Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 381: Unnecessary Fantasies

Wang Nan pondered for a moment and shook her head.

"No, I won’t."

Indeed, eating with strangers is too awkward.

Ignoring them is impolite, but you’re not familiar with them, and it’s hard to find a topic to talk about.

If you accidentally say something wrong, it can affect everyone’s mood.

Thinking of it this way, she felt it was better not to go to the meal.

"You’re making me not want to go either."

Yi Chichi laughed, "Your situation with Old Bai is different from mine."

Wang Nan thought so too; Yi Chichi had left before the new Youth Corps members arrived.

She truly had no real friendship with the new members, nor time or opportunity to develop feelings.

They’re different; they hadn’t been out of the Youth Corps Courtyard for long.

Therefore, the relationships they need to maintain should continue.

So, at around three in the afternoon, Wang Nan and Bai Chen, who came to pick her up, went to the Youth Corps Courtyard.

Being one person short didn’t delay Yi Chichi and Liu Lan from working until dinner time.

Qin Jiu and the others had stopped their classes.

The snow was too heavy, the temperature too low, and the school didn’t have enough heating equipment. Neither the teachers nor the students could withstand the cold.

They could only take a holiday.

But that didn’t mean they gave up studying; don’t forget, there’s a small classroom at the Youth Corps point.

When school stopped, they went to the small classroom for lessons.

Since winter began, Da Li and Big Orange, who were inseparable, started to stay on the kang (traditional heated bed), either at the Wen family or at Uncle Yaozi’s house.

It was rare for them to go hunting; most of the time, they seemed to be hibernating.

Until Qin Jiu started attending the small classroom, the two cats, who were lying on the kang waiting for food all day long, seemed to have found a new cat life goal and began escorting the kids six times a day, morning, noon, and evening.

Seeing Da Li and Big Orange on Qin Jiu’s left and right like two guards, Wen’s mother sighed, "We’ve never seen Da Li and Big Orange treat us like that."

"That’s because, Mom, you’re not old enough."

Yi Chichi, who was brushing her teeth, with her mouth full of foam, chimed in.

Wen’s mother raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

Yi Chichi wasn’t in a hurry to answer and only spoke slowly after rinsing her mouth, "Cats, as creatures, respect the old and love the young, but they tend to beat the middle-aged to death."

"Qin Jiu is young. The best we can do, Mom, is consider ourselves middle-aged. Once you turn sixty, you’ll count as old, and they’re most likely to treat you well."

The premise is that Da Li and Big Orange will live until that time.

Wen’s mother twitched at the corners of her mouth, "I don’t expect them to treat me well; I just hope they stop dragging dead mice and sparrows home."

Yi Chichi kept silent; this topic was impossible to discuss.

Cats, as creatures, have such peculiar thought processes that people can’t understand.

When she first saw them bringing prey home, she thought the two were worried they might starve, so they went hunting to feed them.

But when she tried to pick them up, the two snarled and wouldn’t let her.

Obviously, the prey brought home wasn’t meant for them.

After being disappointed a few times by the two of them, Yi Chichi had given up on some unnecessary fantasies.

Cats are just cats; no matter how clever or understanding they are, their mindset can be astonishingly twisted.

Looking at the snow outside, she sighed; it was indeed freezing cold.

"Mom, I want to eat sour soup dumplings."

Wen’s mother, "??? Sour cabbage dumplings?"

"No."

Yi Chichi detailed the method of making sour soup dumplings, and Wen’s mother became interested, turning toward the kitchen.

It’s not difficult; but whether it tastes good or not remains to be seen.

They could try it.

However, there weren’t any dumplings left at home, so if they wanted to eat, they had to make them fresh.

"Go play by yourself; I’m going to make dumplings."

Yi Chichi followed along, "Mom, I’ll help you!"

"No need."

The truth is, although her daughter-in-law is great at embroidery, she’s not much use for anything else.

Not reliable at all.

"I can help wrap them."

Knowing her own limitations, Yi Chichi stubbornly tried to offer help, while Wen’s mother twitched at the corners of her mouth, "Are you done with your work?"

"I can finish it before the spring."

Meaning she might as well slack off occasionally and skip work for a day.

Wen’s mother turned to look at her, seeing her bright, expectant eyes, sighed, and nodded, "Okay, you can help."

So, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked together and wrapped over three hundred dumplings by lunchtime.

Now that the temperature was low, wrapped dumplings left outside would freeze in no time.

When they wanted to eat, they could just cook them, which was very convenient.

Once the dumplings were ready, Yi Chichi finally ate her long-desired sour soup dumplings.

And then she indulgently ate way too much.

Wen’s mother, speechless, handed her some hawthorn slices, "You weren’t starving; how did you manage to overeat?"

"It was too delicious."

The freshly wrapped dumplings had clean, reliable ingredients with no tricks, paired with appetizing sour soup. You couldn’t know how delicious they were until you tried them, and once you did, you were easily hooked.

If you have one, you’ll want another; you can overeat without noticing.

Wen’s mother silently returned to the kitchen, and a couple of minutes later, she brought over a platter of dumplings, "Take these to your grandaunt and uncle."

It was a chance to stretch her legs and let her meal settle.

Yi Chichi, just having swallowed her hawthorn, acknowledged with a sound and picked up the tray to leave.

"Put on your scarf and hat."

Wen’s mother quickly took a hat and scarf from the rack, wrapped the scarf around Yi Chichi’s face so only her eyes were showing, and put the hat on her head.

Then, she looked her up and down and complained, "This hat is really ugly. When you see Uncle Ye, ask if the rabbit fur is ready. If it is, bring it back, and I’ll make you a hat and a little vest."

This was an idea she could approve of.

Yi Chichi eagerly agreed and happily headed out.

Halfway there, she encountered Liu Dongmei lying on the ground, groaning, with a smell of blood in the air. Yi Chichi’s heart skipped a beat, "Dongmei, did you fall?"

"Yes."

She looked up at Yi Chichi, the wound on her forehead appearing a bit ferocious, with blood seeping from it, "Did you hit a stone?"

"I just tripped a bit, and here I am."

She had no strength. Yi Chichi put down the tray to help her, "Can you get up?"

"Let me try."

Liu Dongmei tried to stand with her help but failed and fell back down with a cry, "It’s no good, Chichi, my ankle hurts so much right now."

Yi Chichi, "..."

If it hurts to move, could it be a fracture, like with Mr. Zhang Xiuwen?!

Speaking of which, Uncle Yaozi mentioned that Mr. Zhang’s son was coming to thank them, but it’s been over two months, and there’s still no sign of him?

With her mind wandering, Yi Chichi kept a calm demeanor and said, "Let me have a look at your foot."

"The left foot."

Liu Dongmei immediately indicated the injured spot, and after Yi Chichi examined it, she clicked her tongue in amazement, "Dongmei, you are something else! Your ankle is swollen like a pig’s trotter, and your forehead is marred. Do you walk without watching where you’re going?"

"I got distracted."

Liu Dongmei regretted it immensely, "I was too disturbed today; I shouldn’t have gone out."

"What’s done is done; just calmly accept reality."

Patted her on the shoulder, Yi Chichi offered her the most unenthusiastic consolation, then stood up and said, "Please wait here; I’ll call Uncle Yaozi and the others to carry you."