When Xiaodouzi saw Xu Keke, he happily rushed over. Xu Keke was talking to the old village chief about her ideas for renovating the primary school, and the little guy sat on a small stool to the side, listening obediently.
Chen Jianguo's second sister-in-law, Cui Qin, poured Xu Keke a glass of water and handed it to her, saying, "Bai Zhiqing, don't leave later. We're having stewed pork, cabbage, and vermicelli for lunch today. My eldest brother specially asked me to make it."
Xu Keke almost thought she was seeing things because of the meaningful look in her eyes. For a moment, she couldn't figure out what she meant.
The old village chief puffed on his pipe, his expression somewhat grave. "I'll do whatever you say. I don't understand these things. Whatever you think is best, I'll do it. I'll listen to you."
Xu Keke laughed, "How can that be? You're the principal, so I'll definitely have to report to you if anything happens."
The old village chief shook his head in disapproval. "What, the principal? I only learned to read in the army, but I was always fighting back then, so I didn't learn many words. I can't even read a whole notice. They appointed me and put me in charge, and it's not that I don't want to, it's that I'm afraid of messing things up and letting the organization down. Who do you think we are? Nobody knows us. If we mess things up, people won't just criticize us, they'll criticize the organization, and that'll be a slap in the face to the organization."
“But they insist that I take on the principal’s position. I heard Jianguo mention what you said to me yesterday. It makes the same sense. So I’ll take it on. Luckily, I have you. You’re educated and knowledgeable, so just do it boldly. If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll help you talk to the team and the commune. I can’t do much else, but I can at least ring the school bell for you.”
“Okay!” Xu Keke understood what the old village chief meant and quickly agreed. “Then I still need to discuss something with you. You can’t just ignore me.”
"Let's discuss! Let's discuss! We should discuss it. Setting up a school is a good thing, let's do it well." The old village chief sighed. "In this village, besides my three children and Ma Yuying's second son, no one else has ever had a proper education. It's not that they didn't want to go. It's too far. Ma Yuying's family lives in the village next to the school. She sent her second son there to stay with his maternal grandmother every day, and that's how he managed to get an education. It's tough! Now that the village has a school, at least these children won't all be illiterate in the future. They'll all learn some literacy, read the newspapers, and at least know what the country expects of us."
For some reason, Xu Keke sensed that the old village chief wasn't in a good mood today. Just then, a dog barked from inside the courtyard, and the gate was pushed open from the outside.
Then Widow Wang came running in, crying and shouting, and sat down on the floor of the main room, slapping her legs. "What are we going to do! Xichun's father died so early, leaving us, a widow and her child, all alone. I finally managed to raise my child, and now what am I going to do..."
The old village chief was furious, banging his pipe on the table. "What's the use of crying in my house? Xichun is so bold, huh? He dares to go to town to speculate and profiteer. He can't read, he doesn't read newspapers, and he doesn't listen to the radio. What's that loudspeaker shouting every day? He can't hear it. And his wife, isn't she a high school student? She just goes along with his nonsense. She even lied to the team, saying they went to see a doctor."
Cui Qin was clearly experienced in this kind of thing. She stood at the doorway and didn't go forward to help her up. "Auntie, my older brother went to the commune to deal with Xichun's matter. The ground is dirty. If you want to talk to my dad or ask for information, get up and sit on that stool. Today, my family is old and young, and I'm a woman, so I don't have much strength. There's no one to help you up today."
After saying that, he ignored it and turned to go to the stove.
Widow Wang didn't care what Cui Qin said, and shamelessly stood up from the ground. She dusted herself off, found a stool, and sat down next to Xu Keke.
Little Bean glanced at her, then quietly moved his little stool closer to Xu Keke. Finally, he simply sat down in front of Xu Keke, resting his little head against her without any awkwardness, tilting his head to the side.
The old village chief waved to Widow Wang, "Go home and wait. The commune called and summoned Jianguo. If it's any later, we'll hear from him tonight."
Widow Wang wiped her face with her sleeve. "Last time, Lan Hua's mother, wasn't it you who brought her back from the commune? Jianguo is too young, even though he's the brigade leader. He doesn't have much influence at the commune. Why don't you make the trip, and I'll go with you to the commune to take a look? My life as a widow and orphan is so hard!"
As she spoke, Widow Wang began to sob and cry.
The old village chief frowned, his brows furrowing into a deep frown. "When did Lan Hua's mother's incident happen? You've all been in the village these past two years, and Jian Guo has been handling all the big and small matters. In which matter has he been unfairly treated, or has he harmed your interests?"
"Besides, Lan Hua's mother just takes her own eggs to the commune to exchange for some pocket money; she can't make much. Xi Chun, on the other hand, sells his bicycle and goes to various villages to collect eggs, then sells them in town. How can they be the same thing? I heard from Jianguo that the people in the commune said his wife is still spreading rumors outside. It's no use who goes to deal with this today. We'll just have to see what the higher-ups say."
Seeing that Widow Wang was still crying, the old village chief sighed, "You should wait. Since they sent the village to handle it and then sent the person back to the commune, things might not be so bad. Let's wait and see."
Widow Wang gathered her disheveled hair and continued to try to persuade the old village chief to go to the commune with her.
Xu Keke couldn't help but say, "If you still want the old village chief to go, Hu Zi has already driven the brigade leader to the commune. How can the old village chief, with his legs like that, go? It takes a young person most of the day to get from the village to the commune."
Widow Wang glared at her, then just kept crying and wouldn't move.
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