Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 269: Not Even a Dog Would Learn This

Chapter 269: Chapter 269: Not Even a Dog Would Learn This

"That’s a fair point."

So, everyone stopped dwelling on the issue.

After a brief chat, Yi Chichi left the Youth Corps Courtyard. As she passed the medical room, she happened to see Uncle Yaozi coming out with a medical kit on his back, accompanied by a woman with an anxious expression.

"Uncle, making a house call?"

She had intended to call her Uncle Yaozi, but upon seeing her taking the initiative, he was pleased and instructed, "I’m heading over to Shangjia Ridge for a house call. I’ll probably be back in the evening. Remember to feed Da Li."

Yi Chichi nodded in agreement.

Then, Uncle Yaozi pushed his bicycle parked by the door and left with the woman.

After checking everything inside and out to see if there was anything she needed to do, she grabbed a shovel and went to the medicinal field to dig.

Now that the temperature has risen, the medicinal field should be prepared for planting herbs.

As she busily worked, Aunt Ma, with a pipe in her mouth, came over. Seeing her meticulously digging, she nodded appreciatively and said to Gui Xiang beside her, "Chichi is really getting better at working now."

"She only messes with the medicinal field."

Doesn’t do anything usually; they say her mother-in-law even washes her clothes.

Recalling the gossip of the old women, she approached Yi Chichi and, adopting a heartfelt conversation stance, started talking.

"Chichi, what do you do cooped up at home every day?"

"Work."

Yi Chichi continued to smash the clumps of soil, not even raising her head.

"What kind of work?"

"Earning money work."

Gui Xiang’s eyes lit up, "Assembling matchboxes?"

That couldn’t be it; the pay for assembling matchboxes was too low. She didn’t think much of it.

Seeing her stay silent, Gui Xiang figured it out.

"Doing embroidery?"

"Yeah."

They couldn’t earn that money, and Gui Xiang wasn’t envious, but—

"Chichi, what do you think of my Zhu Zhu?"

Yi Chichi hadn’t replied yet when Aunt Ma interjected, "Why, do you want Zhu Zhu to follow Chichi and learn embroidery?"

Gui Xiang, troubled by the topic, sighed, "What else can I do? You know, Zhu Zhu graduated from the county school, but there’s nowhere for her to go. I’m just thinking of finding her something to do."

Liu Zhu is 16 this year, a young girl, not quite an adult yet by later standards, but in this era, she could be working.

Supposedly, having a high school diploma was valued in this era, but Liu Zhu lacked connections, a network, and relationships.

The recruitment information in the county was beyond her reach, and by the time she knew, the positions were already filled.

Since the beginning of the year, she’s been running around the county and commune, trying to use connections to get into a factory.

The result? She spent quite a bit of money, but still didn’t find a job.

Now she’s at home doing nothing.

"Hasn’t she tried finding a teacher?"

Hearing Yi Chichi’s inquiry, Gui Xiang was stunned, "Why find a teacher?"

"Teachers generally have a few recommendations for factory positions."

Whether one can get in or not is uncertain, but it at least provides more opportunities than others.

"Is that really a thing?"

Gui Xiang stood tall suddenly, her eyes bright with surprise.

Yi Chichi nodded, "It’s true, but whether a teacher is willing to give a recommendation depends on the relationship between the parties."

With that, Gui Xiang’s face fell.

Seeing her expression change, Yi Chichi and Aunt Ma felt an unexpected bad feeling.

After asking, they found out that Liu Zhu was quite the character. If not having offended all the teachers at her school, she had offended most.

Aunt Ma couldn’t understand, "How did she end up offending so many teachers?"

"Wasn’t it because of the previous disturbances?"

Gui Xiang looked troubled, "You know how Old Nine was before, my Zhu Zhu followed along a few times."

Yi Chichi’s lips twitched a bit. She didn’t respect the teachers, but had relationships with them, albeit strained.

What’s there to hope for?

No hope at all. If she were the teacher, even if she had recommendation spots, she wouldn’t give them out.

Someone who lacks self-awareness and critical thinking, who just goes with the flow, would ruin both her reputation and her network if recommended and issues arose.

"Then there’s no hope."

She was blunt, "Let her find her own way, or have someone help see if there are any temporary jobs she could do."

After some thought, she added, "If worst comes to worst, let her take on assembling matchboxes at home, it’s better than doing nothing all day."

People can waste away when idle for too long.

Liu Zhu is still young, with a long future ahead.

Gui Xiang thought so too and agreed with Yi Chichi, but the key issue was that there was no shortage of people for assembling matchboxes.

"I’ve looked; the temporary jobs are all taken, and she can’t get into assembling matchboxes either."

As she spoke, she looked at Yi Chichi eagerly, "Why don’t you teach her?"

It’s not impossible.

If she has talent, she’d be happy to teach her.

After contemplating for a few seconds, Yi Chichi continued digging as she spoke, "How is her needlework?"

"...She hasn’t, hasn’t done it."

Aunt Ma looked shocked, "Don’t tell me she hasn’t even held a needle."

"She has held one."

As long as she’s held one, that’s good.

However, Gui Xiang’s words made Yi Chichi realize she had relaxed too soon.

"When she was threading a needle for her grandma."

Aunt Ma’s lips twitched, "How are you bringing up your daughter? Even Liu the Third’s family didn’t pamper Lanlan like this."

Although Lanlan also didn’t do much at home, that was because they had many sons.

As the only daughter of Liu the Third’s branch, with many siblings and doting parents, there really wasn’t much she needed to do.

Even so, Liu Lan had learned to cook, wash clothes, and make clothes under her mother’s supervision.

As the Third Grandpa would say, "You don’t have to do it; even if you get married, you don’t have to, since you have brothers and sisters-in-law to back you up. But you must know how."

The difference between not doing but knowing and not doing and not knowing is quite significant.

Gui Xiang laughed awkwardly, "It’s too late to talk about this now."

"It’s not too late to teach."

Yi Chichi didn’t agree, feeling that a 16-year-old girl, neither big nor small, was at the most beautiful age in her life, with limitless possibilities ahead.

The prerequisite is that parents can strictly guide her in a positive direction.

If she goes astray, that’s when it’s truly hopeless.

"Here’s what we can do, Auntie. Have her mend a couple of pieces of clothing and sew on a few buttons. Bring them to me to see."

Gui Xiang was delighted, "You’re willing to teach?"

"I need to see first."

Yi Chichi didn’t make any promises, emphasizing again, "Whether to teach or not will depend on that."

"Okay, okay, I’ll go have her do it now."

Being an impatient sort, she dashed off before she finished speaking.

As it turned out, Yi Chichi and Aunt Ma waited and waited but neither Liu Zhu brought anything nor did Gui Xiang come.

They learned two days later that Liu Zhu was unwilling to do it. She was fixated on getting into a factory, claiming needlework was a dead-end job, and her ideal job was to work at the union as a cadre.

Following Yi Chichi to learn embroidery was, in her words, something not even a dog would do.

Because of this, mother and daughter had an intense argument.

Yi Chichi heard about it from Liu Lan, and she was quite calm, "Not learning is fine."

She had no interest in guiding a disciple who couldn’t recognize her own reality and was overly ambitious.