PNB Chapter 63: The son's ambition was to become a "great power."
Chapter 63: The son's ambition was to become a "great power."
As soon as the three of them got home, Da Niu couldn't wait to grab his mother's hand and say, "Mom, let's go find the milk to sew up the oilcloth!"
Hearing Da Niu's words, Lin Xi really wanted to shove him, but after trying to express his feelings with various facial expressions, he realized it wasn't enough. So he simply rolled his eyes at Da Niu to show his displeasure.
So they're the ones who're treated like "oxen and horses," not even allowed a sip of water.
Da Niu glanced at his father, then ignored him completely.
After a while, he finally understood that his mother was now the head of the household, and his father had to take a backseat.
Gao Mengli pursed her lips, went to the well to fetch a bucket of water, took a couple of sips, looked at Da Niu, and said, "Let's go."
Da Niu jumped up with joy! He followed Gao Mengli, clutching the ten-foot-long cloth, and couldn't help but give his father a smug smile as they left.
Lin Xifeng's heart clenched. This child, she wondered if it was too late to hit him now.
He curled his lip, glanced at Da Niu, snorted coldly, and turned to go to the kitchen to cook.
"Grandma, Grandma!" Da Niu called out twice as soon as he entered the old house next door.
Today is strange; they're usually in the yard, but there's nobody here today.
Hearing Da Niu's voice, the voice of her family's lucky charm, Jiang Shi, who was tending to a small patch of vegetables in the backyard, beamed with joy. She didn't even put down her hoe before rushing to the front yard, calling out, "Da Niu, Da Niu, Grandma...'s here..."
Her happiness lasted only two seconds. As soon as she returned to the front yard, she saw Gao Mengli in the yard, holding an oilcloth and looking at her with a "blank expression".
"My son...and my daughter-in-law...have also arrived..."
Jiang's smile froze for a moment. She gave an awkward laugh, her eyes involuntarily glancing at the oilcloth in Gao Mengli's hand, and she roughly guessed what was going on.
Da Niu looked at Jiang Shi happily: "Grandma, what are you busy with? We need to talk to you about something!"
Jiang quickly waved her hand: "It's nothing, just planting some vegetables. What do you need me for?"
"Is Da Niu here! Ha...ha..." At this moment, Lin Yong's voice rang out again. He ran to the front yard and stood next to Jiang Shi like a wooden stake.
Immediately afterwards, Yang Qing and her three little radishes also ran out. Seeing her sister-in-law there, she quickly "braked" halfway and ran back to the backyard with her three little radishes to continue digging.
That really scared her to death...
Gao Mengli was speechless; this family's reaction was truly...interesting.
She looked at Madam Jiang and gestured to the oilcloth in her hand, "Mother, I need you to sew this oilcloth."
Gao Mengli felt she almost couldn't bring herself to say that address.
"Oh, okay!" Jiang put down her hoe and ran over, took the oilcloth from Gao Mengli's hand, and placed it on the table in the yard.
"Wife, how do you suggest we sew it?" Jiang asked Gao Mengli, steeling herself.
Gao Mengli explained her requirements to Jiang Shi in detail: "Mother, sew a 21-foot piece together to use as a stall. Cut a 10-foot piece into small pieces, leaving two inches on each side to sew together, and string wooden sticks through them to make small stools. Make 20 of them. Oh, and I also need to ask Father to make me 6 tables, the kind that can be folded up."
"Okay, no problem. It's just that how do you make this stool with oilcloth, and that storage table...?"
Jiang looked at Gao Mengli somewhat awkwardly. She didn't understand what her daughter-in-law meant. Would she get angry and embarrassed?
Lin Yong was also extremely worried, after all, sewing cloth was not difficult for the child's mother.
But he had no idea what that storage table was, and he was completely baffled by the storage stool as well.
Gao Mengli frowned; theoretical discussions were difficult to understand.
She looked around but didn't find any suitable tools. Then she ran to the kitchen, pulled a slightly burnt wooden stick from the stove, and took it out.
When they saw her pick up the wooden stick again, Jiang and Lin Yong's eyelids twitched, their hearts pounded, and their legs trembled violently.
They would rather use their hands than their words, but their daughter-in-law used both words and physical force.
The two men clasped hands and looked pitifully at the big ox beside them.
Da Niu was startled and quickly stood in front of his grandparents, trying to awaken his mother's "conscience": "Mother..."
Gao Mengli looked at the three wary people in front of her and found it somewhat amusing. She actually chuckled and said, "Don't be nervous. You don't know, do you? I'll draw it for you."
Upon hearing this, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang and Lin Yong wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, then looked at the drawings of the table and stools that Gao Mengli had drawn on the ground.
Seeing this, the two of them understood the general idea.
Gao Mengli explained in detail the parts that Lin Yong didn't understand.
They immediately started planing wood; out of six tables, they could only make one today. As for the small stools, they could make about five or six when their two sons, who were carrying heavy loads, came back to help.
Upon receiving her task, Jiang quickly called Yang Qing, who was digging in the backyard, back to the house. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law then began sewing oilcloth.
Gao Mengli didn't leave; she just squatted down and watched her father-in-law planing wood.
Lin Yong was under immense pressure. Even though he was a top student in carpentry, the feeling of being supervised, especially by his unreliable daughter-in-law, caused him to make frequent mistakes.
Jiang and Yang Qing, who were sewing oilcloth nearby, kept glancing at him, silently shedding tears of sympathy for him.
"time to eat!"
Lin Xi's voice rang out in the neighboring courtyard, sounding like heavenly music to the ears of everyone in the old house!
Gao Mengli pursed her lips at her father-in-law's snail-like "efficiency," stood up, waved to Da Niu who was playing with the three little radishes Fu, Lu, and Lin, and then returned to the neighboring yard.
Seeing Gao Mengli leave, the three people in the courtyard all breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Yong's speed then returned to normal and increased significantly.
A table costs 60 coins, a stool costs 8 coins, totaling 520 coins!
So happy!
When Gao Mengli and Da Niu returned home, Lin Xi handed Da Niu a bowl of meatball and cabbage soup, saying, "Take this to the neighbor; it's a thank-you gift for helping us sew the oilcloth."
Da Niu happily took the soup bowl: "Okay, Dad, I'll go right now."
Then he quickly ran to the neighbor's yard.
He went and came back in less than a minute. He sat on the stool, said nothing, quickly picked up his bowl, and ate with gusto.
Lin Xi narrowed her eyes. This brat is getting smarter and smarter. She didn't want to see him.
Why don't we send him to school? Out of sight, out of mind!
He turned to look at Gao Mengli, "Mengli, why don't we send Da Niu to school? Otherwise, he'll be completely illiterate."
Da Niu was eating perfectly fine when his dad suddenly brought up studying!
He lifted his head from the bowl, looked at his father, and his eyes immediately welled up with tears.
He knew it! His dad still loved him. That's why he's thinking of getting him to read and write!
Gao Mengli nodded. "She's ten years old. She should be in fourth grade by now. It's time for her to start receiving an education."
Lin Xi nodded happily. He wouldn't have to watch this "annoying kid" at home anymore!
Now I finally understand why some people say that distance makes things better than proximity. When children come home from school for holidays, parents are only "pleasant" for a couple of days at most. After a few more days, their true colors are revealed, and they become extremely "disgusted," finding fault with everything and everyone.
At this moment, he finally understood!
"Father, Mother..." Tears streamed down Da Niu's face this time, he never thought that his parents really had this plan!
He never imagined that his father sent him to school because he "disliked" him.
He's so self-satisfied he's practically indulging in self-pity.
Gao Mengli glanced at her adopted son, whose face was streaked with tears, and still offered a word of comfort, "I originally wanted to repair the house first and then send you there, but since your father suggested it, let's send you to school first."
Although schooling is expensive, her family can still afford the tuition.
Da Niu nodded quickly and promised, "Yes, thank you, Mom and Dad. I will definitely study hard, pass the imperial examinations, and rise to great heights!"
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi exchanged a glance. Looking at Da Niu's ambitious spirit, they understood. So their eldest son aspired to be a "powerful nation"...