Chapter 402: Interests
Chapter 402: Interests
After the meal, the family hopped onto the tractor and headed home.
Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou began discussing the school's New Year's Day cultural performance.
Zhou Ying: "I'll be dancing on stage, and I have to practice every day after Dismissal Time. Do you have any performances at your school?"
Zhou Zhou: "We do! I'm also going to dance. Some classmates will dance, some will sing, and others will perform."
"Your class has so many performances? We only have dancing in our class!"
Li Xiuxian: "Zhou Zhou's school is the village primary school, with only one or two classes per grade, and there are only about ten classes in the entire school. If each class doesn't prepare several performances, the cultural show will be over in no time. What's the point of that?"
Zhou Zhou remained silent, unsure if this was the reason.
Jiang Xia turned to the children and asked, "So, do you like dancing, singing, or performing?"
With the winter break approaching, it was time to arrange some extracurricular activities for Zhou Zhou, who seemed to have a keen interest in music.
Zhou Ying immediately spoke up, "I like dancing!"
Zhou Zhou: "I like singing, not dancing."
She had been envious of others dancing during the June 1st celebrations, but now that she could perform herself, it didn't seem that exciting.
Jiang Xia asked further, "Are there any other interests? What about painting or piano? Do you like those?"
Zhou Zhou: "I like painting, and I also like the piano. Piano music is so beautiful!"
Jiang Mu gave Jiang Xia some piano music recordings, which she placed beside the tape player. After playing them a few times, Zhou Zhou was captivated by the melodies.
Zhou Ying: "What's a piano?"
Zhou Zhou: "It's an instrument, black in color, and quite large. The music it plays is so lovely! Dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum..."
Zhou Zhou hummed the melody of 'Autumn Whisper'.
Jiang Xia wasn't surprised; Zhou Zhou had a remarkable memory, and she could sing a song after hearing it just once.
However, it was unlikely that there were any singing classes in town.
The only option was to purchase more recordings for Zhou Zhou to listen to at home.
Zhou Ying: "..."
"Dum dum dum dum... What's so nice about it? It doesn't even have lyrics."
Zhou Zhou: "I can't sing it, but when we get home, I'll play it for you. You'll think it's beautiful once you hear it."
"Great!"
Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei, "Do you know if there's anyone in town who can teach piano?"
Before Zhou Chenglei could respond, Li Xiuxian eagerly spoke up, "Yes, there is! There's an elderly lady in town who is said to have studied abroad. She knows how to play the piano. She only started taking students this year; before that, she didn't dare to. I've seen parents from the city bringing their children to our town specifically to learn from her. I heard her lessons are quite expensive. But she charges differently for different students; some pay one yuan per lesson, while others pay two yuan. She's more affordable for students from our town. I heard those two students from the city pay five yuan per lesson! And each lesson is an hour long."
Tian Caihua was astounded, "Five yuan? That's too much!"
Li Xiuxian: "Indeed! I'm not sure if it's because she adjusts her fees based on the students' backgrounds, but I've seen the parents of those two students from the city driving their kids here in a small car, so she charges them a bit more."
Jiang Xia: "I don't think so. It's probably based on the difficulty of the lessons."
Piano lessons weren't cheap, even in modern times.
Jiang Xia had heard from an elderly university professor that when she was young, she learned piano from an educator of full professor status, and each lesson cost ten yuan per hour. For an associate professor, it was eight yuan per hour.
Even in modern times, piano lessons vary in price depending on the teacher's skill and the student's level, with significant differences in cost.
The elderly lady in town was likely highly skilled, which explained the five-yuan-per-lesson fee.
Jiang Xia planned to ask Zhou Zhou privately if she wanted to learn.
Li Xiuxian asked, "Xia, do you want Zhou Zhou to learn piano?"
Jiang Xia: "Yes, but it depends on whether Zhou Zhou wants to learn."
Li Xiuxian then asked Zhou Zhou, "Zhou Zhou, do you want to learn piano during your vacation?"
Zhou Zhou shook her head.
It was too expensive for her taste.
Li Xiuxian laughed, "If Zhou Zhou wants to learn, she can go with her sister! During the vacation..."
Zhou Chensen: "During the vacation, Zhou Zhou can stay in town with her sister. Uncle, you can send them both to learn the piano, right?"
Li Xiuxian: "...”
She had originally planned to send Yingying back to the old homestead during the winter break, and she could also learn English from Jiang Xia.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ying immediately said, "Great! Zhou Zhou, why don't you come stay with me in town! We can learn the piano together and study English together!"
Zhou Zhou shook her head. "I only like listening; I don't want to learn."
Zhou Ying replied, "Then I won't learn either."
Li Xiuxian: "...”
She was truly exasperated by her daughter's lack of motivation!
Jiang Xia didn't say anything more and decided to wait until the holiday to ask again.
At this moment, Zhou Zhou probably heard that the lessons were expensive and was hesitant to learn.
If Zhou Zhou showed interest, Jiang Xia would surely find a way to make it happen.
After the Winter Solstice, the sun shone brightly every day, with little wind and a warm, pleasant atmosphere.
For the past two evenings, Zhou Chensen and Li Xiuxian had returned from the sea with Li's father and son after dinner. They would set out at 5:30 pm and return at 4 am the next day, selling the fish before going back to town to sleep.
These two days, they had taken the morning off, catching up on sleep and only starting work in the afternoon.
The night fishing trips yielded a good catch, but after deducting fuel and labor costs, they made only 30-40 yuan on the first day and 70-80 yuan on the second.
However, after just two days of night fishing, both Li Xiuxian and Li's father and son were exhausted from staying up all night.
This day-and-night routine was too much to bear!
Li Qingmin spoke up first, "We're already familiar with it, so there's no need for Ah Sen to take us out at night anymore. Let's go out during the day instead! We'll get up at 4:30 am and follow Ah Lei and them. Night fishing is too tiring; it's just too exhausting!"
Li's father agreed, "Night fishing is unbearable; it's too tiring. During the day, it's noisy at home, and we can't sleep at all."
Zhou Chensen said, "Alright. You can go out at night or during the day; just set a time that works for you."
On the third day, the father and son finally managed to arrive at the dock promptly at 4:30 am and set out with Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin.
After the Winter Solstice, Zhou Chenglei went out to sea every day, leaving early and returning late.
Jiang Xia was also busy at home.
With over 5,000 pounds of dried fish to fry, Jiang Xia helped with the packaging every day.
Initially, she had been in charge of tending the fire, but after tending it from morning till night, the oil smoke became overwhelming, and she lost her appetite for meals.
So, she stopped tending the fire and joined Zhou Mu in weighing and packaging instead.
While others worked from morning till night, Jiang Xia worked for an hour and then rested for an hour.
During her rest hour, Jiang Xia would lie in the courtyard, soaking up the sun, taking calcium supplements, and listening to Korean language tapes.
Alternatively, she would work on translations under the grape trellis, review various high school exam questions, design fabric patterns for the textile factory, and pay tribute to the countless handwritten newspaper assignments and art projects from her past life.
Thanks to her previous life's experiences, Jiang Xia had become quite skilled at drawing.
Fenyi and He Xinghuan carried a large basin of prepared fish over to Zhou Mu's side for packaging.
As they returned to the neighboring house, Fenyi couldn't help but exclaim, "Xia is so diligent and hardworking. I've never seen her go out to play."
There were quite a few newlywed brides in the village, some diligent and others lazy.
The village's definition of a diligent new bride was one who managed the household well: washing clothes, cooking, cleaning, raising chickens, and growing vegetables. Doing all this was considered being hardworking.
Even with these tasks, there was still plenty of free time each day to chat and play cards with others.
If one was even more diligent, they could weave fishing nets and earn money while chatting.
Aside from Zhou Guohua's wife, there was no one else like Jiang Xia.
He Xinghuan said, "How can one earn so much money without being diligent? The God of Wealth doesn't favor the lazy."
"That's true."
As the busy days led up to the day before New Year's Day, they wished everyone a happy Winter Solstice.
For those who are still awake and waiting for the next chapter, don't hold your breath.
I'm a bit busy today and haven't finished writing yet.
(End of Chapter)
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