Cheng Luanluan looked at the messy dishes on the table and said indifferently, "Starting today, everyone will take turns washing dishes, except for your eldest sister-in-law."
"Mother, there's really no need." Wu Huiniang said worriedly, "Washing dishes doesn't take much effort. I can do it."
She quickly began to clear the plates and chopsticks.
"Put them down." Cheng Luanluan pressed her hand. "Let's start with Zhao Dashan. You all take turns. Also, from now on, wash your own clothes. You can't leave everything to your eldest sister-in-law. Remember?"
In this household, Cheng Luanluan's words were like an imperial edict. The four boys naturally had no objections.
Zhao Dashan helped Wu Huiniang sit down and quickly began to clear the dishes.
After the house was tidied, the four boys sat around the table in the main courtyard. Wu Huiniang was also asked to sit down.
Cheng Luanluan coughed and then said, "Today, I'll first teach you addition and subtraction from one to ten."
Zhao Sanniu let out a苦哈哈 (kǔ hāhā) laugh: "Mother, I'm stupid. Can I not learn? I'm strong, so doing physical labor is enough. Can I leave the brain work to Second Brother?"
"No," Cheng Luanluan objected. "Even if you can't learn it, you must try your best. Learn as much as you can."
She looked at Zhao Sidan. "How many characters have you learned from Tie Zhu?"
Zhao Sidan said proudly, "Ten chestnuts for ten characters, I've learned them all. I can write everyone's name in our family."
Cheng Luanluan nodded. "After you finish learning arithmetic, you can learn characters from Sidan. First, learn the character 'Zhao'."
Zhao Sanniu was on the verge of tears. He really wanted to run away but didn't dare.
At this moment, the sky gradually darkened. There were no candles in the house, so Zhao Dashan lit a torch for illumination. There were six people in the house, and the firelight illuminated their indistinct faces.
"What is one plus one?"
"What is eight minus six?"
"What? Eight minus six is three? Sanniu, how did you calculate that?"
"If you don't know how to calculate, count on your fingers..."
Cheng Luanluan, who had initially been full of enthusiasm, gradually found her voice filled with impatience. She ended the math lesson with a headache and had Zhao Sidan teach character recognition. Sidan dipped his finger in water and wrote characters on the table, saying seriously, "This character means 'Zhao,' as in our Zhao family's 'Zhao'."
Cheng Luanluan glanced at it.
She almost got angry.
How exactly did this boy Sidan learn characters? Why did he only learn half of it, writing "Zou" (走) as "Zhao" (赵)? It was truly confusing.
She covered her face. "Forget it, Sidan. It's too late today. Learning characters affects your eyes. Let's make ice jelly together."
Zhao Sanniu looked excited. "Mother is so good! I'll go boil hot water first!"
As long as it wasn't studying, he could do anything.
Zhao Dashan actually didn't like learning these things either, but he was trying his best to cooperate. He stood up and said, "Then I'll peel the jelly flower seeds first."
Zhao Ergou was still immersed in arithmetic. "Mother, within ten numbers, we can use our fingers. But for numbers above ten, how can we calculate faster?"
He always had to calculate for a long time in his head, and half the time his answers were wrong. Cheng Luanluan was overjoyed. "Mother will teach you later. Learn a little every day, and you'll gradually know."
Zhao Sidan tugged at his hair and said, "Oh no, why do I feel like this character 'Zhao' doesn't look like what Brother Tie Zhu taught me? No, I'll go ask Brother Tie Zhu tomorrow."
Cheng Luanluan felt happy for the second time. Being able to realize he wrote something wrong could also be considered a kind of progress.
"Alright, it's getting late. Go quickly and peel the stone flower seeds. We need to make three barrels of ice jelly tonight."
As soon as Wu Huiniang was about to leave to work, Cheng Loanloan pressed her back down. "You go back to your room and rest. You are not to come out without my permission."
Wu Huiniang's heart was filled with a myriad of emotions. With reddened eyes, she returned to her room, not daring to sleep. She quietly listened to the movements outside. Unable to sleep, she simply sat up, watching the faint firelight outside, and took out some fabric to cut and sew, beginning to make clothes.
Farming families all made clothes at night. Without candles, they relied solely on the feel of the needle...
While the family of six was busy on this side, the Zhao family on the other side also did not sleep.