Bai Sanni really had not expected that the one speaking up against it was Second Aunt-in-law, and for a moment she was a little dazed.
The one who was dazed was not only her. Almost everyone was staring at Second Aunt-in-law, wanting to see exactly what she meant.
Second Aunt-in-law wished she could bury herself alive, and even her speech was halting and stammering, “There’s a lot of work at home, Dani and the others have to work, whether girls go to school… it doesn’t matter.”
Bai Dani wiped away her tears and lowered her head too.
Bai Erni said tearfully, “Mom, we can still work even if we go to school.”
Mother Bai followed that and said, “Xiaojun is already four this year too, so there’s no need for anyone to watch him anymore. As for the chickens and pigs at home, going to school won’t delay the children from gathering wild vegetables and cutting pig fodder. Primary school gets out early, sometimes it’s only half a day.”
Bai Sanni immediately added, “And school has one day off every seven days.”
Father Bai looked toward Grandfather Bai and Grandmother Bai, “Dad, Mom, I think this schooling has to be done. We can’t let outsiders look down on our family. Last time Second Uncle was even showing off to me, saying his Xiaofeng started school at six and was even praised by the teacher.”
There were a few families in the production team who cherished girls, and naturally there was no avoiding some comparison between them.
If any family could marry their daughter into the city, no, even into the town, that would be something worth showing off for many years.
So Grandfather Bai and Grandmother Bai giving such careful support to White Little Aunt might not have been without the thought of saving face.
Bai Sanni thought it over a little and understood this reasoning, and once again gave her own father a thumbs-up. He really did not say anything without purpose.
Sure enough, those words made Grandfather Bai and Grandmother Bai make up their minds.
“Go, all of you go. At the very least, you have to finish primary school, up to third grade.” Primary school, up to third grade, was what they called elementary school third grade.
After Grandmother Bai finished speaking, she stared at Second Aunt-in-law.
Second Aunt-in-law lowered her head, as if she had never said anything against it.
Bai Dani was so excited she was shaking, and promised, “Grandma, I won’t fall behind on the work at home.”
The matter of the girls going to school was settled.
Father Bai struck while the iron was hot again, “Mom, our family really does have you to thank for having such long-term vision!”
He showered her with free rainbow-flattery.
Grandmother Bai could not help but smile too, who did not like being flattered?
“Mom, there’s one more thing that needs you.”
After the flattery, it was time to talk business.
“Once Dani and the others go to school, when the teacher calls out Bai Dani to answer up front, then three people will stand up.”
Father Bai’s vivid gesture made several people laugh.
Bai Dajun was laughing so hard he was cackling, “Our class has a bunch of girls too, cack, cack…”
More than half of Qianhu Production Team had the surname Bai, and the girls all had names ending in Ni, so how could the rate of duplicate names not be high?
In daily life, to tell them apart, they even added things like second uncle’s Dani, Third Grandfather’s Xiaoni, and so on.
Grandfather Bai and Grandmother Bai could not help laughing too.
Then they all started scratching their heads too, what name should they use?
Father Bai spoke at the right time, “Dad, Mom, do you remember Aunt Qiao Er? Her little daughter is called Shumin, such a nice name.”
Grandmother Bai was a little tempted, “What about our three?”
That meant it was not easy to distinguish them. As for duplicate names, she did not mind. After all, they did not have the same surname.
“Shuhui, Shuting, Shuhua, Shujuan, Shudan, Shuping, Shuzhen…” Father Bai rattled off several in one breath.
Grandmother Bai immediately said, “Shuzhen won’t do, it clashes with her little aunt.”
Mother Bai secretly rolled her eyes. She was also called Tian Fen, and she had not thought that meant she could not be called that.
Bai Sanni secretly let out a breath. Her afternoon of inspiration had not been wasted. The names her father came up with were all pretty nice.
As for the name from her previous life, forget it, she was not that attached.
As for “Sanni”… emmmmm… she might as well change it.
Since she was starting school, changing to a new name was only right, wasn’t it?
In the end Bai Dani chose Shuhui, Bai Erni chose Shuting, and she chose Shuhua. From now on, her name would be “Bai Shuhua.”
“Mom, do we have any old clothes at home that we don’t want?” Mother Bai asked Grandmother Bai, “The children are going to school, so we should at least patch together a schoolbag for them, and there’s paper and pens and such too.”
Grandmother Bai said irritably, “No, where would I find old clothes we don’t want? I still want them.”
After thinking about it, she took a money roll out of her pocket and slowly unfolded it, “Each household gets you… three mao, buy paper and pens for the children later.”
She did not forget to remind them, “Use it sparingly.”
She very naturally ignored the second branch having two students.
But since no one in the second branch protested, no one else would jump out to uphold justice either.
Bai Dajun and Bai Zhenzhen were over there pestering Grandmother Bai for money too.
Grandmother Bai had no choice, and could not bear to scold her precious babies, so she gave each of them one mao.
Bai Shuhua was not jealous at all. Anyway, the money would not end up in her hands. She gulped down the vegetable porridge in a few bites, wiped her mouth, and said, “Big brother, can you lend me the first-grade textbooks? I want to learn ahead of time.”
She had never planned to go to school step by step. Mainly because time would not allow it.
There were still nearly eight years until the college entrance examination, and she was definitely going to take it.
She had seen the news. In the first year, there were a lot of people taking the college entrance examination, but the exam questions were simple.
She was not some genius, and even after being reborn she had not become smarter, so simple questions suited her perfectly.
Not to mention that the first graduating class would have the greatest room to choose their assignments.
In this life she just wanted to hold an iron rice bowl and be supported by the state for the rest of her life.
That was how ambitious she was!
Aunt-in-law Bai was a little unwilling, “Dajun still needs to look at them.”
Bai Zhenzhen snorted, “Dajun is already in third grade, what is he still looking at first-grade books for? Don’t tell me he’s forgotten the first-grade material.”
Clearly White Little Aunt was holding a grudge.
Bai Dajun was quite generous, “I’m not looking at first-grade books, I just don’t know where I threw them.”
Grandmother Bai directly instructed Aunt-in-law Bai, “Go back tonight and look for them, give them to Dani and the others to use, and it can still save the cost of one set of books.”
Although Bai Dani and the others all had new names, the elders had not remembered them at all, and were still used to calling them by the old ones.
The aunt-in-law felt that her mother-in-law saving money meant the family saved money, which meant it would all be her son’s in the future, so naturally she would not object, “I’ll look for them when I get back, they definitely weren’t lost.”
The production team’s own primary school did not require tuition, but textbook fees still had to be paid.
“All right, it’s almost dark, everyone head back.” Grandmother Bai gave the order.
Second Aunt-in-law took her two daughters and very consciously cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks.
Bai Shuhua pulled her little brother along and followed behind her parents as they slipped away.
The third branch did not have kerosene lamps or candles, so there was no such thing as evening activities.
Luckily, in winter they had to heat the kang, and the clay stove in the room always had a fire. A large earthen pot sat on top, so there was no shortage of hot water, and soaking their feet was still very comfortable.
It was just that this washbasin, or rather, face basin, after recovering the memories of two lifetimes, was inevitably a little awkward.
But she still had to use it. Being finicky also had to depend on actual conditions.
The family of four lay on the warm kang. Bai Xiaojun had ridden a horse during the day, riding a fire poker, and was a little tired, so he quickly fell asleep.
Bai Shuhua also tried to slow her breathing as much as possible, eavesdropping on her parents talking.
Mother Bai said, “Child’s father, I heard Eldest Sister-in-law and Big Brother muttering about wanting to split the family.”
Bai Shuhua pricked up her little ears. This was a topic she was interested in.
“How can she be so foolish? If they split the family, without Second Sister-in-law cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, sweeping the floor and all that, wouldn’t she have to do it all?” Mother Bai’s tone was full of incomprehension.
Father Bai guessed, “Maybe she thought Dad and Mom would go with the eldest branch, and Dad and Mom have money in their hands.”
Mother Bai snorted, “If the family splits, we’ll live with the second branch.”
Father Bai was a little uncertain, “Can a family split like that?”
Bai Shuhua rolled her eyes. What was this, playing cards, still choosing sides?
Her parents were really lazy! Speechless.
Then on second thought, it felt a little strange. As the parents of the protagonist, shouldn’t they split the family as soon as possible, then shake off poverty and stride toward a well-off life?
How come with her parents, it did not follow the script?