https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-146-Let-s-See-Who-Dares-to-Say-Studying-Is-Useless-in-the-Future/12849261/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-148-How-Could-She-Be-So-Heartless-/12849263/
Chapter 147: The Whole Village Was Stirred
Chapter 147: The Whole Village Was Stirred
Liu Huakang was highly motivated in his work. The next day, he delivered the lecture schedule to Uncle Jiu, and starting from the third day, he began teaching according to the schedule.
Meanwhile, thanks to the deliberate promotion by his wife, Deng Changqing, almost everyone in the village had heard about it.
And the whole village was stirred!
Most villagers couldn’t understand why Deng Shirong was doing this. After all, the tuition and boarding fees for high school were only 19.5 yuan per semester, and the fees for middle and elementary school were even lower.
Even so, not every household in the village could afford to send their children to school.
Even when they did, it was usually only the sons who were sent, while daughters, who would eventually leave to marry into other families, were often denied even the chance to attend elementary school.
In contrast, Deng Shirong not only ensured that all seven of his children were educated until they no longer wanted to study, but he also paid 20 yuan per month to hire someone to give them private lessons. This level of dedication to his children’s education was extremely rare in the rural areas of that era.
While Deng Shirong’s actions left the villagers in shock, many of them didn’t understand his motivations, thinking he was simply burning through his money.
After all, if the children were already going to school, the teachers would teach them. Why hire someone else? Wouldn’t it be better to use that money to buy meat?
With 20 yuan, one could buy half a kilogram of meat every day and still have money left over at the end of the month. Wasn’t that a hundred times better than hiring a private tutor?
Of course, not everyone’s perspective was so shortsighted. A small number of villagers praised Deng Shirong for his approach.
At the same time, Liu Huakang, who was once a marginal figure in the village, became the focus of everyone’s discussions.
...
After finishing his work on the mountain and helping his family with the rice planting, Bu Dashu returned to his uncle’s house to learn cooking.
Cooking really does require talent. Those with natural talent pick it up quickly and can coordinate their eyes and hands. Those without talent often understand the theory but struggle to put it into practice.
Bu Dashu had decent talent. After learning from his cousin for a while, he was now better at simple home-cooked dishes than most people in the village.
Seeing that his nephew had a solid foundation and knowing that Deng Shirong wanted his eldest daughter to focus more on her studies, he decided to personally teach Bu Dashu.
How to slice vegetables, which ones needed to be blanched, which ones needed to be stir-fried, how to control the heat, when to add seasonings, and how to pair dishes—Deng Shirong taught his nephew everything without holding back.
With his uncle’s guidance, Bu Dashu’s cooking skills improved day by day.
As for Jiang Dehu and Bu Dafang, the couple was also busy. Besides watering and fertilizing the already planted Guiwei lychee trees and other fruit trees, they also planted many watermelons in the spaces between the trees. They stayed on the lychee mountain most of the time, only returning to their uncle’s house at night to bathe and sleep.
Even for lunch, they didn’t come back, so Bu Dashu, who had nothing to do, would bring them their meals.
The uncle paid them 60 yuan a month, and they were determined to earn their wages by working hard and taking good care of the fruit trees.
...
“Uncle Jiu!”
One day, Deng Shirong was on his way to check on the growth of the lychee trees on his mountain. As he passed a sloping field, a woman in her thirties, with a large belly, waved to him.
This woman was surnamed Zhang and was the seventh daughter in her family, so everyone in the village called her Zhang Qi.
Judging by the size of Zhang Qi’s belly, she was close to giving birth, yet she was still out in the field, hoeing weeds.
This would be unthinkable in modern times. By this stage of pregnancy, a woman would be lucky to go for a walk without her husband’s support.
Though such things were common in this day and age, Deng Shirong couldn't help but say, "Zhang Qi, you're almost due. Why are you out here weeding all by yourself? This is something your husband, A Chun, should be doing!"
Zhang Qi managed a weak smile and replied, "He has other work to do. It's just a bit of weeding, and I can still manage it."
Deng Shirong didn't press the matter further but warned, "Just be careful. If your stomach starts to hurt, go back home right away."
Zhang Qi gratefully said, "I will, thank you, Uncle Ji!"
Deng Shirong nodded at her and continued on his way to his family's litchi mountain, his mind wandering to Zhang Qi's past life.
Zhang Qi had married Deng Changchun and, in less than ten years, had given birth to five children, all of whom were daughters. Despite her frequent pregnancies, she had no standing in her in-laws' home. Her mother-in-law often scolded her, and Zhang Qi dared not even speak in her defense.
After all, even in the modern rural areas, many still stubbornly believed that not being able to bear a son was the woman's fault, failing to understand that the gender of a child is determined by the father.
It wasn't until her sixth pregnancy, when she finally gave birth to a son, that her status in her in-laws' home improved slightly.
Now, she was pregnant again. He wondered how many more children she had borne.
Lost in these thoughts, Deng Shirong soon arrived at his family's litchi mountain.
It was the season of renewal, when all plants grew vigorously. The thorny plants he had planted were already growing rapidly, and he believed they would form a preliminary barrier around the orchard by next year.
As he climbed the terraced path, he saw the young litchi trees and watermelon seedlings thriving. They had been fertilized with wood ash and farm manure, evidence of the hard work his niece and her husband had put in to care for the orchard.
...
"Uncle, why are you here?"
Seeing Deng Shirong, Jiang Dehu and Bu Dafang, who were weeding, quickly put down their tools and greeted him.
Deng Shirong replied, "I just came to check things out. You don't need to overwork yourselves. Why stay up here all day? This work will never end. Let the grass grow a bit before you weed it; it won't affect the seedlings."
Jiang Dehu chuckled, "Uncle, we're not overworking ourselves. When we see the grass, we just can't resist weeding it."
Deng Shirong looked up at the sun and said, "The weather will soon get hotter. All the trees on the mountain have been cut down, leaving no shade. We should start building a shelter. Otherwise, by June and July, you'll be exposed to the sun for long periods, and that won't be easy to bear."
Jiang Dehu and Bu Dafang had already known that their uncle planned to build a couple of houses on the mountain and had even set aside the space for them.
Hearing their uncle's words, their eyes lit up. Though they weren't afraid of hard work, they knew how harsh the sun could be in June and July. A shelter where they could rest would be a great help.
Bu Dafang enthusiastically suggested, "Uncle, if we're building a shelter, I think a simple wooden cabin would be best. It's easy to build and won't cost much. We can use our free time to put it together ourselves."
Deng Shirong knew that building a regular house on the mountain would be wasteful, so he nodded. "Alright, I'll have the materials and tools brought up here and send Dashi to help you. Let's start with a wooden cabin, and we can upgrade to a couple of houses later."
(End of Chapter)
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