Liu Honglei took the money and said, "This fifty yuan really helped Da Ming out."
"What’s up? Is there a problem with the money?"
"Da Ming’s family split up because he got married. He doesn’t even have a place to stay now and is thinking of renting a house. But he used to give half of his money to the family, yet when they divided the family, they left him with nothing, not even his usual bedding. After paying for the bride price, he’s left with nothing in hand. I offered him money, but he didn’t want it."
"Has he found a place yet?"
"Not yet, he has no money. He’s working odd jobs now, trying to earn more."
"Let him stay in the house we use for gatherings. But we can only give them one room to live in, they can use the common areas freely, and no rent is needed, just have them clean the place."
"Brother Yang, I’ll go tell him then."
"Go ahead, I have so bedding there, you can let them use it, and give them all the supplies they need."
"Alright, this does save a lot of trouble. If it weren’t for that woman Da Ming saved, I bet she wouldn’t be willing to endure hardship with him."
"Da Ming is a good man overall. I’ll head out in a bit and find him so work."
"Brother Yang, actually a lot of people don’t have jobs, it doesn’t seem right."
Old Yang frowned, "Let think, what kind of work can I set up for them? How many are idle?"
"There are more than a dozen."
"Alright, I got it, you go on."
Old Yang sat there worried. What work could he possibly get for them now? Seeing so many of them jobless, he couldn’t help but feel responsible.
Everything is particularly tight now, and it’s risky to make any moves.
There are only so many factories in the city, wanting to arrange work for more than a dozen people is simply unrealistic.
After a while, Sister-in-law Wu returned with little luggage, and Old Yang drove away.
He didn’t say much along the way, worried about how to arrange work for his people.
He drove directly to Wei Kaiyun’s house, left so pig bones and five pounds of at for them, and drove away.
Once ho, Zhao Xiaoli opened the door, and the car drove into the yard.
Sister-in-law Wu got out of the car, smiling and greeting Zhao Xiaoli.
"Xiaoli, this is Sister-in-law Wu, she’s here to take care of you. If there’s anything unclear, just ask her."
"Alright, I got it." Old Yang unloaded the food bought from the car. This ti, he bought only five pounds of at, but there was a set of pig bones.
Seeing Sister-in-law Wu had everything in order, "Co with to find the village chief, let’s make things clear."
"Village Chief Wang, this is my distant cousin’s wife. My cousin passed away early, and their child went to join the army. This ti, since my wife is pregnant and knowing nothing, she’s young too, we invited her to take care of my wife."
"No problem, that’s okay. You’ll be a dad next year."
"Yeah, we’ll have a little one at ho next year."
That evening, Jing Chu saw Sister-in-law Wu smile, "Sister Xiaoli, Uncle Yang is really good to you."
"You’re just teasing."
"I’m speaking the truth."
With Sister-in-law Wu at ho, the als really changed a lot.
Tonight, it’s stewed pig bones. Not much at on them, but it’s still at, and it slls really good.
After eating, Sister-in-law Wu collected all the bones to make soup tomorrow.
Tonight Jiang Xinyu lay on the bed with the two children, without Wei Kaiyun by her side, she was really unaccustod to it.
Habits are incredibly powerful. She’s no longer used to being alone.
Sister-in-law Liu wanted to co over, but Xinyu refused. The two children were quite well-behaved, the diapers could wait till tomorrow for Sister-in-law Liu to wash.
Early the next morning, the village chief’s wife ca over and brought an old hen to Jiang Xinyu, "Teacher Jiang, make soup with this chicken, the two children need milk from you, you must eat more so they won’t go hungry."
"Sister-in-law, take the chicken back, let it lay eggs. I have plenty of pork and pig bones Old Yang sent over here. Making soup wouldn’t be a problem.
Also, so children ca over to give fish, all being kept in the water tank, we’re not short on food."
"Then we’ll keep the chicken to lay eggs."
"Sister-in-law, wait till there are chicks and give a few."
"A chick is a chick."
"Sister-in-law, I have quite a few chickens here too. You should take them back. Let’s not be too polite."
In the end, Qu Xiaoli took the hen with a promise to give Jiang Xinyu five chicks.
The three children returned from the fields to check on the two little ones.
"Mom, our waterlons have grown a lot bigger."
"You just wait to eat waterlon. Is farming tiring?"
"It’s tiring; Dad must be really exhausted."
"Yes, your dad works very hard."
"Mom, the little brother woke up again, is he hungry again? How can he eat so much?" Shi Jing looked at the little brother lying there, his mouth moving.
"You were like this when you were little too."
"Really? I just ate and slept?"
"Yes, all kids are like this."
"Mom, look, the little sister is very good."
"That’s because she’s a girl; Feifei was even easier to look after when she was little, quite smart too. She’d hum if she needed anything, seldom crying."
"What about ? Did I cry a lot when I was little?"
"You didn’t cry much, just like Shi Xian, neither of you cried much."
Jiang Xinyu looked at Jianbin’s longing little expression, "Jianbin was very well-behaved as a child too."
"Aunt Jiang, how do you know?"
"Because you are very good now; you must have been good when you were younger."
"Really?"
"You can ask your dad; he’ll be back in a few months."
"Aunt Jiang, we three are going to write a letter to my dad, and then we’ll find the village chief to send it."
"Alright, why not let your Uncle Wei send it?"
"We haven’t written it yet."
Jiang Xinyu laughed heartily; these three children were quite amusing.
"Go on then, you all write your letters." The little girl woke up, and Jiang Xinyu felt embarrassed to nurse in front of the three older children, so she sent them away.
Now Master Shang was taking the children to the fields, teaching them to work and lecturing them.
Village children often ca to help weed, yet not much grass grew in the fields as herbicide was used.
Jiang Xinyu knew the children had gratitude in their hearts. So when Shi Jing’s friends ca by, she’d give them candies and let them listen to the radio.
The children would repay her, often bringing over fish, ensuring a continuous supply at ho.
However, she was genuinely tired of fish soup, pinching her nose as she drank it all at once. For the two children, she endured it.
"Xiao Jiang, today it’s not fish soup, it’s bone soup, have so at."
"I can’t eat it, Sister-in-law Liu, carve off the at, add so soy sauce and sesa oil for the kids, they’ll love it."
"You’ve gotten so thin, how can you not eat at? At noon, I’ll make atballs for you all, you must eat so."
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