Village Belle is Trying to Cause Trouble Again Chapter 87
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 87: The First Time Milksop Got Punished
Mrs. Xie-Qin and Xie Qing didn't care if it was one or more children joining them, as long as Yuntang was willing.
Mrs. Xie-Qin smiled and invited them in. Then, she went to get two sets of bowls and chopsticks, smiling. "The pancakes are just out of the pan, and they are still hot. Taozi, Xiaozhi, you can have them."
"Is Xiaozhi also going to school?"
Seeing Su Zhi grabbing a few pancakes without courtesy, Su Tao, "..."
She stretched out her hand and pinched his thigh in annoyance, signaling him not to act like a starving ghost.
Then she replied obediently, "Yes, to learn some words."
While she said those words, Su Zhi had already stuffed a pancake into his mouth. It filled his mouth to the brim, and felt like it would be spit out in the next moment.
Su Tao, "..."
Although she had always been thick-skinned, her cheeks burned a little hot.
No one else reacted. Xie Yuntang saw that Su Zhi was eating quickly, so he picked up four or five pancakes and put them in Su Tao's bowl. "Sister Taozi, eat quickly."
He was afraid that Su Zhi would snatch her food.
Looking at Su Zhi, and then at Milksop, Su Tao felt that Milksop was more like her brother. She said sweetly, "Thank you, Brother Yuntang."
After that, she didn't say anything, and concentrated on eating the porridge and pancake.
After she finished the porridge, Xie Yuntang helped her scoop more, and after she finished the pancake, he helped her pick another.
Finally, Su Tao was full and satisfied. Seeing that it was still early for school, she quickly collected the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them.
……
On the way to the school, Su Tao took a detour to find the group of children who had nothing to do on weekdays, and asked them to pick peach blossoms in exchange for candy.
She was almost late when she arrived at the school, but fortunately the teacher hadn't arrived yet.
Su Tao sat down breathlessly, and looked around. Her gaze finally stopped on the empty seat in front. After the new year started, the person sitting in front of her had quit school. It was said that he had gone to work in the fields.
"Su Zhi, you sit in front of me."
Then she said to Su Zhi's deskmate, "Dahou, help me keep an eye on him. If he dares to doze off, hit him hard. I'll treat you to candy."
The ten-year-old Jiang Hou's eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement. "Okay."
Su Zhi's eyes widened. He was afraid of being beaten, and yelled, "I don't want to sit here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he was hit on the head. Su Tao pulled his clothes and poked the back of his head with her other hand. "Behave!"
At this moment, the teacher came in. He took a look at Su Zhi, and then began to teach some words.
After a while, Su Tao saw Su Zhi dozing off, his head shaking. Just as she was about to kick him, she saw the teacher walking over with a ruler. "Su Zhi! Put your hand out!"
Su Zhi was startled and put out his hand as he was told. The next moment, two whacks were heard, and his palm suddenly hurt.
He burst into tears.
It didn't hurt much, but he was scared by the teacher.
Su Tao behind him didn't feel sorry for him at all. Instead, she gloated over his misfortune. He would only learn his lesson after being hit by the teacher a few times.
The teacher had taught many children over the years, so he naturally had experience with such situations. He said in a deep voice, "Su Zhi, ask your parent to come over at noon. You stand at the back and listen to the lesson."
Su Tao almost laughed out loud when she saw Su Zhi standing at the back pitifully. She covered her face with her book.
Served him right.
He was told to study hard, but he didn't!
When she broke for lunch, Su Tao immediately went back to her own house and told Lin Sanzhu that the teacher wanted to see her.
After hearing what Su Tao said, Lin Sanzhu went to see the teacher immediately. She was somewhat embarrassed to hear that Su Zhi fell asleep in class.
After returning from the teacher’s place, she beat Su Zhi.
"How dare you sleep in class! How dare you sleep! No one else but you slept in class."
"Your sister is a girl, but she’s better at studying than you. The teacher even praised your sister. Look at you, you’re good-for-nothing. I’m not even asking you to work. I’m just asking you to learn a few words. Is it that difficult?"
"Your father and I have taken a long time to save half a tael of silver. You rascal don't know how to cherish it. When your sister was your age, she was already cutting ragweed on the hillside!"
"If your sister didn’t ask you to study, I wouldn't have let you go. I would have thrown you to work in the fields in a few years."
Su Zhi yelped in pain amid the beating, crying as he ran.
Su Tao sat in the main hall and watched the fun. She had deliberately come to watch Su Zhi being beaten after eating lunch.
She was enjoying the fun and complained, "Mom, Su Zhi can't write a single word."
"You’ve been studying for the whole morning, yet you can't write a single word. Su Zhi, are you a pig or a cow? If you dare not be able to write anything again in the afternoon, don't even think about having dinner." Lin Sanzhu got even angrier and smacked Su Zhi's butt with her cloth shoe.
After watching Su Zhi's miserable state for a while, Su Tao happily went to the peach forest. Those peach blossom collectors were not there.
Yesterday, those people picked at least one-third of the peach blossoms.
If they came to pick again, there would probably be nothing left.
After walking around for half a circle, she went home and called Lin Sanzhu to continue picking peach blossoms, and then called the children to pick. During the lunch break, they picked two baskets full.
Now there were eight baskets full of peach blossoms at home. They weren’t pressed hard to prevent the petals from being damaged. They weighed about 3.5 to 4 kilograms.
It happened that Xie Qing was going to the county town in the afternoon, so he took them along.
After seeing off the Xie family's carriage, Su Tao felt delighted. She knew that she would have money tomorrow when Xie Qing came back, but she didn't know how much it would be.
In the afternoon, Su Zhi behaved himself in school. Su Tao stopped staring at him after a while. Perhaps she didn't sleep much last night, so her eyelids began to droop.
Xie Yuntang saw from the corner of his eye that her eyes were closed. He subconsciously looked at the teacher on the podium. The teacher's eyes were fixed on the book. He heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, he secretly reached out and patted Su Tao's leg, and said softly, "Sister Taozi, wake up."
Su Tao immediately opened her eyes again, but she couldn't hold on for long. She whispered, "Nudge me when the teacher comes over. Let me take a nap. I'm so sleepy." After saying that, she put her book up.
Xie Yuntang had never slept in class before. He looked at the teacher on the podium nervously, afraid that he would spot Sister Taozi sleeping.
However, the teacher still saw it. Before Xie Yuntang could call Su Tao, she was hit on the head.
Su Tao raised her head abruptly and met the teacher's stern gaze. She shrank and immediately stared at the book seriously.
She waited until the teacher returned to the podium before she touched her head.
Xie Yuntang looked at the teacher on the podium, and slowly leaned toward Su Tao, his soft and cute face full of anxiety. "Sister Taozi, does it hurt?"
"What do you think? I asked you to help me keep an eye, but you couldn't. How stupid." Su Tao rolled her eyes at him unhappily.
"Sister Taozi, I didn't mean it. I wanted to call you, but the teacher had already walked over," Xie Yuntang explained hurriedly.
Just as Su Tao was about to say something, the teacher's voice rang out. "Su Tao, Xie Yuntang, stand at the back and listen to the lesson."
Su Tao, "..."
She had no choice but to take the book and stand at the back. She glanced at Xie Yuntang who followed. This was probably the first time he stood to listen to the lesson.
His head was lowered, and the bridge of his nose made a beautiful arc.
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like he was about to cry.
She touched her nose, covered her face and asked quickly, "Milksop, you're not going to cry, are you?"
"Don't cry, I'm being punished together with you."
