Chapter 63: Digging wild vegetables

She also bought two kilograms of oranges, a pack of candied winter melon, and a pack of dried red dates.

She had wanted to buy some meat, but at this time, the supply and marketing cooperative had long been cleared out of it, so she couldn’t take any.

Carrying her basket, she headed home. Just before reaching her house, Liu Yinyin smuggled five kilograms of white flour and five kilograms of rice from her system.

To stockpile more food, she decided that from now on, every time she went to the county town, she would secretly transfer some food from her system.

If she didn’t have enough ration coupons, she could always claim she bought it from the black market. After all, with her system, it made no sense not to use it at all.

The next day, at around 7:50 a.m., Liu Yinyin carried her son and headed to class.

The twenty-two children who had enrolled the previous day were all present, gathered in one classroom. Most of them were boys, and since they were used to running wild, they were all chattering noisily.

Liu Yinyin walked into the classroom, cleared her throat twice, and swept her gaze over the group of children…

Fortunately, since they knew she was their teacher, there was an invisible sense of “authority” between teacher and student. Deep down, these children still held a natural respect for their teacher.

In an instant, the classroom fell silent.

Without any expression, Liu Yinyin walked straight to the back of the classroom.

To avoid distractions during class, she placed Gu Yanyan’s baby crib at the back of the room.

Laying Gu Yanyan down in the crib, she noticed that he was wide awake. Perhaps because he was in a new place, his round eyes darted around curiously.

Since he wasn’t crying, Liu Yinyin left him alone, placing a handmade cloth doll in his hands so he could entertain himself.

Since it was the first day, there was no need to separate students into different grades—everyone would start from the first grade.

Liu Yinyin lined the children up from shortest to tallest and assigned them seats based on their height.

Then, she picked out a tanned, dark-skinned boy and appointed him as class monitor. His name was Liu Dazhuang, and at twelve years old, he was the oldest student in the group.

Caught off guard by the appointment, Liu Dazhuang was confused. “Teacher Yinyin, why me?”

Liu Yinyin: “…”

Because you’re the oldest and look like the biggest troublemaker!

Clearing her throat, she said, “Because I believe you’re the most capable. I’m sure you can help me manage the class well.”

Hearing himself being praised, Liu Dazhuang’s face instantly turned as red as a monkey’s bottom. But he was a clever boy and didn’t forget to ask for benefits. “Teacher Yinyin, do I get a reward for being class monitor?”

Liu Yinyin figured that if she could get the biggest troublemaker in line, the rest wouldn’t cause much trouble.

So she continued to coax him. “Of course! If you do a good job as class monitor, I’ll ask your uncle to take you hunting in the mountains.”

Boys had an innate sense of adventure, even at just twelve years old.

As soon as Liu Dazhuang heard about hunting, his eyes lit up excitedly, and he immediately asked, “Can we hunt wild boars?”

After all, everyone in the village knew about Gu Cheng hunting a wild goat last time.

Liu Yinyin hesitated. “…It’s possible.”

Even if the chances were one in a million, it was still a possibility, right?

Liu Dazhuang instantly straightened up and sat properly, declaring, “I’ll definitely be a great class monitor!”

Liu Yinyin nodded in satisfaction and turned to write a few large characters on the blackboard.

For the first lesson, she didn’t start with academics right away.

Instead, she told them a story—one about a great man who studied diligently for the rise of his country.

Her goal was to help the children understand the importance of education. She wasn’t necessarily trying to turn them into top scholars who would bring glory to the nation, but since they were here, they shouldn’t just waste their time.

The children had never heard such an inspiring story before. They were so captivated that their little fists clenched with excitement.

After successfully engaging the class, Liu Yinyin finally began the lesson.

Given the village’s limited resources, the school had to operate with the bare essentials. And since she was the only teacher, it was impossible to hold classes all day long.

So, Liu Yinyin’s class schedule was as follows: two lessons in the morning—one Chinese language class and another for either drawing or singing, each lasting forty minutes.

In the afternoon, there were also two lessons—one for mathematics, and the remaining time was spent leading the children in foraging for wild vegetables.

The first day went quite smoothly. The students adapted well to the first three lessons.

However, when Liu Yinyin took them out to forage for wild vegetables, some of the children were confused. One asked, “Teacher Yinyin, aren’t we supposed to be having class? Why are we going to dig for wild vegetables?”

The question came from a girl named Liu Bing’er, the granddaughter of the village brigade leader.

Liu Bing’er was attending school because she wanted to secure a better future. Her mother had told her that if she studied well, she would be able to find a good husband in the future.

At only ten years old, Liu Bing’er didn’t fully understand what her mother meant.

But her mother’s final words resonated with her: if she studied well, she would always have enough food, with white flour and meat to eat. That, Liu Bing’er understood very well, and it had an irresistible appeal to her.

So, in pursuit of a future filled with white flour and meat, she was determined to study hard!

Liu Yinyin, unaware of the little girl’s thoughts, responded directly, “Of course! Studying isn’t just about reading books while being completely disconnected from the land. For farmers, the land is their foundation, and even commune schools have labor classes.”

Since explaining too much would go over their heads, Liu Yinyin simply said, “Besides, your parents already work hard enough. They shouldn’t have to come home after a long day and still have to forage wild vegetables to pay for your schooling. So… from now on, you’ll have to earn your own tuition.”

Education needed to be balanced with work and rest. There was no need for a separate physical education class—having the children dig for wild vegetables served the same purpose.

Except for Liu Bing’er, the other children were quite excited about foraging. Sitting in school all day would have been too much for them.

Liu Yinyin gave them fifteen minutes to go home and grab tools for foraging. They were to meet at the school gate before heading to the mountains together.

She, however, didn’t have the time to dig for wild vegetables herself, as she needed to keep an eye on the children while also taking care of her baby.

After taking her child home to nurse him, she packed a diaper bag and returned to the school gate. By then, all the children had gathered, each carrying a small basket.

Once she had counted the students, she let the class monitor, Liu Dazhuang, lead the way.

They didn’t go far. There was a hillside nearby, so Liu Yinyin directed the children to start foraging there.

It turned into a lively group activity. The children, in groups of three or five, enthusiastically dug up wild vegetables together.

Liu Yinyin found a flat patch of land, spread out a cloth from the diaper bag, and laid it on the grass. Her arms were sore from holding Gu Yanyan, so she let him lie on the cloth and play for a while.

“Ah, ah, ah…” As soon as Gu Yanyan was outdoors, he became very excited, babbling while drooling nonstop.

Lately, he had developed a habit of blowing bubbles whenever he was idle.

Liu Yinyin wiped his mouth while keeping an eye on the children.

After a while, she picked up her child and walked around. Casually, she scattered some seeds on the ground.

One should never drain a pond to catch all the fish. To ensure that this area would continue producing wild vegetables, she had purchased some wild vegetable seeds from the system and discreetly spread them across the land.