The Tempting Educated Youth Married to a Rough Man-Chapter 240 - 236: Poor Grades Don’t Mean You’re Useless at Everything Else
Mrs. Xiao continued talking about Xiao Chenyue, mentioning how her daughter Minmin was so adorable. Naturally, the topic shifted to Xiao Chengguang.
She said that as an older brother, he was so detestable.
He’s of considerable age now, yet still not looking for a partner...
After clearing the weeds on the grave, Mrs. Xiao dug some new soil to add to it.
During this, Wen Ran found a mouse hole and conveniently filled it up too.
After going through all this trouble, she too was tired, so she sat on the grave mound and patted it, saying, "Little rascal, you really make me worry endlessly."
"Auntie."
"I’m fine," Mrs. Xiao vented her emotions and felt much better now, "Oh dear, please don’t laugh at me.
This matter has always been a knot in my heart, one I can’t seem to untie."
There was a blatant sadness in Mrs. Xiao’s eyes, "Sometimes, I always wonder.
If I had stopped him that day and not let him leave...
Would this have potentially led to a different ending?"
"Auntie, don’t think like that."
Wen Ran couldn’t offer any consoling words, and she definitely couldn’t say that everyone has their own fate.
Sometimes, natural disasters and human tragedies are fundamentally overwhelming.
Unavoidable.
"Natural disasters are heartless, Auntie, don’t be too hard on yourself..."
"I know, but people, well, are just so complicated."
Mrs. Xiao had held it in for a long time; this time, she grabbed Wen Ran and simply shared her heartfelt thoughts.
After speaking her mind, her worries dissipated, and her entire mood felt different.
She took out incense and paper money to light it for Xiao Chengguang. Watching the incense gradually burn out, she finally let out a sigh.
"Done—nowadays they don’t allow rituals, if we get caught burning paper and incense, we’ll be in trouble."
Mrs. Xiao understood, and after mixing the clean ash and incense into the soil, only then did she fill the large hole dug at the side beforehand.
After finishing everything, Mrs. Xiao felt much more relieved.
"In the future, I won’t avoid you anymore. I’ll come to see you every so often, huh!"
"Auntie, let’s go."
"Alright."
...
By evening, after dinner, Mrs. Xiao washed the dishes and soon went indoors to rest.
Excessive emotional release can be draining.
"Sister Ranran," Xiao Chenxing sidled up next to Wen Ran, "My mom, today..."
"It’s fine, after all the fuss, she’s just tired."
"Did mom take you to visit Fourth Brother’s grave?"
Upon hearing this, Wen Ran glanced sideways.
Wow, the little girl is quite perceptive.
She figured it out right away.
"How do you know?"
"Mom has a thick layer of soil on her feet."
Wen Ran smacked her lips, "But Auntie also came down from the mountain today."
"No, no, no," Xiao Chenxing whispered, "This is different. My mom loves cleanliness. If it were normal soil from the mountain, she’d definitely change her shoes as soon as she got home."
Wen Ran: "!"
Little rascal, looking so clumsy, who knew she’d be this clever.
"Such detailed observation."
Xiao Chenxing giggled, "That’s right, Sister Ranran, don’t underestimate me. Though I’m not good at studying, that doesn’t mean I’m bad at other things."
Wen Ran was amused, "Exactly!"
She raised her hand and ruffled Xiao Chenxing’s hair, "We each have our own shining points.
Just because studying isn’t your forte doesn’t mean everything else isn’t as well."
Hongguo also leaned over, "Sis, me too, ruffle my hair."
"Alright!"
Next came along a round, chubby squirrel head.
At the sight of Songzhu, Wen Ran’s eyes flickered with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Duang~"
With a flick, Wen Ran startled Songzhu.
Same request, but why was the dose increased for Songzhu?
Songzhu didn’t understand and wanted to make a fuss.
In the dead of night, Songzhu put on an intense hanging act on Wen Ran’s beam.
Wen Ran squinted and saw it.
She turned over and pretended she hadn’t noticed.
Speechless.
In this family, everyone had a bit of a flair for drama.
Songzhu’s act, how was it different from the head captain’s during the day, when he bragged about jumping into the river?
She just couldn’t believe Songzhu would willingly leave behind the good life and simply die here.
Sure enough, Wen Ran understood Songzhu.
After performing for a while, seeing no one paying attention, Songzhu awkwardly shuffled down the beams, shaking its plump rear.
Well, well.
The big mouse was magnanimous.
With more good days to come, it’d be such a pity to die like this.
Better sleep; need to wake up early tomorrow to munch on pine nuts.
A dreamless night.
By the next day, Wen Ran was roused from bed by the head captain.
"Ahhhhh!"
Even through the door, the head captain’s voice echoed 360 degrees around Wen Ran’s ears.
"Getting up, getting up, stop shouting!"
Wen Ran grumbled as she got up, opened the door, and facing the dozen pairs of eyes outside it, she was dumbfounded.
"Well," her anger turned to mere whimpers.
Hahaha, look at how this turned out.
No one had told her when to wake up.
Look at this, how embarrassing.
A whole bunch of people, waiting for her alone.
Wen Ran gave an awkward smile, "You all got up pretty early, huh!"
"No worries," the group had a kind of calm indifference to Wen Ran’s sleepiness.
"Indeed, take your time getting ready, we just couldn’t stay on the kang anymore."
"Exactly! When we were young, we couldn’t get enough sleep. Now we’re older, the slightest breeze wakes us up."
Wen Ran, if you dared to play tough, she’d dare to play dumb with you.
But these people, each one was kinder than the other.
Which embarrassed Wen Ran into flushing red.
"I’ll be quick, quick," Wen Ran ran a hand through her hair, "Three minutes!"
Brushing her teeth and washing her face in one seamless flow of three minutes.
Sitting on the ox cart, feeling the bumps beneath, Wen Ran weighed the pros and cons but decided to stay seated.
Once her behind was completely numb, she’d get off and walk.
The head captain was in an exceptionally good mood today, never dropping his smile.
"Hehehe, still not used to sitting?"
Wen Ran shifted her position, "It’s alright."
"Spoiled!" The head captain teased, "I’ve laid three layers of cushion for you."
"Wow, Uncle, this is great?!" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Of course it is."
Now, thanks to the two hundred fifty chicks, the head captain really treasured Wen Ran.
Wen Ran was glad too, come the end of the year getting five plump hens for free—who wouldn’t be happy?
This outing, the head captain produced two ox carts.
With two hundred fifty chicks, one cart was snug; with two, the chicks could be settled properly without much crowding.
After a jostling journey, they reached the animal station with the sun high overhead.
The head captain took the approval slip and led the people, marching in high spirits.
Of course, Wen Ran did not go inside.
