Chronicles of the Seventies

21-30

Chapter 21 Strict Mother Chapter 21 Strict Mother
Li Jianqing's enthusiasm for learning has been unprecedentedly high recently. Because it snowed, the literacy class was changed to once every two days. However, the amount of learning required has doubled, and the progress and difficulty are much greater than that of an ordinary primary school. Li Jianqing's desire to join the army is very strong and unstoppable. When he discovered that his sister had an extraordinary memory, he almost never asked the educated youth teacher after class, and went straight back to ask his sister.

Seeing that Li Jianqing was very motivated to learn, Li Xianglu was willing to teach him, so the two of them usually put a small table on the kang on the east side to study after lunch.

However, it is usually a single pattern with Li Jianqing asking the questions and Li Xianglu answering them.

There was no need to go to the literacy class in the afternoon and there was no work to do at home, so the two of them stayed on the kang to study. Li Xianglu's soles were already made, and a thick upper was made of rabbit skin. She was now sewing the soles onto the shoes. The awl was borrowed, and the needle in particular had to be used with caution. If it broke accidentally, it would be difficult to buy new ones.

Li Jianqing was reciting poems when he heard a female voice outside the yard calling out, "Second Uncle, are you there?"

It was Li Xiangwei's voice. Li Xianglu quickly put on her cotton shoes and walked out to lead the people in. Li Xiangwei's round face was slightly red from the cold. When she saw Li Xianglu's eyes flickered, she blinked and asked, "Little sister, where are my second uncle and second aunt?"

Li Xianglu was puzzled, but smiled and said, "They all went out. I guess they went to visit someone's house."

Li Xiangwei said, "Grandma is calling, asking Uncle and Aunt to come over."

Li Jianqing also got off the kang with his shoes on and said to Li Xianglu, "I think he's at Aiguo's house next door. I'll go call him."

Seeing that someone had gone out to call for help, Li Xiangwei looked at Li Xianglu hesitantly and wanted to speak but didn't. She opened her mouth slightly, frowned, and closed it again, and said awkwardly: "Well, little sister, I'll go back first. My family is waiting for me."

Li Xianglu wanted to ask something more, but she saw people quickly go out the door. Li Xianglu frowned. What happened recently? Everyone became so weird.

Not long after, Li Jianqing came back, took off his shoes and climbed up. Seeing that one of his sister's shoes had been put on, he took it in his hand and looked at it from top to bottom with some curiosity. It was a little ugly, but it felt very warm inside. The corners of his mouth opened outwards, and he smiled and said, "Little sister, make a pair for me too."

Li Xianglu did not answer directly. In fact, she was already making shoe soles for Li Jianqing. The rags she had gathered were not enough, so she took out some worn-out jeans from the space and added them in the middle to make the soles. They were very strong, and when she put the cut rabbit leather uppers on them, they would definitely keep her warm.

Li Xianglu narrowed her eyes and smiled as she asked, "Third brother just went to see dad, but he didn't tell me what he was going to do?"

Li Jianqing looked at his little sister's shoes from top to bottom and answered absentmindedly, "Yes, I found them. They are at Aiguo's house next door. I don't know what they are doing there. It's strange that someone is also there at Third Uncle's house."

Third uncle? He is the most senior elder in the Li family. Why is he being asked to go to the eldest uncle's house at this time? It's so grand, especially when he asked a woman like Ge Sanmei to go with him?
Generally speaking, when a family discusses important matters, they will ask the men in the family to discuss it. If they ask the women of the family to go, it means that the matter is related to this family, and more importantly, it should be related to the family’s children, so the hostess will be asked to go.