Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 247: Not So Easy to Find a Partner

"Aunt, I’ve finished my homework."

Qin Jiu put down the pen and turned to ask Yi Chichi, who was diligently working at the embroidery frame, "Should I check it now?"

"Just leave it."

Yi Chichi didn’t even look up; she was too busy at the moment, intending to finish embroidering the panda’s ear first.

"Take a half-hour break, and then practice calligraphy."

"...Alright."

He looked rather reluctant.

Yi Chichi raised her eyes and looked over, "You don’t want to practice?"

"The break is too short."

No other kid was like him – at school, he was entrusted by the teacher with the important task of managing more than ten classmates who were older than him.

Back home, not only did Grandmaster Song assign him homework, but his aunt was also relentlessly strict about his studies.

She assigned him critical thinking exercises, oral training courses, and some advanced math problems and calligraphy practice; he was really busy.

Yi Chichi curiously asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Was half an hour’s break really short?

Not at all. Once he finished today’s calligraphy task, he could be done for the day.

Then he could play to his heart’s content.

However, Qin Jiu had a different idea. He pursed his lips and cautiously said, "Aunt, I’ve made plans with Dun Dun and the others to have a snowball fight and build snowmen."

Yi Chichi peeked out the window. The cold wind was howling, and snowflakes were swirling. Going out to play in such weather...

Seeing Qin Jiu’s eager expression, she smiled and nodded, "Go ahead, and remember to dress warmly."

"Yay!"

Qin Jiu cheered, grabbing the warm cotton jacket and pants from the bed to put on. Wen’s mother turned around and saw he was going to put on his shoes, and quickly stopped him, "Xiao Jiu, wait."

"What’s up, grandma?"

"Put these on."

Wen’s mother pulled out a pair of woolen socks from the small basket beside the sewing machine.

The thick woolen socks looked very warm.

Qin Jiu wiggled his toes, thanked grandma, took the woolen socks, put them on, and then put on his shoes. He dashed towards the door, as excited as an untethered colt.

Wen’s mother got up and followed him, while Yi Chichi was left puzzled.

Why was grandma going? Qin Jiu was going out to play in the snow and have a snowball fight; what was she going for?

Upon asking, she found out that she was going to cook meat.

Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up, "Braised pork?"

"Stewed pork chunks."

Wen’s mother looked at her, "Want some?"

"Yes!"

Stewed pork chunks were delicious too. As a traditional local delicacy of Xuzhou, the dish was famous for being rich but not greasy, full of flavor.

It could be paired with kelp knots, tiger-skin eggs, and some small greens as side dishes, and with rice, the taste was absolutely divine.

"Mom, make a few tiger-skin eggs and put in some cabbage leaves."

"And no kelp?"

Wen Shi had sent back a lot of kelp, as well as seaweed, dried shrimp, small dried fish, and the like.

All of those could be added in.

"Either way, it doesn’t matter."

Yi Chichi wasn’t a big fan of kelp; she felt it was something that could go either way.

Wen’s mother nodded, "I’ll decide."

While speaking, she went out the door. Yi Chichi heard her reminding Qin Jiu to play nearby and not to wander too far.

Qin Jiu’s indistinct response came, and then there was silence outside.

Seeing this, Yi Chichi no longer paid attention to the happenings outside. She instead pulled out a piece of silk thread, prepared it, and re-entered her intensive work mode.

Outside, snowflakes danced. Inside, needle and thread flew. On the once-blank silk, the outline of a black ear appeared as needle and thread wove through.

The outline was gradually being filled in.

Just then, the cotton door curtain was lifted, letting a biting cold sensation pour in. Yi Chichi was shocked out of her deep focus and, looking up, thought it was Wen’s mother coming in. She was just about to call out "Mom," but when she saw who it was, she swallowed her words and changed it to —

"Why are you here at this time?"

"Bringing shoes."

Wang Nan took big strides over and handed her the bundle.

Yi Chichi didn’t rush to take it, but rather, invited her to sit, intending to get up and pour her a cup of hot water to warm up. Wen’s mother came with a steaming cup.

"Have some brown sugar water to warm up."

She handed the cup to Wang Nan and, after she took it with both hands, smiled, "You two have a chat, I’ll be busy."

"Okay, Auntie, thank you."

Wang Nan politely thanked and watched Wen’s mother leave. She cradled the cup, sipping the sweet brown sugar water, sighed with satisfaction, and said, "Chichi, your mother-in-law is so generous."

"Besides being generous, my mother-in-law is also nice, beautiful, and elegant."

When it came to praising her mother-in-law, Yi Chichi wasn’t reluctant at all. Her wisest decision was not following Wen Shi after marriage like a military spouse but deciding to stay in Kao Shan Village.

Wen’s mother was truly wonderful, cultured, reasonable, with open-minded beliefs, not traditional, not pushing for grandchildren, and diligently offering to wash her underwear and socks.

Because she insisted on washing her own underwear and socks, otherwise she really wouldn’t have to touch water except for brushing her teeth and washing her face.

Even sweeping the floor with a broom, they worried it would roughen her hands and interfere with her embroidery.

If she had lived in a military family district, her life might not be as comfortable as it was now.

Seeing the content smile on her face, Wang Nan was somewhat envious, "Seeing how comfortable you are, it makes me want to get married too."

Yi Chichi replied, "??? You have a partner?"

"No."

"Find a partner first, then talk about marriage."

Wang Nan’s lips twitched. Finding a partner wasn’t that easy.

However —

"What do you think about Old Bai?!"

Yi Chichi’s expression turned serious, "You’re interested in Bai Chen?"

Wang Nan hesitated a bit, "It’s not that I’m interested in Old Bai; it’s that Old Bai is interested in me."

With that, she detailed the situation.

In fact, it wasn’t complicated. In a few words, after the harvest season, Bai Chen received a letter from home asking for money.

It said his second brother was getting married, and the woman’s family required three kinds of turnable items and one soundable item, plus a dowry of two hundred yuan.

His second brother was determined to marry the girl, claiming that if he couldn’t, he’d rather die.

One would think that parents with many children wouldn’t be threatened, after all, even if one died, several others remained. But Bai Chen’s second brother had a sweet mouth and closely resembled their mother, capturing Bai Chen’s mother’s heart completely, truly her beloved apple of the eye.

For the sake of her cherished second son, Bai Chen’s mother pressured the whole family to think of a solution together.

However, coming up with a good solution was difficult. The entire family combined only managed to piece together a bicycle and a watch, not knowing where to find a sewing machine and a radio, and the two-hundred-yuan dowry was equally elusive.

Thus, the often-forgotten Bai Chen, as if he didn’t even exist to the Bai Family, was suddenly remembered.

The Bai Family sent a letter, asking Bai Chen to find a way to pool together two hundred yuan to send back, which was practically the same as asking him to die.

The Bai family had long broken Bai Chen’s heart. Although he no longer held any expectations for them, the sudden receipt of such a letter still left him saddened.

In the dead of night, he squatted by the toilet to smoke...

"Wait,"

Yi Chichi couldn’t help but interrupt Wang Nan, puzzled, "Why did Old Bai squat by the toilet to smoke?"

The Youth Corps Courtyard was big enough, they could squat anywhere, and that place was so smelly, the smoke couldn’t even smother it, wasn’t it hard on the nose.