Chapter 191: Literacy Cards
The system was excellent in every way, except for one thing—it always gave only twenty-four hours to complete an issued quest.
This required the manor’s foundation to be fairly solid. For instance, it definitely couldn’t afford to remain stuck at the level one stage, where it couldn’t even scramble together three people in twenty-four hours.
Fortunately, Jian Xingxia had built her foundation step by step, and now possessed a quota of four employees. Three people was standardly not an issue for her.
Jian Xingxia decided to start teaching Lin Sanniang right now. There was no time to summon A-Feng and Taoya, and though the plump auntie was off duty today, there were still two other employees at the manor!
Jian Xingxia told Lin Sanniang to stay behind and tidy up the old house, while she hurriedly rode down the mountain to deliver the vegetables, dropping by Hu Ming’s house along the way.
Hearing her voice, Hu Ming’s grandmother came out.
“What? Hu Ming’s literacy cards? Oh, my goodness, it’s been so many years, who knows where they’ve been thrown!”
Hu Ming’s grandmother felt rather anxious. Nowadays, the vast majority of young people in the village had gone elsewhere to work or moved to live in the town. With so few young people remaining, there were naturally very few children left. It was no wonder Fangfang, Hu Ming, and Little Hu Liu always wanted to tag along and play with Jian Xingxia; counting them one by one, there weren’t even ten minors living at home in the entire village.
Among them, Jian Xingxia only knew Hu Ming well, so she could only come to him. But Hu Ming was already ten years old and in the fourth grade; his family wouldn’t keep something like toddler literacy cards around. They had long since been used by his grandmother to light the cooking fire.
Hearing this, Jian Xingxia wasn’t discouraged. “It’s fine, it’s fine. If you don’t have any, I’ll have Little Hu Liu bring a set back tonight.” Little Hu Liu went to town to shake milk tea on weekends, Mondays, and Fridays, so he could bring things back along the way.
But given how much Hu Ming’s grandmother doted on Jian Xingxia, how could she possibly let her leave empty-handed?
“Bring what set back! Come with me! We’re going to Meihua’s house! Her family has them!”
The Meihua that Hu Ming’s grandmother spoke of was Zhao Meihua, the wife of Lu Xiangshui, who contracted the fish pond. Her child was only three or four years old this year.
Most of the villagers Jian Xingxia knew were either elders or locals over thirty. When she lived with her grandmother, Lu Xiangshui hadn’t even married yet. She wasn’t very familiar with Lu Xiangshui, let alone Zhao Meihua.
Jian Xingxia was dragged along by Hu Ming’s grandmother straight to Zhao Meihua’s house.
“Meihua! Meihua! Are you home?”
At around three in the afternoon, Zhao Meihua had just woken her child from a nap and was putting on his clothes, preparing to take him out for a stroll.
Hearing Hu Ming’s grandmother’s call, Zhao Meihua answered out the window, “I’m here! Just got up from a nap, what’s the matter, Hu Ming’s grandma?”
Hu Ming’s grandmother couldn’t wait that long. The fiery old lady directly pushed open the gate—which was rarely locked in the countryside anyway—and marched straight into the yard.
Zhao Meihua happened to come out holding her child. Seeing Hu Ming’s grandmother push open the door, she was about to say something, but then she saw Jian Xingxia following right behind her!
Instantly, she grew incredibly excited—who in Lu’an Village didn’t know by now? Aligning oneself with Xiaxia meant aligning oneself with money! Especially since Lu Xiangshui had completely bungled an errand a few days ago, yet Jian Xingxia had personally come to their door!
Zhao Meihua was so thrilled she barely knew what to say, and hurriedly ushered them inside.
“Come inside and sit, come inside and sit. I’ll pour some tea!”
Jian Xingxia smiled and said, “Thank you, Sister Meihua. I actually came to borrow something from you.”
Three-year-old Lu Mingming hid in his mother’s arms, looking at Jian Xingxia with pure curiosity.
Without even asking what it was, Zhao Meihua instinctively agreed, “Borrow it! Take it!” After saying it, she finally remembered to ask, “Xiaxia, what is it you want to borrow?”
Zhao Meihua felt her excitement was nearly impossible to suppress. Her mind raced frantically, turning over what her family possessed that could catch Jian Xingxia’s eye. Was it the fish pond? The camellia oil? The ducks they raised? Or… Lu Mingming?
Zhao Meihua looked down at the son in her arms, but looking left and right, Lu Mingming’s face was just a downsized version of Lu Xiangshui… She silently dismissed that notion.
But in the next second, she heard Jian Xingxia speak: “Your Lu Mingming…”
Huh? Zhao Meihua paled in shock—could she truly have taken a fancy to Lu Mingming, wanting him to go up the mountain to play an ancient child character?
In that brief instant, Zhao Meihua thought of a thousand things. First of all, Lu Mingming looked exactly like Lu Xiangshui; at most, he had a bit of toddler cuteness, but he couldn’t be considered a remarkably handsome child model. But! There weren’t many children in the village right now, and the few remaining ones were all said to be on excellent terms with Xiaxia. Fangfang was Xiaxia’s little shadow, and Xiaxia always brought Fangfang along to the market. Little Hu Liu worked for Xiaxia, helping her fetch deliveries and move things every single day. Hu Ming was the same, constantly finding excuses to go play on the mountain, but…
Looking at Lu Mingming, even without her maternal bias, she truly couldn’t bring herself to say “my child is indeed child model material” to a boy carved from the exact same mold as Lu Xiangshui… Besides, she had been at odds with Lu Xiangshui these past few days over the matter of selling the fish.
How could Jian Xingxia know that before she could even finish her sentence, Zhao Meihua’s mind had already traveled a thousand miles away?
Thus, when Jian Xingxia finally blurted out, “Does your Lu Mingming have literacy cards, the kind used for learning new characters in kindergarten?” Zhao Meihua’s facial expression completely transformed. It shifted from a solemn pale to an awkward red. The moment she realized Xiaxia hadn’t come for the farmhouse business, she recalled Lu Xiangshui’s recent behavior, turning flushed with anger.
However, Zhao Meihua’s reactions were exceptionally fast.
“Literacy cards? Yes! Do you need cards, a picture book, or the kind designed as wall posters?” Zhao Meihua set Lu Mingming down and went inside to search. “We also have a reading pen and picture books that sing, do you want those too?”
Zhao Meihua carried no idea why Jian Xingxia suddenly required literacy cards, but she knew that Xiaxia was currently the little wealth deity of the village. College students held ideas and drive, and following Xiaxia’s direction surely couldn’t go wrong.
With a series of rustling sounds, Zhao Meihua pulled out all of Lu Mingming’s toddler literacy books, cards, and reading devices.
Lu Mingming burst into tears, tugging at Zhao Meihua’s clothes. “Mom, those are mine…” He attempted to awaken Zhao Meihua’s maternal conscience.
Yet Zhao Meihua’s eyes held only Jian Xingxia. “Is this enough? If it’s not enough, I can place an order right now… No! I’ll ride my motorcycle to town right now to buy more!” A spark flashed in her eyes; it seemed that as long as Jian Xingxia opened her mouth, she would immediately materialize on her motorcycle and twist the throttle to go.
Jian Xingxia couldn’t resist a smile. “It’s enough, it’s plenty. I’m just using them temporarily, the literacy cards are enough.”
Jian Xingxia squatted down, patting Lu Mingming’s small head. “Can I borrow your cards for a bit? I’ll return them the day after tomorrow, and I’ll give you a lollipop as a thank-you gift, alright?”
Lu Mingming had been rather sad, but the moment he heard there was a lollipop, his heart swayed. He raised his head to look at Zhao Meihua—his mother usually didn’t allow him to eat too much candy.
But his mother was different today; her head was nodding faster than a hen pecking at grain. Seize the opportunity, his mother rarely agreed to let him eat candy.
Lu Mingming nodded decisively, “Okay!”
“Great, then thank you! I’ll return them to you the day after tomorrow and bring you a lollipop.” Jian Xingxia smiled warmly as she patted Lu Mingming’s little head.
