After lunch, Xu Mumu took the little one to grandma and grandpa’s place, letting them put him down for a nap, while Xu Mumu lay on her own bed.
With nobody by her side on the bed, Xu Mumu felt completely relaxed.
She hadn’t slept well the previous night, and soon fell asleep.
When Xu Mumu woke up, it was already past three, and the ti to give the kids their lesson had passed.
Xu Mumu rubbed her temples, got up, and washed her face. The few little ones were studying in the living room, while two old ladies were chatting with Madam Chen in the yard.
Xu Mumu recognized these two people; they were Madam Lin and Madam Zhao who lived not far from Old Xu Family’s place.
Xu Mumu greeted them with a smile, then went into the living room, determined to give the lesson today; she couldn’t just leave the kids and let them study on their own.
The classes for the eighth grade weren’t difficult; Xu Mumu only taught math, physics, geography, and biology. The subjects requiring morization, she left for them to self-study, as they needed to understand these by themselves. She worried that they might not grasp so concepts, especially in physics and geography.
The sound of Xu Mumu giving a lesson echoed in the living room, while the two grannies in the yard looked enviously at Madam Chen.
"Mrs. Chen, your Mumu is really sensible," Madam Lin looked at Madam Chen with envy, wishing soone in her family could study well, even after a sester, none of them had achieved much.
Look at the Xu family’s kids, how did they end up being so accomplished?
"Indeed, Mrs. Chen, perhaps you could let my Jianshe learn from Mumu too; my Mumu is about to graduate from elentary school," Madam Zhao quickly added.
"Mumu is teaching middle school material, your Jianshe wouldn’t understand either. Mumu doesn’t have the ti to teach your grandson," Madam Chen replied proudly, teaching her own family was enough, how could she ask her granddaughter to teach outsiders? Can’t they learn by themselves?
"Our Jianshe will soon be in middle school, how do you know he won’t understand?" Madam Zhao felt frustrated; evidently, Madam Chen was unwilling, considering the Xu family’s kids and even Liu Cuixia’s Tiedan had beco successful, many tried to approach Xu Mumu.
Previously when Madam Chen lived in the provincial city, they secretly tried to get Xu Laoer and Xu Laosan to ask for help, but were refused every ti.
When they asked Liu Cuixia, she was even more reluctant; after all, she saw these people as trying to compete for her son’s position.
Now that Madam Chen was back, every day people would try to get information from them, but to no avail.
"Our grandsons are about to enter eighth grade, and your Jianshe hasn’t even started seventh," Madam Chen rolled her eyes, dreaming of getting her granddaughter to tutor her grandson, what a fantasy.
Previously, she didn’t have conflicts with Madam Zhao and the others; living nearby, small disagreents were normal.
Xu Mumu overheard the two grannies talking to Madam Chen in the yard. She had no intention of teaching others; she didn’t have the ti. The brigade had elentary schools and teachers, if they didn’t study seriously, what’s the point of extra lessons, they might as well go to school to keep fit.
Her own kids were obedient and sensible, very serious about their studies, so she was willing to support them a bit more.
After finishing the lecture, Madam Lin and the others had already left.
Xu Jiaojiao was tidying up her books while tattling to Xu Mumu: "Big sis, let tell you, Jianshe is really dull; before you guys ca back, Madam Zhao wanted and my brother to tutor Jianshe."
Zhao Jianshe is a year older than Xu Jiaojiao, but he had been studying at the brigade’s school without seriousness, leading to poor performance.
"Exactly, Jianshe never passes his tests," Xu Tao said dismissively, but whenever his siblings critiqued him, he’d return ho feeling not too bad after seeing other kids from the brigade.
Even though they were now in middle school, they still knew about the affairs of the brigade’s elentary school. There were quite a few kids there, and it wasn’t hard to know things, especially with Liu Cuixia’s big mouth relentlessly mocking the poor learners.
Xu Mumu smirked, realizing they were aware of a lot.
"I also know, Yuanbao from Madam Lin’s family is very dull too, he even repeated a grade and is still in third grade," Xu Minglei said gloatingly.
"Weren’t you away from ho? How do you know everything?" Xu Mumu asked with a smile, these things were just amusing anecdotes, these kids weren’t diligent, and many adults in their hos lacked education, didn’t know how to teach kids, leaving them to rely solely on their initiative.
But how many are truly self-motivated? Many children loved play, especially boys; the brigade still had biases favoring boys, making them more spoiled, while few showed real initiative. Contrarily, the girls with access to education were more ambitious, seeing it as their chance to change their fate.
Xu Mumu watched the kids chatter nearby about who in the brigade perford poorly and who scored zero.
"Let’s go, weren’t you eager to catch crabs? If we find plentiful loach today, I’ll cook loach for you," Xu Mumu said smilingly.
"Big sis, loach is only found by the paddies, but many people go there hunting them, If we try to catch them, we probably won’t get much, considering loach is atier than crab, let’s stick to crabs," Xu Tao imdiately shook his head.
"Alright, crabs it is then," Xu Mumu nodded.
Today, the kids were exceptionally enthusiastic about catching crabs, since the crabs from last night had made them fall in love with the taste, even Xu Wan joined them.
Xu Mumu held her little brother, peeled an orange for him, letting him eat it by the side. When he tried to run to the riverbank, she just lifted him away.
Realizing his sister wouldn’t allow him to play in the water, the little one watch from the side.
The little guy wanted to get close, but Xu Mumu kept him in check, preventing him from falling into the river.
Today, they were specifically here for crab catching, so they brought out a small wooden bucket, and as there wasn’t anyone else, the kids played joyfully.
Xu Mumu held the little guy, walking by the shallows, his shoes placed on the bank, and he was thrilled.
Not sure where the little one learned it, he started throwing rocks from underfoot into the water, luckily no one was around, so Xu Mumu let him play.
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