"Mom, try to get along better with Fourth Aunt in the future. Little Tao and Jiaojiao are quite adorable too," Xu Mumu said helplessly, knowing her mother wouldn't get up early unless there was something to gain.
With this fabric coupon, at least for now, Li Caixia wouldn't cause trouble for Sun Huiping.
"Don't worry, I get it. Your Fourth Aunt's family is wealthy, I'm sure she has other good things," Li Caixia gave Xu Mumu a reassuring look.
Xu Mumu:... So exhausting. That wasn't her point at all. She just wanted the family to be more harmonious and hoped her mother would stop stirring things up.
Not wanting to care about what her parents thought, Xu Mumu went straight back to her room.
Oil lamps are costly, and Madam Chen kept the lamp oil, so the family had to go to bed early.
At school, Du Yu and the others hadn't done their homework again, making Xu Mumu utterly frustrated.
"No copying homework today," Xu Mumu said helplessly, looking at Du Yu and Xue Yan, who seemed addicted to copying homework.
There was a lot of free time yesterday, and even before school ended, she'd finished her homework. Yet, these two still hadn't written anything today.
"Mumu, just help us out," Du Yu said cajolingly, taking out some fried peanuts he'd prepared.
"No, you mustn't copy anymore in the future," Xu Mumu firmly refused. Du Yu kept approaching her with an agenda, but she wasn't naive. She didn't like Du Yu, so it was better not to give him any hope.
Earning money to buy snacks was something she could figure out herself; she didn't need to take anything from Du Yu.
"Mumu, why have you become so heartless? Just a quick copy, class is about to start," Xue Yan looked at Xu Mumu mournfully.
"This is a matter of principle, Xue Yan, Du Yu. If you pay attention in class, you can manage this. It's not difficult," Xu Mumu said earnestly.
"But I haven't listened before. I can't do it at all," Du Yu spread his hands.
"Mumu, how about you tutor me? I'll pay you," Du Yu's eyes brightened, looking pitifully at Xu Mumu.
Xu Mumu is the most beautiful girl in the class. Every time he looked at her, Du Yu liked her very much. He'd never had a chance to get close to Xu Mumu before, but now he finally had an opportunity.
"My grades aren't good," Xu Mumu said calmly. Du Yu's suggestion actually gave her a new idea; tutoring was indeed a good way.
"It's okay, you know more than I do. Just teach me what you know, okay? Mumu?" Du Yu looked at her with expectation. He didn't mind tutoring; he mainly wanted to get close to her. With tutoring, they could be alone. Just thinking about it was exciting.
"I'll think about it," Xu Mumu said. Du Yu had always been financially well-off, so if she tutored him, earning some money wouldn't be bad. Without money, everything was inconvenient.
Even though she was favored at home, money wasn't freely given to her.
"Then it's settled, Mumu. Just let us copy one last time," Du Yu pressed, seeing Xu Mumu showing some signs of relenting, he became even happier.
"Here you go." Xu Mumu nodded, taking out her homework notebook.
Once both had finished copying, Xue Yan looked at Xu Mumu and asked, "Mumu, are you really planning to tutor Du Yu?" Xue Yan's expression was a bit complicated. Xu Mumu's grades were similar to hers; what could she possibly teach Du Yu?
Could there be another motive? She'd heard that Du Yu's family was well-off. Could it be that Mumu had taken a liking to Du Yu? Thinking of this possibility, Xue Yan's eyes gleamed.
"Yes, I'm considering it. You know my family isn't well-off. Earning some money would be nice," Xu Mumu said with a faint smile, not feeling abashed because of her family's condition.
"Alright, alright," Xue Yan said cheerfully, as if she had discovered Xu Mumu's secret.
During lunch, Du Yu even specially approached Xu Mumu and Xue Yan to discuss tutoring matters with Xu Mumu.
Seeing that Du Yu genuinely wanted to study hard, Xu Mumu also became more serious. They discussed and agreed on the tutoring schedule and fee.
Xu Mumu only needed to go to Du Yu's house on Saturday and Sunday afternoons to tutor him, charging a dollar a day.
Xu Mumu didn't know where Du Yu's house was yet, so she planned for Du Yu to meet her outside the school on Saturday, so they could go together.
Having found a temporary way to earn money, Xu Mumu felt a bit more relaxed.
Xu Mumu only shared her plan to tutor Du Yu with Xue Yan; no one else knew about it.
In the evening, Xu Mumu went home with the fried peanuts Du Yu had given her. This time, Xu Mumu didn't refuse them.
"Sis, where did you get those fried peanuts?" Xu Minglei was about to pounce and grab them when he saw what Xu Mumu had brought.
"A friend gave them to me. Same rules as always — if you all study with me, whoever does best gets to eat more peanuts." Xu Mumu calmly glanced at the few kids at home. These four could form a class of their own.
"Sis, I'm definitely going to study better than Minglei," Tiedan immediately promised.
"That's not true! I'm definitely better at studying," Xu Minglei was upset. Tiedan was the most annoying, always trying to steal his sister.
"Big sis, my sister and I will study hard too," Little Tao said earnestly, wanting to eat peanuts as well.
Though Xu Minglei and Tiedan were already in third grade, they hadn't learned much. They spent class time playing. So, Xu Mumu decided to teach the younger ones all together from the basics.
With snacks as motivation, the younger kids studied quite enthusiastically.
Xu Mumu took out a half-filled notebook, tore it in half, and gave one half to Little Tao and the other to Xu Jiaojiao, along with two short pencils for them to use.
"Thank you, big sis," Little Tao and Xu Jiaojiao were thrilled to receive the notebooks; it was their first time owning such things.
"Use them well. If you don't study earnestly, I'll take them back," Xu Mumu said with a smile.
"We'll study hard."
When the adults returned, the young ones were still studying diligently. Sun Huiping was delighted; the fabric coupon she gave was well worth it as Xu Mumu was earnestly teaching their children.
The adults tacitly decided not to disturb the children's studies, and Xu Mumu wasn't bothered by it either.
When the lessons were almost done, she divided the peanuts among them, letting them play on their own.