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Xingxing cheerfully responded with a "Yeah!" from outside and dashed in.

Upon entering, she saw Yu Sanbao was still there and obediently called out, "Uncle Three."

Yu Sanbao, who only had the rowdy little hellion Ju Geer at home, genuinely adored the well-behaved and adorable Xingxing. Moreover, with Wei Pozi having just volunteered to let him fetch someone the next day, he was in high spirits. Yu Sanbao laughed heartily, lifting Xingxing up and tossing her into the air. "Man, the more I see Xingxing, the cuter she gets!"

Xingxing was startled by the sudden toss and let out a squeal, immediately wrapping her arms around Yu Sanbao’s neck.

"You’re always scaring her!" Wei Pozi shot Yu Sanbao a glare. Seeing her son so happy, she ultimately didn’t say more and simply took Xingxing back from his arms. The grandmother and granddaughter then headed out for a walk together.

Chapter 22: How Could We Afford to Send All the Grandsons to School?

In early summer, the small village at the foot of Mount Langshen was still nice and cool in the evening.

As soon as Xingxing stepped out of the house, she squirmed out of Wei Pozi’s arms, not wanting to tire her grandmother by being carried.

Wei Pozi, knowing her granddaughter was so thoughtful, happily let her be.

Across from the Yu family’s gate stood an old elm tree. Since "Yu" sounded like "elm" and the tree had grown thick and sturdy over the years, the Yu family often enjoyed relaxing under its shade.

Not long after the grandmother and granddaughter settled down, villagers who had finished their meals began coming out to enjoy the cool air.

Wei Pozi held a somewhat ratty old palm-leaf fan, waving it to keep mosquitoes away from Xingxing while greeting familiar faces in the village.

Today, Xingxing was dressed in brand-new clothes, her little pigtails tied adorably, earning lots of compliments from the villagers.

Several elderly grandmothers couldn’t help but dote on Xingxing, taking turns fussing over her before letting her go play with their own children.

"Aunt Wei, your third daughter-in-law still hasn’t returned?"

The speaker was a villager who got along well with Wei Pozi, surnamed Zhou. Unmarried, she was the fifth child in her family in Nantuo Village, and even after marrying within the village, people still called her by her maiden ranking—Zhou Wuniang.

Zhou Wuniang fanned herself and winked at Wei Pozi. "I’ve said it before—that high-maintenance city girl of yours is a handful!"

Though Wei Pozi disliked Su Rouer, she wasn’t keen on airing family grievances in public. She simply waved her fan and stayed silent.

Another villager nearby chimed in agreement. "Whenever we greet your city daughter-in-law on the road, she acts all high and mighty! Who does she think she’s fooling?"

"Exactly! Aunt Wei, if you ask me, when Sanbao insisted on marrying her back then, he must’ve lost his head over her looks. What’s the use of marrying someone who can’t lift a finger? Who knows what spell she cast on your Sanbao!"

As the crowd murmured disapprovingly, Wei Pozi frowned and defended Su Rouer. "Enough, let’s not talk about her. At the very least, during these years of hardship, she—a city girl—has endured life in this small village without doing anything to wrong our Yu family."

Zhou Wuniang, blunt as ever, chuckled. "Aunt Wei, you’re too kind!... Everyone’s struggling these days, but whenever she visits her parents during festivals, I’ve seen the lavish gifts she brings—clear she’s been hauling off plenty from her husband’s family to her own! And when she returns? Never seen her bring anything back... And let’s not forget, Aunt Wei, you rarely take Old Xu’s mule cart when you go to the county. But her? Every single trip back to the county, she rides it—won’t lift a finger to help herself!"

"Alright, enough about her." Wei Pozi grew irritated but didn’t want to criticize her daughter-in-law in front of others. She changed the subject, asking Zhou Wuniang about her youngest son. "How’s your Qian’an doing?"

Mentioning her son Wang Qian’an, Zhou Wuniang immediately perked up. "Aiyo, that kid’s driving me crazy! Just eleven years old, yet he’s up before the rooster crows and back after dark, hiking over hills to attend school in some other village!... It breaks my heart! I’ve told him not to push himself so hard, but he won’t listen."

A woman nearby laughed. "Oh, quit showing off! If I had a son who loved studying like that, I’d be burning incense at my ancestors’ graves in gratitude!"

The group burst into laughter.

Zhou Wuniang couldn’t help but feel smug. "...The teacher also praises our Qian’an, saying he’s diligent and promising."

Hearing this, Wei Pozi drifted into thought.

Her own sons were what they were—none had any love for studying, and she’d long accepted it.

The only one with a bit of wit, her third son Yu Sanbao, had attended school for a year and learned some characters before refusing to continue. Later, he ran off and mixed with all sorts of unsavory types, ending up looking like a total hoodlum.

Wei Pozi's heart ached whenever she thought about it.

But her grandchildren were quite different.

All her grandsons seemed eager to study.

Especially the third grandson, Liu Ge'er. After stumbling through some lessons with his not-so-learned Third Uncle, he had actually learned more characters than his uncle. He had even finished reading the old books Yu Sanbao had picked up, flipping through them over and over again.

He was clearly a natural scholar.

But the money...

Every time she thought of this, Wei Pozi couldn't help sighing to herself.

Proper schooling meant tuition for the teacher and the endless expenses of ink, brushes, paper, and inkstones—things she could scarcely imagine! For an ordinary family, supporting even one child in school could nearly bankrupt them. If all her grandsons were to study, the cost would be enormous—how could she possibly afford it?

Especially in recent years, with natural and man-made disasters, the fields produced little. In the past, Yu Daniu could hunt in the mountains and trade for food, but even that had become increasingly scarce. The whole family could only live at the mercy of the weather—staying alive was already a blessing. How could they possibly afford to send several children to school?