Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 324: Passing On Experience

Zhang Xinsheng suddenly felt it hard to breathe, what’s this about it doesn’t matter whether he’s around or not.

"Am I your dad or not?"

He asked dissatisfied, and the two brothers nodded in unison, "Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re quite dispensable at home."

When it comes to being blunt, little Zhang Ming, the eldest of the Zhang family, leads the pack.

This kid really dares to speak his mind, and isn’t afraid of getting hit.

Zhang Xinsheng’s face darkened, and his hands began to itch, "I..."

"Let’s go!"

Seeing him clench his fists, Wen Shi, worried he might hit the kids, hooked him by the neck and dragged him away, "Let’s get some coconuts, there’s no need to get angry at kids, especially since they’re your own sons."

What’s wrong for a father to be teased by his son?

It’s not like he’s losing a piece of meat.

Zhang Xinsheng didn’t want to leave like this, but after being forcibly dragged away by Wen Shi for some distance, he finally regained his freedom and said angrily, "Those brats have no sense of respecting the elderly and caring for the young. If I don’t give them a good beating tonight, I won’t be able to sleep."

Wen Shi rolled his eyes dramatically, "Respecting the elderly and caring for the young requires you to care for the young first, and besides, the kids aren’t wrong. Whether you’re home or not makes no difference to them; they’re fine with just having their mom."

He continued earnestly, "Old Zhang, face the reality. Our profession indeed neglects our families. Whether it’s as children or as parents, we owe our parents and wives (and children)."

Implied meaning: You have no right to be angry.

Zhang Xinsheng took these words to heart.

Then, he felt even more heartbroken and deflated.

"ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh!"

He sighed deeply and said helplessly, "There’s no way around it, when I’m busy, I just can’t spare any attention for the family."

"So, when you’re at home, be nicer to your kids and wife."

As he spoke, Wen Shi puffed up his chest with a proud face, "Learn from me."

Yi Chichi, "..." This guy really seizes every opportunity to show off.

Zhang Xinsheng, sickened by him, turned to ask Yi Chichi, "Sister-in-law, how do you put up with Old Wen’s personality?"

"He’s quite good to me."

As a wife, Yi Chichi had to maintain her husband’s dignity. Slapping Wen Shi’s face was like slapping her own face, so she wouldn’t do such a stupid thing.

"I’m also good to my wife."

"How exactly?"

Wen Shi retorted, almost possessed by a spirit of sarcasm, "Have you been helping with the housework or cooking at home, or have you taken your wife and kids to the city for a stroll? None of those, and you still have the face to say morally ambiguous things."

"I have no money."

Zhang Xinsheng patted his pockets and pulled out twenty cents to show him, "This is my entire fortune. I can help with housework when I get back home, but taking them to the city is really not feasible."

He’s so poor that even the clinking of coins is loud, and he still managed to save these twenty cents from his cigarette money.

What city could he possibly afford? Even selling himself wouldn’t cover the cost of going to the city.

Wen Shi with a confused expression, "??? How much allowance does your wife give you each month?"

"Two yuan."

He said cheerfully, "That’s quite enough, after all, aside from smoking, I don’t have any other expenses."

True, in their line of work, as long as no one borrows money or tickets, they actually save quite a bit.

However, they all have families, and back home there are still parents, a wife, and kids to support. As their parents age, they need some care, and if a comrade has a hard time and you lend a bit, that tightens things up.

"Let’s get a few more coconuts back home, at least let your wife and Xiao Ming have a little culinary change."

"Sure thing."

Then, when the three of them arrived at their destination, they headed straight for the coconut trees.

Because they brought tools, the tall coconut trees were no longer a problem. Zhang Xinsheng’s height wasn’t enough, but it didn’t matter because Wen Shi was tall, and with a scythe fastened to a long pole, he would lift it up, and coconuts would fall one after another.

Zhang Xinsheng was responsible for catching them, while Yi Chichi watched the two men busy themselves from five meters away.

That was Wen Shi’s request, worried that a coconut might fall and hit her. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Wen Shi had a knack for picking coconuts, choosing only the big ones and leaving the smaller ones alone.

After picking coconuts from three trees, he stopped, harvesting thirty-six coconuts.

Zhang Xinsheng’s hands were incredibly agile; because coconuts are hard to carry, he got Wen Shi to cut down some coconut leaves for weaving. Yi Chichi watched as his hands danced with the coconut leaves like playing cat’s cradle, and in less than half an hour, he had woven a spacious and sturdy net.

Wen Shi took a glance, "Can it carry them all in one go?"

"One won’t be enough."

The weight capacity isn’t sufficient to hold 36 coconuts.

"Get some more leaves."

He was going to weave another one.

Wen Shi agreed, swiftly cutting down more leaves with the scythe.

Zhang Xinsheng grabbed the leaves and got to work again, even faster this time, taking only about ten minutes.

Then the two men put the coconuts into the woven nets, sixteen for each, perfectly balanced. They shouldered them and called Yi Chichi to head home.

"Let me take this."

She proactively took the scythe from Wen Shi’s hands. The pole was quite long and a bit hard to handle, so Wen Shi stopped and separated the scythe from the pole, making it much more manageable.

On the way back, they arrived at a beach as the tide receded, and suddenly came across a thriving group of mantis shrimp leaping into view.

All three of them stopped in unison.

Zhang Xinsheng, "Shall we pick them up?"

"Yes!"

The couple responded in unison. If they hadn’t come across them, they’d let it go, but since they did, they couldn’t pass it up.

Such plump mantis shrimp, it would be a waste not to pick them up.

So, the three of them stopped and started to pick up mantis shrimp, finding scallops, turbot, octopus, and other fish in the shallow waters as well.

There were also quite a few conch and bloocockles lying on the sand.

"Quick, quick, Old Wen, go get some leaves."

Zhang Xinsheng was thrilled, unwilling to leave even one behind, but they had come for coconuts and hadn’t brought the right tools.

So, once again, he set his sights on the coconut leaves.

Wen Shi obediently went to get some leaves, leaving Yi Chichi and Zhang Xinsheng to continue picking them up.

When Wen Shi came back with the leaves, he found the couple busy picking, while Zhang Xinsheng sat on the beach, his fingers flying as he wove leaves into nets.

An hour later, the three of them returned with plentiful harvests.

They split everything equally, and on the way back, Zhang Xinsheng said happily, "No need to buy groceries tomorrow."

"Keep them in water when you get back. If the shellfish don’t expel the sand, they won’t taste good."

Wen Shi shared some of his expertise, and Zhang Xinsheng paused, saying, "No wonder the shellfish my wife made sound crunchy when you eat them, turns out she didn’t get them to expel sand."

This discovery was quite novel, and Wen Shi listened with something akin to exasperation, "So you’ve never cooked a meal at home?"

"I don’t know how."

"Then you should learn. It’s not that hard."

He said with conviction, "Not only should you learn, but you should also develop Zhang Ming and his brother’s cooking skills. A real man should be capable on the battlefield and in the kitchen. Otherwise, when they grow up, they won’t find a wife."

Yi Chichi felt a bit guilty, as this was her catchphrase, but she’d never thought Wen Shi would use it to educate Zhang Xinsheng.

Zhang Xinsheng sensed something was off, "Where did you learn all these sayings from?"

Yi Chichi silently prayed inside, hoping he wouldn’t expose her.

In the family area, not every man was considerate of their wives. There were still plenty with a patriarchal mindset.