I am chasing a rough man in the 80s
Chapter 119: What tricks are you up to?

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: What tricks are you up to?

In the depths of winter, widespread frost and snow transformed Yang Village into a picture of new attire blanketed by a thick layer of snow.

Outside the Yu Family’s small courtyard, a group of children were joyfully running around in the snow, their laughter and chatter echoed into the house.

Suizi sat at the table in the heated brick bed, diligently marking papers with undivided attention.

The final exam had just ended, and this was the last task Suizi had assigned for her students.

With the end of this term, she would no longer be a substitute teacher at the school.

"Sister-in-law! Have you marked my paper yet?" Jiaojiao craned her neck to look.

The students’ names were covered by a stapler, but whether they were concealed or not didn’t really matter to Suizi.

During the two months she’d spent teaching, she had long familiarised herself with each child’s handwriting.

"It’s done, you’ve improved."

"Hee-hee!" Jiaojiao happily flipped over on the heated brick bed, nearly kicking Yu Jingting who was eating peanuts.

"Crazy girl, off you go!" Yu Jingting pushes his sister away, disgusted.

"Your acknowledgement of her ’improvement’, probably refers to her scoring ten marks up from five. What’s there for you to show off about?"

"Nah nah nah, it’s not! Even if not ninety, I could score eighty."

Jiaojiao, brimming with confidence, lifted her chin to ask Suizi:

"Isn’t that right, sister-in-law?"

"Ninety in Chinese, ninety-five in math." Suizi announced the result.

Yu Jingting dropped the peanuts he was holding onto the brick bed in shock.

"Little lady, have you finally learned to abuse your power, helping the children to cheat?!"

Suizi shot him a look and then patted the dumbstruck Jiaojiao on the head.

"Don’t talk nonsense. This is the result of Jiaojiao’s own hard work. I’ve already told the teacher who will oversee you next semester that before I can take you to the city, you will be a class leader."

Before the exam, Suizi had provided one-on-one tutoring for Jiaojiao, giving her a head start.

She also encouraged Jiaojiao that if she made it to the top ten, she would let her be a class leader.

Since Jiaojiao’s incident, she has grown up a bit. With Suizi subtly instilling in her the idea that "knowledge can change one’s destiny" this time, the young girl has also started to work hard.

The primary school textbooks are not very difficult. Once a child has mastered the methods and is inherently intelligent, it’s not surprising that their grades will improve.

"However, don’t be too arrogant. The questions in the village are relatively simpler. When you transfer to the city’s school, it will take some effort to maintain the top grades there, but I believe you can do it, and I will help you."

"Yeah!"

Jiaojiao, wiping her tears, didn’t expect she was capable of scoring so high.

"You’re being fooled and counting the money for it, tsk." Yu Jingting remarked, watching his sister being completely taken in by his wife’s words.

He was not oblivious to the fact that Suizi had bought many items from the city yesterday, which included revision books.

By making Jiaojiao cry out loudly, she intended to make the child study more during the winter vacation. How cunning she was!

Suizi put down her sewing needle, picked up the tiny completed outfit.

"Is it pretty? I have already started preparing new clothes for our baby."

The palm-sized red outfit with tiny sleeves made her feel great, thinking that a lovely child would be wearing it.

"It’s beautiful. Everything my sister-in-law does is beautiful. You are so skilled."

"Even if your sister-in-law farted you would say it smells good."

Yu Jingting felt his sister was completely smitten by Suizi, pondering as he stroked his chin.

Now, the only person who could remain rational and not be bewitched by her charm was him, the first formidable man of the Wang family.

"Jingting, I’ve also made you a scarf. Have a look."

Suizi magically brought out a beige, knitted scarf from behind her.

"I saw this style in a photo Uncle sent from the city, it seemed quite popular, so I made one for you too."

"This color is too feminine." The man, who prided himself on his levelheadedness, said with disdain and pride.

However, his neck betrayed his inner excitement as he leaned towards her.

Suizi wrapped the scarf around him. The man’s tall, straight physique complemented the scarf well.

"The color isn’t effeminate at all, rather handsome. What do you think, Jiaojiao? Doesn’t your brother resemble Xu Wenqiang from Shanghai Bund?"

As Suizi stepped back to admire him, he radiated an air of a rugged gentleman, reminiscent of the Wang Family’s very own ’Xu Wenqiang.’

"Brother, do you know what you looked like when you leaned in just now?" Jiaojiao cocked her head and thought for a moment.

"Like our dog waiting for a bone - obediently waiting. Sis-in-law, he’s gonna hit me. Are you going to intervene?"

Yu Jingting flung a shelled peanut at her, and in retaliation, Jiaojiao grabbed a feather duster to fight back.

Suizi held her forehead.

"When mom isn’t around, can you two fools tone it down a bit? Jiaojiao, put that feather duster down! It’s spreading dust everywhere!"

She nudged Yu Jingting, urging him to quickly clean up the peanuts they’d scattered. Bunch of wastrels!

"When is Mom coming back?" Jiaojiao’s face fell; she hadn’t seen her mom in days.

Ever since Wang Cuihua attended the pig banquet at home, she’s moved back to her mother’s place every other week.

Her mother fell and hurt herself, and since then, she and her brother alternately care for the old lady. This week it’s Wang Cuihua’s turn again.

Suizi suggested bringing the old woman to their home to save Cuihua all the back and forth.

However, Cuihua’s sister-in-law disagreed, asserting that if the old lady were to die at her daughter’s house, it would bring shame to the family in Yang Village.

The people in the village generally believed that the elderly should die in their son’s home, not their daughter’s.

Though Suizi didn’t understand this rationale. The old lady may not be able to move due to her fracture, but she was still very much alive. Why insist on such a grim omen?

"When is mom coming back— Jingting, I’ve stewed a pot of wild chicken with mushrooms, let’s take some to her later, along with some chicken soup, for grandma."

There had been heavy snow these past few days and there were wild chickens all over the mountains. Yu Jingting led his men up the hills to trap wild chickens, and they came back with quite the bounty.

Strangely enough, whenever he ventured into the hills, he always returned with a good haul, unlike others.

The winters in the north are usually dull with families surviving off the autumn harvest, but the Yu Family seemed to have skipped winter altogether.

Their diet never lacked meat throughout the winter. As long as Yu Jingting stepped foot in the hills, he would never return empty-handed, unlike others.

Suizi originally worried that given the scarcity of resources in these times, she might not be able to maintain a balanced diet during her pregnancy.

However, in less than two months since she resurrected, she started evaluating the calories in her meals and planning her diet conscientiously to avoid having an overweight baby.

"Now that the roads aren’t slippery anymore, I should go out a bit. Realizing now, I haven’t visited grandma since she fell. You should come too, Jiaojiao."

For the sake of her pregnancy, Suizi seldom left Yang Village.

She was criticized heavily by Cuihua’s family for not visiting after the old woman fell ill.

They spread rumors that Yu Jingting married someone educated and now she’s too snobbish for her poor relatives.

Cuihua’s brother and sister-in-law, who lived in the same village but with whom Suizi’s family didn’t get along, virtually bonded over berating Suizi.

They often got together to criticize Suizi, calling her a jinx and a snob.

One of Suizi’s colleagues from the village, hearing such words, reported it back to Suizi without altering a single word.

Suizi, having heard everything, chose to ignore it and didn’t tell Yu Jingting about it, for fear he would cause a commotion and stir up trouble with their neighbors.

But today, she had to pay a visit herself.

"What mischievous plan are you hatching now?" Yu Jingting felt his wife had a mischievous grin.