Xiaohong next to her immediately spoke up and said, "Miss, you have to be careful. This guy is trying to be courteous to you, and he probably doesn't have any good intentions."
Liu Rumei's eyes widened, "What are you talking about? Chen Xiaobei is not that kind of person."
Seeing Liu Rumei's expression, Xiao Hong and Xiao Qing looked at each other and smiled in unison.
When Chen Xiaobei returned home, he took two more ingots from his silver taels, making up thirty taels, and took them to Chen Lidong's home.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei coming, Qiu Mei suddenly started crying again.
"Chief Xiaobei, he just left at the beginning of winter, leaving us orphans and widows, what should we do?"
Chen Xiaobei was silent for a while, put the silver in his hand on the table, and reached out to take the three-month-old child in Qiu Mei's arms.
"Sister-in-law, when Brother Lidong leaves, the village will take care of you. These silver coins are a pension from the county, so you can take them first."
Qiu Mei sighed again, "Well, if it weren't for the five hundred taels of silver, Lidong wouldn't have gone up the mountain. If he didn't go up the mountain, nothing would happen."
Yes, Chen Xiaobei also felt emotional for a while, but then again, if it were him, would he refuse the temptation of five hundred taels?
Chen Xiaobei returned the child to Qiu Mei, "Sister-in-law, I'll ask Hong Yu to come over later. If anything happens, it's more convenient for women."
"No, no, no, Aunt Xiumei was here just now and said she would come back after dinner."
Beautiful plum!
This sentence reminded Chen Xiaobei that his second aunt Xiumei was fine at home, so it was normal to come over to help, but it couldn't last forever.
Of course, the same goes for Cui Hongyu. It's okay to come here occasionally.
On the way home, Chen Xiaobei began to think that the Lidong family was not an isolated case. There were several families in the village without strong labor force.
And in the future, the villagers may go out more. Just like today, if they don't come back for a few days on Qingniu Mountain, there is work at home, so just counting on women is not enough.
Chen Xiaobei thought of an excellent idea.
After returning home, Chen Xiaobei took Cui Hongyu and ran into the house.
Cui Hongyu was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she kept struggling, "Husband, you can't do it in broad daylight, wait until night."
Only then did Chen Xiaobei realize that he had scared Cui Hongyu.
"Kuyu, where did you go? I have something serious to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Cui Hongyu breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Husband, you scared me just now."
Chen Xiaobei gave Cui Hongyu a gentle hug with some apology.
"Hongyu, I went to Lidong's house just now. The life of an orphan and a widowed mother is not easy."
"Yes, I will go over and take care of you more often. Husband, don't worry." Cui Hongyu showed a firm look on his face.
Chen Xiaobei knew that Cui Hongyu kept his word and would definitely go there often.
"No, Hong Yu, you can go to one family, you can go to two families, but what will you do if there are more?"
Cui Hongyu fell into silence with this sentence.
Yes, what should I do if there are too many?
"Husband, what do you think we should do?"
Chen Xiaobei's expression became solemn, "Qiu Mei told me just now that my second aunt would come over in the afternoon to help her."
"Isn't that okay? The second aunt can take care of people, so there is no problem in helping him take care of the children."
"Yes, Hong Hongyu, think about it, if you just ask the second aunt to help but get nothing in return, will the second aunt be able to do this for a long time?"
Cui Hongyu listened and thought for a long time, and finally shook his head.
"Husband, then, what do you think we should do?"
"Let me tell you, this is simple. Let's organize the women in the village to set up a mutual aid group."
"Just like the situation in the Lidong family, you will make unified arrangements for who needs to do what work. When the time comes, you will record a job for him."
"After she has this job, she can ask for wages. In the future, if she has something to do, she can find someone to work from you, and she can offset their wages."
"In this way, everyone will have feelings for each other, and we won't just give without getting anything in return."
After listening to Chen Xiaobei's words, Cui Hongyu showed a smile on his face, "This is really a good idea. This way, if everyone has something to do in the future, everyone can help together, which is lively and saves effort."
"Okay, then it's up to you to take the lead in this matter. You first find a few familiar people to set up a shelf."
Cui Hongyu went out, and Chen Xiaobei came to the yard again and looked at the big snake and the old turtle again. These are treasures. Don't let anything happen to them.
By the way, there is also the tiger, which is locked up in Chen Ermao's house. You have to take a look.
The three tigers were locked up in the main room, and thick wooden strips were nailed on the outside of the doors and windows to prevent them from escaping.
The furniture in the room was in terrible shape, and the bedding on the bed was all torn to pieces.
It seems like it’s not okay for the tiger to be held back like this forever.
If I keep holding them in like this, I'm afraid I'll drive them crazy.
Then again, it's really not safe to put it back in Qingniu Mountain.
How to balance the relationship between the two? Chen Xiaobei needs to think carefully.
When I came out of Chen Ermao's house, I heard the sound of reading aloud in the distance.
Chen Xiaobei walked to the school casually.
Because school has been in session for a long time and the villagers have lost their freshness, there is not a single parent in the school yard.
What surprised Chen Xiaobei even more was that there was no villager in Huang Ying's classroom. Huang Ying was sitting in the room by herself in a daze.
Chen Xiaobei stood at the door, raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Hearing the commotion, Huang Ying raised her head and saw Chen Xiaobei, who had a look of grievance on his face.
"Brother Xiaobei, look, they don't come to class, I..."
Chen Xiaobei came forward, pulled out a stool and sat down, "Tell me what's going on."
"Oh, what else can happen? Yesterday I taught everyone how to read, but the guy named Chen Daqiang couldn't remember it, so I said a few words to him, but he openly yelled at me, and finally dropped the chalk. I
He's a sir, so of course we can't coddle him and just slap him twice."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, and then continued, "If you beat him, no one will come today, right?"
"Yeah, I don't know what they were thinking. Besides, I didn't hit them."
Chen Xiaobei looked at Huang Ying and said earnestly, "Huang Ying, I know that you hate iron but not steel, and it's for Chen Daqiang's good, but have you ever thought about it? These mountain people have been doing rough work since they were young. Where have they ever been exposed to this?
stuff, so you have to give them time.”
What she said made Huang Ying nod her head repeatedly.
"I know, I'm not patient enough."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "Yes, look, what will the villagers do after this happens? Who dares to come?"
"Me." Huang Ying was speechless for a moment.
"Let's go, I'll take you to find Chen Daqiang and explain the matter clearly."
Upon hearing this, Huang Ying shook her head repeatedly.
"No, no, I won't go."
Chen Xiaobei stood up and said, "I want to criticize him when he does something wrong. It's not right for you to hit him, so you have to apologize to him."