Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 182: My First Experience as a Parent with a School-age Child

The next morning, Yucheng and Dundun were resolute and put an end to Jiang and Li's idea of ​​walking to the college. After breakfast, they each picked up their book boxes and left the house.

Two small figures, braving the dim morning light, happily set out towards the academy in the west of the city.

Li and Jiang watched the two of them walk away before they went to the steamed bun stall in the market together.

Although Jiang and Li were standing in front of the winnowing basket selling buns, they were both a little distracted.

Li couldn't help but keep looking to the west, and accidentally gave the wrong buns to the customer.

Shen Yu couldn't bear to watch it, so she pushed Li to the side and sat on a small stool: "Mom, Yucheng and Dundun go to school together. This road passes through the gate of the county government office. There are shops on both sides that open in the morning. There are people coming and going, don't worry."

Li said with a worried look on her face, "This is the first time that Yucheng has walked such a long distance by himself since he was a child. This is also the first time that I haven't seen him for a whole day."

After Li finished speaking, she suddenly stood up and said, "Sister Jiang, how about we go over and take a look? I will feel relieved only when I see them enter the academy."

Jiang was also worried. She was usually calm and composed, but now she was quite moved. Although she didn't say anything, her hands began to untie the apron she was wearing automatically.

Shen Yu was overwhelmed. Li was really doing whatever she wanted and made Jiang no longer as calm as before.

Shen Yu quickly stopped them: "Mom, this won't do. Think about it, other students can go to school by themselves, but Dun Dun and Yu Cheng go to school, and they have to follow their mother. Others will laugh at them for being infants."

Yu Tao also said, "Yes, mother, Yu Cheng told me yesterday that he will go to school tomorrow and become an adult. If you leave like this, where will Yu Cheng's face be?"

Li was stopped by the two sisters and had to sit back on the stool.

She muttered unwillingly, "I am just worried. The academy is outside the city's west suburbs. It's so far away. We took a car there yesterday. I wonder if they know the way and won't go the wrong way."

Although Jiang didn't say anything to express her concern, she had a worried expression on her face.

Shen Yu advised: "Yucheng followed me to the academy once that day, and he went there again yesterday. The county town is not big, so he won't get lost."

"Dundun is two years older than Yucheng. They go to school together. If they don't know the way, they will ask for directions. Don't worry."

Having said that, Li and Jiang were absent-minded in their work throughout the whole day.

At the end of the Shen time, the two of them simply did nothing and went to the door of the store together to stand and look around.

Shen Yu shook her head and ignored the two of them and went to cook dinner with Yutao. It was not until four quarters after the evening that Li and the others saw Dun Dun and Yu Cheng, who were walking slowly with their book boxes on their backs.

After returning home and having dinner, Yucheng kept complaining about foot pain.

Li asked Yucheng to take off his shoes and socks, and took a closer look with a candlestick. She found a bean-sized blister on Yucheng's toes.

Jiang asked Dun Dun how he was doing, and Dun Dun smiled and said, "Mom, I'm fine. Yu Cheng just hasn't walked like this before. He will be fine after walking for a few days."

Shen Yu brought a basin of hot water and asked Yu Cheng to soak his feet in it. He then took a sewing needle, burned the tip of the needle red over a candle, and handed it to Li.

Li carefully popped the blister on Yucheng's toe, soaked the water in the blister with clean cotton, and told him to let it dry for a while.

Li said distressedly, "I used to go to the fields with him often, and sometimes I would run around barefoot. How come I have blisters after walking back and forth like this?"

Yu Cheng, on the other hand, seemed to be fine at this moment, and said with a smile: "Brother Dun Dun said that once calluses form on the soles of your feet, the pain will go away."

"Other students also walk to school, but none of them live as far away as we do."

Shen Yu looked at Yu Cheng's cloth shoes and gave Li some advice: "The soles of the cloth shoes they wear are too thin and too soft. After walking for a long time, they will not fit their feet anymore."

"Can you make me a pair of shoes with thicker soles, sew a cloth strap on the heel, and tie it around so it won't hurt my feet when I walk, and it won't become loose and unable to exert strength."

Jiang's eyes lit up as she listened, and she said repeatedly, "Yes, yes, make the uppers more like boots, make the soles thicker, and then follow Miss Yuzhi's instructions and sew a cloth belt on the back, so that it won't hurt your feet when you walk on gravel roads, and it won't get loose easily."

Li said with some embarrassment: "It's not difficult to make the sole thicker, but I've never made one that fits the foot like a boot. I wonder if the shoe shop has it."

Jiang shook her head and said, "I have boots, but a pair of good boots costs more than ten taels of silver. Besides, they are all growing taller, so buying shoes is too expensive. I know how to make boot tops, so why don't you try making them yourself?"

Li clapped her hands and said, "I happen to have two pairs of newly made soles. Let's try modifying them tonight."

As they talked, they ignored Dun Dun and Yu Cheng and decided to go back to their own rooms.

Shen Yu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Look at you two, going to school has kept your mothers busy."

Shen Yu told Yucheng and Dundun to go to bed early and to raise their legs and feet when sleeping.

He brought out the basin and poured it out, then went to wash up with Yutao.

The lights in Mrs. Li and Mrs. Jiang's rooms were on all night.

The next day, when Shen Yu got up, he found that the light in Li's room was on, and he wondered why Li got up so early today.

She pushed the door open, only to find that Li and Jiang were still wearing yesterday's clothes, each holding a shoe in their hands and sewing quickly.

Shen Yu was surprised and asked, "Mom, didn't you and Aunt Jiang sleep last night?"

Li continued sewing without even raising her head: "I hurriedly made two pairs of shoes, but I don't know if they will fit my feet. I only have two stitches left."

"We won't be going to the stall with you today. You can ask Zhou Dalang to pull the cart later. We can go to the stall after we are done."

Shen Yu agreed and said, "Then don't go over to set up the stall after you finish making the shoes. The three of us will stay there. Wait for Dun Dun and Yu Cheng to go to school. You guys can get some sleep."

Lee responded without even looking up, her attention clearly focused on the shoes in her hands.

Seeing this, Shen Yu knew that Li and the others would not be able to listen to what was said, so he turned around, walked out, closed the door, and prepared to set up the stall.

Just as I finished cleaning up, Zhou Dalang came over.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Today, the three of us are setting up the stall together again."

On the way, Shen Yu told Yutao and Zhou Dalang about Li and Jiang making shoes overnight.

Zhou Dalang understood Li and the others' behavior very well, and smiled naively, saying, "Miss Shen is not a mother yet, so she can't understand this feeling."

"As parents, as long as it is good for the children, we will do it even if it means our lives are in danger."

Yu Tao said, "Brother Zhou, do you treat Xiao Bao the same way?"