A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

The private school was set up at Zhao Family School in the east alley of the town. The teacher's surname was Zhao. He was an old student who had taught elementary education for twenty years. The tuition was not expensive, two taels of silver a year, with writing materials (pens, ink, paper, and inkstones) charged separately.

Wang Jinzhu personally took Chen Tianrun to register.

Master Zhao looked at Chen Tianrun, then at Wang Jinzhu, and hesitated for a moment: "How old is this child?"

"eleven."

Master Zhao frowned. The oldest child in the school was only nine years old, and a twelve-year-old mixed in with a group of six- or seven-year-olds was indeed conspicuous.

"Master, my younger brother didn't have the opportunity to study before, not because he didn't want to," Wang Jinzhu said, placing the tuition fee on the table and adding a packet of pastries. "He's willing to work hard, so you can be strict with him as you see fit. If he learns slowly, you can even spank him."

Chen Tianrun stood to the side, his back ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on the teacher, without uttering a sound.

Master Zhao glanced at him a couple more times and nodded.

On his first day back from school, Chen Tianrun walked five li (approximately 2.5 kilometers), his shoes covered in dirt. As he entered the courtyard, it was almost dark. Chen Tianwei was tending the fire in the kitchen. Hearing the sound, she poked her head out and asked, "You're back? Are you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry." Chen Tianrun put down his book bag, washed his hands and face by the well, and then moved a low stool to sit in the middle of the yard.

He took out a piece of paper covered with writing from his bag; it was what the teacher had taught him that day.

"Sister-in-law, I learned six characters today."

Wang Jinzhu came out of the house, still clutching her abacus. "Which six?"

"Heaven, Earth, Man, Sun, Moon, Water."

"Okay, I'll teach you after dinner."

After dinner, the family sat around the table in the main room. The oil lamp was turned up a little brighter, and Chen Tianrun stood in front of the table, writing on an old wooden board with a charcoal stick.

When he wrote the character "天" (sky), his hand was still shaking a little, and the horizontal stroke was crooked, so he quickly erased it and rewrote it.

"The sky, the sky above our heads," he said, pointing to the roof beams, "two horizontal lines, one left-falling stroke, and one right-falling stroke."

Chen Tianwei lay on the table, gesturing with his fingers on the surface while muttering to himself.

Chen Tianfang sat in the corner, poking at the ground with a twig. He poked for a long time, but the stroke of the character "Tian" just wouldn't come out, like a snake with its tail cut off.

Wang Jinzhu glanced at his "work" but didn't say anything.

Chen Shi studied diligently, following along stroke by stroke. Although his writing was crooked, at least the stroke order was correct. Chen Yuxiang watched from the side, sewing shoe soles with her hands and silently repeating the steps.

Old Chen was the most lively one.

"Why is the character for 'person' only two strokes?" Old Chen stared at the character on the wooden board, holding a charcoal stick. "Is a person's entire life just two strokes?"

"Master, that's how the teacher taught us."

"Two strokes it is then." Old Chen wrote the character "人" (person), looked at it from left to right, and felt it was unsteady. "Why are you staggering like you're drunk?"

Chen Tianwei couldn't help but chuckle, but was glared at by Old Man Chen and quickly lowered his head.

"Grandpa, make sure the strokes are long and short, then you'll be able to stand up straight." Chen Tianrun walked over, took the old man's hand, and rewrote it.

Old Chen looked at the neatly written "人" (person) character on the wooden board, his lips twitched, but he didn't say anything, though he gripped the charcoal stick even tighter.

As Chen Tianrun was packing up the wooden boards after class, Wang Jinzhu stopped him: "Tomorrow you'll learn new characters, so bring today's characters to review. Go through them yourself before teaching others. It's not shameful to forget them; what's shameful is refusing to ask questions."

"Understood, sister-in-law."

Chen Tianrun carried the wooden plank back into the house. As he passed Chen Tianfang's door, he suddenly stopped and said, "Big Brother."

"Um?"

"Thank you, sister-in-law." He paused, then added, "Thank you, brother too."

By late May, the reputation of the cold drink stall had spread.

Not only were the people of Chenjia Village talking about it, but even the people from the neighboring Wangjia Village and Lijiazhuang Village would make a special detour to queue up in front of "Zhuji Ice Drinks" stall when they went to the market. Ye Xiaoyu kept a clear record of the accounts, and after half a month, she made a net profit of four taels and six qian from the cold drinks alone.

Seeing Wang Jinzhu and his family's ice-making business getting better and better, Chen Xiufen tossed and turned at home, unable to sleep. Since they wouldn't let her help, she decided to learn on her own.

From that day on, Chen Xiufen moved her work location from her own yard to the base of the wall. She carried her sewing basket, moved a low stool, and sat by the low wall shared by the two families, sewing shoe soles while listening intently.

The sounds coming from the courtyard of the main house could be heard clearly through the wall.

The sounds of Wang Xiaobao moving stones, Chen Tianwei scooping water, and pouring it into the pool with a "splash," followed by Chen Tianwei calling out, "Third Brother, that's enough saltpeter, stop moving it."

That evening, she dragged Chen Yang to the back mountain. The cliff with exposed saltpeter rocks on the back mountain wasn't hard to find. Chen Yang carried half a basket back, panting heavily from exhaustion.

Is that enough?

"Let's try it first."

Following the steps she had overheard from the other side of the wall, Chen Xiufen built a small pool in the corner of her kitchen using a broken earthenware jar. She poured in saltpeter and then poured water over it—

"laugh--"

White smoke billowed up, and a wave of heat hit her face. Chen Xiufen took three steps back, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.

After the smoke cleared, she placed the earthenware jar containing water inside, covered it with damp sand, and waited expectantly.

After waiting for an incense stick to burn, I opened it and took a look.

The water is warm.

Instead of freezing, it was heated.

"What's going on?" Chen Xiufen added saltpeter and poured more water, making it even hotter. The water in the earthenware pot was hot enough to soak your feet.

Watching from the side, Chen Yang couldn't help but say, "Aren't you getting it backwards?"

"What do you know? Get out of here!"

After three days of fussing, they used up almost half a basket of saltpeter and more than a dozen buckets of water. Chen Xiufen's hands were burned by the saltpeter, and two of the earthenware jars were cracked.

There wasn't even a glimpse of ice.

On the fourth day, Chen Shuyan returned from town to get a change of clothes. As soon as he entered the yard, he stepped on some pebbles and almost slipped.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

Chen Xiufen recounted what had happened in the past few days, and then tugged at his sleeve, saying, "Shuyan, you're a scholar, you've read so many books, think about it, how exactly is ice made?"

Chen Shuyan squatted down and looked at the pile of slag, then at the cracked pottery jar.

There was a long silence.

"I read the classics, not these strange and frivolous skills."

"Then you'd better think of a way!"

Chen Shuyan stood up, patted the hem of his robe, and didn't reply. He didn't want to admit that he, a scholar, couldn't even figure out the craftsmanship of a village woman.

Seeing his expression, Chen Xiufen was furious and muttered something under her breath.

The sound wasn't loud, but the courtyard was so small that Chen Shuyan heard every single word.

"After studying for over ten years, he's still not as capable as a woman from a respectable family."

She failed to learn how to make ice, gained no money, and even lost two earthenware jars and a basket of saltpeter. Chen Xiufen became increasingly angry and tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep well.

Why are they doing better and better?

Chen Xiufen was unwilling to accept this! She kept watching the eldest son's family, determined to find something to cause trouble.

That morning, things were bustling in the courtyard of the main house. Wang Xiaobao was squatting by the pond, carrying blocks of ice out, when Chen Tianwei came over with a basin to take them. The ice was slippery, and Chen Tianwei lost her footing and slid off, but Wang Xiaobao reacted quickly and caught her elbow.

"careful."

"Thank you, Third Brother."

In just three seconds.

Suddenly, Chen Xiufen's loud voice rang out at the alley entrance, full of energy, as if she were afraid the neighbors wouldn't hear her:

"Oh my goodness, in broad daylight, a man and a woman, pulling and tugging at each other, what kind of behavior is this! Tianwei is a young lady, don't they care about their reputation? That Wang family boy comes here every day, what exactly is he up to?"

The noise in the yard suddenly stopped.

Wang Xiaobao released his grip, his face flushed red, and he took two steps back, unsure of what to do with his hands.

Chen Tian lowered his head, his ears were bright red, and he almost dropped the basin in his hand.

Chen Xiufen was still shouting outside, her voice getting louder and louder, as if she wanted to attract everyone in the alley to come and be an audience.

People were already peeking out of the alley. Several women stood outside the gate, whispering and glancing into the courtyard of the main house.

When Wang Jinzhu came out of the house, she was holding a stone in her hand.

She walked to the courtyard gate and glanced at Chen Xiufen.

Upon seeing the stone, Chen Xiufen's arrogance lessened slightly, but it didn't completely subside. She took a half-step back, still shouting, "I'm telling the truth! Neither of us is married, and we're always together. Who wouldn't gossip?"

Wang Jinzhu weighed the stone in her hand.

One step, two steps, and I walked up to her.

Chen Xiufen shrank back a little.

But Wang Jinzhu did not make a move.

Because she caught sight of two people in the yard out of the corner of her eye.

Wang Xiaobao stood by the pool, his hands tucked into his sleeves, staring at the tips of his shoes, his neck completely red. Not the angry red of being wrongly accused, but the red of guilt.

Chen Tianwei turned her back, pretending to tidy up the basin. But with her ears so red, she couldn't put the basin in the right place even after holding it upside down twice.

Wang Jinzhu slowly put the stone down from her hand.

She looked at Wang Xiaobao, then at Chen Tianwei.

My lips twitched.

No.

Are you two serious?