Ning Shu didn’t know that her second son had the idea of studying for several more years.

If she knew, she would probably be very happy.

This is definitely a good idea.

Right now, she was washing the bedsheets and quilt covers.

The weather in the afternoon was hot, and the well water wasn’t as cold.

Just as she was halfway through washing, Lin Guodong came back.

“Mom said you really like to eat cornmeal. We only have about 20 catties of corn kernels at home, and there isn’t much left after grinding. Do you want to go get some more?” Ning Shu said, “No need. I’ll go buy cornmeal directly later. It’s fine and doesn’t have corn husks or residue.”

Lin Guodong raised his eyebrows.

It seemed that his son understood his mother. “Okay, I’ll go grind the flour first.”

After saying that, he turned around and left.

However, before he could leave the courtyard, he saw a child running towards him.

When the child saw him, he asked loudly, “Dad, how many years of schooling have you had?” This question puzzled Lin Guodong and Ning Shu.

Lin Guodong asked, “Why are you asking this?”

The child grinned and said, “I just want to know. Dad, tell me quickly, quickly…”

Yibao, who was playing ball with Sanbao, also listened curiously while accompanying his younger brother.

Lin Guodong was helpless. “Let me think… about… twelve or thirteen years, I guess.”

“Oh…” The child asked again, “Dad, did you study more or did Uncle study more?”

“…Of course, it’s me.” Lin Guodong didn’t understand why his son’s little head was thinking about this.

“Did something happen in front of the village committee’s courtyard?” Otherwise, why would he ask such a question?

“Yeah.” The child vividly said, “Dad, Uncle said he didn’t study for many years and didn’t know what a stepmother is. He’s so stupid. Even old people know what a stepmother is. Dad, do you know what a stepmother is?”

Lin Guodong and Ning Shu were silent.

Yibao also listened curiously.

It’s no wonder they didn’t know, because there was only one stepmother in the village, and Meihua’s stepmother had a good reputation, so no one would mention stepmothers on purpose.

“Ask your mother this question.” Lin Guodong left behind this sentence and walked away.

Faced with his son’s messy questions, he was also helpless.

After seeing his father leave, the child could only look at his mother with eager eyes, full of curiosity.

Ning Shu sighed.

She didn’t want to face her son’s endless questions either. But she still patiently explained.

“The meaning of ‘stepmother’ is… Blah Blah Blah.. … ….

…. Do you understand?”

Er Bao’s eyes widened.

He suddenly remembered what his second aunt had said to them before, asking his father to find them a new mother.

So, finding a new mother meant finding a stepmother.

His second aunt was really bad.

He didn’t want a stepmother, even though Meihua’s stepmother was a good mother.

He just wanted his own mother.

“Mom, Second Aunt is so bad. She used to tell us to ask dad to find us a new mother, but it turns out she meant finding a stepmother. Second Aunt is really bad,” Er Bao said, realizing belatedly, forgetting about the apology Zhang Qinfang had made to them earlier.

Ning Shu didn’t judge Zhang Qinfang but patiently explained to Er Bao, “Don’t listen to her. No matter what happens, mom will be by your side. Both you and your brothers, Yi Bao and San Bao, should grow up happily and become adults from children.”

Er Bao’s face blushed shyly. “I want to grow up happily with mom. Mom, I’m going.” After understanding the meaning of stepmother, Er Bao ran out again.

Seeing this, Yi Bao said to Ning Shu, “Mom, I’m taking San Bao to play in the village committee’s courtyard.”

“Okay, be safe,” Ning Shu reminded.

“Okay, I know.”

Er Bao ran quickly, and Yi Bao took San Bao out of the courtyard, but Er Bao’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Er Bao ran to the millstone in the village committee’s courtyard and immediately began, “Uncle, I know what a stepmother means now. Let me tell you, a stepmother is…”

“No, no,” Lin Guofeng stopped him. “Er Bao, I remember now. I know what a stepmother means.”

Er Bao opened his mouth wide and then asked, “Uncle, how many years did you study?”

Lin Guofeng felt a headache coming on. “Three years, why?”

Er Bao thought for a moment. “If you only studied for three years and know what a stepmother is, can I just study for three years in the future?”

Ning Shu didn’t know that her good son had changed his mind about studying more.

Seeing his eldest son in distress, Lin’s Mother picked up Er Bao directly. “Go play with your friends. The adults here are doing important things, don’t disturb them.”

Er Bao looked at the adults who were talking. Did doing important things as adults just mean talking?

“Er Bao…” Yi Bao arrived at the front of the village committee with San Bao and saw Er Bao staring blankly.

“Brother, San Bao…” Seeing Yi Bao and San Bao, Er Bao forgot about other things and started playing with his brothers.

After three days of excitement in Qinglin Bay Brigade, it entered the countdown to the New Year, especially with the arrival of the twenty-eighth day (market day).

On market day, Ning Shu went with Xiaoshan and Youfu because it was a day when all the people in the commune would come, so it was really crowded.

After finally squeezing into the crowd and seeing the stalls all over the ground, Ning Shu had a feeling that the New Year had already arrived.

There were just too many things and it was too lively. Even the night markets in the future were not as lively as this.

However, there were many things being sold at the stalls, mainly because the New Year was approaching, and everyone wanted to buy something new.

Ning Shu wasn’t interested in other things, so she bought sugarcane and cloth.

She bought a lot of sugarcane, three bundles in total.

The reason she bought so much was that sugarcane buried in the ground would sprout, and after sprouting, it could be planted again.

Ning Shu thought that if she couldn’t finish eating them, she could just plant them.

Planting sugarcane is very simple.

She had planted it with her grandmother in her past life.

Now that she thought about it, she had to thank her parents for divorcing and throwing her to her grandmother.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to learn so much from her grandmother.

If she had crossed over to this world and not being raised by her grandmother, she would probably be a real city youth who couldn’t do anything.

Three bundles of sugarcane were not easy to carry.

Each bundle had about ten stalks of sugarcane with green skin, and they were quite long.

Fortunately, the seller offered delivery, so Ning Shu felt relieved to buy them.

After buying the sugarcane and cloth, Ning Shu didn’t wander around anymore.

She went directly to the agreed-upon place to wait. When Xiaoshan and Youfu arrived, they went home together.

The three of them had very heavy back baskets.

Ning Shu’s was filled with cloth, while Xiaoshan and Youfu’s were filled with New Year goods.

Along the way, they chatted, but none of them asked what the others had exchanged for.

When they reached the village gate, they saw the children playing together.

The children also saw them and ran over.

“Mom, what did you buy?” Er Bao wasn’t the fastest runner, but he was definitely the quickest to ask.

Xiaoshan was at the front with Xiaoshi. The two brothers eagerly looked at their mother.

Xiaoshan’s mother smiled and took out a few sugar cubes to give to Xiaoshi. “One piece each, share with everyone.”

These sugar cubes were exchanged with a villager from the brigade where they grew sugarcane.

“Okay.” Xiaoshi was sharing food with his friends for the first time.

Before the family split up, he didn’t have the means to share with his friends; he always ate his friends’ food.

Now that he finally had the opportunity, he was excited and proud. “Yi Bao, Er Bao, San Bao, Youfu… sharing sugar.” He called out the names of his friends one by one.

In fact, boys of Xiaoshan’s age usually didn’t play with boys of Yi Bao and Er Bao’s age. But Xiaoshan was always busy picking up firewood, digging wild vegetables, and taking care of Xiaoshi, so while his peers were playing, he was busy and had no same-age playmates.

Playing with Yi Bao and Er Bao was also because everyone brought their younger brothers, and because he had a deal with Ning Shu, they got along well.

When Yang Youfu heard Xiaoshi calling her name, he ignored her mother and changed direction.

Youfu’s mother could only laugh and cry.

Yi Bao and Er Bao naturally liked to eat sugar, but because they had eaten a lot of good things in the past few months, sugar was not as attractive to them as whatever their mother had bought.

“Mom, what did you buy?” Er Bao didn’t go over immediately but asked his own mother first.

Yi Bao echoed, “Wait a moment, Xiaoshi.” Then he looked at Ning Shu.

Ning Shu felt embarrassed. “What I bought hasn’t arrived yet. They will deliver it tomorrow.”

“Wow? Did Mom buy a lot of things?” Er Bao was extremely curious. If they needed delivery, it must be a lot.

“You’ll know when it arrives.” Ning Shu had bought sugarcane on the app before, but it was gone after just one stick per person. However, sweet sugarcane was very popular among the children.

“Alright.”

The three boys turned and went to Xiaoshi’s side to get their sugar cubes.

When Ning Shu returned home, Lin Guodong wasn’t there.

She saw that it was still early, and since she had woken up at three in the morning, she decided to take a nap.

Before she could fall asleep, she heard the voice of Lin Xiaojing.

“Sister-in-law… Sister-in-law, are you there?”

Ning Shu loudly replied from her room, “I’m here, come in. My door isn’t locked.”

The soundproofing in the house was not good, so when Ning Shu shouted loudly, Lin Xiaojing outside could hear her.

She pushed open the door and saw Ning Shu lying on the bed. “Sister-in-law, are you still sleeping?” She felt a bit embarrassed. Did she wake Sister-in-law up?

“Just laid down. I woke up very early this morning to go to the market and wanted to take a nap. What’s up?” Ning Shu asked.

“Oh? You went to the market? Don’t you never go there?” She came over today because she knew Sister-in-law never went to the market.

“In the past few years, I didn’t feel like going. Who knew I would die in five years? I don’t have that feeling anymore.” Ning Shu explained.

“Oh.” Lin Xiaojing nodded, then became excited. “Sister-in-law, I did it! I signed up Zhang Zihao to go to the countryside. I even signed him up for the farthest place. It’s said to be very hard there. Hehe… I finally don’t have to worry about him bothering me anymore.”

Ning Shu didn’t expect Lin Xiaojing to be more capable than her.

When she took care of the Ning family in the past, she never thought about signing them up for remote places.

She signed them up according to the arrangements from above.

But Lin Xiaojing could do this, indicating that she had potential. “How did you succeed?”