Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

“Ye Lei, there are really too many onlookers. Why don’t we just abandon the carriage and walk?” Liu Sisi suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Otherwise, I don’t know when we’ll be able to get home.” Liu Sisi’s words naturally gained Di Yelei’s support, and he immediately stood up from the carriage.

As Di Yelei led Liu Sisi out of the carriage, the cheers and applause around them grew louder.

“There they are! It’s Minister Di, indeed! You all look, look, so handsome…” This was someone being infatuated.

“Is this the Lord Di who got rid of a great disaster for the people? County Magistrate Su framed Lord Di, I saw the trial in the court myself…” This was a rare fair remark.

“Heh heh! So this is the lucky Minister Di? Such a good fortune met him, his luck is really extraordinary. If only I could be like that…” This was a sarcastic remark.

Someone immediately chimed in from the side: “With you like that, even if you really encounter such a good thing, I’m afraid you would have lost your life long ago, and not be so cocky here!”

“Haha… well said…” Everyone burst into laughter.

Listening to the surrounding comments, Di Yelei and Liu Sisi exchanged glances before Di Yelei stepped forward.

“Fellow villagers, everyone, please listen to what I, Di Yelei, have to say, alright?”

Di Yelei pressed his hands down, calming everyone’s agitation. “Fellow villagers, I, Di Yelei, was born and raised in Liuping Town. Don’t worry, and don’t let the crowd obstruct each other’s business. If you really have any urgent matters, you can also come to me. As long as it is within my power, I will take care of it for you. What do you think?”

After speaking loudly, Di Yelei casually glanced at the crowd with a smile on his face.

After a while, an old grandpa walked out from the crowd.

“Good! Lord Di, since you are one of us from Liuping Town, you must do real and good deeds for everyone! You all say, right?” The old grandpa looked back at the crowd, and everyone immediately started shouting.

“Yes! The old man is right, we don’t want to hear the empty promises. We just hope that Lord Di will do some real and good deeds for us.”

Di Yelei looked back at Liu Sisi and then laughed!

“That is easy! I, Di Yelei, shall put the big talk up front today. As long as I, Di Yelei, am still in the position of Minister, I will do three real deeds for everyone. How about that?”

“What are the three real deeds? Lord Di, please tell us now.” Someone in the crowd urged.

“This is simple, let me just give you a general idea.”

Di Yelei confidently put his left hand behind his back and raised his right hand with one finger: “First, I’ve decided to personally recruit manpower to expand and widen the small bridge at the narrow pass connecting Liuping Town to Macheng County.”

He spoke confidently and looked around to see that everyone was listening attentively before he continued with satisfaction.

“Although the bridge is still passable now, it has been neglected for a long time, and the stone slabs on it are severely tilted, so it’s time for a careful repair! Even the official road to the county should be repaired. I don’t plan to do anything else, I just plan to invest myself in gathering those without land or roaming people to work, providing food and accommodation, with wages being thirty catties of grain per month. If you’re willing, you can sign up tomorrow morning.”

“This is good, this is a big real thing. That small bridge should have been repaired a long time ago, but no one has ever paid for it. Now we don’t have to worry about the bridge being washed away by a heavy rain, making it difficult to enter the city…”

“Provided food and accommodation, and there is also grain to take, this is really good. Using grain to calculate the wages is safer than silver…”

“I just don’t know when the work will begin? My family is also idle at home, as long as the busy season is over, they can go out and earn some rice to eat…”

Everyone was talking and looked very happy.

Di Yelei waited until the surrounding voices gradually subsided before lightly coughing and bending his second finger.

“Secondly, I plan to build a porridge shed outside the North City of the county. From now on, every first day and fifteenth day of the lunar month, plain rice porridge will be given out. Any elderly people, displaced refugees, and children can go and get a share. This is another real deed for the people.”

“Good! This is really a good thing…”

Surprisingly, the public reaction to this matter was much colder than Di Yelei had expected.

It makes sense! Generally, people with hands and feet wouldn’t necessarily swallow their pride to get porridge, even if they knew it was being distributed.

Di Yelei didn’t mind, and immediately smiled at Liu Sisi and tightened her hand: “Third, my wife plans to establish a school. The purpose of this school is to enable more children from poor families to read and read good books!”

He spoke passionately, but couldn’t help but admire Liu Sisi in his heart.

If it weren’t for her mentioning this matter earlier in the morning and discussing further on the carriage ride, he might not have had this idea yet!

If that were the case, he might not even know how to answer people’s deliberate questions.

Buzz! ——

The surrounding comments suddenly rose!

A school? How could this not excite everyone!

Di Yelei raised his hand and tried to suppress the people’s excitement several times, but to no avail. Everyone was chattering and offering their opinions, wishing that the school could be opened immediately.

Liu Sisi also looked around and stepped forward, raising her hand. Only then did the surrounding comments gradually subside.

“In fact, my husband made a small mistake just now. What Sisi intends to open is not just a school, but an academy! You may be unfamiliar with the term ‘academy,’ but the simplest explanation is a place dedicated to reading. Here, the traditional teaching mode will be changed, with teaching in the academy divided into two parts: one where the students are taught by mentors with an education gift, and the other a work-study program, which simply means letting students exchange labor for the right to study, studying half a day and working half a day!”

Before Liu Sisi could finish her speech, the place was buzzed again, and almost everyone began to discuss!

A work-study program? Such a novelty term!

Even if there were students before who exchanged labor for the right to study, they made use of the early morning and late-night hours, so how could they only study half a day?

The pregnant woman in front of them was really talking big!