Chapter 1506: Chapter 1508: I Was Out of Options

With Xiaoxiao’s assurance, the adults took their own children home.

The remaining children who had come to learn saw others being led away, and followed suit without much thought.

Suddenly, the courtyard was much less crowded.

In the end, a few children were left behind, and Xiaoxiao noticed they were the children of her eldest uncle, third uncle, and fourth uncle.

Upon seeing Xiaoxiao, the children began calling out to her.

"Third Aunt."

"Third Sister-in-law."

Xiaoxiao could tell these children were eager to learn letters, each looking at her with tearful eyes, feeling quite aggrieved.

Xiaoxiao sighed. She hadn’t meant to deprive the children of their right to learn.

It’s just that if Li Chuntao agreed to teach them all to read today, many more children would surely come to learn.

She had noticed earlier, while most of the village children had come, some of the slightly older ones hadn’t.

If she were to teach for just a day or two, it would be fine, but continuing like this would inevitably lead others to consider coming too. After all, a place to learn for free, without paying Silver, is tempting to many.

"If you want to learn, go to Second Grandpa’s house after dinner. Your Fourth Uncle is teaching Guangguang, Shuer, and the others. You can learn with them."

Upon hearing this, the children, who had been like wilted eggplants, suddenly brightened up and joyfully ran off.

For a moment, the courtyard finally quieted down.

Alu stepped forward and formally greeted Xiaoxiao, gratefully saying, "Thank you, Lady Yang, for rescuing my mistress."

Seeing so many children eager to learn, Alu had been anxiously worried, unsure of how to help her mistress, but luckily her mistress’ friend had come.

Xiaoxiao waved her hand and looked at Li Chuntao, speaking with some exasperation, "Are you trying to work yourself to death? Do you really dare to take on anything?"

Li Chuntao herself hadn’t expected things to unfold this way. She was still in a daze, as she had only promised to teach a few children to read yesterday, but hadn’t thought so many would come today.

She didn’t know how to back out of her promise, so she could only grittily proceed, thankful for Xiaoxiao’s arrival.

She awkwardly spoke, "Xiaoxiao, thank you so much for coming; otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

She truly felt at a loss, and hadn’t intended to keep teaching indefinitely. Her main task was not to teach but to observe Yang Xiaocui.

Xiaoxiao gave Li Chuntao a sidelong glance—if Yang Dong hadn’t sent her, how would she have known?

But she refrained from telling Li Chuntao, lest she overthink again.

"Next time, you need to be more mindful and not be such a pushover. You should refuse when needed. You agreed to teach a few children yesterday, not the whole village. Even if you declined today, they couldn’t say anything."

Li Chuntao nodded in agreement, "This morning, I actually wanted to refuse, but seeing those children’s eyes, I couldn’t bear it. I will definitely be more mindful in the future."

"..." Xiaoxiao internally sighed. Well, honestly, she didn’t know how she herself managed to say those harsh words to the children just now.

After all, depriving children of their educational rights doesn’t seem right.

Now perhaps all the village’s children think she’s a downright villain.