd already seen the joke, so why were they all still gathered around?
Widow Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to leave, He Tiantian called her back.
"Zhang Chunhua, stop right there."
Widow Zhang's back stiffened, and she froze on the spot.
He Tiantian was holding a bag of pastries, which she had asked Liu Yonghe to buy in town yesterday. She had just asked Zhao Denglong to go back and retrieve them.
He Tiantian walked up to Widow Zhang and stuffed the bag of pastries into her arms.
“I, He Tiantian, have never liked owing people anything. I ate a bag of your pastries the other day, so I specially bought some to return the favor today.”
Widow Zhang thought something serious had happened, but when she heard He Tiantian say that, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hehe, Maruko's mom is too kind. It's just that I bought some food for the kids during the New Year, it's nothing."
He Tiantian looked at her with amusement and sighed unintentionally, "Sigh, do you think Liu knows who the woman who is having an affair with Zhao San is?"
The words Liu said before leaving left half the villagers guessing.
He Tiantian wasn't familiar with those people, and besides, her reputation had been almost completely ruined by Old Lady Zhao. So many people suspected it was her.
Being caught in the crossfire for no reason, He Tiantian naturally couldn't suppress her anger.
“There are no secrets in this world. The village is only so big. Some things will be known by everyone sooner or later,” He Tiantian said through gritted teeth.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Widow Zhang felt very guilty and quickly ran away with the bag of pastries in her arms.
The village returned to its usual tranquility. In the dilapidated temple, Sister Yulan moved a stool and began to embroider cross-stitch.
He Tiantian took a bamboo basket and started picking beans, which she had asked Liu Yonghe to buy from the tofu shop in town.
The bag of beans was half full; some beans were greenish, and some were half-eaten by insects. Even so, this was still the best quality.
He Tiantian wants to plant beans next year. In order to improve the survival rate of bean seedlings, she has to pick out the good quality, round and plump beans one by one.
Use these beans as seeds.
In ancient times, there were no pesticides, and pests were rampant. Many crop yields were reduced due to pests.
He Tiantian remembers that beans are most susceptible to pests. The bean worms were big, green, and looked both cute and creepy.
She wasn't sure if she could grow them successfully, but she bought only a small amount, so she figured she could give it a try.
She didn't own any land; it was Sister Yulan's family that had a total of ten mu of land, and they promised to leave her two mu of land to grow beans next spring.
Behind the dilapidated temple is a piece of wasteland, which He Tiantian plans to develop into a vegetable garden if possible.
Both of them were busy with their work, occasionally chatting about everyday things.
The children had long since gone off to play somewhere, but since Liu Yulan and Liu Shuixian arrived, Zhao Denglong and Zhao Wanzi have become much more cheerful.
The four children were about the same age, and they ran together and disappeared from sight.
He Tiantian is no longer as worried as before; with so many children together, nothing bad will happen.
However, the children are getting older, and if they don't start studying now, it might be too late.
Thinking of this, He Tiantian asked, "Sister-in-law, is the nearest academy in town? Or is there a school or something nearby, even in a nearby village?"
Hearing this, Yulan's mother asked curiously, "What's wrong? You're not thinking of sending your two children to school, are you?"
He Tiantian nodded. She felt very anxious every time she thought about her child's schooling.
Modern children start going to kindergarten at the age of three, and there is early education before going to kindergarten. But her children, Lantern and Maruko, are eight years old and don't even know a single character.
He Tiantian always felt that it was too late, too late, and she was afraid of delaying the children's studies.
Before, when no one was home, she could secretly teach some children. But ever since Sister-in-law Yulan and her two children moved in, He Tiantian dared not teach anymore.
After all, the original owner of this body was illiterate. She was also too embarrassed to do anything too conspicuous, lest she arouse suspicion.
"My God..." Sister-in-law Yulan was shocked. "Wanzi's mother, your idea is too unexpected. I've never heard of any family in Changfeng Village sending their daughters to school. Even if there were, they would send their sons first."
“Sigh… I don’t have a son, and besides, sons and daughters are the same to me,” He Tiantian explained.
"Today I saw Zhao Yan, the son of Aunt Zhao, and he looked so much like a scholar. I was so envious. So I thought I'd send Lantern Dumplings to study too."
[Author's Note]: Dear readers, please leave a comment! Let the author see your contributions. Thank you so much!
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