As soon as the old woman finished speaking, the villagers who had been openly sizing up Lin Qiuman immediately withdrew their gazes.
In this era, every household barely had enough to eat. Taking in one extra daughter-in-law was manageable—but if someone arrived dragging along a whole family, who could possibly bear that?
No one wanted to be the sucker…
Lin Qiuman gave the old woman a tight smile. She clearly saw the disdain and hatred in the woman’s eyes.
She had just arrived in Xiwan Village—how could she have offended her?
Unhurried and unbothered, she calmly said, “Grandma, my family cares about me very much. When we ran out of food, they used the little savings we had as travel money so I could go to the provincial capital to stay with relatives.
But I thought about it—without a city household registration and without a job, I’d just be an illegal resident in the provincial capital.
My family supported my education for so many years. I’d rather stay in the village and become a teacher, passing on the knowledge I’ve learned to elementary school students.”
No one noticed when the old village chief appeared beside the well pulley. Hearing Lin Qiuman’s words, he was overjoyed.
“Did you hear that? Even in such difficult circumstances, this young lady still has such noble ideals.
She’d rather give up the care of relatives in the city than waste her education. She’s determined to stay in our village and be a teacher.
She graduated from high school—the highest level of education in our village. Your children should consider themselves lucky to have a teacher like her.”
“Village Chief, her family has fallen to the point of fleeing famine. How could she possibly have finished high school?” the old woman said sharply, casting another fierce glance at Lin Qiuman. She disliked the woman’s fox-like charm even more.
“My high school diploma has my photo and an official stamp. How could I joke about something like my education?”
Lin Qiuman tried hard to recall who this old woman was. Every sentence she spoke was a trap clearly aimed at her.
Who exactly was she?
“A high school diploma is issued by the state. Shengcun’s wife, are you doubting the country?” the village chief said, displeased.
Shengcun?
Only then did Lin Qiuman remember the old woman’s identity.
Her third son had only produced three daughters and no sons. The eldest granddaughter had graduated from junior high school.
The family had been waiting for an opportunity to let the girl become a substitute teacher at the school.
In her previous life, Wu Jianxun had taken that substitute teacher position. The old woman’s family hadn’t blamed him—instead, they had tried every possible way to get Wu Jianxun to marry into their family as a live-in son-in-law…
In this life, however, Lin Qiuman had become the substitute teacher. The old woman believed Lin Qiuman had stolen her granddaughter’s job—no wonder she kept attacking her.
“This young lady actually graduated from high school? My heavens! That’s even higher education than those heartless educated youths in our village.”
Xiwan Village had once had a few sent-down educated youths. Those who were good-looking and well-educated looked down on the village and found ways to marry into nearby towns instead.
The few who married into Xiwan Village hadn’t even finished junior high school. They were also somewhat dull and not suited to teaching, so they worked in the fields earning work points.
Then there was the old woman’s granddaughter. Though she graduated from junior high school, she always sounded like she was about to cry when speaking, and she blushed whenever there were many people around.
Even if Lin Qiuman hadn’t taken the substitute teacher job, the village chief would never have chosen the granddaughter.
Despite his age, the village chief had strong standards when selecting people—he preferred none at all rather than someone unqualified.
“Well… Teacher Lin, could my daughter follow you to learn some high school knowledge?” someone asked.
Lin Qiuman nodded modestly and turned to the village chief.
“Sir, I brought my high school textbooks with me. How about this—you can spread the word. Anyone who wants to learn high school knowledge can come find me after dinner. I’m free in the evenings anyway.”
She knew that as an outsider, if she wanted to establish herself in this village, she needed to become someone indispensable.
Only then would she avoid being bullied—and only then could she protect Kangkang…
In her previous life, after marrying Shen Linghua, she neither worked in the fields nor did housework. Every day she either schemed for money or studied her textbooks.
Seeing how motivated she was, Shen Linghua had wanted to study alongside her.
But the Lin Qiuman back then had no patience for him. She mocked him coldly and urged him to go manage work at a reservoir in another province.
He was very capable. He could repair the village’s farm machinery and tools.
Slaughtering livestock, building houses, hunting, carpentry—he could do all of it with ease.
Now, by volunteering to tutor villagers in high school subjects, she not only wanted to secure her place in Xiwan Village, but also help Shen Linghua openly.
A capable man like him shouldn’t be trapped in this small mountain village…
Nor should he end up living like a wild man deep in the mountains.
Returning to the elementary school, she didn’t even have time to start a fire to boil water. While there was still some daylight left, she quickly tidied up the room.
The school had no electricity, and she didn’t have a kerosene lamp.
Even though she had a flashlight in her spatial storage, she couldn’t take it out.
Once it got dark, she would be forced to sit there doing nothing. So she didn’t dare rest—she cleaned at top speed, arranged the bed, then took Teacher Li’s lesson plans and books and sat in the courtyard to read seriously.
“Teacher Lin, my mom asked me to bring you this kerosene lamp. She said the school doesn’t have electricity.”
A girl with shoulder-length hair walked over, holding a kerosene lamp in one hand and a notebook and pen in the other.
Lin Qiuman stood up, pleasantly surprised.
“Thank you.”
“Teacher Lin, my mom also asked me to bring you a wooden bucket. She was worried it would be troublesome for you to keep going back and forth to the well.”
“Teacher Lin, I brought two boxes of matches. I thought you might need them.”
Soon, more than ten female students gathered at the elementary school, including Xie Yujuan, an educated youth who had already married into the village.
They all looked at Lin Qiuman eagerly, their eyes filled with longing for knowledge.
After thanking them one by one, Lin Qiuman gathered her energy and began organizing the lesson.
“I think copying entire textbooks isn’t necessary. If we just copy the key points that need to be memorized for each subject, we won’t waste too much time…”
Waaah—
Lin Qiuman’s words were interrupted by loud crying.
Everyone followed the sound toward the darkness.
A middle-aged woman hurried over carrying a little boy in her arms.
“Yujuan! Hurry home and take care of your child! Look how hard he’s crying!”
“Mom, you can take him home to sleep first. I’ll go back later,” Xie Yujuan said awkwardly, trying to persuade her child. “Zhuangzhuang, be good.”
“Yujuan, you’re not like these young girls anymore—you’re a mother now. What are you studying for? What, are you planning to leave your husband and son behind and return to the city alone?”
As she spoke, the woman discreetly pinched the child’s backside again, making him cry even louder.
This scene didn’t escape Lin Qiuman’s notice—and the others saw it too.
Xie Yujuan’s mother-in-law was just making excuses. She simply didn’t want Xie Yujuan to study.
“Sister Yujuan, why don’t you go back first and comfort the child?”
Lin Qiuman gently took the notebook and pen from Xie Yujuan’s hands and said softly,
“Anyway, these first two days are just copying key points. I’ll copy them for you.
You should try to talk things over with your family first. When the formal lessons begin, you can come back then.”