Chapter 117: Who Gives a Teacher as a Gift!
“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine! Twenty-nine! Twenty-nine!”
“It’s my turn, it’s my turn.”
Several young women were playing shuttlecock at the entrance of the village.
Nowadays, the security in the village is excellent. Although many refugees, reformed bandits, and wealthy families who got lost while trying to move have been taken in one after another, they have all been properly settled.
Kaner Village is starting to feel like Kaner Town.
A small trading area has even appeared in the village.
Leading the shuttlecock game was Jiang Yu.
She had originally intended to make it as a toy for her younger sister.
Her sister said she wanted a feather flower. Her sister really was a genius; she could even make a flower out of chicken feathers.
She plucked them off and found they were actually quite pretty.
Then her sister complained that it was prickly and dirty.
She wanted them tied together and made her use cloth to create a base to secure them.
As it turned out, she discovered that it could be kicked around for fun.
Although her sister’s short little legs could only kick it twice.
But her own long legs could kick it many times.
She once broke a record, kicking it fifty-one times without dropping it.
Unfortunately, she had never managed to kick that many times again.
However, she didn’t find it fun playing by herself, and her sister with her short little legs was lazy. Apart from when she had just learned to crawl and would crawl everywhere, now that she could walk, she was lazy all day long and wanted to be carried at the drop of a hat.
She was as heavy as a small stone stool.
So, she brought it to the village to play with her little friends.
The weather was clear.
She also brought her sister down along with her.
She could play and keep an eye on her sister at the same time.
Jiang Mianmian watched her elder sister and her friends playing shuttlecock happily, thinking to herself that while other transmigrators contributed all sorts of great inventions, for her, it was just pockets on clothes—which only babies used—and a feather shuttlecock.
It was all just for play.
Sigh, they say you can see a person’s future at three; she could already tell what she would be doing in the future: just playing.
Jiang Mianmian clapped for her sister, but after a while, she got tired. She let Little Tree out and watched as it directed the other little Ants, a whole group of them busy and bustling, which was quite fun to watch.
She squatted on the ground, using a stick to stir the little Ants.
When her stick moved forward, the group of Ants moved forward; when her stick moved left, the group of Ants moved left.
Ant-brand building blocks, it was so much fun.
Great-Aunt Yin Ping arrived at Kaner Village.
She got off the carriage.
She asked around.
She asked if there was a woman with the surname Qin in the village.
Surname Qin, that would be Sister Xia, the only household.
“Yes, who are you to Sister Xia, old auntie?”
“I am her Great-Aunt, separated for many years, I’ve come to find her.”
“Oh, a Great-Aunt! Come quickly, come quickly. If Sister Xia knew her relative had come looking for her, she would certainly be happy. She is the most honest person.”
“I’ll take you there.”
The person leading her was an enthusiastic woman.
Seeing the two girls playing shuttlecock and with Ants, she quickly called out: “Sister Yu, Mianmian, come quickly! You have a relative visiting.”
Great-Aunt Yin Ping followed the woman’s shout and saw a girl in the middle of a group of young women, lifting her leg high to kick the feather shuttlecock.
She smiled, revealing two rows of teeth.
There was a dimple on her round face.
She was a pretty young woman.
Although someone had called out, she didn’t stop her footwork, continuing to kick while counting: “Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two…”
On the other side, an infant squatting on the ground, wearing a floral padded jacket, was startled by the shout and plopped down onto the ground. In front of her, there was a large patch of pitch-black Ants.
She turned her head in a daze and saw that the wooden stick in her hand was also covered in Ants.
Great-Aunt Yin Ping’s body stiffened.
Only for a moment, then she moved.
She walked forward and helped the infant who had fallen to the ground up.
She gently brushed the Ants off the infant’s stick and said softly: “They bite, you can’t play with them.”
Jiang Mianmian shook her head: “They don’t bite.”
She picked up Ant, which had been knocked to the ground by this old grandmother, and put it in her pocket.
Great-Aunt Yin Ping’s face, full of wrinkles and age spots, couldn’t help but twitch slightly.
Over there, Sister Yu finally stopped; she had stopped when she reached forty.
Perhaps she had caught a glimpse of someone approaching her sister, so she couldn’t continue kicking.
She trotted over.
She scooped up Mianmian, and only then asked: “Who are you?”
Jiang Yu was a bit guarded.
That time she was almost kidnapped, and her sister was almost lost as well, left a shadow in her heart.
Sometimes she would dream of a Kidnapper in the middle of the night and wake up crying.
Jiang Mianmian, however, didn’t feel that the old grandmother in front of her had any malicious intent.
The aura on this old grandmother was very strange.
Complex yet peaceful.
A very restrained feeling.
But there was no malice.
“Sister Yu, this is your family’s elder relative. She says she is your Mother’s Great-Aunt, here to find family,” Aunt Wang introduced.
The villagers also started to size up the old woman.
She was very old, but she was tidily dressed; not a single strand of hair was out of place.
She was a very neat little old lady.
Big feet.
But her temperament was excellent, as if she had once been wealthy, someone from a rich family.
Because right now, the old lady was dressed very simply, with many patches on her padded jacket.
Because it was the New Year, the villagers would bring out their newest clothes, and this year, thanks to Mr. Jiang’s leadership, everyone’s lives were much better, and there were fewer patches.
This old lady was living much more poorly than them, carrying only a small bundle with her.
Her shoes, however, looked quite sturdy.
To travel to find family with a head full of white hair, she must have suffered.
Such is this world.
Jiang Yu also sized up the old lady in front of her.
For some reason, she felt this old lady was extremely formidable; surely she couldn’t be Mother’s relative, right?
With Mother’s personality, could she have such relatives? If she had such relatives, would she need to flee famine to get here?
It would be more believable if she were Father’s relative.
She felt a bit like Father, with as many tricks up her sleeve as there were holes in a mud puddle, dense and countless.
The old lady smiled kindly at Sister Yu.
But in her heart, she was criticizing her from head to toe.
This young girl, her gaze was too sharp; a gaze that is too sharp leads to suffering.
In this life, one cannot appear too clever, especially women.
Nor can one be too ostentatious.
This girl’s personality looked like she had been raised with doting, very ostentatious, and she didn’t restrain her laughter at all.
It’s fine while she is a young girl, but later when she marries, she won’t even know how she offended someone with this ostentatious personality.
She also didn’t seem to have matured yet; she was this old and still hadn’t matured.
Her temper was also too straightforward; all her emotions were written on her face.
She felt she would suffer for it from beginning to end.
But the little one…
Being watched quietly by those eyes, Great-Aunt Yin Ping felt her heart skip a beat.
She rarely let her emotions show.
In a place like the Imperial Palace, showing emotions easily led to death.
She was so old now.
She thought she had seen all of life and death and had become detached.
But the moment she saw the infant’s face, she was still terrified.
As if she had returned to the Imperial Palace.
At this moment, the sky was clear, the surroundings were bustling with noise, lively and relaxed.
Yet her palms were sweating coldly.
A group of people crowded around the old lady as they went to the Jiang Family.
Mother was at home.
Father and her elder brother were out.
Mother heard everyone chattering, saying that an elder relative had come to find her.
What Great-Aunt.
She certainly didn’t have one.
But now, having followed her husband, she had seen the world.
She didn’t lash out on the spot, but instead sent everyone away, leaving the old lady alone, and closed the door.
Great-Aunt Yin Ping sat openly in the courtyard, picked up a bamboo cup, and drank the hot water that wasn’t sweet or clear. It was cold; even with the warm sun, one needed a cup of hot water to warm their insides.
She watched the woman show her a smiling face and say: “Old lady, do you have some difficulty that caused you to pretend to be our relative? If you have difficulties, you can tell me. There might not be much money, but my husband is a very good person and is happy to help others. When he returns, perhaps he can help settle you in.”
Great-Aunt Yin Ping was quite surprised.
She had just seen this woman, who appeared muddled, saying yes to everyone and smiling at everyone.
When she was told it was an elder relative, she called her Great-Aunt, Great-Aunt, calling out very enthusiastically, but turned around and sent away the crowd of onlookers.
Closed the door.
Immediately exposed her.
Yet she wasn’t harsh or intimidating, but looked very peaceful.
As someone who had struggled at the lowest level of the Imperial Palace, even she felt surprised by how this woman changed her expression and her calm demeanor.
If she had to say, this woman, a small village wife, actually had quite the air of a great general.
If a housewife is muddled, the family won’t amount to much.
If the housewife is clever, the family will be harmonious and smooth, and life will be beautiful and get better and better.
At least this housewife made Great-Aunt Yin Ping feel pleasantly surprised.
She stood up and bowed solemnly.
“The old woman’s name is Great-Aunt Yin Ping, and I am the female teacher sent by Commander Zi for the two young ladies. Greetings, Mrs. Qin.”
Jiang Yu’s eyes widened. This was her female teacher? She looked very formidable and a bit fierce.
Jiang Mianmian’s eyes also widened. Oh my god, sending homework and exercise books was already too much, but in ancient times, they actually sent a teacher directly; that was too much!!!
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