Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 241 - 240: The Inferior Mother

Chapter 241: Chapter 240: The Inferior Mother

Sister-in-law Zhang arrived at Ten Miles Team when the glimmer of dawn just started to light up the sky.

She knew that the Educated Youth Corps of Victory Team was stationed in a landlord’s large courtyard, and she followed the directions to find it, only to see the entrance gate still tightly shut.

She didn’t dare to knock on the door, so she stood waiting at the entrance with a small cloth bag in hand.

After waiting for nearly ten minutes, she finally heard the sounds of fire being made for cooking inside. Only then did she carefully control her strength and lightly knocked on the courtyard door a few times.

This morning it was the sisters Wen Qingqing and Wen Ruannuan’s turn to cook. They had been going to work during the day recently, returning at night to eat, wash up, and then collapse into bed to sleep. Although they hadn’t cried, their days were passed with exceptional difficulty.

They got up early today, and neither sister wanted to speak to each other. After washing their faces with cold water, they went straight into the kitchen.

Breakfast was easy to prepare; Miao Hongqi had steamed enough cornbread the previous night, leaving enough for this morning so they could just heat it up and eat. Boil a pot of cornmeal gruel, cut some pickled vegetables, and that was that.

Wen Ruannuan was still yawning while lighting the fire, her whole being in a half-awake, half-asleep daze.

Suddenly, she heard a faint knock at the door, and she wasn’t quite sure: "Sis, is someone knocking?"

Wen Qingqing was cutting the pickles, and upon hearing this, she put down the knife and walked out with her hands wiped on her apron: "I’ll go have a look — Ruannuan, stay alert, don’t burn your hair."

"Mmm..." Wen Ruannuan yawned again, still unable to muster any energy.

When Wen Qingqing went to open the door, Miao Hongqi came out. She was still the woman of few words, quietly entered the kitchen, and pulled Wen Ruannuan away from the stove.

Wen Ruannuan felt embarrassed: "Sister Miao, no need, I can tend the fire. You should sleep more."

Miao Hongqi quickly donned an apron, rolled up her sleeves and said, "It’s okay, I’m used to it. You two still have to work during the day, it’s tougher for you."

"But..."

Wen Ruannuan hadn’t finished refusing when Wen Qingqing came back and saw Miao Hongqi. She said, "Sister Miao, good timing, you’re up. A student’s parent from your class is looking for you."

"Ah?"

Miao Hongqi was startled, she quickly stood up and straightened her hair, asking anxiously, "Do I look okay?"

She was a novice teacher and excluding the uncles and aunts within the team, this was the first time she was meeting a student’s parent. She was so nervous that she could hardly handle it.

Wen Qingqing tucked her stray hairs behind her ears and removed her apron before saying, "Yes, you look fine. Go ahead."

Miao Hongqi hurried out the door, not much more relaxed than Sister-in-law Zhang outside.

"Hello comrade, who might you be?"

Hearing the woman outside, Miao Hongqi’s voice couldn’t help but become softer.

Sister-in-law Zhang put a pleasing smile on her face, bending over in an extremely humble posture towards the teacher who was much younger than her.

She awkwardly replied, "Hello, teacher. I’m Dahu’s mother, I..." Her hands were twisting together, clearly unsure of how to continue.

Miao Hongqi nodded: "Hello Dahu’s mother, has something happened to Dahu?"

She couldn’t help but feel anxious, subconsciously tightening her grip on her clothes.

Sister-in-law Zhang shook her head repeatedly, thought for a moment, then handed over the small cloth bag she was holding to Miao Hongqi: "Teacher Miao, these are the hazel mushrooms I picked from the mountain, you keep them for yourself to eat."

Miao Hongqi was taken aback, having never experienced something like this. She quickly waved her hands and stepped back: "No, no, no, Dahu’s mother, please don’t do this. Just tell me what the problem is. I’ll definitely help if I can."

"This, this..."

Sister-in-law Zhang also had no experience with gifts being refused!

She thought that the teacher must be fed up with Zhang Dahu, otherwise, why wouldn’t she even accept a gift?

Thinking this, her eyes began to redden again.

Holding the cloth bag, her eyes filled with earnestness and pleading: "Teacher Miao, whatever happened in the past, all the faults lie with my mother-in-law and husband. It’s not something Dahu, a child, could intervene in, right? He used to study well, truly a good child. Look at this..."

Miao Hongqi was even more baffled.

She didn’t understand; how did it come back to past events?

Right from the first day of school, Wang Hong had sought her out to say explicitly — "That Zhang family kid, you teach him however you see fit. I won’t hold his father’s misconduct against the little bastard... Teacher Miao, you keep a good eye on him, just make sure he doesn’t end up like his father, that’s all."

These past few days, Miao Hongqi had been treating Zhang Dahu very equally, as she should have... So why did his mother seem to think her child was being targeted?

"Dahu’s mother, why does it sound like you’re implying that Hongqi is bullying your son?" Wang Xue walked out while braiding her hair. Her tone was light and carried a bit of the laziness of just having woken up, "Dahu’s mother, you might as well tell us directly what’s going on. Who spread what rumors, or is Dahu being bullied at school? We can’t understand what you’re getting at."

She finished speaking, tied up the braid neatly, and came over to Miao Hongqi’s side. She casually moved Miao Hongqi behind her, and with a smiling gaze, looked at Sister-in-law Zhang: "If Dahu has really suffered any grievance, just say it. If it’s the teacher’s fault, we can go to the principal or the commune. If it’s something said by other students, we will definitely help manage them."

Sister-in-law Zhang looked at Wang Xue, then at Miao Hongqi, thought for a while, and said: "The thing is, last night, Dahu came home and has been doing his homework ever since. He’s been writing late into the night, still burning oil by lamplight. I see other children not writing so late, I asked him, and he said he couldn’t do it... Teacher, my Dahu really used to study very well, you see..."

As she spoke, she took out a neatly folded four-square sheet from her inner pocket and unfolded it to continue: "Look, he got a hundred on his last test!"

Wang Xue took the test paper and gave it to Miao Hongqi with an inquisitive look.

Miao Hongqi subconsciously said: "Dahu was the first to finish his homework yesterday..."

She then had a realization and slapped her forehead saying: "That was a math problem specifically given to Dahu by Nianhe, she told me about it."

Wang Xue’s eyes flickered, then she turned back and smiled at Sister-in-law Zhang: "Dahu’s mother, you see, it was other teachers who specifically gave Dahu those problems, so other children didn’t have them, and that’s why they didn’t have homework when they went home."

Sister-in-law Zhang nodded with an air of understanding, though still appearing somewhat dazed.

Wang Xue said: "How about this, you wait here for a bit, I’ll go ask Teacher Lin what’s going on and have her explain it to you, okay?"

Sister-in-law Zhang really didn’t quite understand; she just felt due to her family’s disgrace, it must have affected the child... Ever since her family had troubles, she had experienced too much of this.

Wang Xue patted Miao Hongqi’s shoulder and turned to stride quickly toward the back courtyard.

When she arrived at Lin Nianhe’s room, Lin Nianhe was just pushing open the window, leaning bewilderedly against the desk, enveloped in the thick air of just having woken up.

Seeing Wang Xue, Lin Nianhe blinked twice, her mind not yet alert, and half-consciously opened her mouth: "Have you eaten?"

Lin Nianhe had stayed up half the night looking through a pig-raising guide. She had planned to sleep in more today, but early in the morning, she was woken by the rustling voices in the front courtyard.

A bad night’s sleep, a lousy mood, she was now the person in the entire Educated Youth Corps with the heaviest grievances.