The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage
Chapter 83: Busy Farming Season

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Busy Farming Season

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhitong had no idea about what had just happened; she was at home, concerned about whether her grandmother and two aunts had been injured.

Visibly, her grandmother and aunts were a mess; even Sun Mei’s clothes were disheveled, and their hair was a disaster. They looked quite pitiful. However, they didn’t seem to have any actual injuries, just some red marks on Aunt’s face where Xiao Wang had scratched her, though the skin wasn’t broken.

It was Mrs. Wang who had really gotten the worst of it, receiving several solid slaps from Zhao Guifen that caused her face to swell. Zhao Guifen was quite proud of this.

But Sun Mei was worried. Scuffles and arguments among women in the rural streets were all too common here. Her daughter, now four and a half years old, loved to imitate people and had just witnessed family elders fighting.

So, while tidying her clothes, Sun Mei took the opportunity to educate Zhao Zhitong, telling her not to learn such things. Zhao Guifen dismissed this. Instead, she encouraged her granddaughter to learn, saying, "I think it’s a good thing if she learns."

She pulled Zhao Zhitong close and said, "Tongtong, your Grandma wants you to know you can’t be weak. If those foul-mouthed bad people try to bully you, you should slap them right back until they don’t dare bully you anymore!"

Zhao Zhitong’s eyes sparkled. She waved her little fists in the air, exclaiming in her childlike voice, "Don’t worry, Grandma! No one can bully me! I’m tough!"

"That’s right!" Zhao Guifen gloated with the air of someone who had just won a battle. "There’s no reason for my granddaughter to be bullied!"

Nearby, Sun Mei wanted to cover her eyes, worrying they were raising a bully. Is this the difference between generations in how they educate their children?

But she didn’t argue with her mother directly, as it would only confuse Zhao Zhitong about whose teachings to follow, and that wouldn’t be good for the child. So, after her grandmother left, Sun Mei called Zhao Zhitong to her side and asked earnestly, "Tongtong, do you remember what Mom told you before about using reason to persuade people?"

Zhao Zhitong nodded and asked, "So, does that mean Grandma was wrong when she told me to fight back today?"

Sun Mei shook her head. "No, your Grandma has her own way of dealing with things. In her environment, reasoning with people often doesn’t work. So when someone is attacking you, you can’t just stand there and take it; you should fight back hard. That’s not wrong.

"However, the environment you will experience in the future will be different from your Grandma’s and mine. You’ll have an education and understand reason. The people around you will also be educated and will engage with you rationally. In such company, if you were to use physical force, you’d put yourself at a disadvantage."

Zhao Zhitong listened attentively to her mother’s words and began to think. Seeing her daughter in deep thought, Sun Mei left her alone to ponder while she went to thresh wheat in the courtyard.

Zhao Zhitong sat on a stool, thinking for a while, then went to chat with Grandpa Bai. She asked, "Grandpa Bai, if you were to encounter a bad person, would you beat them up or reason with them?"

Grandpa Bai hesitated before replying, "Young girl, Grandpa Bai has never met a bad person, so I can’t answer this question.

"However, your mother is right. You should respond with violence or reason depending on the situation. If a bad person refuses to listen to reason and tries to harm you, you can’t just stand by. Hitting them back is what you would call self-defense in your original world."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhitong grinned. "Grandpa Bai, you think just like me!"

She then ran outside excitedly to share her thoughts with her mother. She found her mother threshing wheat on the street outside the courtyard.

The wheat had been harvested earlier and had been drying in the sun for several days. Once dry, it could be threshed to remove the grains. Zhao Yu and Zhao Cheng were in the courtyard, helping Zhao Dong unload the wheat they had brought back today and spread it out to dry.

Zhao Zhitong ran out to see her mother handling a strange long pole. It had a movable wooden board at one end, and when swung down, this board would strike the wheat stalks. Zhao Zhitong found this fascinating and asked, "Mother, what is this?"

Sun Mei replied, "This is called a chain. It’s specifically used for threshing wheat."

Zhao Zhitong’s face lit up with curiosity. "Mother, I want to try!"

"Alright, come here, and I’ll teach you."

So, Sun Mei taught Zhao Zhitong how to use the chain, guiding her hands.

At first, Zhao Zhitong couldn’t get the hang of it and even accidentally hit herself, but she gradually grasped the technique. Although her small strength meant she wasn’t very effective, she was still overjoyed.

Satisfied that her daughter had learned, Sun Mei fetched another chain, and they began threshing the wheat together.

The THWACK, THWACK, THWACK of the chains resounded in the street, drawing the attention of their neighbors who were also drying wheat. They smiled and greeted them.

The neighbor to the east was Shi Tou’s family, and the one to the west was Hu Zi’s. At that moment, Hu Zi’s wife teased Zhao Zhitong with a smile, "Well, well, your little girl is working too, huh? Why not let Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu, those two boys, do it?"

She knew that Zhao Dong’s family doted on this daughter, which is why she spoke this way. Sun Mei glanced at her and said simply, "Children need to learn all sorts of things."

Hu Zi’s wife wasn’t a bad person, but her words could sometimes be unpleasant. She continued, "Sun Mei, you too. Those two children from your eldest brother’s family eat your food and drink your water; shouldn’t they be working for you? I say, they should do a lot more. It’s what they ought to do!"

Sun Mei gave a dry laugh. "Hu Zi’s wife, please don’t say such things. We didn’t take the children in because we expected them to work for us."

Hu Zi’s wife looked at her with an air of disappointment in her perceived naivety, saying, "You! Let me tell you, those children are old enough to remember things. They know who their father and mother are. It’s not easy to raise them to be truly loyal.

"As the saying goes, ’An adoptive mother, no matter how dear, is not as dear as the birth mother.’ Don’t you end up raising two ungrateful wretches who, once they’ve grown up and made something of themselves, abandon you old folks to find their birth parents!"

She knew Sun Mei couldn’t have more children and that they only had Zhao Zhitong as a daughter. So, she naturally assumed Sun Mei and her husband had taken in her eldest brother’s two sons to provide for their old age, which is why she was offering this reminder. But if the children heard these words, it would be incredibly hurtful for them.

As it happened, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu were right at the doorway and heard every word clearly. Heads bowed, they stared at their toes and murmured, "We won’t abandon Uncle and Auntie."

Hu Zi’s wife also saw the two boys come out. She chuckled and said, "Zhao Cheng, Zhao Yu, your Auntie is telling you, you’ll have to be more diligent in the future. Work harder, and be very filial to your Uncle and Auntie. Otherwise, your Uncle and Auntie might not want you anymore!"

THWACK!

With a crisp sound, Sun Mei slammed the chain heavily onto the wheat, interrupting Hu Zi’s wife. She then faced Hu Zi’s wife seriously and said, "Hu Zi’s wife, don’t speak to the children like that. It’s not good for them."