Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 376: Fanning the Flames

Wang Nan twitched her mouth as she handed over the sunflower seeds to them, "Eat up."

Big Orange and Da Li looked at the sunflower seeds she placed on the kang mat, meowed satisfyingly, then used their paws to crack open a seed and ate it.

Yi Chichi’s expression remained calm until they spat out the shell and started on another seed; she couldn’t hold her expression any longer.

"Mom, when did Big Orange and Da Li learn to eat sunflower seeds?"

In the original world, she had seen videos of cats and dogs cracking sunflower seeds from a pet influencer, doing it very skillfully and even spitting out the shells.

She even marveled at how clever it was.

Little did she expect that her two cats could also do this, which was simply absurd.

Wen’s mother was even more bewildered than she was, "I don’t know."

She couldn’t eat sunflower seeds because they made her overheat. Although they had dried goods at home, most were pine nuts or hazelnuts.

Qin Jiu never lacked food; her daughter-in-law never skimped on this distant relative’s enjoyment, always keeping his supply of snacks like pastries and White Rabbits uninterrupted.

Even when her daughter-in-law went to the island, she would regularly send food to Qin Jiu, making sure he never missed out.

This also resulted in the kid having no interest in sunflower seeds.

So, the question arose: with no sunflower seeds at home, how on earth did these two learn how to crack them?

Perhaps aware of the mother-in-law’s puzzlement, Wang Nan awkwardly explained, "My bad, when collecting Mao Ke, they both came over to my house, and Old Bai, whether for fun or something, ended up teaching them to crack sunflower seeds."

She added with a sigh, "Honestly, their sunflower seed cracking skills are much better than mine."

Yi Chichi and the others fell silent. Comparing sunflower seed cracking skills with cats was...

Simply ridiculous.

Having learned why the two cats could crack sunflower seeds, Yi Chichi stopped paying attention to Big Orange and Da Li, and instead looked at Liu Lan, "How much have you embroidered?"

"This much."

Liu Lan unfolded the silk cloth, on which the embroidery design was drawn by Yi Chichi. Since Ning Jiandong didn’t specify the content, she drew two designs: one of Moonlit Begonia, focusing on the scenery,

and the other of Forest Fox, focusing on animals.

Liu Lan started with Moonlit Begonia. The bright moon was already embroidered, and she had completed the main stem of the begonia branch.

The efficiency honestly shocked Yi Chichi.

"Did you start embroidering while in confinement?"

Liu Lan shook her head, "No, I only started after coming out of confinement."

That was still quite swift.

Wang Nan leaned in for a look. Seeing a round moon and a branch on the silk cloth, she curiously asked, "What’s this embroidery?"

"Moonlit Begonia."

Liu Lan showed her the design, and Wang Nan was quickly amazed.

"Can I have this when it’s finished?"

So beautiful, pardon her lack of vocabulary, but she couldn’t think of any better words to describe this design, although she could surely appreciate it.

If this were framed and displayed, it would immediately elevate the aesthetics.

Liu Lan’s response was—

"Ask Chichi."

Since it wasn’t her design, she didn’t have the authority to decide.

Upon hearing this, Wang Nan turned an expectant look towards Yi Chichi.

She smiled, "You can ask Lanlan for it when she finishes it."

She didn’t need the design, nor did she have a hobby of embroidering the same pattern.

Moonlit Begonia-style embroidery, if she desired, she could create different atmosphere pieces.

She really didn’t mind giving away this design.

Wang Nan was thrilled and turned to Liu Lan, saying, "Alright, once you finish, I’ll get the design."

"Okay."

Liu Lan readily agreed and skillfully took an embroidery frame to secure the fabric, then rubbed her hands, "Chichi, can I come here and embroider with you later? I won’t bring things back, is that alright?"

"Sure."

It was like going to work, but with the perk of chatting, which was quite nice.

Thus, in the room specially set up as a warm and cozy workspace, the four of them each occupied a corner and busied themselves.

Big Orange and Da Li were also busy, seriously cracking sunflower seeds.

When they had cracked enough, they earnestly washed their faces and groomed themselves.

Once they were done, they rolled around on the warm kang and then lay sprawled out, entering a deep, sweet sleep.

Snoring sounds came one after another, quite loudly.

Wang Nan twitched her mouth and complained, "Their snoring is even louder than Old Bai’s."

Among the four present, only Wang Nan’s husband was around to keep her company; the other three either didn’t have partners or their partners weren’t around.

So, no one could really relate to her complaint.

Thus, no one replied, but Wang Nan didn’t mind and casually spilled some news.

"Juanzi seems to have a situation."

Yi Chichi didn’t even raise her head, "What situation?"

"She and Mr. Wu seem to have a thing going on."

"Wu Yongfei?"

Yi Chichi was shocked, and Liu Lan and Wen’s mother didn’t look much better.

Their personalities were quite different; Juanzi often complained that Mr. Wu talked without thinking and scolded him as if he were a grandson.

How did these two end up together?

Wang Nan acknowledged and with a somewhat twisted expression said, "Whenever Mr. Wu goes to cook for events, he always prepares a separate meal for Juanzi. If there wasn’t something going on, it wouldn’t make sense."

That was true.

Mr. Wu was not only talkative without thinking but also loved to eat.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken on the job of head cook at the Youth Corps Courtyard just for a bite to eat.

Feeding so many people three meals a day wasn’t an easy task.

If he wasn’t truly passionate about food and didn’t have the talent and interest in cooking, he would’ve given it up long ago.

Wen’s mother, "I thought he’d save half the leftovers he brought back to make a little something for himself."

Unexpectedly, he gave it to Ge Sujuan’s kid.

"He would rather give it to her than eat it himself."

At this point, Wang Nan remarked, "Actually, if you think about it, if they do get together, it would be a good thing."

Yi Chichi thought that they shouldn’t trouble themselves prematurely; it depended on how things naturally progressed with them.

"Let’s wait until Juanzi comes and see what she thinks before deciding."

The implication was not to pair them off haphazardly without confirmation.

Wang Nan agreed, knowing that Yi Chichi was talking to her, considering her close relationship with Ge Sujuan.

"Once I find out clearly, I’ll see if there’s any need to give them a little push."

Liu Lan threaded a piece of silk through the needle and calmly said, "If Juanzi’s matter works out, would it be Qiuyu’s turn next?"

"It’s not like distributing items that follow an order. Maybe Lang Hong and the newcomers might take the lead later."

That possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question.

But that wasn’t something they needed to worry about, especially as they weren’t well acquainted with the newcomers.

It wasn’t really their place to comment.

As snow continued to fall heavier by noon, Wen’s mother invited Liu Lan and Wang Nan to stay for lunch. They didn’t refuse, but the next day, they returned with grains and vegetables to return the favor.

They even brought along prepared dishes.

They made it clear there would be no refusing, or else they wouldn’t dare to let Wen’s mother even heat the food.

Thus, what was originally a dining table for just the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law gained two more dining companions.

The first snowfall of the winter didn’t last long; it fell for only three days before two weeks of continuous sunny weather began.

Meanwhile, Captain Shu and the hunters who had gone into the mountains finally returned.