I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 52: We Can't Help But Be Proactive

"Xiao Yuan, wait a minute."

Just as Yuan Xiu stepped out of the library, Wu Yufen called out to her.

"What did you call me for, sister-in-law?" Yuan Xiu came to return the books today. She hadn't returned the two books she borrowed last time, and with the deadline fast approaching, she hurried over to return them.

"Come here, I'll talk to you." Wu Yufen beckoned Yuan Xiu into the library and made her sit down again.

"Here's the thing, we military families have a long tradition of rehearsing programs for New Year's Day. This year, our family committee discussed it and decided to put on two programs, one singing and one dancing, to make New Year's Day lively and let everyone see the positive and high-spirited spirit of our military families."

Wu Yufen spoke enthusiastically, "For a military dependent like you who has just joined the army, you absolutely must participate in a program like this! You can't be unenthusiastic! I've already thought of something: since you're in good shape, why don't you go dancing? While we're at it, our family committee can choreograph a dance that will impress everyone!"

Yuan Xiu: "...I heard that she tripped and fell on stage during the Parents' Committee performance last year?"

Wu Yufen paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "You, little Yuan, know quite a lot. There is such a thing. So this year we have to learn from our mistakes and when selecting people, we can't look at whether they want to participate or not, but whether they have the talent and are capable of participating."

Yuan Xiu didn't want to dance; she had never danced in all her years of life.

"Sister-in-law, I have no talent for dancing, I can't even do the Yangko dance."

Wu Yufen didn't believe her. "Whether someone has talent or not, you'll only know after practicing. You can't just refuse me right away. Xiao Yuan, it's not easy being a family member. You said from the beginning that you would support my work, so you have to come!"

Yuan Xiu didn't intend to refuse her outright. She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll wait for your notification."

After talking with Wu Yufen, Yuan Xiu left.

On the way back, I happened to see Zhou's mother chatting with someone outside with her granddaughter.

The little girl was wearing a brand new dress and squatted down next to her grandmother, picking up a handful of stones to play with on the ground.

"Your granddaughter looks nice in that outfit. Did her mother make it for her?"

"Who told you that?" Zhou's mother asked.

"I saw your daughter-in-law buying fabric. She said she was buying it to make clothes for her daughter..." The man praised Yuan Juan, "She's a good stepmother. She knows how to treat her stepmother well."

Zhou's mother didn't refute, but instead curled her lips slightly downwards, "It's alright..."

Yuan Xiu overheard it as she passed by, and Zhou's mother smiled and greeted her when she saw her.

Yuan Xiu would see Zhou's mother and Yuan Juan every few days, mostly at the vegetable market.

Because of the two slaps she received last time, Yuan Juan learned her lesson and didn't come forward to get slapped again.

Every time they met, Zhou's mother would walk ahead with her hands behind her back, while Yuan Juan followed behind like a timid young wife, carrying a vegetable basket. Every now and then, Zhou's mother would turn around and mutter a few words to her.

Yuan Xiu understands Yuan Juan, at least she understands the eighteen-year-old Yuan Juan.

Her displeasure was written all over her face; she probably hated her mother-in-law to death, yet she had to pretend to be gentle and sensible in the Zhou family.

Yuan Xiu looked away and saw Yuan Juan coming from the other side. "Mom, why is Xiao Hua playing with stones again? Her new clothes are dirty again."

"Just wash it if it's dirty, what's with all the fuss? What kid doesn't do that? Have you washed the sheets you took off at home...?"

"not yet……"

"Hurry up and wash it, otherwise what will we put on the bed...?"

……

When Yuan Xiu returned home, her neighbor, Sister Guiying, was dealing with her children's old textbooks.

She has three children, two sons and a daughter. The eldest is already in junior high school, and the youngest is in elementary school. They all attend schools affiliated with the military.

The children's textbooks are issued every year, and she uses the useless ones to start fires.

So when she saw Yuan Xiu, she even asked Yuan Xiu if she wanted it, "It's convenient to use this as a kindling."

She was holding a first-year junior high school Chinese textbook. Yuan Xiu looked at the textbook in her hand and said, "Sister-in-law, if you don't want this book, can I have it?"

Sister-in-law Guiying laughed and said, "It was originally meant for you."

Yuan Xiu pursed her lips: "What I mean is, could you give me all the textbooks Xiaoying didn't use in junior high?"

Xiaoying is Guiying's eldest daughter, and she is in her third year of junior high school this year.

"Sure, you can have them all." Sister-in-law Guiying didn't ask any more questions, assuming that Yuan Xiu was a studious person. She even read medical books, so it wasn't strange that she would read junior high school textbooks.

She pointed to the books on the ground and said, "Find them yourself."

Dr. Liu glanced at her a few times and said, "It's never a bad thing to learn more. Otherwise, you won't even be able to understand medical books."

Yuan Xiu smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's why I want to review my junior high school knowledge. When I find the high school textbooks later, I'll take a look at them too."

The path of learning before her was not easy, but Yuan Xiu was eager to try her best, rather than being defeated by her own timidity from the start and thinking that she was not capable.

In this lifetime, no one can stop her.

Sister-in-law Guiying said, "You want high school textbooks? That's easy, I'll go ask if they need the junior high textbooks."

Yuan Xiu nodded hurriedly: "Yes, thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law."

Sister-in-law Guiying waved her hand, "What's the big deal? It's just a matter of a word."

It's a simple matter now, but once the college entrance examination resumes next year, high school textbooks and review materials will become hot commodities.

She remembered that in her past life, the educated youth in the village, because they didn't have textbooks, would take turns reading a set of books. If they couldn't find the materials, they would hear that someone in another village had them, and they would walk more than ten miles in the middle of the night with torches to borrow and copy them. They had to rush back before dawn to work in the fields. If they didn't finish copying, they had to go again in the middle of the night because the other person also wanted to read them. They couldn't bear to lend the materials to others to take away. Only in the middle of the night could the materials be freed up.

"I still have to thank you, sister-in-law. I don't know many people, and even if I went to ask for it, it would take a lot of time, and they might not even be able to give it to me. It's all because of you, sister-in-law."

Sister-in-law Guiying laughed and said, "Oh, what's all this talk about saving face? Little Yuan, you always have such a sweet tongue!"

Yuan Xiu took the first and second year junior high school textbooks she had found at Guiying's house and went home.

At home, Guiying's sister-in-law always stuffed these textbooks under the bed, so they were a bit damp. Yuanxiu took advantage of the good weather today to open them up and put them out in the yard to dry.

She didn't rush to read it; instead, she first completed her daily reading of one chapter of the "Huangdi Neijing" (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic).

Time always seems to fly by when you're focused on something.

By the time she closed her notebook, it was already evening.

She first collected the books that had been drying in the sun for half a day, neatly stacking them in the corner of the desk, then turned and went into the kitchen.

"Where did these junior high school textbooks come from?"