Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 421: Truly Ugly

"Said Liu San’er can’t compare to you."

Aunt Ma, bold and unafraid of offending anyone, bluntly said, "Honestly, even San’er can’t compare with our Niu Niu."

No one in the village could match Liu San’er in terms of idleness.

He never did any proper work, wandering aimlessly all day, babbling nonsense, and liked teasing cats and dogs.

Snatching firewood from the elderly and candy from children—things normal people can’t fathom—he’s done countless times.

In short, he’s someone who never commits big mistakes but is constantly making small ones.

Many in the village are annoyed by him.

Dongzi is among them, and upon learning he was being compared to Liu San’er, he spat disdainfully, "How clueless must I be to end up being rated alongside him?"

Liu San’er’s mom wouldn’t have it and argued, "Our San’er is still young; he’ll understand when he grows up." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Wen Shi couldn’t bear it anymore and sharply retorted, "He’s two years older than I am, still young, huh? I think you should go home and change his diapers; don’t bother dividing fish..."

"Why shouldn’t I divide the fish?"

Concerned about her own interests, she raised her voice, acting as if louder dictated reason.

Wen Shi calmly said, "Children eating fish can easily get choked by bones, posing a life-threatening risk. For the sake of San’er’s safety, it’s better not to divide fish for your family."

Mrs. Liu, "..."

It sounded reasonable, but about her San’er...

Realizing belatedly that Wen Shi’s words weren’t well-intended, she turned to the captain to complain.

"Wen Shi, this brat wants to snatch my fish, Captain, aren’t you going to do something?"

The captain was equally annoyed with her and rolled his eyes, drily saying, "If you want the fish divided, shut up; otherwise, go home."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Liu swallowed all the words she was about to say.

Her son was important, but so was the fish.

But for now, her son wasn’t home, so she could set it aside and prioritize securing the fish.

With Mrs. Liu no longer causing mischief, the subsequent tasks became simple.

First, the fish was weighed at the brigade office, then sorted by size.

Finally, the fish was distributed among the households in the village.

The educated youths’ residence and the old folks living in the cowshed also got a share.

There weren’t many households in Kao Shan Village, only thirty-six in total. Fish was divided by household, not by headcount.

Their group had caught over eleven hundred pounds of fish this time.

And since Wen Shi and his crew were the primary hunters, following Kao Shan Village’s customs, they were entitled to ten pounds.

A rough average placed about forty pounds in Wen Shi’s group’s possession, leaving over thirty pounds remaining.

The fish could be chosen since tastes varied.

Some preferred fathead fish, others the meaty big grass carp, etc.

Yi Chichi, for instance, loved eating fathead fish and black fish.

Fathead fish could be cooked multiple ways, and black fish made exquisite sour fish soup, milk soup, and more.

Ao Hua was also tender and chewy, the taste exceptional.

The Wen Family typically catered to Yi Chichi’s taste, so ultimately, they picked fathead, black fish, and Ao Hua.

With fish distributed, Kao Shan Village basked in aromas at dinnertime.

Everyone cooked fish.

The Wen Family made golden soup fish today.

The golden soup sour fish was light, appetizing, and richly fragrant. The fish slices were so tender and tasty that one’s tongue almost couldn’t help but swallow them.

Qin Jiu gobbled down rice with his bowl lowered, soon stuffing himself, yet the greedy child still wanted another bowl of soup.

Yi Chichi, "Are you sure you can still drink soup?"

"I—hic, can."

He hiccupped but persisted, saying to Yi Chichi, "Aunt, soup doesn’t take up space; I’ll wiggle it into a gap."

"...Go ahead, but if you’re uncomfortable after, eat a couple of hawthorns."

"Alright!"

He nodded dutifully, served himself another bowl of soup, and gleefully drank it, then expressed satisfaction with a contented look.

His old-man demeanor made everyone stifle laughter.

Wen Shi teased him, "Do you want to eat fish again tomorrow?"

"No more."

Qin Jiu waved his hand, reasoning, "Good things should be savored slowly, not consumed all at once."

At this point, he remembered something, "Don’t we have squid slices at home? If nothing else, let’s eat squid tomorrow."

Wen’s mother and Yi Chichi simultaneously looked at the furballs, Big Orange and Da Li, devouring small fish, and after a pause, Wen’s mother sighed, "What to do? I promised Big Orange they could have all the squid slices."

Qin Jiu’s eyes widened, looking moistly. He glanced at Big Orange and them, then at Wen’s mother and Yi Chichi. Just when the two thought he might protest, he grunted, "Then let them have it."

Aunt said the biggest taboo is breaking promises.

Whether to people or things, don’t commit unless you’ll keep the promise.

Grandma had promised Big Orange; even though they were cats, it couldn’t be half-hearted.

Wen’s mother chuckled, "You can share them."

Qin Jiu cheered up, grinning, "I’ll share with everyone."

He meant he’d only take from his portion, not Big Orange’s.

Yi Chichi nodded, "Then that’s settled."

In fact, the family wasn’t fond of squid slices, except Qin Jiu and the two cats.

But the child’s heart to share, everyone willingly accepted his kindness.

Once everyone was stuffed, the big and little man bustled around cleaning dishes, tidying the table, and cleaning up, including replacing warm water for Big Orange and them.

Wen’s mother took out shoes with edged embroidery, "Chichi, try them on for size."

Yi Chichi, having washed her hands, looked up in surprise, "These shoes are made for me?"

Wen’s mother nodded affirmatively, while Yi Chichi was amused.

She initially thought the shoes were made for Wen’s mother herself.

After all, they shared the same shoe size, a size 37.

Furthermore, these shoes were edged with floral fabric, which wasn’t her taste.

Hence, no second thoughts.

It turned out these shoes were for her.

"Alright, Mom, I’ll try them."

She said, taking the shoes off her cotton shoes to try on.

The fabric shoes were unlined, unsuitable for the current season. Only when the temperature rose could she wear them; otherwise, they’d freeze her feet.

The sole was layered, walking felt particularly comfortable.

Except they were really ugly.

Unable to tolerate the floral-edged shoes’ glaring appearance, she finally spoke up to Wen’s mother, "Mom, please don’t edge my shoes next time."

Wen’s mother realized her dislike for such fancy edging and calmly said, "Okay, I won’t edge for you next time. I assumed you little girls had similar tastes to Lanlan."

"I prefer solid colors."

The patterned wide-mouth cloth shoes with floral edges were genuinely unattractive; she couldn’t understand Liu Lan’s taste.

Wen’s mother couldn’t fathom her preference either; how a young girl liked their elder-women’s black cloth shoes.

Seeing she really wasn’t interested in edging, Wen’s mother turned to fetch an edge-less pair, "Let’s swap."

"Swap!"

Yi Chichi decisively exchanged shoes with Wen’s mother. Wen Shi came out puzzled, "Mom, Chichi, did you two mix up the shoes?"