Mother Chen returned to her room like a victorious general, refreshed and high-spirited, and hurried to make a school bag for Zhu Ping'an. When she entered the room, she deliberately said something to her aunt and the fourth aunt. After Zhu Ping'an tied the old yellow cow to the cowshed, he also hurriedly followed Chen into the room.
Outside the east wing, the fourth aunt and the eldest aunt still didn't believe it and said some sarcastic things. They said that there was no one who didn't pay the tuition fee to study, and that Zhu'er must be lying to learn from him, and that the teacher was teasing Zhu'er. It was obvious that they were all saying that the grapes were sour because they couldn't get them. They hoped that others wouldn't get what they couldn't get, so that they would feel balanced.
After Chen returned to her room, she was a little worried. She didn't know how to make a schoolbag. In this era, the schoolbags of scholars were all small portable boxes made of wood or bamboo. The styles were basically the same. The difference between the grades was the materials and the degree of workmanship. Making a schoolbag was all carpentry work, and she didn't know how to do it. After Chen returned to her room and calmed down, she felt that she was probably overwhelmed by joy when she agreed in the yard.
"Well, Zhu'er, I'll make the schoolbag for you when your father comes. Your father is good at carpentry." Chen said embarrassedly.
Zhu Ping'an rolled his eyes when he heard this. He had been carrying a schoolbag for more than ten years in the modern world and had long been accustomed to using a cloth bag. Who would still use a wooden one, which was so heavy
Zhu Ping'an then gestured with his hands, saying, "Wooden ones are too heavy. I want to make it out of cloth. Any cloth will do. Just use a flat piece of cloth, sew it up so it can hold things, and sew straps on both sides so I can hang it around my neck."
Chen was also an experienced needleworker, so she understood after Zhu Ping'an's demonstration.
"You little brat just knows how to order me around." Chen cursed with a smile on her face as she took out a piece of linen from the cupboard, moved the scissors around, and sewed with the needle.
Soon, a schoolbag was formed in Chen's hands. The shape of this schoolbag was almost the same as the modern schoolbags in the 1980s and 1990s, but there were some differences. There were no extra patterns and the style was more simple and generous. The schoolbag was not big. Zhu Ping'an tried to hang it diagonally on his shoulder. The length and width of the schoolbag were just right. It didn't look big, but the space was just right. It was enough for Zhu Ping'an to put books and pens, inkstones, and paper in it.
"Thank you, mother." Zhu Ping'an, carrying his schoolbag, looked at Chen's thumb which had just been accidentally pricked because of rushing to finish the work, and said with great emotion.
Chen said unhappily, "Just stop getting mad at me."
After a while, the Zhu family came back one after another. Grandfather came in first with his hands behind his back, holding his pipe in his hand. When he heard grandma tell him that Zhu Ping'an was chosen by the teacher and was admitted to the elementary school for free, grandfather looked drunk, his old face flushed with excitement, and he kept saying "good" three times.
Following closely behind was the fourth uncle, who staggered in with a smell of alcohol. The first thing he said when he entered the room was, "I'm drinking with friends outside, so don't call me for dinner." After that, the fourth uncle staggered into the room and bumped into the door. It was obvious that he was drunk. He was messing around outside again. Although the fourth aunt was angry, she hurried over to help him up and took the opportunity to pinch the fourth uncle a few times to vent her anger.
Seeing this, the grandfather was so angry that he wanted to kick him twice, cursing, "What a useless fellow."
Grandmother refused to give in and held grandfather back from kicking the youngest son. She spoke up for the fourth uncle and said, "As a man, every man should socialize outside. This also shows that our fourth son has many friends and good relationships."
"What do you mean he has so many friends? They are just a bunch of bad friends and you just spoil them!" The grandfather was very angry and scolded the grandmother.
My father Zhu Shouyi and my eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan were the last to arrive. Both of them were carrying backpacks and went into the mountains again today.
"Oh, my second brother has come into the mountains."
The fourth aunt, who was supposed to be serving the fourth uncle in the house, rushed out with a howl like a wolf that smelled blood, which made Chen, who had just stepped out of the east wing, face turn black.
There were a lot of things in Zhu's father's backpack, two live rabbits, a pheasant, and a lot of bamboo shoots and mountain mushrooms. Aunt Xiao Si was very happy because she could eat meat again. There were also a lot of things in Zhu Pingchuan's backpack, but they were all wild flowers, which made Aunt Xiao Si a little unhappy. How come Dachuan was also infected by Zhu'er? Why did he pick so many wild flowers
"That's what I want." Zhu Ping'an came out with his short legs and solved Aunt Xiao Si's doubts.
Grandmother and Fourth Aunt were not interested in wild flowers. Just like last time, they put everything else away and threw the basket of wild flowers to Zhu Ping'an aside.
Zhu Ping'an was sitting around a basket full of wild flowers, smiling like a fool.
The eldest aunt was complaining in her heart, saying that he was so happy about a little wild flower. What level was he at? He was just an elementary school student. How could he compare with our Jun'er
When Zhu's father and elder brother heard that Zhu Ping'an was chosen by Mr. Sun to receive free tutoring, they were overjoyed. Zhu's father was so happy that he grabbed Zhu Ping'an with both hands and flew him in the air for several circles, almost making Zhu Ping'an vomit.
"Mom, the teacher said it's free, so we can't just go like that. I thought, why don't I take this pheasant and some wild mushrooms and game I picked from the mountains to give some to Mr. Sun tomorrow to try." After putting Zhu Ping'an down, Zhu Shouyi discussed with his grandmother.
My grandmother looked reluctant, but before she could say no, my grandfather spoke up.
"That's right, second brother is right. These wild mushrooms and game are worth a lot of money. Just give them all to them." Grandfather nodded repeatedly.
"Why do we need so much?" Grandma was unhappy.
"What do you know, woman?" Grandfather interrupted with a gloomy face, "Listen to me, go tomorrow and bring everything with you."
The dinner was naturally harmonious. For the first time ever, my grandfather drank two more glasses of wine and felt a little drunk.
"It would be great if this cloth could be used to make new clothes for Zhu'er. It's all your fault for wasting money."
After dinner, in the east wing, Chen looked at the pink cotton cloth with a white background on the head of the bed and began to complain about Zhu's father.
Naturally, Zhu's father nodded repeatedly, his dark face full of smiles.
Outside the window, the elder brother Dachuan is helping Zhu Pingan fetch water for bathing. Tomorrow he will become a disciple, so he must wash himself well. In ancient times, becoming a disciple was a big event. Before becoming a disciple, one had to take a bath, change into new clothes, eat vegetarian food, etc. to show respect. This is also called fasting. Although becoming a disciple in the countryside is not so particular, bathing and bathing cannot be omitted. One must dress neatly to at least show respect for the master.
"Oh, by the way, I also brought a blue cotton bed sheet as a dowry. Please find it out for me quickly so that I can make new clothes for Zhu'er." Chen, who was complaining about Zhu's father, suddenly remembered something and immediately urged Zhu's father with a smile to rummage through the boxes and drawers to find the bed sheet.
"That's your dowry..." Zhu's father nodded hesitantly.
"What do you know? I enjoy it." Chen kicked Zhu's father hard and urged him to get the bed sheet. "Zhu Shouyi, hurry up."