Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 223: Ambition Must Match Ability

"Let’s each talk about our own thing."

With Wen’s mother making the final decision, what could Yi Chichi say?

She could only accept it.

After tidying up the pots and pans, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law duo packed up seafood, dried fruits, tobacco, alcohol, candy, and other items, and went to the cowshed.

The sky was cloudless, and the moonlight was bright.

A gust of wind blew through, causing the branches to sway, casting claw-like shadows on the ground.

Wen’s mother suddenly leaned close to Yi Chichi, grabbing her arm, "Don’t be afraid, daughter-in-law, mom will protect you."

Her voice was trembling.

Yi Chichi was silent for two seconds then tentatively said, "Mom, it’s just the tree shadows."

"I know." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She replied a bit too quickly, sounding somewhat weak and short of breath.

Confirmed, her new mother-in-law was afraid of strange things.

Just as she was about to ease Wen’s mother’s fears, she spoke again.

"I’m really not scared, I just feel a bit uncomfortable."

"... Mom, how about you go back and I’ll go alone?"

"No way."

In the darkness, she couldn’t rest assured letting her daughter-in-law go alone.

However, Yi Chichi was even less assured, worried her new mother-in-law might get frightened into some trouble.

But she couldn’t persuade her back, so helplessly she could only change the topic.

"Mom, are you afraid of bad people?"

"No one can be worse than the little days."

When she mentioned this, her whole demeanor changed from gentle to fierce, like a blade drawn from its sheath.

"Back then I dealt with the little days one by one, chopped quite a few."

Yi Chichi was stunned, "Mom, have you been to the battlefield?"

"No need to go, everywhere was a battlefield at that time."

She smiled bitterly, "It took me days to get over killing an enemy for the first time, but later I didn’t feel anything."

No wonder she had the courage to be a single mom in such tough times and raised Wen Shi alone; turns out she was a war hero.

Still, "What about Wen Shi’s dad?"

"He was sacrificed."

Yi Chichi immediately felt guilty beyond measure and apologized, "I’m sorry, mom..."

"Stop."

Wen’s mother interrupted her, her tone very calm, "It happened so many years ago, to be honest, now I don’t even remember what Wen Shi’s dad looked like."

No photo was left, but there were relics, a set of blood-stained, tattered military uniform.

"I only remember he was a young man with very good and very white teeth."

"Does Wen Shi look like his dad?"

"...Roughly, yes."

Not wanting to continue on this topic, she changed it, "Are we going to talk to Mr. Song about bringing Qin Jiu home later?"

"We’ll talk about it when we get there."

"Were Mr. Song and his family good to you?"

"They were very good when I was younger; later, we lost contact."

Yi Chichi succinctly recounted the original owner’s experiences, listening to which Wen’s mother felt deeply distressed, cursing Yi Yong as less-than-human, worse than a beast.

She cursed Zhang Lanxiang as heartless and even criticized Yi Jing and the others.

While cursing, they reached the cowshed.

"Mom, stop cursing, we’re here."

"Hmm? We arrived so quickly?"

"Yes."

Wen’s mother, who was scolding with enthusiasm, sighed, "I haven’t had my fill of cursing."

"You can continue cursing when we return."

"That’s doable."

As they talked, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law appeared at the front door.

Yi Chichi was about to knock when the door creaked open, and Mr. Song’s smiling, wrinkled face appeared in her view.

"I knew you’d come."

"Uncle Grandfather."

Yi Chichi greeted warmly, with Wen’s mother following up by calling him big brother.

Mr. Song was taken aback; that title made his head spin.

"Your daughter-in-law calls me Uncle Grandfather."

The implication: Your call of big brother isn’t appropriate.

Wen’s mother laughed awkwardly, "It slipped out."

"Don’t call me that next time."

"Okay."

Then, Mr. Song opened the door to let them inside.

Nothing seemed wrong from the outside, but inside they realized Mr. Song and his family weren’t asleep, all turning their heads to look at them.

"Why isn’t anyone asleep?"

"We knew you were coming back today."

That one concise sentence explained the reason for them being awake.

Yi Chichi laughed, "Great, let’s unload the things."

She put the items she was holding on the ground and started distributing them.

No one was forgotten.

The men got tobacco and alcohol, the women got candy and malt milk, and little Qin Jiu got toys, comic books, notebooks, and pens.

Then, she noticed one thing.

"Where’s Xiao Jiu?"

That’s right, Qin Jiu wasn’t there.

Mr. Song and his family burst into laughter, and Mrs. Song explained, "Knowing you were coming back, he got overexcited and fell asleep from exhaustion."

Yi Chichi shook her head helplessly, and Mr. Song decisively said, "I’ll go wake him up."

"Don’t."

She quickly stopped him, "Let Xiao Jiu sleep; seeing him tomorrow is just the same."

Saying this, she took out fabric and handed it to Mrs. Song, "Grandma Song, use this fabric as you see fit."

"Okay."

Mrs. Song received the fabric, opened it for a look, realizing this girl had indeed bought a lot.

One item of clothing per person wouldn’t be enough, but that’s okay; she could make two jackets and two pairs of pants and rotate them.

The leftover scraps could be patched and used for shoe covers and other repairs—quite good.

"You all chat, I’ll go put the fabric away."

After Yi Chichi acknowledged with an okay, she started questioning them like accounting about how Mr. Song and his family had been doing while she was away.

Understanding her concerns, Mr. Song didn’t hold back, explaining their daily life and mood in detail as if making a report.

Mother Wen, who overheard the dialogue between the elder and the young, blinked, feeling something off about this interaction.

It seemed her daughter-in-law had swapped identities with her Uncle Grandfather; her daughter-in-law was the elder, the family elder was the junior.

Seeing Mr. Song and his family were so used to it, occasionally joining in or making additions, her expression turned to a smile.

Her daughter-in-law was a good person, and Wen Shi married right.

At this moment, she felt immensely grateful she had proactively acted when Yi Chichi was being pursued; otherwise, such a good daughter-in-law would never walk into her family.

Yes, tomorrow she ought to send a telegram to congratulate her son.

Yi Chichi was unaware of her thoughts, and after talking with Mr. Song and the others, she prepared to rise and bid farewell.

But unexpectedly, Mr. Ma suddenly said, "By the way, there’s something I need to tell you."

His expression turned serious, prompting Yi Chichi to immediately straighten up, ready to listen attentively.

"Please, go ahead."

"Have you met the new female educated youth?"

Upon his question, Mr. Song and the others’ expressions changed too.

Yi Chichi nodded, "I’ve met her."

"What’s your impression?"

Mr. Song wanted to hear her opinion on Xue Jiahuan, Yi Chichi thought for a moment, "No impression."

"??? No impression?"

Her answer left Mr. Song and the others stunned; Yi Chichi nodded again, emphasizing, "Yes, no impression."

Honestly, there was nothing worth noting; stupidity is her issue, but what did that have to do with her?

Unless she brought her stupidity to Yi Chichi, she could act freely.

Having ambition in life is fine; wanting a good life is fine too, but there’s one key thing: ambition needs to match ability.