Chapter 17: Sister-in-law

Yao Zuming didn’t think he was bullying Li Qingzhi: “When did I bully him?”

“I heard you cursing and talking nonsense here from a distance!” The two old ladies drove Yao Zuming away.

Yao Zuming left dejectedly, shooting a resentful glance at Li Qingzhi before departing.

Li Qingzhi wanted to laugh.

Although the public security in this era couldn’t compare to modern societies with the rule of law, in Miaoqian Village, if Yao Zuming had ill intentions toward him, he would only speak a few words at most.

This world was truly good!

Of course, Li Qingzhi didn’t laugh out loud. He even looked a little aggrieved.

Seeing this, the two old ladies couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

After Li Qingzhi disappeared, people in the village had mostly cursed him behind his back. As a result, when Li Qingzhi returned, they felt a bit guilty towards him.

Moreover, Li Qingzhi had been warm and friendly lately… In any case, now the people in the village sympathized with Li Qingzhi.

Of course, they also sympathized with Jin Xiaoye – now she had one more person to support!

“Xiao Li, don’t listen to Yao Zuming’s nonsense. That guy never speaks the truth.” One of the old ladies spoke up.

Yao Zuming had often spoken ill of Jin Xiaoye in the village, but they all knew he was talking nonsense.

Jin Xiaoye indeed went out often, but that was all to support the family!

If she had any other thoughts, she would have found another man long ago. The fact that she hadn’t found anyone else indicated that she simply didn’t have such thoughts.

Moreover, at the time, everyone thought Li Qingzhi had run away… Even if Jin Xiaoye had found someone else, it would have been normal. They couldn’t blame Jin Xiaoye for that.

“I know, he’s just talking nonsense.” Li Qingzhi nodded seriously.

The two old ladies had come to wash vegetables. Miaoqian Village had plenty of water, so except for the Yao family, which had its own well, other families washed their things by the river and fetched water from it.

However, families with better conditions would have a large water tank at home for convenience.

Li Qingzhi’s family didn’t have such conditions; after all, a large water tank was not cheap. Fortunately, their house was close to the river. It was less than fifty meters away, so they could just go and fetch a bucket of water whenever they needed it.

Li Qingzhi chatted with the two old ladies for a while before going to fetch the bamboo basket again. This time, there were three small fish and three river shrimps in the basket.

Unfortunately, because he had been delayed for a while, the rice he had put in was almost gone – he had only put in a little rice to begin with.

Li Qingzhi killed the small fish directly by the river. He didn’t mind eating them whole, but since the children were there, he still needed to wash them…

“Initially, Dad caught two fish, and then he caught three more fish. How many fish are there in total?”

“There are five fish in total, right? How can five be divided?”

“You’re so good, Dad! You both got it right!”

…

Li Qingzhi took Li Damao and Li Ermao back home and gave them a handful of soybeans to count, teaching them addition and subtraction within five.

At first, Li Damao and Li Ermao were a bit rusty, but as they continued to calculate, they got the hang of it.

Just watching these two children learning made Li Qingzhi feel overjoyed. Now that these two children were still diligently studying arithmetic… Li Qingzhi praised them as if it cost him nothing.

Li Damao and Li Ermao became even more motivated to learn.

When Jin Xiaoye and Li Laogen walked back home from the county town, they were already very exhausted. Carrying things while walking wasn’t a big deal for Jin Xiaoye, but she had been busy for several days and was a bit tired. Plus, the weather was too hot today…

Li Laogen kept complaining, “I’m definitely not going to the county town next time. It’s too hot, and my back hurts…”

“If you don’t go, then next time when I get salted fish, you won’t have any to eat,” Jin Xiaoye said.

Li Laogen closed his mouth and stopped talking.

As they entered the village, they could see smoke rising from some houses in the distance.

Smoke was also curling up from their own house.

When they entered the yard, they heard Li Damao and Li Ermao reciting the “Three Character Classic.” After the two of them recited a passage, Li Qingzhi praised them, “Damao and Ermao are really smart! You’re the smartest children I’ve ever seen. Come here, let me give you a kiss.”

Li Damao and Li Ermao happily turned their heads to let Li Qingzhi kiss their little black faces.

Seeing this scene and smelling the aroma of rice, Jin Xiaoye suddenly felt that Li Qingzhi’s return was quite good.

Before, when she returned home after a day’s work, she had to cook by herself, and the two children were always dirty under Li Laogen’s care.

But Li Qingzhi’s children were different. Look, they could recite books already!

Jin Xiaoye was in a great mood. She took out the salted fish that Sister Wang from the county town had given her. “Sister Wang from the county town gave me a piece of salted fish. We can steam it tomorrow.”

“Great! Xiaoye, you’re amazing. This salted fish looks delicious!” Li Qingzhi’s eyes lit up when he saw the fish.

Seeing his expression and hearing his words, Jin Xiaoye felt even happier. “The newly harvested rice has been dried. Tomorrow I’ll pound some, and we can have freshly cooked rice together.”

“Great, salted fish with freshly cooked rice will be especially fragrant.” Li Qingzhi smiled.

Li Qingzhi steamed the small fish he caught.

There were only a few fish in total. Jin Xiaoye didn’t even think about them. She just put them in front of Li Qingzhi and the two children. On the other hand,Li Laogen didn’t hesitate to grab one of the fish, saying, “This fish looks good.”

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi also picked a fish for Jin Xiaoye.

The remaining three crucian carp were divided among him and the two children, with each of them getting one. The three small shrimp, which didn’t have much meat, were also divided among the three of them.

Although the small fish had bones, the people here had been eating fish since they were young and were used to removing the bones. Li Damao and Li Ermao ate them directly.

Li Qingzhi also took a bite. The flesh of the crucian carp was particularly tender and delicate. Even without any seasoning, it provided him with a strong sense of satisfaction from the protein.

However, there was just too little of it.

He could eat a hundred of these finger-sized fish in one go!

“I don’t like fish, you eat it,” Jin Xiaoye gave the fish Li Qingzhi had picked for her back to him.

“You eat it, Xiaoye. The family still relies on you.” Although Li Qingzhi wanted to eat it, he firmly gave the fish back to Jin Xiaoye.

The original owner’s body was severely deficient, and Jin Xiaoye’s body wasn’t much better.

Of course, most farmers in this era were in similar conditions, all lacking in nutrition.

Jin Xiaoye’s father and Li Laogen were not yet fifty years old but already had very few teeth. This was due to poor hygiene, as well as exhaustion and lack of nutrition.

Even in the village, it was normal for people to die in their fifties. Those who lived past sixty were considered long-lived.

Jin Xiaoye’s grandmother was one of the few long-lived people in the village.

After dinner, Jin Xiaoye planned to go to the field to check on things, but she didn’t call Li Laogen. After all, she wasn’t planning to do any work today.

So, Li Laogen went with Li Qingzhi to the riverbank to cool off.

Li Qingzhi knew a lot of things and was willing to chat with people. By now, he had become acquainted with the village’s elderly women. As for Li Laogen, today there was also a group of people surrounding him, listening to him speak.

After all, Li Laogen had just returned from the county town.

“The county town is huge. The roads there are all paved with stone!”

“I saw a big ship at the dock this time, it had three floors!”

“There were a lot of goods on the dock, and people were selling buns there.”

“Xiaoye knows a lot of people. She took me to meet people, and they even gave me salted fish.”

…

Li Loagen talked on and on, even bringing up past experiences, his words filled with pride.

At the same time, Li Damao and Li Ermao were also boasting about their father to people, “My dad took us fishing today, and the fish was delicious!”

“My dad even taught us to recite books. Let me recite it for you!”

“Do you know how to count? My dad taught me how to count today!”

…

Although the people of Miaoqian Village were almost all illiterate, they could still count. It’s just that Li Damao and Li Ermao were still young, and children of their age really couldn’t count.

So, a group of children looked up to Li Damao and Li Ermao in admiration.

Li Ermao, eager to show off, even started reciting, “At the beginning, people are inherently good…”

Although those children didn’t understand what he was reciting, it didn’t stop them from looking at him enviously.

Li Qingzhi, noticing all this, wanted to kiss the little faces of the two children again.

These were his children, his!

They were just cooling off when they saw Yao Shaogong carrying Yao Zhenfu back.

As soon as Yao Zhenfu reached the shore, he heard Li Damao and Li Ermao reciting the “Three Character Classic.”

Li Qingzhi had said before that he would teach the two children to recite books, and now it seemed to be true. It was said that these days, the two children were even being taught by Li Qingzhi himself.

A grown man could only stay at home to take care of the children. How incompetent!

“Brother Yao,” Li Qingzhi greeted Yao Zhenfu with a smile, then looked at Li Damao and Li Ermao who were reciting, “Thanks to Brother Yao for lending me the books. I’ve been free these days, so I taught the children a bit.”

“Children of this age should indeed be enlightened. I suffered because I started too late,” Yao Zhenfu said. He was sent to school at the age of eight. Before that, he didn’t know anything and just played around in the countryside. When he first went to school, he even made a fool of himself.

Thinking of this made Yao Zhenfu feel uncomfortable, but fortunately, he was now very familiar with the county town and was no different from the people there.

“I just let them recite casually,” Li Qingzhi smiled, “Brother Yao, I’ve finished reading the Three Character Classic. Can I return it to you today? Would Brother Yao be willing to lend me another book?”

Yao Zhenfu readily agreed, “Sure.”

Li Qingzhi asked Li Laogen to look after the children and then followed Yao Zhenfu back.

Actually, in the village, as long as the children didn’t go into the water, they generally wouldn’t encounter any danger. The villagers all knew each other, and strangers entering the village would be watched closely.

After returning the Three Character Classic, Li Qingzhi borrowed another book from Yao Zhenfu, a primer called “Thousand Family Poems.” Like the Three Character Classic, this was a book that the original owner had memorized and studied, so he should be able to memorize it after studying it for a few days. He could also teach the two children some poetry.

After borrowing the book, Li Qingzhi thanked Yao Zhenfu and went back home. However, as soon as he reached the doorstep, he met a middle-aged woman who looked somewhat familiar.

After thinking for a moment, Li Qingzhi remembered that she was Jin Xiaoye’s younger sister-in-law, the one who married into the village.

Jin Xiaoye’s grandparents had two daughters after having two sons. Jin Xiaoye’s younger sister-in-law was actually only in her thirties, but she looked almost as old as a fifty-year-old in the modern era, with messy hair and wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

“Sister-in-law!” Li Qingzhi called out warmly, “Sister-in-law, do you need something? Come in and have a cup of tea?”

Jin Xiaoye’s sister-in-law was a bit unused to Li Qingzhi’s warmth, “Is Xiaoye at home?”

“She went to the field, but she should be back soon,” Li Qingzhi said.

Jin Xiaoye’s sister-in-law nodded. Seeing that Li Qingzhi had brought out a chair for her, she sat down and took out some vegetables to give to Li Qingzhi. Then she asked, “I heard that Yao Zuming bullied you today?”

Li Qingzhi replied, “It wasn’t exactly bullying, just a little dispute.”

Jin Xiaoye’s sister-in-law said, “You’ve been wronged. This Yao Zuming is not a good person at all. Our family has been unlucky for eight generations since we became neighbors with their family…”

Jin Xiaoye’s sister-in-law complained about various excessive actions taken by the Yao family, such as stealing their manure, vegetables, and eggs from their chicken coop. What was even more outrageous was that when the Yao family’s chickens laid fewer eggs, they accused Jin Xiaoye’s family of stealing them.

Li Qingzhi listened quietly. When he was sick before, Jin Xiaoye’s sister-in-law didn’t come to visit or bring anything, but today she suddenly appeared… Was Jin Xiaoye’s sister-in-law specifically coming to complain about Yao Zuming to them?

However, he was quite willing to listen.

For him, these trivial matters of life were part of the human experience.