Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 232: 230: Sisi brings game, fellow villagers eagerly inquire and rejoice

By dusk, Liu Sisi had finished dinner and carried four wild rabbits and two wild chickens to the old house.

The little chicks they had bought were now only about a pound each. Although they could not afford to spend money on egg-laying wild chickens, Liu Sisi took two roosters directly.

The courtyard of the old house was brightly lit, with eight torches burning and swaying in each corner!

As soon as Liu Sisi arrived at the old house holding the game, she immediately attracted the attention of countless people.

“Sisi, you’re here! Hurry over!” Guihua called out to her urgently.

There were several fellow villagers who had come to help, all gathered together and washing and scrubbing non-stop in busy preparation.

“Sister Guihua, I have some things to do, I’ll be back in a while!”

Liu Sisi turned around to answer and then walked into the inner room.

Ms. Zhao heard the commotion outside and came out from the inside, bumping into Liu Sisi. She was about to scold her when she saw the game in Liu Sisi’s hand, the words of scolding on the verge of her lips, but swallowed them back.

She hastily put on a fake smile: “You’re here from Third Son’s family? Why did you bring the game so late? Hurry up and give it to the teachers, or else it will delay the cooking, what can we do then?”

“Mom, this game was sent by Ye Lei. There are four wild rabbits and two wild chickens in total. Would you like to check?”

Liu Sisi deliberately raised her voice.

“Alright, alright! Hurry up and take it over, no need to check! It’s just a few pieces of game, isn’t it? Before, when there were so many games, Third Son didn’t say anything.” So many of them come now just to bring it over and fuss over it!

“Mom! Before, Ye Lei was in good health, and whenever he went hunting in the mountains, you’d take several game every two or three days, naturally feeling like it was nothing. But now Ye Lei can’t even get up from his bed due to his illness, and he’s been waiting for this game to nourish his body! It’s only natural for it to be precious!”

These words, Liu Sisi had to say.

These words suddenly made the people around start to whisper, and Ms. Zhao’s face changed again.

But Liu Sisi didn’t care. She handed the game to the cooks while being pulled aside by Guihua.

“Sisi, why did you send the game again? Brother Ye Lei is badly hurt. Don’t you want to save some for him to nourish his body?”

Guihua’s voice was not lowered, as if everyone around could hear.

Liu Sisi complied and sat down beside Guihua, sighing helplessly: “I want to save some, but there’s no other way! I…sigh! Let’s talk about it later!”

Her evasive and half-truth words made everyone else silent!

She was happy for the peace and quiet and picked up a cloth to start washing dishes, taking advantage of the fact that everyone else wasn’t paying attention and lightly pinching Guihua.

Everyone else was silent. The only sounds were the crackling of the burning flames and the dying struggle of the wild chickens.

After a long time, one of the villagers who’d come to help finally whispered, “Ye Lei’s family, you’re just too meek, completely eaten up by your mother-in-law! If it were me, I wouldn’t give in even if it meant a big fight. And your Ye Lei as well, he’s too agreeable with his stepmother, really feeding a white-eyed wolf!”

“Hush! Keep your voice down! You know what kind of person Ms. Zhao is, be careful she doesn’t go after you later!” Another person hurriedly pulled her back.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Who doesn’t know what kind of person she is in the Upper Village?”

The villager continued, but still lowered her voice.

She turned her head to look at Liu Sisi: “Sisi, I’ve heard that you can read, and you’re teaching your son Xuan’er to read as well. Is it true?”

“I can only recognize a few characters. I don’t really teach Xuan’er, just let him learn some simple characters first, so it’ll be easier when he goes to school later on.”

“But I heard that Miss of Gan Family from the town has also accepted you as her tutor, is that true?”

As soon as this question was asked, almost everyone present stared at Liu Sisi with wide eyes.

What kind of family was the Gan family? They were a real official family, so how could they be compared to ordinary small families?

Moreover, being a female tutor for the Miss of Gan Family would naturally be quite prestigious, right?

All the people put down their work and stared at Liu Sisi, waiting for her answer. Even the cooks who had come to help looked over, seriously looking at Liu Sisi.

Behind that door, Ms. Zhao and Ms. Wang also secretly craned their necks, waiting for Liu Sisi’s answer.

Liu Sisi put the bowls in her hands away and looked up with a light laugh: “Yes! However, it was the bookstore boss who introduced me to Gan Mansion. It was the Elder Madam of the Gan Family who made the final decision to let me teach Miss Gan to read and write. Miss Gan has a total of five teachers, teaching her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and I am just one of them.”

Liu Sisi had no intention of hiding the truth and naturally told it as it was. As for whether these people believed it or not, that was secondary!

“Really? Wow! Sisi, you’re amazing!”

“If your mother-in-law is still not satisfied with a daughter-in-law like you, what kind of daughter-in-law does she want? Is it possible that she wants…”

“Cough cough! Be careful of misfortune from your mouth!”

Someone nearby pulled at her clothes, and then everyone laughed together.

However, behind the laughter, there was something more in everyone’s eyes when they looked at Liu Sisi.

Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was busy and not paying attention, a fellow villager leaned over and asked: “Sisi! Are you… are you still recruiting?”

“Recruiting? Recruiting for what?”

Liu Sisi was busy counting the quantities and answered casually.

“Oh! I mean, are you still accepting students? If you are, since it’s already after the autumn harvest, I’ll send my daughter Niuniu to study at your home for a few months, so she won’t suffer when she goes to her husband’s family without knowing how to read.”

This made Liu Sisi look up and seriously look at her: “Auntie, you know, I really haven’t thought about that. How about this, if the weather gets colder and I really decide to teach, I’ll let you know, alright?”

“That would be great!”

The woman gave her thigh a heavy pat: “Don’t worry! If you’re really going to teach my daughter Niuniu to read, I know we don’t have much to offer, but we can provide dozens of catties of white rice flour.”

“Auntie, don’t say that. I really haven’t made any plans yet. When I decide to start teaching, I’ll definitely let you know.”

Liu Sisi didn’t refuse the education gift.

All the teachers here required an education gift, and she couldn’t break the rule just because of one person.

“Alright! Then we have an agreement!”

After a few more pleasantries, the fellow villager left happily.

But soon after, another fellow villager came to ask the same question. It wasn’t until she sent away the fifth person who asked the same question that Liu Sisi began to take this matter seriously.

Could it be that female tutors were really so rare here?

As for whether to take some students at home to teach, she could really consider it.