Chapter 129: Two Birds with One Stone

Chapter 129: Two Birds with One Stone

When Li Chunmiao first realized Lin Shu was teaching Lin Yushu to read, she didn't give it much thought.

Lin Dashan had no sons, and after his relationship with his brother Lin Dashui was mended, it seemed perfectly natural for Lin Shu, being literate, to teach her younger male cousin.

At the time, she merely felt a pang of envy—envious of Lin Dashui for having a good brother like Lin Dashan, and envious that Lin Yushu had a capable cousin like Lin Shu to teach him. Unlike her husband's Wang family, which had been a single-son lineage for generations, with no siblings to offer support.

She was even more envious of other families' children who could sit still and were naturally inclined to study, unlike her own Wang Yingen…

The thought of that little rascal always infuriated Li Chunmiao. Hadn't she tried to get Wang Yingen to study? He had! The year before last, she'd sent him to Old Student Scholar in Daoxiang Village for his early schooling. But the boy simply couldn't sit still. Not only did he fail to focus himself, but he also disrupted the lessons for everyone else. He was disciplined with the ruler by Old Student Scholar, and after just a few sessions, he refused to go back. Old Student Scholar, displeased with her son, even returned her rice payment.

Last year, thinking her son was a year older and should be more sensible, she considered sending him back to Old Student Scholar. But as soon as the idea arose, Wang Yingen threw a tantrum, clinging to his grandparents and begging not to go. Since the household listened to her, his pleas to his grandparents were useless, so the little rascal turned to her, clutching her leg and wailing loudly.

Even though Li Chunmiao wished her son would learn more characters, seeing his stubborn refusal, she had no choice but to drop the idea.

But now, Li Chunmiao had just learned that even Lin Xiaopu, a girl, could sit quietly and study! Wang Yingen had been competing with Lin Xiaopu these past few days. If she seized this opportunity to provoke him with a few words, perhaps her Yingen would also be willing to sit down and study?

Sending him back to Old Student Scholar was out of the question—Old Student Scholar probably wouldn't take him back anyway. So Li Chunmiao considered asking Lin Shu to teach her Yingen alongside Lin Xiaopu. With Lin Xiaopu studying beside him, if her son didn't want to lose to her, he might actually apply himself to studying.

Li Chunmiao suppressed her burgeoning idea for now and continued her work, praising the Lin sisters effusively.

He Guixiang, seeing that Li Chunmiao didn't press further, wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or sigh.

She could tell that Li Chunmiao was likely contemplating something.

He Guixiang wasn't a stingy person. If it were someone like Lin Yushu, who enjoyed studying and was willing to follow instructions, it wouldn't be a problem for A Shu to teach one more student. But her Wang Yingen was a little terror who could never sit still to study.

Oh well, A Shu would handle it herself. There was no need to overthink it.

In the yard, after practicing with her bamboo slingshot for a while, Lin Xiaopu turned to He Guixiang and the others and announced, "Mom, Aunt Lin, Aunt Li, I'm going out to play!"

He Guixiang waved her hand. "Go ahead, but be careful on the road. Don't trip."

Lin Xiaopu grinned, taking not only her own bamboo water gun and bamboo slingshot but also a slingshot and water gun that Zhou Ye had made in his spare time.

She had challenged Wang Yingen to a slingshot competition today, and all of Wang Yingen’s little followers would be there to watch. Today, she would humble Wang Yingen right in front of everyone.

Lin Xiaopu no longer studied with Lin Yushu. At first, she had listened to some of the stories her older sister told Yu Shu, finding them quite interesting. But gradually, the lessons became more advanced and harder to understand, so she stopped joining them and instead practiced writing on her own. After A Shu finished teaching Yu Shu, she would find time to teach Lin Xiaopu some simpler things separately.

So Lin Xiaopu thought, why not have fun while A Shu was teaching Yu Shu? When A Shu returned, it would be around noon. Since she wasn't one for naps, she could use that time to practice writing indoors. That way, nothing would be delayed. After A Shu's nap, when she was refreshed, she could continue teaching Lin Xiaopu.

A Shu agreed with her idea and praised her for being bold and speaking her mind. Now, Lin Xiaopu was not only having fun but also enjoying her studies.

As for A Ye, it was even simpler with him and A Shu. A Shu could teach him whenever she wanted, since A Ye’s eyes were always glued to her whenever he had free time. He had no other distractions, unlike her, who now had her bamboo slingshot and bamboo water gun and plenty of her own little schemes.

Lin Xiaopu chuckled to herself, grabbed her things, and slipped away, her bouncing figure full of energy.

He Guixiang shook her head, but her face was filled with a warm, indulgent smile.

She knew that Xiao Pu dreamed of being as strong as Wang Yingen. Although Xiao Pu still couldn't compare to the sturdy little bull that was Wang Yingen, her health was improving steadily. He Guixiang could hardly remember how sallow and skinny Xiao Pu used to be.

After Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu left one after another, only the three women remained in the yard, chatting idly as they worked, finishing their tasks almost without realizing it.

"Sister-in-law He, I don't have much to do at home. How about I bring my hemp work over, and we can chat while we work?" Li Chunmiao suggested.

"Sure, bring it over. I'm almost done with my hemp work anyway. I can help you with yours."

Li Chunmiao was surprised. "Already? That was fast!"

He Guixiang explained, "We harvested the hemp early, and there wasn't much to begin with."

Li Chunmiao laughed. "I don't have much either. I'm just lazy, not as diligent as you, Sister-in-law He. The first hemp merchants should be arriving around the end of the month. I need to work faster. If I delay, who knows what will happen?"

For farming families like theirs who processed hemp every year, merchants would come to the village to buy the finished hemp. The first batch of merchants would pay based on the previous year’s prices. Later, second and third batches would come, but by then, prices could fluctuate. If hemp was scarce that year, the price per pound might rise by a coin or two. If there was plenty of hemp, the price might drop. In bad years, the price could even be halved.

Li Chunmiao preferred to play it safe and finish processing the hemp before the first merchants arrived.

Lin Zhaodi had been working on the family’s hemp, but after the household division, she doubted she'd see a single coin from it. Since that was the case, she saw no point in pretending anymore and simply stopped working on the unfinished hemp.

Hearing this, she chimed in, "I don't have much to do either. I'll help you with your hemp work."

Li Chunmiao smiled. "Well, I came here to help, but now it seems like you're helping me instead…"

After Li Chunmiao went home to fetch her hemp work, the three women sat in the yard and worked together. Of course, they also made several trips to the construction site to bring tea to the men working there, so no one would get thirsty.

They worked until it was almost time to prepare the evening meal, at which point Li Chunmiao got up to leave.

By then, Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu had returned one after the other—one resting after her nap, the other obediently practicing writing indoors. When Li Chunmiao was about to leave, Lin Shu was already up and telling Xiao Pu a story.

"We eat early at my place. I should start preparing the evening meal, or else I'd stay and help you," Li Chunmiao said, glancing unconsciously toward the room.

He Guixiang noticed her subtle glance, but Lin Zhaodi didn't, replying, "Don't come back after dinner. We're keeping it simple tonight—just a few dishes. Sister-in-law He and I can manage."

"Alright, I'll come again tomorrow."

Although Lin Zhaodi said they were keeping it simple, she hadn't decided what to make yet. She turned to the room and asked Lin Shu, "A Shu, what do you think we should make for dinner tonight?"

Having learned from her mother that she had let it slip, Lin Shu no longer hid the fact that she was teaching Lin Xiaopu and did so openly. Hearing the question, she looked up and replied, "Aunt Lin, I think we could make a pot of porridge and steam two trays of wild vegetable dumplings. For the filling, we can use fresh dandelion leaves—you know, the ones we call pu’er gen. Later, when the sun isn't as strong, Xiao Pu and I will go pick a basketful. You and Mom can start preparing the dough."

Lin Zhaodi agreed without question, not even asking how to make the dumplings or whether pu’er gen was edible. She trusted A Shu’s judgment completely.

While Lin Zhaodi didn't ask, Lin Xiaopu was curious. "Sis, why haven't you mentioned before that pu’er gen is edible? There's so much of it in the mountains and fields!"

Lin Shu smiled. "There are plenty of edible wild vegetables in the mountains and fields. Should I list every single one? Pu’er gen has a slightly bitter taste, so it's not the first choice for wild greens, but it's good for you—it helps cool the body and reduce feverishness, and it's also good for the liver. Now is the perfect time to eat it. Summer pu’er gen isn't as tender and fragrant as the early spring variety, and it's a bit more bitter, but it's also more succulent and better for cooling the body. Let's pick a lot today. Whatever we don't use, we can dry and store, just like we did with the purslane last time."

Remembering that they hadn't stored enough purslane, Lin Shu added, "Not just today—we should go picking whenever we have time lately. Dry and store them. You might not think much of it now when vegetables are plentiful, but come winter when there's little to eat, you'll appreciate having dried vegetables."

Lin Xiaopu immediately replied, "Don't worry, Sis. In Sweetwater Village, we have plenty to eat even in winter—there's always radishes and greens, winter bamboo shoots to dig up, and wild onions and garlic to forage in the mountains."

Even in lean years, few people in Sweetwater Village starved. If there was no grain, there were still vegetables like radishes and greens to fill their stomachs. Even lazy folks who didn't grow their own could forage for wild vegetables in the mountains. As a last resort, they could eat bran, which every household stored.

Seeing Lin Shu about to pinch her cheek, Lin Xiaopu quickly added, "But eating radishes and greens every day gets boring. The dried vegetables you mentioned can be stewed with meat—I bet they're delicious. I'll listen to you, Sis. Let's go picking every day and dry and store all we can!"

"Oh, and Sis, guess who won today when Wang Yingen and I had our slingshot competition?"

Lin Shu said, "With that grin stretching ear to ear, do I really need to guess?"

Lin Xiaopu proudly declared, "In the first round, we shot at firewood. I hit all ten targets. In the second round, we shot at sticks—thinner ones. His little followers helped bury the sticks in the ground. I knocked over eight, but Wang Yingen only hit five. Then in the final round, we shot at branches on trees. With the wind blowing, the branches were moving, so it was harder. I managed to hit five out of ten, but guess how many Wang Yingen hit? Only one! His face was absolutely priceless—so grim! Hahaha…"

Lin Xiaopu burst into laughter, her voice rising with excitement.

Remembering something, she quickly covered her mouth and glanced around the yard.

Aunt Lin and Aunt Li were good friends. She hoped Aunt Lin hadn't overheard. Though Aunt Lin wasn't the type to gossip.

Lin Shu ruffled her little sister’s head and praised her generously, "Well done! That brat Wang Yingen has had it too easy until now. He's never been humbled like this. Keep crushing him under your foot from now on."

Lin Xiaopu snorted lightly. "He used to call me a sickly weakling. Now he can't even beat me."

Lin Shu arched her eyebrows and said, "So you could really taunt him and get revenge for the past?"

"Sister, I'm not like him. I won’t taunt him; at most, I’ll just gloat in front of you and share his embarrassment. Wang Yingen is not so bad—even though he looked sour after losing, he didn’t take it out on anyone. He took his loss like a sport and has to listen to me for the next month."

Not only that, Lin Xiaopu gave a bamboo slingshot she had brought to one of the younger boys. Before the competition with Wang Yingen, this boy had bet on her to win—showing good judgment, which deserved a reward.

She also gave a bamboo water gun to another boy, who always politely called her Sister Xiao Pu whenever he saw her.

Once the bamboo slingshot and bamboo water gun were handed out, not only were these two delighted, but the other kids’ eyes lit up too, and they all crowded around, sucking up to her.

For a moment, no one paid any attention to Wang Yingen, who had lost the contest. Wang Yingen was left standing there gobsmacked.

Lin Xiaopu wouldn’t mock Wang Yingen; she would rely on her own skills to make the boy who once ridiculed her obediently call her "sister" and admit defeat wholeheartedly.

Seeing how she was in her element with the children, Lin Shu didn’t interfere. She only piled on the praise when needed. After the praise, she brought her back to reality with one question: "How many of the characters I taught you today do you remember?"

Lin Xiaopu’s smile instantly froze. She got her head back in the game and went back to studying the characters.

Lin Shu had stopped teaching her the *Three Character Classic* and instead picked out some idiom stories and stories about famous people to share. After each story, she would write down some commonly used characters from it. Initially, she had taught fables like "The Tortoise and the Hare," but Lin Xiaopu found them childish and asked Lin Shu to save those for bedtime stories.

Lin Shu had grumbled about this, "When I taught your brother A Ye, he never said my lessons were childish. How old are you to already be so picky?"

Lin Xiaopu immediately replied, "No comparison! Whatever you say, he thinks it’s wonderful. But I don’t think A Ye’s attitude is right—what if in the future you make a mistake and he still thinks it’s fine? Isn’t that thing where..."

"'That thing where' what?" Lin Shu narrowed her eyes, her expression turning dangerous.

Lin Xiaopu wasn’t intimidated at all and said with a grin, "Spare the rod, spoil the child, and the same goes for a wife. He’s practically stifling you—ow!" Before she could finish, Lin Shu flicked her forehead.

Once Lin Xiaopu had finished her studies, the two sisters each carried a bamboo back basket and headed out, greedy enough to gather two baskets of wild vegetables.

He Guixiang watched them leave, a relaxed smile on her face.

The rice porridge was already simmering in the pot. Previously, they often used an earthenware pot on a small stove to cook porridge, letting it cool in the pot without interfering with using the iron pan for pancakes or stir-fries. But now, with several more mouths to feed, the earthenware pot wasn’t enough. He Guixiang had Lin Zhaodi use the iron pan instead, cooking a large half-pot of porridge.

The dough had also been set to rise. Lin Zhaodi was better at getting dough to rise than He Guixiang; in just a short while, the dough in the basin had more than doubled in size.

According to A Shu’s suggestion, they didn’t need to prepare too much dough—just enough for thirty or forty wild vegetable dumplings. Besides, the wrappers for the dumplings should be thin to taste better.

"Once A Shu comes back with the dandelions and mixes the filling, we can start wrapping. If we make the filling generous and the wrappers thin, this dough should be enough for forty or fifty dumplings! A Shu really knows how to save me money. Sister-in-law He, swallowing my pride and coming to you and A Shu for help was the right decision!" Lin Zhaodi beamed with joy.

If they didn’t add filling and made steamed flatbreads instead, this amount of dough would never be enough!

He Guixiang replied, "We’re neighbors now; there’s no need to be so polite. Besides, I haven’t been much help, and A Shu only offered suggestions—you’re the one doing all the heavy lifting."

Lin Zhaodi didn't continue the conversation. She wasn't one for excessive back-and-forth pleasantries. In any case, she would remember the great help Sister-in-law He and A Shu had given her.

If nothing else, Sister-in-law He and A Shu were right: from now on, the two families would be neighbors. The favor she owed today could be repaid another time; there was no need to rush.

Meanwhile, Lin Shu was teaching Lin Xiaopu how to select dandelions.

Dandelions could be found everywhere in the fields, grasslands, and hillsides. After summer arrived, many had already begun to flower and set seeds. They needed to choose those that had flowered but hadn’t yet gone to seed—these would be slightly less bitter, though still not as tender as early spring sprouts. They also picked leaves that were fresh and green, without yellowing or insect holes.

Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu each carried small shovels whittled from bamboo—made for them by Zhou Ye since they often gathered wild vegetables. When harvesting dandelions, they used the shovel to dig up the plant above the root, allowing the remaining part to continue growing.

They didn’t specifically search for dandelions; both purslane and dandelions were plentiful in the wild. They picked whatever they came across, soon filling half a basket.

Gathering wild vegetables wasn’t physically demanding, but the constant squatting and bending over eventually became tiring.

Lin Shu glanced secretly at Lin Xiaopu, who showed no signs of fatigue, and silently wondered if she herself lacked exercise, to the point that even Xiao Pu outperformed her. But Xiao Pu didn’t necessarily get more exercise than she did—unless Ping Er was out, she was just more energetic, bouncing off the walls, skipping stones or squirting her water gun by the pond behind the house, or practicing with her bamboo slingshot in the yard using sticks as targets.

As she thought about it, Lin Shu fell silent.

Upon reflection, Xiao Pu’s exercise level wasn’t low at all. Maybe starting tomorrow, she should jump around a bit more too?

"Sister, are you tired? I see you’re sweating," Lin Xiaopu asked, looking up after digging up a patch of purslane and noticing Lin Shu standing still with a hand on her waist.

Lin Shu forced a laugh. "It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just that the dandelions and purslane are so abundant—every clump I dig up is huge, with no break."

Unlike when they gathered mushrooms, where they had to search first and then dig, allowing for rest in between, this felt more relentless.

Lin Xiaopu, upon hearing this, seemed to think of something and suddenly looked worried. "Sister, if your stamina is this poor, you’ll really suffer after you get married."

Lin Shu’s expression stiffened. "What did you say?"

Lin Xiaopu lowered her voice, sounding knowingly, "Sister, as an unmarried girl, it’s normal you don’t understand these things. Making babies and giving birth both require a lot of energy. Wang Yingen said his parents refuse to believe the Wang family’s tradition of only having one child per generation and keep trying to make him a younger sibling. Every time they try, his mother cries out miserably at night, and the next morning she’s so sore and tired she doesn’t want to do any work."

Lin Shu: …

If Aunt Li knew her son was sharing details of her bedroom business with other kids, she’d probably be furious enough to kick Wang Yingen straight into the outhouse.

But just as Lin Shu felt sympathy for Aunt Li, Lin Xiaopu added with concern, "A Ye is so big and strong—won’t you suffer even more in the future, sister?"

At these words, Lin Shu’s pretty face flushed bright red instantly.