After Mr. Xie returned, Mrs. Xie brought an old bedding. It seemed that Mr. Xie had ordered it. He was really attentive. Because it was lunch break, Chu Qing asked Xiaobao to walk around the yard for a while after dinner, and then arranged

He takes a nap.

"Children need to eat more and sleep more to grow well." Chu Qing said while covering Xiaobao with a quilt. Xiaobao moved inside, freeing up half of the bed board.

"You sleep by yourself. I'm going to copy the Thousand-Character Essay. Once we've finished, we'll study together."

Xiaobao just closed his eyes. He was very sleepy. He had been walking in circles all morning, and just now he was walking in circles. At noon, he was worried about Chu Qing for a long time. He was really tired.

Chu Qing copied it all afternoon. He copied it twice in total. He used the twine drawn from the torn sack to bind them into two books, so that Xiaobao and Xiaobao could hold each one and read it. After copying, he recognized several traditional Chinese characters.

Words are rewarding.

After Xiaobao woke up, he ran to the door and sat down to listen to the class. Children in the Meng class (that is, the small class) were required to read it thoroughly first, then recite it, and finally the teacher gave an explanation.

The children in the small class are reading. This time, the children are reading together, and the husband is not reading. The teacher has left the recitation task for the students in the classics class (big class), and is now teaching abacus to the students in the winter class.

Xiaobao was sitting at the door, tapping his fingers on his knees as the small class read.

Chu Qing had nothing to do in the afternoon, so after copying the books, Chu Qing began to repair the broken tables and stools in the utility room.

These were supposed to be repaired by people in the village who knew carpentry, but there was only one carpenter and they were busy; secondly, this kind of repair work was compulsory, and not only did it not make money, but it might also cost some materials.

So I just procrastinate as much as I can. But since I can use it in my studies, I’m not in a hurry.

Chu Qing dismantled the particularly shabby tables and chairs and used them as accessories. He tried to repair the ones worth repairing as much as possible.

Some chairs were actually quite complete, but they were just wobbling. Chu Qing used wedge-shaped wood chips cut out to support the gaps caused by the wear and tear of the mortise and tenon joints, and now it was a solid chair again.

Tables and chairs with broken legs were replaced with disassembled parts. By the time school was over, Chu Qing had repaired a table and two chairs. They were placed side by side with the table repaired yesterday in the utility room.

A writing desk.

It's beautiful to think about two chairs and being able to sit on one with Xiaobao and serve as tablemates on the desk, studying "The Thousand-Character Classic" together.

The students ran outside cheering and playing, all in a hurry to go home for dinner. Chu Qing went to the kitchen, it was time to make dinner.

After dinner, Mr. Xie came from the backyard and asked Chu Qing to go with him to the village chief's house. He told the students to go back and inform the village chiefs of the other two villages after school. After dinner, they would go to the chief's house in Wushu Village to discuss matters. Chu Qing also

Follow.

Chu Qing was worried about leaving Xiaobao alone, so he followed him with Xiaobao in his arms. Xiaobao stuffed a copy of "The Thousand Character Essay" into his arms.

When we arrived at the village chief's house, the other two village chiefs were about to enter the hospital. They all respectfully bowed their hands to Mr. Xie and entered the hospital together with greetings.

No one paid attention to Chu Qing and her mother-in-law, or in other words, they didn't take it seriously.

The village chief welcomed him out of the house, and after saying a few words of concern about his condition, he entered the main room.

The tea tray has been set up in the main room. This is where the village chief entertains guests. Usually the guests are reluctant to drink tea. There is also a plate of melon seeds on the table.

Chu Qing was the last one to enter the main room. He found that there were only four chairs in total, and three village chiefs and one Mr. Xie were sitting on them. He felt a little embarrassed and didn't know where to stand.

When Mr. Xie saw it, he said to Village Chief Wu: "Brother, ask my sister-in-law to fill a stool for me."

The village chief was stunned for a moment before he noticed Chu Qing and his wife, and quickly called the old woman to bring a stool.

When the village chief's wife came in to deliver the stools, she saw Chu Qing's mother-in-law and was a little surprised: why she came out with a stool instead of taking them into the back room and letting her receive them.

But he still warmly greeted Chu Qing and Xiaobao to sit down, and grabbed a handful of melon seeds and stuffed them into Xiaobao's hand. "Eat, there will be more on the plate after you finish."

Xiaobao held the melon seeds and bowed to the village chief's wife. Then he sat next to Chu Qing and put the melon seeds beside him without eating them.

"Brother Wu, Brother Li, Brother Zhang," Mr. Xie said, "Have the children already talked about the lunch at school today when they got home?"

"Yes, I heard about it." The three village chiefs nodded.

"On weekdays, I go back to the backyard after class in the morning and don't pay much attention to the kitchen." Mr. Xie continued.

"But what do you think about today's lunch?"

Everyone remained silent and looked deep in thought.

"Ms. Yuan, please tell me." Mr. Xie called the names. I'll go! They are the village chiefs. If you don't want to call the names, why don't you call me?

"Yes, sir. The cause of today's incident is..." Chu Qing first recounted what happened at noon in detail, exactly as it was, in detail, in a calm and unemotional tone.

"Today is my first day of work, oh no, my first day of work. Because I didn't ask what the previous practice was, I just handled it like this. If there is any inappropriateness, please forgive me." Chu Qing concluded.

Xiaobao kept listening and looked at the three village chiefs in turn.

The village chief of Zhang Village spoke at this time: "That bastard of mine is really unreasonable. I'll beat him up when I get back!" The words seemed to be addressed to Chu Qing, but he looked at Mr. Xie.

You see, I'm just afraid that my husband will have other ideas.

"Your boy is just a bastard, and he still scolds us two." Chu Qing said in her heart.

"Brother Wu, Brother Zhang," said the oldest village chief of Li Village, who seemed to have a simple and honest appearance, "To be honest, the children talked about it when they came back from school. People in the village have been talking about it.

Woolen cloth."

"Brother, tell me." Village Chief Wu said.

"People in our village actually feel that things happened very well today. Why do you say that? All the children in our village are in Mengban. When Jian Tian'er comes back from school, he calls her father and mother as soon as he enters the village.

If you want to eat, the adults will ask, haven't you eaten in school? You are the only one in the whole family who has food to eat. Why do you have the nerve to complain that you are hungry?" At this point, Village Chief Li glanced at Village Chief Wu.

, and then continued:

"The children said they didn't have enough to eat. They only had two mouthfuls of rice at noon, and only vegetable soup was left. They said they couldn't outrun the older children, and they couldn't grab them. When they came to prepare the meal, the cook would have nothing left.

What's wrong? But the kids came back today and said they were full and delicious, and there was minced meat on the steamed eggs."

Seeing what Village Chief Li said, Village Chief Zhang thought about that bastard boy in his family, and thought that his grandparents had spoiled him rotten! But his own child was in pain, so he couldn't let others talk about it. He quickly spoke up again:

"Oh, that's right. Our village is far away. The cook's children can have enough to eat, but our children can't compete with them."

Look, you've shifted the conflict! This is saying that in the past, people from Wushu Village cooked for them, so their children could have enough to eat, but those from the other two villages didn't. It's not that the children in his family could compete for food.

But your Wushu Village is unfair.

Chu Qing glanced at Village Chief Li appreciatively. He took the lead in speaking just now, so he could worry less now and just sit back and act like a crowd.

There was a clicking sound in my ears, and Xiaobao was eating melon seed shells with his small teeth. There were really serious melon-eating people.

After eating a melon seed, Xiaobao may find it difficult, so he won't eat it. He puts the melon seed shell into his belt instead of throwing it on the ground. It's very civilized!

Village Chief Zhang’s words made Village Chief Wu sense that something was wrong. After thinking about it, he understood the reason, so he said:

"Oh, you told me earlier. It's my fault that I'm not thoughtful enough. There's no way women don't do things for their children. It would be great if our three villages took turns sending cooks."

The implication is, I am not to blame for this matter. How could I know if you don’t tell me? Besides, you agreed to send people from our village to cook. There is no mother who does not care about her children. Which family does not put their hope in sending their children to school?

What about the high hopes?

"The same applies to the rotation among the three villages." Mr. Xie said: "It means that the three villages take turns sending cooks. The younger ones still can't compete with the older ones. The children of the cooks can only have a full meal that day."

This is a statement of facts. The cook can let her children eat more, and then the children in the same village can ask for more, and the rest will not be enough. So the three village chiefs were silent.

"But I'm very pleased that our three villages have never had any trouble over this matter." Mr. Xie first gave a sweet date. Well, let's build a harmonious village together. "But, it's not a big deal.

But if it has been building up for a long time, there will be conflicts." Is this another slap in the face to remind them of the prevarication just now?

"Our school has charters and rules, but there are no rules in the kitchen. You three, why don't we make some rules together?" Mr. Xie gave guidance.

"What's the use? The county magistrate might as well be in charge now!" Village Chief Zhang was the first to question: "We all pay the same grain, and the cook gives more to her children. Who knows what's going on?"

"Well, that's a question." Mr. Xie agreed, looking at Village Chief Li: "Brother Li, can you tell me?"

"I don't know what to do to satisfy everyone. But the kids are very happy to come back today." Does this mean he agrees with Chu Qing's approach?

At this time, Village Chief Wu made a clear introduction to everyone: "Everyone, this is Yuan, who just entered our village yesterday. She was separated from her family and had nowhere to go with her child, so she temporarily settled in our village.

Alas, due to the conscription, the number of strong laborers in each family has decreased, and the women have gone to work in the fields. They can go to school for lunch but can no longer take care of their own families. It is difficult to assign them, so I decided to let Yuan go to work as a cook.

Let her have a place to stay."

After the introduction, he continued: "Looking at it this way, I think what Yuan did at noon today is reasonable. First of all, Yuan specializes in cooking. Although he is based in our village, he is not from our village, so he is not from our village.

Whose child will you prefer? Besides, the food and money provided by each family are the same. The money is used to buy vegetables. The food is brought by each family. Since they are all the same, then they should all be the same when eating. You

That’s the truth, right?”

Everyone nodded and looked at Chu Qing carefully. Chu Qing rolled his eyes in his heart, does this obvious thing need to be analyzed?

"But the appetites are different." Village Chief Zhang shouted.

Just because your child is fat, it doesn’t mean he has a different appetite! Chu Qing complained in her heart. But these village chiefs felt that what Chief Zhang said was reasonable. The older children naturally eat more. Mr. Xie looked at Chu Qing with a smile

: "Ms. Yuan, please tell me your thoughts."

"Village chiefs, if you pay the same amount of money for food, you should eat the same food. Do we all agree on this? Now let's talk about the issue of different appetites. Children are growing up, and eating is indeed very important. For children with large appetites

, I suggest parents provide more money and food, and eat as much as you pay."

These words received a lot of distrustful looks, as if the extra money and food paid would be taken away by Chu Qingmi. Especially from Village Chief Zhang, whose expression seemed to say: "You want to use our money and food to feed your children?"

?" Mr. Xie coughed slightly and said, "Ms. Yuan, please continue."

"Now each child pays 6 kilograms of rice plus 30 taels per month. Count the rice first. 6 jins of rice is 96 taels. Excluding holidays every month, they eat an average of 27 meals in school, so each meal is 3 and a half taels.

Three and a half ounces of rice. How big is a bowl of cooked rice? Do you know what it is?" Based on the current average level in each village, it is estimated that the whole family only eats three and a half ounces of rice in one meal, right?

"Perhaps the older children may not have enough to eat. If we calculate it based on 8 jins of rice per month, 8 jins is 128 taels, which is more than 4 taels and 7 per meal on average. Isn't this enough? It only costs 2 more kilograms of rice. This
To be continued...