Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 379: Perfect Sunshine

Wen’s mother was momentarily dazed, then shook her head, "No."

"Can you get your hands on some iron pipes?"

"I can think of a way."

As for how she would manage, she didn’t say, and Yi Chichi didn’t ask.

No matter how good the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is, boundaries must exist.

If Wen’s mother didn’t take the initiative to talk about something, Yi Chichi wouldn’t pry.

This time was no different.

She just responded with an "Oh," and moved on from the topic.

"Mom, I’m going to work."

"Alright."

Wen’s mother nodded, and as Yi Chichi was turning to leave, she added, "Oh, by the way, there’s snow forecast for the afternoon. Make sure to take a thick coat to pick up Xiao Jiu."

Even after being here for so long, Yi Chichi still couldn’t predict the weather.

She looked at the bright sunshine outside and couldn’t fathom why Wen’s mother said it would snow in the afternoon.

"Mom, where did you hear that? The sun is shining perfectly right now."

Wen’s mother gave a gentle smile, "I heard it from Uncle Liu and the others."

The Uncle Liu she mentioned was Grandpa Liu, Liu Lan’s grandfather.

The elderly who hung out with the old man all seemed to have some mysterious skills.

Sure enough, snow began to fall in the afternoon.

It was unclear when it started, but by the time Yi Chichi noticed, a thin layer of white had already blanketed the ground outside the window.

"It’s snowing."

Busy embroidering the Moonlit Begonia, Liu Lan answered without looking up, "Well, let it snow, we can’t stop it anyway."

As she spoke, she glanced outside and saw the snow was quite heavy, exclaiming, "Oh no, this snow is troublesome."

"What?"

Yi Chichi and Wang Nan both looked up simultaneously, and Liu Lan pointed at the snowflakes, "The snow is too heavy, with my years of experience, this won’t stop any time soon."

"Bigger than last year’s?"

"Hard to say." She quickly added, "But the snow here has never been small every year."

That much is true.

Yi Chichi could only be grateful, "It’s a good thing the captain and the guys came by earlier to sweep the rooftops and fix the beams for the village’s elders."

Otherwise, the heavy snow would have caused roofs to collapse again.

Zhou Qiuyu was preoccupied with the meat distribution, "But we haven’t got our meat allocation yet, I wonder if we’ll get it today."

"You will!"

Wen’s mother, just back from outside, provided a definitive answer, "On my way back, they were already butchering the last pig."

Once that’s done, they can start distributing the meat.

As to how much each family gets, it’s hard to say.

"Qiuyu, how many work points do you have this year?"

A full work point tally is ten, but due to limits in strength and speed, no one in the Youth Corps Courtyard managed to earn the full amount.

The most capable worker, Zhou Yadong, managed only about seven or eight work points.

The rest hover around five or six.

Before Yi Chichi left the Youth Corps Courtyard, she earned just three work points, about the same as a child, pretty useless.

Fortunately, she didn’t rely on work points to eat, or she’d starve.

Zhou Qiuyu’s situation was much better; she had at least five, at most eight work points.

When she heard Wen’s mother’s question, she mentally calculated before responding, "I’m not sure exactly, but it shouldn’t be less than a thousand."

As for exactly how many, she wasn’t sure.

Wen’s mother laughed, "Then you can get a few pounds of meat this year."

Zhou Qiuyu’s eyes widened suddenly, excitement disrupting her sock-weaving, "Can we really get that much?"

"Almost."

Zhou Qiuyu was all smiles, "I can look forward to it now."

"You certainly can."

The snow fell heavier and deeper until Wen’s mother’s footprints from earlier had been covered over.

Around three in the afternoon, the loudspeakers in Kao Shan Village crackled to life.

And then the captain’s booming voice came on—

"Is everyone home? If you’re home, come to the team office for the meat distribution."

It was almost like an ancient battle call, urging everyone out from their homes.

Yi Chichi didn’t join in but sent off Wen’s mother and Liu Lan before heading to the cowshed.

Her great-uncle and Uncle Ye weren’t there; they went for the meat distribution.

Old Mrs. Song and her group were there, though.

As Yi Chichi entered with snowflakes on her, the elderly lady waved her over, "Come warm up by the stove."

"I can’t stay long."

Qin Jiu and the others would be out of school soon, and she needed to pick up the kids.

Otherwise, they’d play too wildly and catch a cold.

She went over and touched the stove, feeling its warmth.

The old lady was sitting cross-legged doing needlework, Yi Chichi glanced over, "Mending socks?"

"Yes, Xiao Ye’s socks have holes in them, need to fix them."

She responded, "Just checking if you need anything."

The group exchanged looks and shook their heads, "No, nothing."

This considerate girl had prepared everything for them in advance, and with the packages they’d been receiving throughout the year, life had been much better.

"Don’t worry about us all the time; if there’s anything we need, we’ll tell you."

"Alright, I’ll go pick up Xiao Jiu now."

"Go then, watch out for the slippery road, don’t fall."

"...Okay."

The road wasn’t actually slippery yet; the snow had only been falling for a couple of hours and was still soft, with a crunch underfoot.

It wouldn’t be slippery until it froze over.

For now, each step left a clear imprint in the snow.

Leaving the cowshed, Yi Chichi walked along the village path, passing by the team office.

The assembly area was packed, and the fierce wind and snow couldn’t dampen their enthusiasm for the meat distribution.

People were gathered in small groups, chatting while waiting for Li Gen Sheng to call names to distribute based on work points.

As soon as Zhou Qiuyu’s name was called, she jumped and shouted excitedly from the back of the crowd, "Uncle, I’m here, I’m here! Let me through everyone, I’ve come to get my share of the meat..."

Her voice was so loud and jubilant that even the departing Yi Chichi couldn’t help but turn back with a smile before heading to the school.

The wind and snow made it tough going for Yi Chichi.

Especially her face, which felt like it was being cut by knives even with a scarf wrapped around it and only the skin around her eyes exposed.

But Qin Jiu and the others seemed unfazed.

The school had let out early, and the kids were running and jumping through the wind and snow, occasionally bending over to make snowballs for a snowball fight.

Yi Chichi thought, "..."

Ah, the simple, pure joy of children really was something to envy.

"Xiao Jiu!"

Seeing the figure running ahead, she stopped and called out.

The wind carried her voice forward, and Qin Jiu straightened from making a snowball to look over.

Then—

"Auntie!"

He cheered and, abandoning his snowball, rushed over with his backpack on.

Seeing this, Dun Dun and the others quickly followed.

Niu Niu, Leaf, and the rest had also started first grade. Seeing their older siblings run, they hurried after them.

But with short legs and tiny steps, they couldn’t keep up and shouted in frustration—

"Wait for me, wait for me!"

Nobody waited. Instead, Qiangzi shouted, "Run faster yourselves; no one’s going to wait for you!"

This spurred the three stubborn little girls to focus on running hard.

When they finally reached Yi Chichi, each one was bent over, holding their knees and panting heavily.

Their little faces were bright red!