Chapter 34
Early in the morning Xu Wen got up and ran to the kitchen after washing up
After checking the status of the doughnut noodles, he sighed in relief
According to the recipe given by the Magic Mirror, after mixing the ingredients according to the proportions of the doughnut noodles, they had to be placed in the refrigerator for a few hours before they could be fried into fluffy, swollen doughnuts
There is no refrigerator at home, so Xu Man made a bucket full of cold well water and put it in a cool and ventilated place, and then put the dough in a ceramic pot and sealed it and sank it into the water
He was afraid of failure
Fortunately, quite successful, white and soft doughnut noodles a little more kneading will be able to directly fry doughnuts
East room is the size of two connected stove, Xu asked to use the small stove
The big cooker also has a big pot, and it takes a lot of oil
Except for the first few fritters, which were not well fried because he couldn’t control the heat, the last few fritters were quite decent
When Dongsheng got up, the fried doughnuts and millet porridge were already on the table, and Xu Wen greeted Dongsheng for dinner
“Ma Ma is amazing! She can make doughnuts!” Dongsheng’s face was full of admiration
“That’s right! After dinner, let’s take you to the commune to play, okay?”
“Yes!”
After dinner, Xu Man rode his bicycle and drove Dongsheng to the kindergarten in the commune to inquire about kindergarten for his child
The kindergarten had just started a new semester, and Dongsheng was fully qualified to go to school
Under the guidance of the director, Xu and Dongsheng visited the kindergarten
Xu asked Dongsheng, “Do you like it here? If you come to kindergarten, you don’t have to stay at home by yourself There are children here to play with you Besides, I go to school when you go to school, and I rest when you rest You and I are the same oh!”
Dongsheng nodded repeatedly, especially happy: “I’m willing”
There were not only children here but also a slide seesaw
The headmaster appreciated, “No wonder you can pay so much attention to your children’s education, so you’re still a student too”
The reason why only the commune had kindergartens and the production team didn’t is because most of the people didn’t recognize pre-school education, and thought it was too expensive to spend two and a half dollars a month to send their children to the school, and only the parents who ate the commodity or public food in the commune could afford to send their children to the kindergarten
Only parents who were on commercial or communal food could afford to send their children to kindergarten
Nursery fees were one dollar a month, meals were one and a half dollars a month, and books were fifty cents a semester
Xu Wen paid the enrollment fee, completed the enrollment procedures, and took Dongsheng to the north and south streets of the commune
“Dongsheng, do you know what Big Grandpa and Big Grandma like?”
The children of the eldest uncle’s family were all older, except for Lao Mou, who was a junior high school student and usually got married and started his own business Lao Mou is a junior high school student, usually only the eldest uncle and auntie are at home
Dongsheng shook his head and spoke after thinking for a while, “Big Grandpa seems to like drinking Every time I go to his house with my dad, both Uncle and Dad will drink Big Grandma always says that Big Grandpa will drink himself to death sooner or later!”
Xu asked, “”
Child, you don’t have to listen to everything adults say
Xu Man bought two bottles of better white wine, and bought two pounds of red and white sugar and a peach cake snack as well as some bulk cookies and snacks
Seeing that it was already noon, Xu simply led Dongsheng to eat something outside before going home
After waking up in the afternoon, Xu Wen finished packing his own luggage, and packed Dongsheng’s clothes, and only then drove Dongsheng to the eldest uncle’s home
Dongsheng was clearly unhappy, her little mouth pouting and her head hanging low
Xu Wen even had the urge to quit school and stay home with him for a moment
She persuaded herself: hold out for another three months or so, and wait for her to go to college
Even if she doesn’t go to college, she’ll be fine next year
Next year will be a year of heaven and earth
Xu Wen was a bit uneasy, and repeatedly confirmed with Dongsheng: “Do you remember everything I said?
“Remember” Dongsheng wilted and said
“What should I do if I’m hungry or if I can’t eat the food cooked by my grandma?
“Go to the supply house to get food”
“Right! But this is our secret, we can’t tell anyone else oh!” Xu Wen nodded her head, she had discussed with the supply house and saved a portion of the money in the supply house, so that if Dongsheng came to buy something, he would scratch the bill
Not letting Dongsheng tell others is afraid that eldest uncle and auntie will think too much
“What do you do when you miss Ma Ma?”
“Go to the supply house to call Ma Ma”
“Can you remember the phone number?”
“Remember, it’s ”
Xu Wen of course didn’t have a phone, but the school communication room had one, and she would go back and ask the grandpa for help
As for Dongsheng, the supply house would be able to call
The eldest uncle is called Lu Construction, probably because he has been an official, and is a bit more imposing than the average member of the society
The older brother’s mother is more enthusiastic, Xu Man’s mother and his wife entered the door, and pulled Dongsheng to give him fruit to eat
Xu Man put the wine and other food he brought on the floor, “Grandpa, Grandma, I’ve caused you trouble”
“Look at you, you’re a family man, why are you so polite? Dongsheng is also my grandson, we should bring him along”
Of course Xu Man wouldn’t take such words seriously, “Grandpa, Grandma, I have another thing to trouble you with I’ve enrolled Dongsheng in kindergarten, so I need to trouble you to pick him up and drop him off in the morning and evening, and the school will take care of his meals”
Auntie was stunned, and subconsciously looked at Uncle
Eldest uncle nodded, “Okay”
Xu Wen exchanged a few more pleasantries and saw that it was too late before she left
Eldest Uncle and Uncle Niang escorted her to the door
Eldest uncle spoke, “You child, you have a heart! Don’t worry, I’m here, Dongsheng won’t be wronged again”
Xu Wen was stunned, realizing that the eldest uncle was actually aware of Dongsheng’s encounters at his little uncle’s house, and this was a promise to her
She sincerely thanked, “Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma”
When Xu Man walked away, Uncle Niang withdrew her smile and bristled, “What does this nephew-in-law of yours mean? She gave five dollars to Lao San’s family to give us something?”
Uncle glared at her, “Don’t you need money to buy things? It’s not just money but also tickets! What she brought was no less than five dollars Don’t be like Lao San’s family Besides, can’t you really see what Xu asks for?”
“Isn’t she afraid that we’ll be like Lao San’s family, spending money and not bringing up our children properly?”
“If you know that, don’t be like Lao San’s family It’s embarrassing and you don’t even realize it!”
“What’s so embarrassing about it? What’s wrong with giving her a few dollars for helping her with the baby?”
“The child’s surname is Lu, not Xu! She’s Xu’s stepmother and you’re her uncle’s grandmother! Who’s helping who? You and your siblings together are over a hundred years old, but you don’t know as much as a twenty-year-old lesbian!
Why did Xu Man enroll his child in kindergarten? It’s because he wants to take up less of our time, so we can be busy with the family
They send us food and drinks, so we have to pick up and drop off the kids in the morning and at night, what more do you want?
I’m warning you, don’t be like your sister-in-law! If you leave your child at home, take care of him If you make the child look like he has no parents, people won’t laugh at Xu Man as a stepmother, they’ll laugh at us! A real grandparent is not as good as a stepmother When the time comes to be counted out, I’ll be embarrassed if you don’t think it’s humiliating!”
Although Auntie was a bit unconvinced, she was used to succumbing to her eldest uncle’s authority and didn’t say anything, seeing him walk out with his hands behind his back, she asked him, “Where are you going?”
“To find Lao San!”
Xu Man has been on tenterhooks for a week, and has only received one phone call from Dongsheng
However, Dongsheng was quite happy on the phone, saying that he had called because he missed her, and telling her that he had met a lot of new friends at the kindergarten
It was only then that Xu Man breathed a sigh of relief
Once school ended on Saturday, Xu Man couldn’t wait to get home
Her eldest uncle was a team leader and didn’t have to work in the fields
When Xu Man arrived, he was playing chess with Dongsheng
This time Dongsheng was clean
Dongsheng jumped up when he saw Xu Man, “Ma Ma!”
Xu Man bent down to pick him up and greeted the eldest uncle, “Grandpa”
“Coming?”
“Uh, just got out of school Then, Grandpa, I’ll take Dongsheng back first?”
“Eat before you go!”
“I’ve already given you a few days of trouble At his age, Dongsheng is very active and makes a lot of noise It’s better for you and Big Mother to have a quiet meal and rest!” Xu Man politely declined, putting down Dongsheng and teaching him, “See you with Grandpa”
Seeing that Xu Man really wanted to leave, Big Uncle didn’t force him to stay and instructed Auntie, “Bring out Dongsheng’s clothes”
Auntie tied on her apron, carrying a shovel in one hand and taking Dongsheng’s baggage to Xu Man, also staying with her, “Ask, why don’t you guys eat before you go?”
“Thank you Auntie, we won’t eat” Xu Man wouldn’t be foolish enough to take polite words seriously
When Xu Man walked away, Auntie lamented, “Don’t say it, Yuanzheng really has a good eye for picking a daughter-in-law He just came back from school and rushed over here! He treats Dongsheng more favorably than his own”
Uncle glared at her, “He is educated and has a bigger heart than you! Go and cook! The food is all mushy”
I don’t know if it’s because Dongsheng went to kindergarten or because the eldest uncle beat up the youngest uncle
When it was the uncles’ turn to bring Dongsheng, they didn’t neglect him like they did in the first week
Xu Wen breathed a sigh of relief
The Xu family is also busy as hell, not seen in a week, Xu Qiushi and Xu Wen foot forward three meters wide
They have no livestock, they borrowed a wheelbarrow, a car from a mile away to push back the soil
The real version of Yugong Yishan
In the midst of their own busyness, time passed by, and in the blink of an eye it was time for the fall harvest
Autumn harvest is the most important thing for the people, it is about the year’s harvest, the whole team up and down no idle people still work overtime every day
Even Xu Man would have a half-month-long fall harvest vacation after school on weekends
But in the undeveloped mechanization of the seventy-seventh century, most of the work was done manually, and half a month was not enough
Not waiting for Xu Man to take his vacation, the production teams were already engaged in the busy fall harvest, often working until midnight, and the barn remained open day and night
Both the Xu family and the Lu family were busy until the dark
When they were busy, they neglected to take care of their children
On this day Xu Wen got out of class in the afternoon and was called out by the doorman grandpa, “Dongsheng called you!”
The guards would send a message to the two of them at least once a week, and they knew each other very well Sometimes, when Xu Man was in class, he would even chat with Dongsheng for a few minutes
Xu Wen raised her wrist and looked at her watch, wondering why Dongsheng called her at this hour
On weekdays, Dongsheng always called at noon
Xu Man jogged to the communication room and picked up the phone, “Dongsheng?”
Dongsheng cried breathlessly, “Ma Ma, I’m so sick!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“My belly hurts and I’m so cold”
“Are you sick? Where’s little Grandma?”
“Grandma has gone to the tanning ground I’m cold”
Now in the midst of the autumn tiger, the morning and evening were a little cooler, but it was not related to cold
Xu Man frowned and made a decision, “Dongsheng, you give the phone to the waiter first”
When the waitress answered the phone, Xu Man requested her, “Can you help me see if the child has a fever?”
“One moment” After a while the waitress said, “He doesn’t seem to have a fever, but his whole body is particularly spiritless, I don’t know what’s wrong”
“Can I trouble you to send him to the team’s health center I’ll be right back! Thanks!”