Chapter 402 - 396: Lifting a Table

Yun Jiao brought the ancient book back and carefully put it away. There were still others to be done.

Her master’s sixtieth birthday was coming up soon, and there would be a banquet.

She heard from her senior brothers and sisters that they were planning a big celebration for their master, and that it would be held in the Capital.

After all, her master’s children were all living and working in the Capital.

’I hope I can finish restoring the other ancient books before Master’s birthday banquet.’

After leaving Grandpa Gu’s place, Yun Jiao went to buy some snacks to take back to her master.

"Master, Master, I’m back! I bought you some roasted sweet potatoes."

It was surprising to see someone selling roasted sweet potatoes already. The aroma was truly irresistible.

Nearly every household had sweet potatoes; in fact, most people were tired of eating them.

But roasting a sweet potato to perfection required real skill.

This one was just the right size, and its skin was roasted until it glistened with sugary oils.

The smell was incredibly tempting, and they weren’t expensive. Yun Jiao bought one for her master, her senior brothers, and her senior sisters, and also got one for herself.

"What’s so great about roasted sweet potatoes?"

Although Elder Xu said that, he still took the sweet potato from his young apprentice’s hand.

"It smells amazing, right?"

Yun Jiao sat beside him, took one, and broke it in half.

The flesh inside was a deep red, and the aroma became even more intense.

A bite revealed a soft, chewy texture. It was definitely much tastier than the boiled ones they had at home, or the blackened ones slow-cooked in the stove’s embers.

Elder Xu took a bite and had to agree it was quite good.

It was perfect for an old man’s teeth like his.

"I can’t believe people are selling these now. To be able to roast it like this, that’s a skill in itself."

Yun Jiao nodded.

After finishing the roasted sweet potato, Yun Jiao was called over to identify medicinal herbs again.

When it got busy with more people, she would also help her senior brothers and sisters out.

She stayed until the afternoon before leaving with her dad.

"Master, I’ll come see you again next time."

She had to go to school tomorrow, so she could only come in the afternoon.

It was also a hassle to always have her dad and the others pick her up and drop her off.

Yun Jiao wondered if she should buy smaller bicycles for her brothers too, so they could just ride to the county town after school.

However, her tiny little bicycle was clearly not suitable for her brothers.

’I’ll have to go to the city someday to see if there are any bicycles suitable for my brothers.’

While she was lost in thought, they arrived home.

「The next day.」

Yun Jiao went to school with her brothers.

She wore her little schoolbag and a red scarf.

When she appeared in the classroom, her classmates burst into a commotion, all of them asking where she had been.

After all, she hadn’t been to school for so long that her classmates had started to speculate she was sick.

What started as speculation had turned into a full-blown rumor.

"Jiaojiao, were you really sick? We told the teacher we wanted to visit you, but she wouldn’t let us."

"Yeah! You were gone for so long, it must have been really serious."

Yun Jiao was speechless.

"I wasn’t sick."

But no one believed her. They not only showered her with concern but also gave her all their snacks, fruit, and other treats.

"Eat up. My mom says if you eat a lot and grow up big and strong, you won’t get sick."

To prove she wasn’t sick, Yun Jiao simply lifted a desk with one hand.

"See? I’m perfectly fine. Not sick."

"WOW!!!"

A group of children gazed at her with looks of pure admiration.

One little boy even tried to lift the desk himself, but couldn’t budge it even after using every ounce of his strength.

"Yun Jiao, you’re so amazing! How did you do that?!"

At the doorway, the homeroom teacher walked in and saw what looked like a flying desk.

She blinked hard. ’What’s going on? Is there something wrong with my eyes?!’

Thinking something terrible had happened, she rushed inside.

And saw Yun Jiao holding up the desk.

She gasped. "Yun Jiao, what are you doing? Put that desk down right now!"

’Heavens, what if that huge desk falls and hits someone?’

’No, wait!’

’How on earth did a little girl like Yun Jiao lift that desk? What’s even more ridiculous is that she did it with one hand!’

While the teacher was standing there in a daze, wondering who she was and where she was, Yun Jiao’s slightly aggrieved voice piped up.

"Teacher, I want to put it down, but all the students are crowded around me. Where am I supposed to put it?"

She had just wanted to prove she was fit as a fiddle, but she hadn’t expected her classmates to get so excited when she lifted the desk that they would swarm her.

There wasn’t even any room to put the desk down.

The teacher snapped out of it and quickly told the surrounding students to back away. She only breathed a sigh of relief after watching Yun Jiao put the desk down with her own eyes.

Later, during class, her gaze kept drifting toward Yun Jiao.

’Seriously, is this child even human?’

’What normal kid can lift such a heavy desk with one hand?’

She, a grown adult, couldn’t even lift it.

’And how is her brain wired? She remembers everything after seeing it just once.’

’Good heavens, "talented in both academics and athletics" doesn’t even begin to describe Yun Jiao.’

’She’s completely beyond the scope of a normal person!’

Yun Jiao had no idea what her teacher was thinking. At that moment, she was resting her chin on her hand, reading a book.

At the end of the school day, an announcement was made: there would be an exam tomorrow.

The monthly exam.

’So September has already passed without me realizing it.’

After the monthly exam was the National Day holiday, and the school would be closed for a few days.

’I just got back and now there’s a holiday. Yay~’

Her brothers also had their monthly exams, and on the way home, they were all discussing the upcoming holiday.

"Jiaojiao, the holiday is seven days long! Where should we go?"

"I don’t know," said Yun Jiao. "To the sea?"

"That’s so boring," Yun Xiaowu said.

"Let’s go to Grandma’s house. The persimmons on their mountain must be ripe by now. We can go pick them."

Yun Jiao was craving persimmons too.

"Okay, let’s go to Grandma’s house for the holiday."

"We want to go too," said Yun Xiao Ba.

"Then let’s all go together."

When they got home, they started clamoring about going to Shen Family Village to pick persimmons for National Day.

Shen Yunlian did indeed want to make a trip back, so she agreed.

"Tomorrow, go to bed early. This time, for your exams, anyone who does better than before will get a one-yuan reward. Anyone who does worse will have to copy all their wrong answers."

Yun Xiaowu felt personally attacked. ’She’s definitely targeting me!’

They went to take their exams first thing the next morning. The tests were over by noon, and in the afternoon, the students were a little antsy with excitement for the holiday.

They were all just waiting for the final bell to ring.

During the last period, as soon as the bell rang, everyone grabbed their schoolbags and rushed out of the classroom.

"Hahaha... Time to go home!"

Sure enough, no matter the era, what students looked forward to most was always a holiday.

"Jiaojiao! Jiaojiao, over here! We’re over here!"

Yun Xiaowu was the fastest runner in his class. He was so fast that his teacher couldn’t even get a clear look at him before he vanished.

At this moment, he was perched in a tree, shouting for Yun Jiao.

Quite a few people turned to look at the show-off.

Yun Jiao was speechless.

"You there, student! What are you doing? Get down from there right now!"

A teacher spotted him and immediately intervened.

Yun Xiaowu jumped right down from the tree and ran toward Yun Jiao.

"Jiaojiao, hurry up! A new shop opened outside selling roasted sausages, and they smell amazing! Let’s go quick before they sell out."