LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 27
Shen Youlin was causing a ruckus in the Shen household, while Yu Shu faced chickens and dogs jumping around at home.
It was the literal meaning of chickens flying and dogs jumping.
Second aunt had given them two live local chickens, and early in the morning she went to the market to buy a big goose and two ducks. According to local customs, no living thing could be killed from the first to the fifteenth day of the new year, so they could only be dealt with on the thirtieth.
Yu Feng carried the chickens, ducks and goose up to the terrace, but when he swung the knife down he didn't manage to cut the chicken's neck. The chicken started flying around wildly on the terrace, running a marathon in its death throes, with spots of chicken blood splattered everywhere.
As for the dog, it was a small Teddy that Ye Ping brought back when she went out to buy groceries. She said she picked it up at the square across from the residential compound, and it followed her home after she called out to it once. The little Teddy was lively and active, jumping around ceaselessly. It played enthusiastically with Yu Shu and her younger brother no matter who it was playing with, its energy seeming endless.
Yu Shu posted a claim notice on Moments and asked the residential compound security guard, managing to find the Teddy's owner who lived in the same compound. When the owner came to pick it up in the evening, they also brought lots of dried fruit and nuts. Ye Ping felt bad, so she gave them some fried fish meatballs that she had made. After chatting for a while, the two families discovered they were related by marriage, albeit distantly.
The Teddy's owners were a middle-aged couple, and the wife Yao Qin's mother was also surnamed Ye. She was a cousin who had married far away from Yu Shu's father. The two families grew closer after this, with endless things to talk about and old stories to recount. Yu Shu and her brother even received a red envelope.
After sending Yao Qin off, Yu Shu exclaimed, "Yet another aunt!"
"Still, she was brought by a dog," Yu Yang added.
As soon as Ye Ping heard this sentence, she immediately flew into a rage. She hit Yu Yang repeatedly with a rolling pin, scolding him for not thinking before he spoke. She said all those years of schooling had been wasted on him, and that keeping him was more useless than keeping Yao Qin's Teddy.
Yu Shu laughed on the side, repeatedly appeasing Ye Ping, but didn't manage to save Yu Yang from the wrath of the rolling pin.
Poor Yu Yang suffered a beating on New Year's Eve.
Before the reunion dinner, Yu Feng swore over and over again that he would cut ties with his two younger brothers, saying that his heart belonged only to their little family of four. Only after pleading and writing pledge letters was he allowed to join them at the table.
Tonight's reunion dinner was made by Yu Feng in an attempt to earn brownie points. Yu Shu and her younger brother were already full from snacking, so they only ate a couple bites before running out to set off firecrackers. There was no ban on firecrackers in the county town, so Yu Shu bought half a car full and went with Yu Yang to the suburbs to set them off. Only after having their fill of excitement did they rush home before midnight.
After the New Year's countdown ended and two minutes of exhilaration, the siblings instantly deflated, waving their hands to say goodnight before heading to their rooms to sleep.
Yu Shu wanted to go upstairs but Yu Yang grabbed the corner of her clothes, blinking pleadingly without explaining what he wanted.
"What do you want?!" Yu Shu snatched her clothes back.
"Mmm hmm ~ Sis ~ Sis ~"
"............"
"New Year's money, double it ~"
"......scram."
The new year passed enjoyably and lazily, with nonstop eating, drinking and sleeping in. However, happiness is always fleeting.
Yu Yang had to go back to school to attend classes on the fourth day of the new year. As a third-year high school student he had to attend self-study sessions starting at 6:30 am, while Yu Shu slept until 10 am. After eating breakfast, she leisurely drove her beloved car to the county middle school.
After slurping up two taels of miscellaneous sauce noodles at the noodle shop in front of the school gate, she chatted with the gatekeeper uncle for a while before relying on memory to find Yu Yang’s homeroom teacher, the strict Mr. Yan Ming.
Mr. Yan wasn't strict at all, rather easygoing and protective of his students. He had nurtured batch after batch of students even more easygoing than himself. He was currently Yu Yang's homeroom teacher as well. Yu Yang said that when he first entered high school he had been assigned to a different class, but after Mr. Yan heard about it, he asked to have Yu Yang transferred over.
Over the past three years, while Mr. Yan outwardly complained that Yu Yang couldn't compare with his sister, he had secretly helped look out for Yu Yang many times.
"Mr. Yan Yan~" Yu Shu stopped Mr. Yan Ming who was heading back to the office after class. She shoved two large bags of snacks into his hands, "Hurry up and take these, my hands are about to break off."
The snacks didn't stay in Mr. Yan’s hands for long before they were raided by passing students.
"Thank you, senior sister!"
"Thank you, senior sister. You're so kind and beautiful!"
......
"You're welcome," Yu Shu smiled and waved at them. Then she turned to Mr. Yan and marveled, "Such is the power of nurturing the next generation."
When Yu Shu was a student, whenever alumni came back with food for Mr. Yan, it would always swiftly be taken by the students. Class after class, it had become one of the signature traits of Mr. Yan's classes.
Mr. Yan looked her up and down. "You came back to deliver food?"
"I came back to deliver money!"
It was all charity work, so of course she had to prioritize her alma mater first. There were many students at the county middle school who came from poor rural families. When Yu Shu was studying, there were several such classmates in her class. One female classmate's parents had both passed away and she lived with her grandmother. The school had waived her tuition and boarding fees, but without any income it was common to see her eating other students' leftovers.
Back at the office, Mr. Yan took a gulp of water from his teacup to wet his throat. "Pretty capable huh, how much are you preparing to donate?"
"Every year... fifty million yuan I guess."
"Cough cough cough cough cough..." Mr. Yan choked and coughed earth-shatteringly, waving his hands again and again to reject the idea.
Yu Shu hurriedly went up to pat his back, gently saying, "Should I add more?"
Was it too little? Yu Shu wondered.
Mr. Yan finally managed to catch his breath, lightly brushing aside her hand. "Don't make silly jokes. Running over to poke fun at me for no reason over New Year's. "
Yu Shu gazed speechlessly at the ceiling. "No justice at all."
Only after Yu Shu reiterated herself several times did Mr. Yan respond. He made a phone call to summon the principal. The principal treated everyone to lunch at a nearby hotel over the noon break, and upon hearing that Yu Shu's younger brother was currently studying at the school, he immediately requested that Yu Yang join them for the meal.
Yu Shu rejected the idea: "He doesn't deserve it."
After lunch, Yu Shu discussed the donation details with the school leaders. The school would make a detailed proposal that Yu Shu could look over and suggest modifications to after.
"Learning should only play an auxiliary role. Helping students from families facing financial difficulties should still be the priority. After all, it's very difficult to calm one's heart to focus on studying when burdened by living difficulties. Also, I hope the scholarships can be tilted slightly more towards female students to a certain degree."
With the proposal finalized, Yu Shu directly transferred the money into the school's account.
The vice principal suggested: "We plan to hold a donation ceremony next Monday. We'll invite people from the county education bureau and..."
"No need, really."
Yu Shu rubbed her temples. She hadn't deliberately kept the donation a secret, but didn't want to publicize it either.