dognovel Chapter 44 Mother, what is this centipede-like worm?
Chapter 44 Mother, what is this centipede-like worm?
Zhou Li felt confused. His mother's gaze made it seem as if he had done something wrong in the Gu family.
He picked up a fried small fish, took a bite, chewed it carefully, and then replied to his mother, "I didn't do anything. Didn't you tell me to go to the Gu family's house more often?"
Aunt Zhou got impatient and gently slapped her son on the back, saying, "Stop talking nonsense, or your dad will beat you up."
Zhou Li then looked at his mother and said, "My third sister-in-law is teaching Si Lang and the others to read. Seeing that I am intelligent, she let me study with her!"
"What?" Aunt Zhou paused, then slapped her son on the shoulder again. "Speak properly. You're my son, do you think I don't know what you're capable of?"
The son is certainly not bad, but that statement is clearly not true.
Zhou Li got beaten again, and only then did he tell her about being caught eavesdropping. But he was afraid that his mother would have a problem with Xu Gun'er if she found out the truth, which would put his third sister-in-law in a difficult position.
Therefore, the part about Xu Gun'er mistaking him for a thief was omitted.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhou slapped her thighs and pulled Zhou Li into the main room, shouting, "Husband, come out quickly, something terrible has happened..."
"What's the big deal? Why are you in such a hurry?" Zhou Hai stood up upon hearing this.
Aunt Zhou said excitedly, "Chang'er is teaching the Gu family's children to read. Li'er already started learning this afternoon, and Chang'er told him to continue tomorrow!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou grabbed his wife's hand and asked, "Really?"
Aunt Zhou quickly looked at Zhou Li, "Li-ge'er, you should tell your father yourself."
Zhou Li nodded, "Of course it's true. My third sister-in-law not only teaches us to recognize characters, but also to do arithmetic! There are two character recognition classes and one arithmetic class every day, with a 15-minute break between the two classes."
While chewing on a dried fish, she recited what she had learned that day, saying, "Something happened at home today, so I didn't have time to learn arithmetic."
Looking at his son, Zhou Hai, a man past thirty, suddenly had tears welling up in his eyes. "Wife, does our Li-ge'er no longer have to be blind?"
Aunt Zhou nodded excitedly, then, as if remembering something, asked, "The clan?"
The Zhou family has a relatively upright family tradition, and the current clan leader is quite farsighted, having selected a bright child from the clan early on and devoted the entire clan's resources to supporting his education.
They all toil in the fields for a living, and after supporting their clan, how could they afford to support their own children?
The scholar currently being worshipped by the Zhou family is Zhou Li's eldest cousin, who is twenty-five years old this year. He passed the preliminary examination for the imperial examination in his early years, but has never passed the county-level examination.
The clansmen naturally had their complaints, but the clan chief said that if his cousin failed the exam by the time he turned thirty, they would select another child from the clan to raise.
To prevent clan members from having selfish motives, the clan chief also stipulated that Zhou family children could not go to school before the re-election.
Aunt Zhou was secretly dissatisfied with the rules and had expressed this to Zhou Hai.
Although Zhou Hai was the village head, he was still a junior, and the pressure of filial piety made him helpless.
But by the time of the re-election, Li Ge'er was already 14 years old, long past the age of enlightenment.
Those bright child prodigies are already scholars by the age of 14.
Li Ge'er is practically useless now. After all, who would choose a 14-year-old illiterate child as the hope of the entire clan?
Now I have the opportunity to learn to read, but what if the whole clan finds out?
Zhou Hai took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, "We didn't pay his tuition to send him to school, nor did we delay the clan's support."
Li Ge'er just went to play with Si Lang and the other kids, what could they say?
If things really escalate, we won't be in the wrong.
Aunt Zhou nodded, "It's just that Chang'er owes me this favor..."
Zhou Hai lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment, then said to Zhou Li, "Brother Li, you know the rules of our clan. This matter cannot be brought up in the open, so your parents cannot come forward."
You know how difficult it is for the clan to send your eldest cousin to school.
We can't come openly, but you need to be clear about that in your heart. You're not a child anymore. Your parents can take care of the chores at home. In the future, when you have free time, go and help out at the Gu family. Whatever Silang and the others do, you should do too.
If it's heavy work you can't do, come back and tell your father, and he'll take care of it. But remember one thing: matters concerning the Gu family end with our family; don't tell anyone else."
Zhou Li nodded, "I know I've gotten a great deal, Dad. From now on, I'll treat my third sister-in-law as my own sister-in-law and treat her with the utmost respect."
Zhou Hai nodded with satisfaction.
Zhou Li chuckled, "Can we eat first, Dad? I'm hungry."
Aunt Zhou tapped her son's head, then realized that she had been confused today and hadn't even changed the bowl; she was still being considerate of the family.
He hurriedly brought his own bowl to exchange for it, only to find several pieces of braised pork hidden at the bottom of the bowl.
Aunt Zhou frowned. "This, Chang'er, she..." She knew that the Lin family had lost money, but it wasn't much. How could she eat like this? She would have to talk to her about it later.
Seeing that his mother's expression was not right, Zhou Li said, "Mother, Si Lang told me that Third Sister-in-law took them to town to collect some seafood to sell these past two days, and they only ate meat after they made money from it."
Aunt Zhou became even more uneasy upon hearing this. "Collecting seafood is so dangerous. Didn't some brave souls get swept away by the sea a few years ago and never come back? Chang'er is just being reckless..."
Zhou Hai laughed and said, "Chang'er should have a plan, don't overthink it. If you're really worried, just mention it when you take the bowl back tomorrow and tell her to be careful..."
Gu Xiaoman felt a great sense of accomplishment last night, and before it even got dark today, she clung to Lin Chang'er, calling out "Auntie" in her babyish voice every now and then.
Lin Chang'er could easily understand what the little guy meant. Having learned from last night's experience, she knew he wouldn't run around, so she didn't mind the trouble.
The rest of the Gu family had also made preparations well in advance.
However, since Gu Ersao was pregnant, they dared not let her work so hard.
Gu Ersao naturally insisted that she was fine, and Lin Chang'er didn't waste any words, as usual instructing Gu's mother and Gu Erlang to take good care of her.
The family then packed their tools and set off.
Today, Lin Chang'er divided the Gu family into two groups: Gu Erlang and his wife, along with Gu's mother and Gu Silang, went to the grove to collect sea duck eggs and catch blue crabs.
He then led the remaining group to go beachcombing.
Before she left, she asked Little Raindrop, who told her that the tide would rise at noon (1 p.m.) and recede at 5:45 p.m.
They arrived at approximately 7:45 PM.
Xu Gun'er was with Lin Chang'er, so he took it upon himself to help look after the children.
They had explained their purpose on the way, and although the children couldn't understand it, they found it novel.
This is the best time for beachcombing. There are still many snails and clams on the beach that haven't had a chance to lie on the sand. Lin Chang'er even brought a wide hoe today, and she dug up quite a few clams as soon as she dug on the beach.
The children were so excited that they jumped and bounced around.
"Mommy is so amazing!"
"Auntie is amazing, so many shells, and even a big snail."
Gu Xiaoman had never seen a cat's eye snail before, and pointed at it, calling it a snail.
Lin Chang'er laughed and said, "It's not that Mother is amazing, it's all a gift from nature. Xiaoman said that the snail is a cat's eye snail, not a snail! This shell is called a clam."
Xiaoman and her older siblings were picking clams and seashells here, while her aunt and uncle went ahead to see if there were any others.
Clams aren't anything valuable; the good stuff is in the water, but she wouldn't let the children go into the water.
Staying here to collect seashells is fine, with Gu Dalang watching over them and Xu Gun'er helping out.
Gu Xiaoman nodded and said, "Okay!"
She picked up a cat's eye snail, and her little hand was sucked on by the suction cup. She and Gu Xiaolu had a great time playing together.
Lin Chang'er and Sister-in-law Gu turned and headed towards the water's edge. They had only taken a few steps when they suddenly heard the little goldfish exclaim, "Mommy, what is this worm that looks like a centipede?"