The Farm Life Of a "Fool"

Chapter 62

CORN

Spite of the fact that summer began in May, July and August were the hottest months. Cicadas had begun to scream early in the morning, and people were unable to sleep in a peaceful environment. They had a slimmer chance of sleeping well when it was hot at noon. They could only cool themselves with palm leaf fans because there were no electric fans or air conditioners.

Liu Tong had recently developed a sleep addiction, and Xu Ran's most challenging task now was to keep him calm with a fan while he slept.

He would, however, fall asleep much of the time as he waved his fan. His sleeping positions were odd: he would skew left or right, and he had never slept in a straight position. Following that, Liu Tong politely requested a replacement, and the difficult job was assigned to Shao Yu.

Xu Ran, who had nothing to do, went to Xu An's home to see the furniture, but Xu An and Wu Mei were discussing the matter of sending Dahu to school.

This year, Dahu turned nine years old. It would be too late if he didn't go to school. This had been put off for a few years because they were related to the original family. Their family circumstances were poor when they were just starting out. They'd made enough money with Xu Ran's support that they could now afford to send Dahu to school on his own.

There were a few schools in Xu Village, but not many children went to school here. The Fuzi, who was teaching now, was extremely old and had also been Xu Ran's teacher back then.

When Xu Ran overheard their conversation, he recalled that his two children were of the same age, and that he had already attended primary school in June. Despite the lack of school levels such as primary, middle, and high school, it was beneficial to start school early because people had a strong memory at a young age.

Wu Mei and Xu An meant to send Dahu to school, but they were worried that Xu An's brothers would take the chance to ask for money, so they were in a dilemma.

Hearing that, Xu Ran had an idea and said to Wu Mei, "Even if Dahu attends school, he will have to wait until the following year. Surely, this year is too late. I'm going to send Tangtang and Guoguo to school the next year, by chance. Dahu will accompany them when the time comes. Xu An, You should inform your brothers that I paid the tuition fee if they inquire. The villagers all know the relationships between us few families, so it is acceptable to say I paid the tuition fee for you. Xu An, I don't think your brothers will come to me to ask for money!."

Wu Mei and Xu An pondered it over and thought that it was a way, and then they nodded and said, "OK, we'll have to bother you, Xu Ran. But we assume that you'd better do this for Wu Lan's and Liu Qing's families too, saying that all of us agree to send our kids to school together next year. If you only do this for us, there are people who will always gossip about it."

Xu Ran thought about it and agreed, and he said, "Then let me do it. I'm not afraid of doing it for many families."

The issue of sending kids to school has been resolved. Xu An then took Xu Ran to see the furniture he had made. Since there were so many bamboo trees on Xu Village's mountain, Xu Ran had asked Xu An to make a few beds for coolness. They came in a variety of sizes, and some of them could even be folded. They could be used as sleeping quarters, but it was safer to do so in the summer.

Cabinets and chairs made up the majority of the collection. Some were made of wood, while others were made of bamboo, but they were all small objects. In reality, Xu Ran couldn't think of any furniture to make, so he asked Xu An to make a few of the items he remembered come to life.