Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 401: Not Even in Death Would I Rest in Peace
Wen Shi, "???"
He looked at the embroidery, the fine stitches and various colors made his eyes hurt.
Clearly, it was a job he absolutely couldn’t do.
"Does Mom know how?"
"...No."
Yi Chichi’s expression was somewhat peculiar. When she first moved from the Youth Corps Courtyard, Wen’s mother, in an effort to get closer to her, or perhaps to find common ground, voluntarily suggested learning embroidery.
Since her mother-in-law suggested it, she naturally couldn’t refuse.
And then it was a case of teaching without a sound.
Fortunately, Wen’s mother gave up on her own; otherwise, she would have had a headache.
"Don’t mention this in front of Mom."
Wen Shi’s face was full of question marks, "Why?"
"Mom’s prideful."
Wen Shi immediately understood, meaning that the old lady had no innate talent but was too proud to admit she couldn’t do it.
Luckily he didn’t say it out loud, otherwise Yi Chichi would have applauded his imagination.
Seeing him nod in acknowledgment, she made an ’mm’ sound, sat down to change her shoes, and prepared to go out. Wen Shi asked again, "Is Liu Lan’s speed as fast as yours?"
"No."
Liu Lan found it difficult to reach her level, not because her embroidery skills were poor, but because she couldn’t construct images in her mind.
When she embroidered, she had to look at the pattern. A slight inattention would result in the wrong stitch or wrong thread color.
She could only embroider for a while and then compare with the pattern. Pursuing speed relentlessly would easily lead to mistakes and more trouble from having to redo it.
Therefore, Liu Lan’s speed had never improved.
"Are we still going out?"
"Yes!"
So, the young couple changed their shoes, bundled up tightly, and went out the door.
After walking less than ten meters, a strong wind brought goose-feather-like snow.
Yi Chichi sighed, "I don’t know what’s up this year, we’ve hardly seen the sun since winter started."
"A timely snow promises a good harvest, as long as there’s no widespread blizzard, the problems aren’t severe."
Wen Shi, worried she’d slip, supported her as they walked slowly.
"Have there ever been blizzards before?"
"Yes, there have been."
His mind involuntarily recalled a blizzard from when he was a child, a lingering fear in his expression as he said, "Frightening, so many people froze to death, and quite a few starved too."
Yi Chichi, "???"
She could understand people freezing to death; even now, people still freeze to death.
But starving to death, she couldn’t comprehend.
She only understood after asking that during that snow disaster, the elder in the village who could read the weather had passed away.
The others could read the weather too, but not as accurately as the elder.
The timing was off, meaning the crops couldn’t be harvested and stored on time.
Plus, the stoves and roofs couldn’t be repaired in time; when the snow came, the crop was ruined, and many roofs collapsed.
Quite a few people were buried by snow and died quickly from hypothermia.
After the collective grain submission, with insufficient food, more people died.
"That year was very tragic."
Indeed, it was truly tragic.
"Luckily, things are better now."
"Yes, things are better now."
Wen Shi became cheerful, as if making a wish, "I hope our country keeps getting better and better."
"It will."
Yi Chichi spoke with conviction, "The sleeping Eastern dragon will eventually awaken, soaring once more across the sky."
Even if this timeline will be dragged out and requires at least two generations’ efforts.
Even if this process will be arduous, but so what?
Simply because there is a group of people willing to work hard and strive incognito for the rise of a great nation in this country.
This group of people laid a strong and powerful foundation for our nation’s defense strength.
Meanwhile, another group was willing to labor and sweat for the livelihood of the people.
With such people, there’s no fear the nation won’t prosper.
Of course, there will surely be income disparities, and absolute fairness can never exist.
Dark and gray areas won’t disappear just like that.
But it’s always the case that wherever there are people, these things are inevitable.
Because people’s hearts strive upward, while human nature moves downward.
Yi Chichi had seen the future splendor and experienced the changes brought by technology.
She had personally experienced the rise of a great nation, so she had immense confidence in the country’s future.
However, Wen Shi didn’t, so he didn’t share Yi Chichi’s confidence and was rather confused.
"Can it really rise?"
He murmured, as if asking Yi Chichi or himself.
"It can!"
Yi Chichi gave him a positive answer, "Definitely can, the future will become very, very good, so good that people today can’t even imagine."
Wen Shi, as if possessed by a nitpicker, asked, "How good?"
"There will be many airplanes, big ships, things so big you can’t even imagine, people standing next to them will seem very tiny..."
Speaking of this, Yi Chichi thought of some departments’ peculiar filming techniques.
They could shoot a plump plane to look like a tiny and cute model, which was quite impressive.
Only when seeing the real thing would you realize it was a typical deceive-to-death situation.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t complain.
So, she continued, "Everyone will have new clothes to wear, meat will become tiring to eat, and wild vegetables will be more expensive than meat..."
Wen Shi, "!!!"
These things he really didn’t dare think of, and even if he dared, he couldn’t imagine them.
The big airplanes and ships were understandable, but the idea of wild vegetables being more expensive than meat was truly outrageous.
"Wild vegetables don’t even taste good, how could they be more expensive than meat."
Yi Chichi smiled, "Anything rare is valuable, when big meals become so widespread that people get tired of them, wild vegetables become that rarity."
"Aren’t there leafy greens?"
"Leafy greens aren’t rare!"
Wen Shi understood, "You’re talking about eating for novelty."
"In other words, after having good days for too long, people want a taste of hardship."
Yi Chichi fell silent, this interpretation, how to say, couldn’t be called wrong nor entirely correct.
It was a limitation of the vision and imagination caused by the era.
No amount of verbal explanation could be as convincing as personal experience.
"Just live well, when you’re old, you’ll understand what it feels like for wild vegetables to be more expensive than meat."
Wen Shi looked yearning, "Then I must indeed live well, if I don’t experience such a life, I won’t die in peace!"
As they spoke, they reached the team doctor’s office.
Lang Hong squatted at the doorway, hands red from the cold, making snowballs.
Beside her was a line of round, chubby snowballs, lined up very neatly, quite agreeable for someone with OCD.
Yi Chichi blurted out, "Xiao Hong, making snowballs is boring, mold ducks or cats instead."
Lang Hong’s eyes brightened, yes, why was she making snowballs when she could mold ducks.
Just about to start, she remembered she didn’t know how, eyes sparkling as she asked Yi Chichi, "I don’t know how to mold ducks, do you, Chichi?"
"Uncle Yaozi knows." He even made one for her.
Not only ducks, but chickens and fish too.
They had even built a big snowman and pressed Da Li’s paw print on it.
Lang Hong turned to look at Uncle Yaozi, cheerfully calling him uncle.
Uncle Yaozi, who had been standing off to the side helplessly with his hands in his sleeves, rolled his eyes, "Don’t even think about it."
He was already a mature adult and wouldn’t play in the snow like a child.
It’s too cold for the hands.
"In the dead of winter, why aren’t you two at home hibernating, what are you doing out here?"
His sight fell on Yi Chichi and Wen Shi’s faces, he asked fiercely.
