Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 130, Chapter 61 (Children's Chapter)

Jingyan pinched his little face affectionately and praised, "Xiaoli is great, keep up the good work! They say that handwriting is like a person's face. Before meeting someone, good handwriting will give strangers a good impression. Handwriting is your second face. We can't choose our original appearance, but we can still practice our second face."

He Chaoli was very happy to be praised and nodded hurriedly: "Don't worry, Auntie, I will continue to practice calligraphy every day from now on and I will never slack off."

"Oh my, so you even know the word 'slacking off'? Our little Li is so great!" Grandma chimed in with praise. Children are easily flattered, and after this experience, He Chaoli studied even harder from then on.

In the past, Jingyan would read some extracurricular books to him, but now he will read them on his own initiative. He will look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary, and if he really doesn't understand something, he will ask his grandma and Jingyan. This makes Jingyan feel very accomplished.

Sister Wang didn't quite understand. It would be fine if an adult read a storybook like Journey to the West or Water Margin, but the child was reading it by himself, stumbling and struggling. Even she, an adult, couldn't get into it. Wasn't it too strict to treat a child like that?

Jing Yan disagreed. In her previous life, her daughter had started school at age four with Jin Yong's martial arts novels and the Four Great Classical Novels, thanks to her third sister's husband. Later, when her daughter started school, her logical thinking skills were poor, and her math grades were terrible.

However, her Chinese language score consistently ranked first in the entire school. She was very accurate in grasping the key points of reading comprehension and her essays also scored very high. Later, when the teacher praised her daughter at the parent-teacher meeting, she mentioned that her daughter read widely, which made her stand out in essay writing.

Although she didn't know if this was inevitable, now that she had the opportunity, it wouldn't hurt to try and train Xiaoli according to this standard, since there weren't many boys who were good at Chinese.

Time flew by, and as the pregnancy progressed past three months, her belly grew larger. Every day after school and finishing her homework, He Chaoli's favorite thing to do was to sit next to Jingyan with a book in hand, reading it word by word, albeit intermittently.

Jing Yan listened with a smile and her eyes closed. When He Chaoli encountered something he couldn't read or didn't understand, Jing Yan would explain it briefly before continuing. Half an hour a day was their fixed reading time.

Grandma looked at the aunt and nephew strangely: "Jingyan, is Xiaoli practicing his voice? Why don't you let him read his textbook? He'll be able to read that much more smoothly. Isn't this kind of book for adults a bit too difficult for him?"

He Chaoli looked at his grandmother with his big, round eyes, and his clear voice rang out: "Great-Grandma, reading isn't difficult. I'll look up any unfamiliar words in the dictionary, and I'll remember them better if I look them up myself."

"Besides, this is prenatal education. I'm going to read to my little sister to lull her to sleep. My aunt said that babies need to sleep a lot to develop their brains and become smarter. My little brother An'an always falls asleep when I read to him, and my little sister in my aunt's belly will love to sleep too."

Grandma... "Is An'an hypnotized?"

Jingyan smiled helplessly: "An'an is too restless and can't sit still. Xiaoli yawns whenever he reads for a little while and falls asleep in no time. I think he might not be cut out for studying."

But kids are all different. If he really doesn't have a talent for studying, then we can train his physical strength. If that doesn't work, when he gets old enough, Dad or his older brother can send him into the army. There's always a way out.

Grandma agreed, saying, "Indeed, our children don't all need to be academically excellent. Those who are good at studying can go as far as they can study. Those who aren't good at studying can join the army. Those who aren't good at either academics or martial arts can learn a trade. As long as they can support themselves, that's fine."

Jing Yan also expressed her strong agreement, and He Chaoli also promised with a smile: "I am the eldest brother, and I will study hard in the future so that I can tutor my younger brothers and sisters."

"Oh my, my baby is so sweet, he's so adorable." Jing Yan happily hugged He Chaoli and gave him a good squeeze. It was only because his grandmother couldn't bear to watch that she snatched the child from her arms. When He Chaoli was released, his short hair was all ruffled into a mess.

In just three months since arriving, He Chaoli's little face has become noticeably fuller, looking round and chubby, and very cuddly. This is because he eats well every day, is in a good mood, and is growing well. Jingyan even specially ordered two jin of milk for him every day so he could grow taller.

Unlike milk in later generations that can be drunk directly, milk nowadays is all fresh milk and needs to be boiled before consumption. In her previous life, Jing Yan worked as a milkmaid on a dairy farm in the Great Northern Wilderness. Back then, she drank a lot of milk, and if she couldn't finish it, she would fill buckets with it and take it home to dilute in her children's bathwater.

Her daughter was born with dark skin, but her skin turned milky white as she grew up. She privately thought it was because of milk baths and drinking milk regularly. However, there was no scientific proof for this, so she just thought about it. Besides, nowadays, not many families would be willing to add milk to their bathwater, since it's not cheap.

After boiling two catties of milk, He Chaoli and his grandmother each had a cup, and the rest was drunk by Sister Wang. When He Zhijun was at home, he would buy an extra catty. Jingyan didn't like to drink it. She drank milk for five years in her previous life, and now she felt sick of it. Occasionally, when she went to exchange some soybeans for tofu, she would buy some soy milk to drink, adding more white sugar. It was really fragrant and rich.

Unfortunately, the tofu here is really not good. It doesn't have the smooth texture of the tofu from the Great Northern Wilderness, and it tastes rather sour. They even have different kinds of tofu, like firm tofu and soft tofu. She still can't get used to the firm tofu, but she doesn't have the skills to make tofu, so she can only eat the local so-called soft tofu with difficulty.

She couldn't help but complain about these things when she wrote home. When her fourth sister replied, she even mocked her cooking skills, saying she was quite picky. Jingyan was used to being criticized since she was a child, so she was indifferent to it.

With Children's Day approaching, He Chaoli came home and said that this was his first time participating in the sports meet, and he had only signed up for one event, running, without signing up for any other events. He sounded very excited and happy as he spoke. Jingyan promised him that she would go to the school to watch him compete on that day.

When the time came, Jingyan filled the military water bottle with cooled boiled water early in the morning, and also cut some braised pork ribs and put them in the lunchbox. There wasn't much else at home, and Jingyan felt that there wasn't enough, but He Chaoli felt that there was plenty. He happily went to school.

Jingyan felt increasingly that her child didn't have enough. She remembered how much snacks her daughter wanted at the sports meet eight or nine years ago. Although there are fewer kinds now, she still didn't want her child to have any regrets about her childhood, especially the regret of not having enough snacks.

Without hesitation, she asked her grandmother to take An'an to school to cheer on Xiao Li, while she ran to the supply and marketing cooperative with a basket, bought a pound of milk candy, two bottles of canned yellow peaches, and four bottles of soda. Since it was hot and popsicles would melt easily, she didn't buy any.

When Jingyan arrived at the school with her things, the opening ceremony had already ended. She asked around for a while before finding the first-year students' camp. She then went through the classrooms. Along the way, she stumbled and bumped her way through the crowd. She discovered that there were quite a few stalls set up on the outskirts. It seems that nowadays, you can really set up a stall when there are events.

Jing Yan approached a vendor selling popsicles from an insulated box and asked, "Comrade, how much are your popsicles? How much is one?"

The stall owner glanced at her basket and asked, "Are you a student's parent?" Seeing Jing Yan nod, he continued, "Popsicles are three cents, ice cream is eight cents. How many do you want?"

Jing Yan smiled and thanked her, "I'm still looking for my child's class. It's hot, and I was thinking my child would like something colder. I'd like to ask about the price so I can leave some money for my child to buy something if they want. Thank you!"

The stall owner looked at her with suspicion: "You don't look very old. What grade is your child in? They can still give themselves pocket money."

"My child just started first grade. As long as he can do math, he can afford it. But I don't usually give him any money because I'm afraid he'll squander it. It's Children's Day, so giving him a few cents to make him happy is fine," Jing Yan replied with a smile.

The stall owner's eyes lit up: "Now that you mention it, third and fourth graders should be able to buy things with their own money. I also want to thank you. I was focused on areas with lots of parents and forgot that the kids need to eat for the stall to sell." With that, he turned and left.

Jingyan was taken aback, but then she realized that there is no shortage of smart people in any era. Even if they were previously bound by fixed ideas, once they open their minds, they will come up with money-making ideas. She looked around and decided to find Xiaoli first. After a long search, she finally found Class 4 and spotted An'an among the pile of chairs.

Jing Yan breathed a sigh of relief and sat down in the empty seat next to him. "An'an, where did Great-Grandma and Brother Xiao Li go?"

An'an turned her head and saw that it was her mother. She immediately smiled and opened her arms to Jingyan, saying, "Mom."

Jingyan placed the basket at her feet and reached out to hug An'an: "Where are Great-Grandma and Brother? Do you know where they went?"

An'an struggled to sit on the chair next to her: "Mommy, I can't bump into my sister, I'll just sit here." Then, she pointed in a direction: "They went that way. Great-Grandma told me to sit still and not leave this spot, saying she's going to accompany Brother Xiaoli to some kind of inspection..."

Although the child was young and didn't speak clearly, Jingyan still understood: "Inspection."

An'an nodded heavily and pointed to the bag hanging on the back of the chair: "It's my brother's, and he hasn't eaten it yet."

Jingyan pinched his little cheek, bent down and took out a White Rabbit candy from the basket, unwrapped it and stuffed it into An'an's mouth. An'an felt the milky aroma in his mouth, grinned and drool dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Jingyan disgustedly took out a handkerchief and wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth: "Eat slowly. It's Children's Day today. You can eat two milk candies."

An'an laughed even more heartily, "I'll eat the other one this afternoon."

“Okay~” Jing Yan readily agreed.

Jingyan and An'an sat there waiting for a while. When they saw that the race was ready to start, An'an suddenly pointed excitedly at someone and shouted, "Mom, brother, that's brother!"

Following the direction of his finger, Jing Yan indeed saw He Chaoli at the starting line, wearing a matching short-sleeved shirt and shorts, making him quite difficult to spot in the crowd.

As the referee's starting gun fired, the five children on the track shot off, and many people around them began to shout encouragement. In this atmosphere, Jing Yan couldn't help but stare nervously at He Chaoli's back.

He Zhijun's morning exercise with Xiao Li was effective. Xiao Li was always in the lead in this group, and Jing Yan couldn't help but shout when he crossed the finish line.

The mother and daughter weren't very interested in the upcoming matches and waited patiently for Xiaoli and the others to return. They came back quite quickly. Grandma was also worried about leaving An'an alone here. Although she had informed the homeroom teacher, she was still uneasy about her not being under her watchful eye.

When Grandma returned and saw Jingyan and An'an sitting in their seats, she finally felt relieved. "Jingyan, you're here. This is Xiaoli's first time participating in a competition. I was worried he wouldn't be able to find the competition area, so I took him with me. Although I entrusted An'an to the teacher before I left, I was still very worried. Luckily you came. Did you see Xiaoli's competition just now?"

Jing Yan smiled and nodded: "I saw it. As long as the children don't run around, they won't get lost. After all, they're in school. Xiao Li was the first in his group. I just don't know where he'll rank in the final overall score. But as long as he participated, that's enough. The ranking doesn't matter."

Xiao Li, covered in sweat, ran to Jing Yan's side: "Auntie is here, I'm thirsty, I want some water."

Jingyan took out a military water bottle from her bag, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to him. He Chaoli gulped down several mouthfuls to quench his thirst before returning the bottle to her. Jingyan screwed the cap back on and stuffed the bottle back into her bag. "Xiaoli, do you want an ice pop? Or candy? I also bought some canned yellow peaches. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

He Chaoli looked at the food in Jing Yan's basket with some surprise: "Auntie, did you buy all of this for me?"

Jingyan nodded: "Yes, today is Children's Day, and every child brings food. Our Xiaoli can't be left out, right?"

Just then, other children returned from their competitions, and many greeted He Chaoli. Jingyan and her grandmother exchanged a glance, relieved. Jingyan grabbed a handful of milk candies and gave them to He Chaoli: "Xiaoli, share these candies with your good friends in your class."

He Chaoli glanced at the milk candy in Jingyan's hand, took out four pieces, distributed them to the four boys sitting on the outside, and then returned. Jingyan was a little confused: "You only have four friends?"

He Chaoli thought for a moment and said, "I've only eaten the snacks they gave me, so I should share them with them. No one else has given me anything, so why should I give them anything?"

Jing Yan... was unable to refute it.

Left with no other choice, Jingyan took out three more milk candies and handed them to him: "Take these to your teacher."

He Chaoli thought for a moment, then nodded and took the candy. He ran to the teacher's seat in the first row and handed the candy to the female teacher. Jingyan heard him say, "Teacher, thank you for watching my brother just now. This is a thank-you gift from my aunt."

Jing Yan... well, it seems there's no problem.