Free Web NovelChapter 98: Chapter 98: Asking for a Photo
"Alright, there’s nothing on the back..." Su Li said, resigned. She’d just spoken when she heard Little Tang Mo let out a small "Huh?"
"Mom, there is! Look."
Su Li took the letter, and after a closer look, her expression twisted.
There was indeed writing on the back, done in pencil.
The pencil writing was faint, so Su Li had overlooked it before.
But after reading it, Su Li wished she *had* overlooked it.
Because the pencil-scrawled message read, "Su Li, could you get a picture taken and mail it to me? A picture with Momo would be fine too."
Tang Yuanxiao was actually asking her for a picture!
Su Li’s face darkened considerably. "How absurd!"
Tang Yuanxiao had added this pencil note as a last-minute thought just before mailing the letter, scribbling it on the back of the folded paper.
After writing it, his face flushed red, then paled.
He flushed for having made such a request, and paled when he remembered Su Li’s attitude toward him.
He’d added the note, but he couldn’t decide whether he hoped Su Li would see it or not.
It was just like how he knew she would almost certainly refuse, yet he couldn’t help but cling to a sliver of hope.
The idea of a picture had been planted in Tang Yuanxiao’s mind by Yu Le.
Yu Le had never met Su Li. "Old Tang, you went home and didn’t even get a proper picture taken with your wife? If you brought one back, you could look at it whenever you miss her. Wouldn’t that be great?"
He tilted his head back, lost in a daydream. "If I ever get a wife, I’ll definitely take her to get pictures taken."
"Didn’t have time," Tang Yuanxiao said, offering a lame excuse.
"How much time could that possibly take?" Yu Le lamented. "I’ve never met your wife. I wouldn’t even recognize her if I passed her on the street."
"She’s not your wife, so it doesn’t matter if you recognize her or not."
Tang Yuanxiao’s retort was full of bravado, but when he mailed the letter later, he couldn’t resist adding that one line.
Su Li couldn’t believe Tang Yuanxiao could be so shameless. For his part, Tang Yuanxiao could never have imagined that back in their remote mountain village, Su Li had run into his superior, Wu Sheng.
Not only had she run into him, she had even helped him.
There was a lot Tang Yuanxiao didn’t see coming. He hadn’t expected this, and he certainly hadn’t expected Mrs. Tang to get injured.
Not long after Su Li received Tang Yuanxiao’s letter, he, in turn, received the one she had sent him.
Reading that Mrs. Tang had broken her arm and leg, Tang Yuanxiao was overcome with anxiety and helplessness.
As her son, he felt he should go back and fulfill his filial duties. With Mrs. Tang having broken her arm and leg, it was the least he could do. He didn’t have to stay and care for her the whole time, but a visit of a few days was expected.
But having just returned to his post, it was impossible to go back again.
In the end, all Tang Yuanxiao could do was write a reply, scrape together some money to mail home, and get back to his duties.
Meanwhile, the reply from Su Li and Little Tang Mo was still on its way.
Little Tang Mo spent three days composing a reply to Tang Yuanxiao, using a mix of Pinyin, numbers, and simple characters he knew. He also passed on a message from Mrs. Tang.
He filled two pages, while Su Li wrote only one, stating the facts of the matter without any wasted words.
As for the picture, she didn’t mention it at all.
She didn’t even write the word "picture," let alone entertain any hope of him receiving one.
Once the letter was sent, Su Li put Tang Yuanxiao out of her mind. She was rather busy.
Ever since Little Tang Mo started sleeping with Su Li at night, her repertoire of bedtime stories had grown. Coupled with the short tales from his morning lessons, Little Tang Mo’s mind was becoming a treasure trove of stories.
Stories are what children love most, and they would even compete over them while playing. Little Tang Mo originally had no advantage here. Mrs. Tang only knew the same old stories everyone in the village told, so the proudest storyteller among the kids was Brother Gou Dan.
However, that situation changed quickly. As Little Tang Mo’s collection of stories grew, he became the veritable Story King.
This indirectly made him the king of the kids. Whenever he went out, more and more children would flock to his side.
"My mom told me all of them. My mom is the best..."
Little Tang Mo mentioned Su Li constantly. His friends, captivated by stories they had never heard before, were incredibly envious of him and grew curious about his mother.
Before long, Su Li noticed that, without her even realizing it, more and more children were coming to the Tang Family home.
Of all the people in Xinghua Village, the children were the only ones Su Li had no grievances with, so she paid them no mind as they chattered and played with Little Tang Mo.
For the first couple of days, only one or two children would come over, and Su Li paid it no mind. They would play quietly to the side while she taught Little Tang Mo, so she said nothing.
Two days later, the number increased to three or four, and they began to consciously gather around to listen to her teach.
Although much of it went over their heads, they weren’t noisy or disruptive, so Su Li let them sit on the little chairs.
Two more days passed, and suddenly there were seven or eight of them. Nearly all the school-aged children in the village had come, copying Little Tang Mo by sitting in neat rows before Su Li, their backs ramrod straight as they waited for the lesson.
They followed Little Tang Mo’s lead, calling her "Teacher" and chirping "Teacher, Teacher..." without end.
Gradually, they started asking questions. If one of them acted up, spoke out of turn, or slouched in their seat, Little Tang Mo would put on a stern little face and keep them in line.
The children were all about Little Tang Mo’s age. Su Li used fun teaching methods combined with little classroom stories and succeeded in capturing their attention. Over time, the lessons began to sink in.
Knowing that Mandarin was spoken in the cities, Su Li taught her lessons in Mandarin. In her previous life, she had studied the language diligently to pursue her dreams, so her proficiency was impeccable.
Little Tang Mo was a quick study and could already hold a conversation. He spoke it quite well, and his friends would stare, dazed and their eyes filled with admiration.
’Teaching one is no different from teaching a few,’ Su Li thought. So she gradually began teaching the other children as well.
Little Tang Mo was the quickest learner. After Su Li’s morning lessons, she would go out to herd the cattle and study in the afternoon. During this time, Little Tang Mo would become a little teacher himself, teaching his friends what he had learned.
In this way, he reviewed the material himself, and his friends learned as well. It killed two birds with one stone.
Before long, the children were already learning to call out answers, and they were all learning surprisingly well. When they answered correctly, Su Li would praise them all equally and pat their heads.
They received praise, got to hear fun stories, and sometimes even got delicious snacks as rewards... these were all things the children of this era rarely experienced.
The old saying goes, "a filial son is raised under the rod." The parents in Xinghua Village were traditionally strict with their children. Scoldings and beatings were common, but praise was rare.
The children absolutely adored someone like Su Li.
Su Li’s place in the Tang Family home had somehow become a paradise for children. The kids ran over whenever they had free time, clinging to Su Li just like Little Tang Mo did.
Mrs. Tang was particularly pleased to see this. Little Tang Mo hadn’t been very fond of going out to play before, so she was happy that the house was now so lively.
She was even quite envious of how much those children liked Su Li. frёeωebɳovel.com
But after her envy came a sense of pity.
"You like children so much, and they like you, too. It would be wonderful if you could get pregnant with your own child. Such a pity..."
She conveniently forgot the unpleasant business of having wrongly accused Su Li, acting as if it had never happened, and could still ask her if she was pregnant.
She was hoping Su Li had "hit the jackpot," so to speak, and would become pregnant with another precious grandson.
Unfortunately, when she’d asked Su Li a couple of days ago, Su Li had coolly informed her that she was on her period.
Mrs. Tang’s dream of holding another grandson was shattered.
"I really thought you might be pregnant. What a pity..." Mrs. Tang mumbled.
Su Li, tired of listening, cut her off coolly.
"And if I were pregnant, wouldn’t you be afraid I’d give birth to a fool?" Su Li retorted mockingly.
Mrs. Tang’s face instantly flushed crimson.
