The adults were busy talking and didn't notice that Big Boy was standing not far away. He drank too much ginger and date tea and wanted to go to the toilet. The toilet happened to be on the way to Ningtang and the others' table, so Big Boy heard almost everything they said.

We ate and drank until the evening, and when it was getting late, everyone left.

The children were very reluctant to leave. Qi Dahu and Wang Zhuangzhuang held Da Wa's hands from left to right, "Dada, we will come to play with you next time."

The eldest boy nodded indifferently and replied, "Okay."

Zeng Xinlan smiled and said, "Our homes are only a few steps away from each other, so why would we meet again next time? Besides, school is about to start, and you can see each other every day at school."

Speaking of the start of school, Zeng Xinlan thought of something, "By the way, have you finished your winter vacation homework?"

Then? Of course - no!

We just had fun during the entire winter vacation, and it happened to be the Chinese New Year period, so a group of kids had a lot of fun and almost went crazy. We didn't do a single word of our winter vacation homework.

Big Boy turned around stiffly and said, "Well? What? I went to help my dad clean up the house." Then he ran away.

Zeng Xinlan then asked Da Hu and Wang Zhuang Zhuang, "What about you two?"

The two children looked at each other, patted their bulging bellies, and laughed, "Oh, I'm hungry. Let's go home and have dinner." Then they ran out.

Zeng Xinlan was left with a depressed look on her face, having just eaten and drunk for the entire afternoon.

Rice candy, cat ears, rice cakes..., you eat them so deliciously, how come you feel hungry again after just a short while?

Ning Tang sent Ding Ronghua and Teacher Wang out. Ding Ronghua held Ning Tang's hand and whispered, "Xiao Ning, the Women's Committee will recruit officers in early March. You must come and sign up. I believe in you. As long as you come, you will definitely pass."

Ning Tang's face was almost frozen with laughter, "Okay, okay, I'll discuss it with Captain Shen later." Then he threw the pot onto Shen Lie's head.

When Ding Ronghua heard that Ning Tang still wanted to discuss it with Shen Lie, she thought about it and felt that it was true. After all, going out to work was a big deal, and it would be unreasonable not to discuss it with Shen Lie, so she stopped persuading him.

But before leaving, she reminded Ningtang several times to register, saying that she would be angry if she didn't see Ningtang's registration results.

Ning Tang finally sent Ding Ronghua away, patted her stiff face, and asked Luo Saozi, who stayed to help her clean the house, "Sister-in-law, why do you think Ding Saozi keeps encouraging me? Should I go to their place? What Women's Committee should I register for? Should I be a clerk?"

Mrs. Luo used a broom to sweep the melon seed shells and peanut shells on the ground into a pile. She smiled and said, "I guess she is impressed by your ability, so she has been strongly asking you to go."

Ning Tang was stunned, "What abilities do I have?"

Mrs. Luo said, "You forgot why Wang Di came here."

After she reminded her of this, Ning Tang recalled that when distributing pineapple honey, she used a soft nail to solve the problem of Wang Di cutting in line.

Ding Ronghua is the director of the Women's Committee. Even if she was not present when the incident happened, there would be people like Xiaoling who would report the incident to her afterwards.

As for giving Zeng Xinlan some advice, even someone as experienced as Ding Ronghua couldn't come up with an idea as good as Ning Tang's in a short period of time.

Probably because of these reasons, Ding Ronghua felt that Ning Tang had the ability to handle problems and was suitable for this job. After all, the trivial matters of parents that the Women's Committee dealt with every day were not much different from the matter of Wang Di coming to the countryside to join the team and Captain Qi's subsidies to his hometown.

We all live together in a military compound. There are no major conflicts, but there are quite a few minor frictions. This is when the Women's Committee has to step in.

It is called the Women's Committee, but it can actually be called an office.

Mrs. Luo asked, "Xiaoning, do you want to go? If you want to go, you can definitely get in."

Ning Tang was amused. "That's not necessarily true. Didn't Sister Ding say there would be two rounds of interviews, a written test and an interview?"

Mrs. Luo said, "You have just graduated from junior high school. The written test should not be difficult for you. The person in charge of the interview is Ronghua. She thinks highly of you and her score for you should not be low. I think as long as you sign up, you will basically be accepted."

Ning Tang smiled and didn't respond.

Mrs. Luo advised, "Xinlan should also sign up. If you two pass the exam together, you can be colleagues. Besides, there is a salary for joining the Women's Committee, seven yuan a month. If I were a few years younger, I would also like to go."

Ning Tang laughed and said, "Let's talk about it later. I'll go back and discuss it with our team leader Shen."

Mrs. Luo nodded and didn't persuade her any further.

The next day, Zhao Qing came to deliver a book.

When Zhao Qing came back to pay New Year's greetings last time, he was so worried about going to Xinhua Bookstore that he didn't pay much attention to the decoration of the Shen family.

This time when she walked in, she looked around and was very curious.

When Da Wa’s mother was around, Zhao Qing would occasionally come to the Shen family.

Da Wa's mother doesn't like to talk. Zhao Qing feels that the house is dead silent whenever she enters it. As time goes by, she stops coming here.

This time I came, the Shen family had completely changed.

There is a white porcelain vase on the windowsill with an unknown pink flower in it, and a beige tablecloth on the small table in the living room... It looks like just a few inconspicuous things, but it is full of the breath of life.

Ning Tang poured her a cup of hot boiled water and asked her, "Where's the book?"

Zhao Qing curled her lips and took out six or seven books and an envelope of money from her cowhide bag. "Here, here you go. I spent a total of 7.66 yuan on these books, and I have 2.34 yuan left."

Ning Tang did not take the money, but took the book first.

Upon closer inspection, she found that in addition to the "Journey to the West" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" that she wanted, there were also "Red Rock", "Fortress Besieged" and "How the Steel Was Tempered".

His eyes lit up immediately, "Thank you so much, it must have taken you a lot of time to find these books, right?"

Zhao Qing coughed and blushed, "It's okay."

In fact, I was so excited that I not only went to three Xinhua Bookstores, but also went to all the mobile book stalls in Jiang City.

These days there are no televisions or computers, and even movies are rare. Everyone takes pride in reading in their spare time.

Under the incandescent light, reading a good book quietly is the best way to kill time.

Even if you don't like reading, if you walk on the street with a collection of quotations or famous works under your arm, people will respect you as a cultured person.

Gradually, a reading craze arose, and sometimes it was difficult to find a book.

That book, How the Steel Was Tempered, was a foreign book, so when I found it, several classmates vied for it.

In the end, it was Zhao Qing who said that she bought the book for someone else and that there were three children waiting to read it, so everyone gave the book to her.

After delivering the book, Zhao Qing drank the hot boiled water that Ning Tang gave her in one gulp and prepared to leave.

Ning Tang quickly stopped her and said, "Don't be in a hurry, take this." Then he stuffed something into Zhao Qing's hand.

Zhao Qing looked carefully and realized that what Ning Tang gave her was nothing but the money left over from her book purchase. She asked curiously, "Why are you giving it to me?"

Ning Tang raised his eyebrows, "It's your labor fee. You can consider it as travel expenses."

The boat ticket from Hailang Island to Jiang City alone cost fifty cents. The two yuan, thirty-four cents that Ningtang gave me was really not much.

Zhao Qing returned the money to Ning Tang, "I don't want it."

"Keep it, this is what you deserve." Ning Tang said.

Zhao Qing helped her find so many books, which was really a great help to her.

"You can take it and buy other books you want to read." Ning Tang added.

Zhao Qing did have some books she wanted to buy, but Mrs. Luo and Political Commissar Zhao kept a close eye on her, and she didn't have much money, so she couldn't buy the books she wanted to read.

From another perspective, the two or more yuan that Ning Tang gave her was a great help to her.

Zhao Qing pursed her lips and said in a mosquito-like voice, "Thank you... Thank you."

Ning Tang waved his hands, "Oh, it's nothing. Next time you go to Xinhua Bookstore, tell me. I have some books for you to buy for me."

Zhao Qing nodded, and when she walked to the door, she suddenly turned around and said, "Actually, you're a pretty good person. If you weren't a queen, I think we could be good friends."

Ning Tang was amused. What a weird little girl!

"If I weren't your stepmother, I'd still be farming in a mountain village in the north. How could you be my friend?"

Zhao Qing's face turned sour. He said, "Are you lazy? Who cares?" and ran away.

Ning Tang looked at her from behind and reminded her, "Remember, next time you go to Xinhua Bookstore, come and tell me."

Zhao Qing, who was far away, heard it and twisted his foot, as if he had sprained it.

After the Chinese New Year comes the Lantern Festival. A family of five cooks dumplings to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

Shen Lie made all the glutinous rice balls himself. He made two kinds of them. One was the ordinary glutinous rice balls with white skin and black sesame filling, and the other was the small glutinous rice balls without filling made at Ningtang's request.

Ning Tang doesn't like eating the kind of glutinous rice balls with sesame filling. Instead, she likes the thumb-sized small dumplings without sesame filling. Ning Tang calls them pearl dumplings. Eating them always reminds her of the pearl milk tea she drank in her previous life.

There were ordinary glutinous rice balls in Da Wa's bowl. He scooped up a round glutinous rice ball with a white porcelain spoon and took a bite. It was soft and sticky with the fragrance of black sesame.

He ate half of the glutinous rice balls in the bowl and rolled his eyes. "Stepmother, are your glutinous rice balls delicious?"

Ning Tang was amused. He didn't give a direct answer but teased him intentionally, "Guess."

Shen Lie laughed at him, "I always feel that the food in other people's bowls is more delicious than the food in my own bowl."

Big Boy curled his lips and refused to guess. He jumped off the stool and went to scoop the pearl balls himself.

Shen Lie glanced at Er Niu who was eating glutinous rice balls obediently and suddenly remembered that Er Niu was already six years old, while the children on the island were usually sent to the orphanage class at the age of three or four.

Da Wa's mother didn't care about Er Niu's schooling at all. Shen Lie was busy with work and also ignored this matter. Not to mention Er Niu, the same thing happened when Da Wa went to school.

As a result, Erniu is already six years old, but has not yet gone to the Yuhong class, while other children of her age on the island have been in the Yuhong class for at least one or two years.

He asked Ning Tang, "What do you think? Should we send Er Niu to a red education class after the New Year? It's not a good idea for her to not go to school and just play around at home every day."

He was frightened by the eldest daughter's Chinese test results. What if the second daughter was like her brother and also came back with a red lantern after the first grade?

It would be better to send them to the Yuhong class as early as possible. The teachers in the Yuhong class can enlighten the children and teach them some simple words and arithmetic, so that they will not be unprepared when they enter primary school.

Ning Tang really wanted to scold him, "You just remembered to send Er Niu to the red education class now, what were you doing before?"

But he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips. After all, Shen Lie couldn't be blamed entirely for this.

"After the New Year, send the third child to the Yuhong class. As for the second girl, she will not be sent to the Yuhong class. She will be sent directly to the first grade in September." Ning Tang said.

Some children start school early and start first grade at the age of six, which means they graduate a year earlier than their peers.

Shen Lie thinks it's okay. "Okay."

Sanwa tilted his head and said, "Mom, what is the Red Education Class?"

"It's a place where you can play games with teachers and other children. You can make a lot of good friends there." Ning Tang said, "It's just like going to school."

Sanwa's eyes lit up, "Then? I'll go."

Shen Lie was clearing the dishes when he saw two red envelopes on the entrance counter. He was very curious and asked Ning Tang, "Whose red envelopes are left in our house?"

"It wasn't dropped by anyone." Ning Tang said, "Those two red envelopes were originally intended for Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu."

When Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu were mentioned, Shen Lie remembered that Ning Tang and Ning Xue were cousins, and their family was still related to the Su family. Strictly speaking, Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu were the cousins ​​of Da Wa, Er Niu and San Wa.

——Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu are two months older than the eldest child.

These two red envelopes were prepared by Ningtang a long time ago.

Even because of their family relationship, the amount of red envelope Ning Tang prepared for Su Guangzong Su Yaozu was much more generous than the red envelope she prepared for Zhao Qing, the son of Political Commissar Zhao from Luo's wife's wife, Qi Dahu, the son of Battalion Commander Qi from Zeng Xinlan's family, and Wang Zhuangzhuang, the son of Commander Wang from Ding Ronghua's family.

Ning Tang originally planned to give red envelopes to the twins whenever Ning Xue and Su Junyan brought the twins to visit for New Year's greetings.

With Ning Tang's personality, she would not wait for others to come to her house to pay New Year's greetings, but Ning Xue was different. If Ning Tang went to the Su family to pay New Year's greetings without hesitation, it would be very embarrassing to go there, and she would be rejected. After all, no one from his family was seen walking around throughout the New Year.

As expected, Ning Xue had not come to the Shen family even after she turned fifteen, and she had hardly even gone out.

Ning Tang was very puzzled, but it was not easy for him to go to the door.

The two red envelopes for Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu were never given out and remained on the entrance cabinet.

After hearing what Ningtang said, Shen Lie asked Da Wa, "Have you played with the twins next door recently?"

The eldest child blinked and said, "No, I haven't played with them for a long time."

Shen Lie was surprised, "Why don't you play together anymore? Are you having a conflict?"

Everything was fine before. Big Wa even said that Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu asked him to come over to play, and when he saw the crispy chicken legs, Big Wa came back and made a fuss.

Moreover, the two families lived close to each other and were relatives. When Ning Xue first arrived, she often let the twins play with the eldest child and often invited the eldest child to their house.

Therefore, Shen Lie always thought that the eldest child had a good relationship with the twins.

The eldest child pursed his lips and said, "No, I'm not making a fuss."

"Then? Why don't you play together?" Shen Lie asked.

Er?niu tugged at her braid and raised her hand, "I know."

Shen Lie was happy and patted Er Niu's head. "You know, then tell me."

The second girl said in a crisp voice, "Su Guangzong told Su Yaozu that big brother is stupid. He only scored 60 points in the first grade Chinese test. Stupidity is contagious. They can't play together, otherwise they will be as stupid as big brother!"

Shen Lie was so angry that he almost fainted. "Who are you talking about? They are the ones who are stupid."

But he didn't have the confidence to say this.

Shen Lie knew that the twins scored 100 points in the exam before the New Year - Su Junyan had been nagging him about it.

It is generally accepted that getting high scores means being smart.

So it is not wrong to say that Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu are smarter than Dawa.

Shen Lie carefully glanced at Da Wa's expression and found that he didn't seem to care much, so he felt relieved.

The eldest child said proudly, "If you don't want to play with me, then don't play with me. I don't need these two playmates. It's a lie to say stupidity is contagious. Liu Xiaoliu scored ten points higher than me in Chinese, but they played with him anyway."

That? It’s because Liu Xiaoliu is Li Yun’s son, and Ning Xue has a good relationship with Li Yun, so the twins also have a good relationship with Liu Xiaoliu.

If the twins said in front of Ning Xue that Liu Xiaoliu had poor grades and was stupid and they didn't want to play with him, no matter how good-tempered Ning Xue was, she would scold the twins.

Moreover, Ning Tang had every reason to suspect that it was Ning Xue who instigated the twins to isolate the eldest child.

A child in the first grade only knows what "smart ones play with smart ones, and stupid ones play with stupid ones" means.

The most likely possibility is that Ning Xue told the twins not to play with the eldest child. After all, the eldest child's mind is not focused on studying, and she is afraid that the eldest child will lead them astray.

This stupidity is contagious, it's just an excuse.

Of course, there is another possibility. Ning Xue and the twins really believe that stupidity is contagious.

If this is really the case, don't say that Ning Xue doesn't let the twins play with the eldest child.

Ning Tang also didn't want the eldest child to play with the twins. After all, stupidity is contagious!

Shen Lie tidied the table and the surface was empty.

Ning Tang spread the books Zhao Qing bought for her on the table. Shen Lie picked up one at random, "Wow, Journey to the West, where did you get this from?"

"On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Qing went to Xinhua Bookstore. I asked her to buy books for me. She bought quite a few books." Ning Tang said.

The three little ones came over, and the third child looked up and asked, "Stepmother, what is this?"

"Well, storybook." Ning Tang said casually.

The three children are still young, so how can they know what a book is? Famous or not? If you say it is a storybook, they might even be more interested in it. And from another perspective, it is not wrong to say it is a storybook.

Er Niu asked, "Did you buy it for us?"

Ningtang comes back from shopping every few days, and they are used to it.

Ning Tang pinched Er Niu's little face and said, "No, I bought it mainly for me and your father to see. With your current level of education, you three can't understand it for the time being."

Seeing Er Niu's puffy face, Ning Tang added, "If you want to read it, come to me and your dad, and we will read the story in the book to you."

The eldest child's eyes lit up. "The story in the book? Is this the story book that Teacher Zhou talked about, 'The first push is strong, the second push is weak, and the third push is exhausted'?"

He looked at the book on the table. The exquisite cover was very similar to the one he saw at Teacher Zhou's place and was just as beautiful.

"Yeah." Ning Tang said, "Almost."

She didn't mean to be perfunctory to Big Baby, but even if she explained it to Big Baby, Big Baby wouldn't understand.

She said to Shen Lie, "After the New Year, go find a carpenter to build a bookshelf and put it in the corner of the living room."

It felt a bit like a reading corner. Shen Lie's eyes lit up and he agreed.

Da Wa picked up a book called "How the Steel Was Tempered" and put it in Ning Tang's hand. "Stepmother, I want to hear a story right now. Tell it to me."

Ning Tang was amused. "If you want to hear it, I have to tell you, right?"

The eldest child said loudly, "That's what you just said. If we want to see it, we can come to you and dad."

This is a storybook! There are so many interesting and fun stories in it. It might be more interesting than the story that Teacher Zhou told me about "the first effort is great, the second is weaker, and the third is exhausted". Of course, the eldest child can't wait to listen to it.

He still remembers the story that Teacher Zhou told him last time.

"Well, let me add one more prerequisite. If the three of you behave well, I will read you a story once a week." Ning Tang said.

"Ah——" The eldest boy's face fell in disappointment.

Ning Tang pinched his little face and said, "If you think it's too slow, you can learn by yourself and learn more words. Then you won't have to bother me and your dad. You can read storybooks by yourself and read them to Er Niu and San Wa."

These "storybooks" not only enrich their daily life, but also serve another purpose, which is to help the older child learn.

Ever since Shen Lie asked Ning Tang to help Da Wa with Chinese lessons, Ning Tang began to think about it.

If we force the eldest child to study, especially the language he hates the most, then he will definitely not be happy.

What will be the result? On the contrary, you don't have to wait until the senior year, maybe you can come back with a red lantern next year.

But it is different when there is a "storybook" hanging around. In order to read the story in the "storybook", the eldest child will take the initiative to learn words without Ningtang's urging.

Kill two birds with one stone.

As expected, the eldest child said decisively, "Mom, please teach me how to read. I want to read storybooks by myself."

After reading it, he can also tell it to Er Niu and San Wa to show off his authority as a little teacher.

Ning Tang was happy, "Okay, I'll teach you tomorrow." He then asked Er Niu and San Wa, "Do you two want to learn?"

Er Niu and San Wa also wanted to read storybooks by themselves, and they shouted in unison, "Learn!"

It was the first time that Shen Lie saw Da Wa so enthusiastic about learning. He couldn't help but give Ning Tang a thumbs up, "Comrade Xiao Ning, you still have a way."

On March 7, Shen Lie enrolled his three children in a red education class. On March 10, elementary school started, and the two brothers went to school together, carrying their small schoolbags.

The eldest and third child went to school, Shen Lie went to the army, and only Ning Tang and Er Niu were left at home.

Ning Tang saw them off and came back paralyzed in bed. He said to Er Niu, "I'll be completely free when I send you to the first grade in September."

Er Niu made a face at her and said in a long voice, "Impossible - I heard from Sister Luo that you are going to work too."

Work??

Ning Tang reacted and thought that they were probably talking about the Women's Committee.

"Nonsense, I'm not going."

She really didn't want to go, and she didn't even mention it to Shen Lie.

Er Niu was curious, "Isn't work fun?"

Why is my mother so resistant?

From what Mrs. Luo said, working is actually similar to going to school, leaving home early and coming back late, but you get paid.

It’s good to have money, you can buy delicious snacks and fun toys.

If it was Erniu, she would also want to go to work.

"Fun?" Ning Tang sneered, "Remember, there is no fun in work. If you do this job, you must be responsible for it."

Ning Tang thinks she is not capable of doing this job well. Most importantly, this is not the job she wants to do, so she just laughs it off in front of Mrs. Luo and Ding Ronghua.

She planned to find a time in a few days to clearly refuse.

She even thought of a reason - the eldest, second, third and fourth children are still young and need her care.

With this reason, Ding Ronghua would definitely not force her to work in the Women's Committee.

Then she can stay at home and lie down peacefully!