Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

The plane ticket back from the United States is very expensive. Jidong is reluctant to spend that money. There is a high probability that he will not be able to come back until two years later.

Zhang Xiuhua could only wait for him to make an overseas call.

She sighed and planned to go to the orchard, but she heard the sound of firecrackers outside as soon as she went out.

Who would set off firecrackers when it's not a festival?!

She stood at the door and looked around. Aunt Wang Er heard the noise and came out. She saw a few strangers setting off firecrackers at the entrance of the village. She stepped forward to stop them and asked, "Whose family are you from?"

They look like strangers no matter how you look at them.

Zhang Xiuhua also stared at the other person. He seemed a little familiar, but she couldn't remember who he was for a moment.

The other party quickly answered her question, "We are teachers from Experimental High School. We have good news!"

When Aunt Wang asked the name, she found out that it was Xiangxiang whose college entrance examination results were out.

It was a coincidence. Three children from their village had won the top score in the high school entrance exam for three consecutive years. Jidong had gone to Tsinghua University, Hongwen to Peking University, and now only Xiangxiang was left.

Although Xiangxiang is not their child, the villagers are also proud of her. Aunt Wang and Zhang Xiuhua asked in unison, "How many points did she get in the exam?"

"700!" the teacher said happily, "The top scorer in the college entrance examination in our province."

Zhang Xiuhua took a deep breath. The total score was 710 points, and she actually scored 700 points. Only ten points were deducted, and her score was higher than Jidong and Hongwen.

After saying that, the teacher asked the two of them how to get to Xiangxiang's home.

Aunt Wang subconsciously showed them the way.

Watching the two people's backs going away, Aunt Wang was full of envy, "Look at how good Xiangxiang's family is. The family makes money, and the daughter is so promising. She must have been blessed in her previous life, right?"

Zhang Xiuhua knew that Xiangxiang was reborn. But rebirth does not improve intelligence. Xiangxiang must have worked hard to get such a good score. This child is really persistent. She waved to Aunt Wang, "Let's go! Let's go and watch the fun!"

Aunt Wang nodded and hurried to follow. "I heard that Xiangxiang has been busy working in the fields since she took the college entrance examination. How did she raise this child? She is so diligent and sensible. I wonder if she will choose Tsinghua or Peking University this time."

Zhang Xiuhua was probably more anxious than the admissions office staff when she heard her curiosity, so she also laughed and said, "Who knows? It depends on the child's own preferences."

When they arrived, the entrance was already surrounded by people. Xiangxiang was called over from the field, and Xiangxiang's parents were also surrounded by the villagers, all praising them for their ability to educate their children.

These adults seem to think that children have poor self-control and cannot be self-taught, and must have been guided by adults.

It was summer vacation, and many children heard the sound of firecrackers and ran over to watch the fun, but they soon found out that they had come to the wrong place.

Chinese people like to compare, especially when they see other children are so successful, they will subconsciously think that their own children can do it too. Turning their heads, they only see their own children laughing foolishly, their mouths are crooked with anger, and they twist the children's ears and go home.

Of course, some parents have given up on the unrealistic fantasy of college entrance exams and just watch the fun.

Someone murmured, "Other villages may not produce a college student in more than ten years. Our village has one every year. And three of them have graduated from Tsinghua University and Peking University! Are our ancestors' graves smoking?"

"What's the smoke? They don't have the same surname!" Some people think this is feudal superstition. Three children with three different surnames, all from different ancestors.

"I think our village is a Feng Shui treasure land! Look, our village is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and all the villagers live together, forming a group posture. It is only a matter of time before it prospers." A half-baked Feng Shui master made up a story.

This statement was immediately responded to by others, who all brought up their own happy events to verify the guess of good feng shui.

There are only a few people in this world who are always unlucky. There are also only a few who are always lucky. Most people have experienced some good luck. If you pick them out specifically, it does seem strange.

Zhang Xiuhua looked for a while and then went to the orchard. She didn't see Li Jianguo, but she saw Zhuzhu sleeping on the fork of the fruit tree, lying on her back with her arms and legs spread out, holding a half-eaten Gala fruit in her hand. Her arm was hanging vertically, and the Gala fruit was about to fall. It seemed that she was too sleepy when eating Gala fruit, so she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Zhang Xiuhua wanted to carry Zhuzhu to the bed under the pavilion, but unexpectedly, Zhuzhu woke up before she could carry her.

Zhuzhu rubbed her eyes and yawned, "Mom, why are you here?"

"If you feel sleepy, go and sleep under the pavilion. There are ants on the fruit trees. What should you do if they get into your ears?" Zhang Xiuhua helped her down.

Zhuzhu put on her shoes quickly, "I'm not sleepy now. I just fell asleep."

"Where's your dad?" Zhang Xiuhua looked around.

"I'm weeding over at Blueberry." Zhuzhu answered casually, "I just heard the sound of firecrackers. Were they set off by people from our village?"

"Yes! Xiangxiang's college entrance examination results are out, and she is the top scorer this year." Zhang Xiuhua smiled, "Everyone in the village went to her house to watch the fun."

When Zhuzhu heard this, she picked two Gala fruits, without even washing them, and ran out to watch the fun.

Zhang Xiuhua followed her, closed the orchard door, and then went to the blueberry garden to find Li Jianguo.

It would not be appropriate to say that he was weeding because he was cutting leeks.

"You're only cutting this young?" Zhang Xiuhua looked at the leeks, which were thin and short, not even as long as her hand. "They can't be sold at a good price if they're this thin."

He looks malnourished.

Before she came over, Li Jianguo was wondering what went wrong with his planting. "Maybe I didn't use enough chicken manure. I'll add more later. I have to mow this one. You can see the leaves are already turning yellow."

Zhang Xiuhua nodded. She held it to her nose and sniffed it, praising it with a smile, "The chive smell is quite strong."

"It's edible, but it doesn't look very good." This is Li Jianguo's first time growing chives. "It may be that the blueberry trees block the sunlight, so they don't grow well enough."

"These blueberries are very short, so they should be fine." Zhang Xiuhua looked around, "But these blueberries will indeed steal the nutrients from the leeks."

Fertilizers are hard to buy now, so they have been using chicken fertilizer. Other people in the village also have to buy fertilizer, so chicken fertilizer is not enough.

She thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you plant some chives in our private plot. That way we can have a comparison."

If you plan to plant a field of chives next year without any trials, you will easily lose money.

"Row!"

Zhang Xiuhua told Li Jianguo that Xiangxiang had become the top scorer in the college entrance examination. Li Jianguo guessed what she was thinking after hearing this. "Baolin will participate in the National Games next year. Then her chance will come. Don't worry."

Zhang Xiuhua would be lying if she said she wasn't worried. Originally, Baolin could go to college, but because she was an athlete, she couldn't take the college entrance examination. She sighed, "Baolin went abroad for training. I'll tell her about Xiangxiang's college entrance examination later."

Li Jianguo nodded, "Don't put so much pressure on Baolin. She made the right choice."

"I know." Zhang Xiuhua glared at him, "You make it sound like I'm a stepmother."

Li Jianguo was slightly stunned, then shook his head and explained, "No. You are too concerned. Baolin has tried very hard. If she continues to work harder, I am afraid she will feel psychological pressure. You also know that physical training cannot be rushed."

Zhang Xiuhua nodded, agreeing with him.

In a blink of an eye, Xiangxiang's family held a wedding banquet. The whole village attended.

Zhang Xiuhua brought Zhuzhu to the party, and the meal was very sumptuous, with several dishes. People who had eaten there said that her food was of high quality.

When relatives and friends joked that their family had made a lot of money, Xiangxiang's father said that he made a lot of money by growing wood ear mushrooms, and that anyone who wanted to grow wood ear mushrooms could come to him.

Many people came to ask how much money it would cost to grow black fungus, how much the mushroom bags cost, etc.

Xiangxiang's family answered questions patiently.

Aunt Wang whispered to Zhang Xiuhua, "If you don't know, you might think they are holding a promotional banquet for black fungus."

"Kill two birds with one stone." Zhang Xiuhua smiled, "Our country is so big, and the demand for black fungus is also huge. You don't have to worry about not being able to sell it."

Wood ear is not like cabbage or radish. After being dried, it can be stored for a long time by putting in a small packet of preservatives.

Aunt Wang thought about it and realized, "I can't wait to grow fungus."

"When will the greenhouse materials be delivered?" Zhang Xiuhua asked curiously.

"It's almost time!" Aunt Wang said with a smile, "I went there two days ago."

This time, several strong laborers from the village went south together to buy materials. They had worked in Pengcheng before, knew the way, and knew more about buying materials than others. One mu of land costs one thousand yuan, which is not a small amount. They must compare prices from three different suppliers and pick the best and most affordable ones to bring back.

Zhang Xiuhua nodded. With so many people buying together, they should be able to bring back a professional installer.

**

Half a month later, when Zhang Xiuhua came back, she saw many villagers installing greenhouses in the fields. Although they didn't need them yet, they wanted to finish installing the greenhouses before the land froze. Otherwise, if they waited until after the autumn harvest in September to install them, they might not be able to handle the work.

"Don't rush to install the plastic, install the steel pipe first." Aunt Wang was busy as a whirlwind.

Zhang Xiuhua went to the field to watch the installation process and was a little worried. "It will snow in winter. These pipes are made of iron. Won't they rust?"

"No. This is galvanized. It can be used for several years." Aunt Wang asked her when it would be installed?

Zhang Xiuhua definitely couldn't do it alone. It looked like a physically demanding job. She smiled and said, "Let Jianguo and his elder brother install it together. I'll go help look after the orchard."

She went to the orchard to call Li Jianguo over.

The two brothers spent a long time to finally install the greenhouse.