Chapter 53
The couple reconciled and the whole family felt relieved. Gu Yan didn't have to go to work, so he let the children stay at home. As a result, Xiaoya and Niuniu both cheered and celebrated. But Leilei actually wants to follow his sister.
"Why do you want to go to school with your sister?"
"There are many older brothers and sisters who play with me at school. I can also learn to write." The child turned around and took out a slate from his schoolbag. "Look, Mom, I can write my own name. Leilei, stack three stones together."
Gu Yan took it and looked at it carefully. The child's handwriting was immature and crooked, but he was only five years old and could write it completely, which was already remarkable.
"Great." Gu Yan was happy from the bottom of his heart. This kid has a lot of problems, but the fact that he can sit still and endure loneliness is a big advantage. If you develop well, you can become a technology geek in the future.
"Okay, if you like going to school, go with me. But you have to be obedient and don't disturb me during class."
"Okay." The little head nodded, so cute that it melted the mother's heart. "I know to follow classroom rules and not disturb my sister and teacher."
"Okay, then you can carry your schoolbag and go with your sister."
There is still a month before the Chinese New Year, and Gu Yan takes advantage of this time to make new clothes, shoes and socks for his family. In the election held in the twelfth lunar month, she was unexpectedly elected as the village director.
"The responsibilities of a village director are greater than those of a women's director. Comrade Gu Yan, you must work hard in the future! You must serve all members and strive to become a model public servant in the new society.
Although you have not received any grassroots training, you have been a model worker for several consecutive years and your character is impeccable. As for work experience, you can gain it by doing it. If you don’t understand something, please ask Secretary Li for advice. He is a senior and has more experience than you. ”
"Yes. I will learn with an open mind and strive to be a good public servant of the people."
The commune secretary was full of big talk. Gu Yan nodded with a smile, expressing his satisfaction with this result that exceeded his expectations.
The village director is the village chief, and she has since officially entered the management level of the Kono Brigade. The previous director retired due to illness and patted her on the shoulder when he left the party branch. Let her ask him if she doesn't understand something.
"Okay, I'll definitely ask you for help if I have any questions."
The first thing I did after taking over was the year-end accounting of the brigade. The accounts of all teams were reported to the brigade, which then summarized and distributed the year's labor income.
The reason why she was able to emerge as a surprise and be elected director this time was because several men were vying for this position, which lowered the vote count. She had a high reputation among women, so she took advantage of the opportunity.
The accountant was very dissatisfied with the female director who suddenly came up. His cousin was also competing in the election this time, but after a group of men fought for it, a woman finally took the position. How could he swallow this? So, on Gu Yan's first day at work, he was given a warning by this guy. ——The man took sick leave and left a large pile of accounts to her and the branch secretary.
Secretary Li is very good at dealing with human relationships, but he is not very good at settling accounts. He still had the accounts of the small team, so he asked the eight large teams to come together and summarize the settlement. He felt overwhelmed at the sight. Accountant Xu also calculated this accurately, so he joined forces with the accountants of each team to plot against Gu Yan.
You are a village chief and you have gotten into big trouble just after taking office. I want to see how the commune secretary can protect you? You're just a model worker and a tractor driver. What's so great about that? You rely on this to sit on the position of village chief. I want to see what you rely on to keep it. If you can't even make your subordinates obey you, how can you be the village chief?
"Well, the accountants of each team said they are too busy to take care of it?" The branch secretary was very angry when he heard the news. He naturally understood what Accountant Xu meant by this move. But Gu Yan was a person admired by the commune secretary, and as the branch secretary he couldn't let them bully him like this. Otherwise, the secretary won’t be able to explain it.
"Call me again. They don't even do their jobs. They don't want to do this anymore, right?"
The branch secretary got angry, and the errand boy went out again. The stove was lit in the empty party branch office just because they needed to work. It was impossible to warm up the big room that had been frozen all winter, and some people could not stand the cold. The branch secretary sat by the stove, warming his hands by the fire.
"Wait here, I'll go see what's going on with these bastards."
Gu Yan nodded, still looking calm and composed. After the branch secretary left, the space became completely quiet. She turned her eyes to the account book in front of her.
Although she did not major in accounting in college, after more than ten years of study, this little bit of accounting was just a small matter. He reached out and fiddled with the abacus, shook his head and sighed: I'm not familiar with this thing. Just use a computer. I was taught some of these by my master as a joke at the beginning, and now they are coming in handy.
Don't think too much, just get to work. Of course she knew what these men were planning. It is also possible to forcefully call the team accountant over, after all, this is their job and they have a share to share. But how can this be used to subdue this group of stinky men who look down on women? What would she do if they did something weird at work again, like deliberately making a mistake in calculations?
"Just wait for me. I can't deal with you anymore." She turned around, dragged two large chairs together, put a mattress on them, took a hot water bottle from the space, filled it and put it in, then she placed Niu Niu on the bed and covered the child with the quilt she brought with her.
"Sit and play, baby. Mommy is going to work. If you feel uncomfortable or have something to do, just call mommy, okay?"
"good."
Gu Yan kissed his daughter's little face, stood up, closed the door, and added charcoal to the stove. Drag the table closer to the stove. Soon, the rhythmic sound of abacus could be heard in the room.
The branch secretary was never seen again after he left, and the errand boy who was sent to look for him never came back either. The entire party branch leadership team, from top to bottom, stood her up.
Ignoring these stinky men, Gu Yan was struggling with the annual settlement with an abacus. From being unskilled at the beginning to later when all ten fingers were flying, the speed was getting faster and faster.
Unconsciously, the light dimmed, and when she could no longer see the words on the paper, she realized that it was almost dark. The woman took out a candle from the space and lit it, preparing to work hard all night.
The original plan was to settle the accounts tomorrow, and the accountant from the brigade and each team would work on this together. It can definitely be finished today. As a result, these men temporarily dropped out of their jobs and wanted to watch the good show of her taking office.
I turned around and saw that the baby was tired from playing, and he curled up in the quilt and was sleeping soundly. The days are short in winter, so Xiaohua and Li Zhongxia go home early. With them around, she doesn't have to worry too much. I reached out and touched Niu Niu, and the child's temperature was normal. After breathing evenly, she sat back in the chair and started fighting.
"Creaky" the door was pushed open from the outside, and when I looked up, it was indeed Li Zhongxia. The man was holding a lunch box in his left hand and a big bag in his right hand.
"Eat first." He put down the bag and reached out to touch the lunch box, which had already gone cold on the way here. Then he quickly put it on the iron stove. "We need to warm it up first. Come over here and take a rest. You must be tired after working all afternoon."
Gu Yan turned around and looked at his daughter, then reached out and touched her forehead again. "Take the child back later. I will probably be here until midnight."
Li Zhongxia poked his head out to see what was going on. "That's not much left. I'll work with you later. Another hour will definitely be enough."
"You can actually settle accounts?"
"Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. I started learning it in my first year of school." Li Zhongxia chuckled, "My master said that after learning this, I can always make a living. Knowing more skills is better. It will be easier to make a living in the future."
"Then why do you need to study classics, history, and literature? They are useless now, right?"
"What else would you ask an old scholar to teach you? It's actually not useless. The accumulation of thousands of years of ancient people contains countless wisdom. The principles are interoperable and can be used at any time."
"Didn't the commune have a new school at that time?"
"No. There are only a few old-style schools within a radius of dozens of miles. He used to be a prefect in another province. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he returned to his hometown and opened a school. Many children who wanted to study came here to study. It's okay for me because I live close to school. Those children who live far away in other villages have to travel several miles to go to school."
“Do you read a lot?”
"I learned a lot in elementary school. But it's hard to go to the next level. He is very strict in accepting students. When I enrolled, he said that if I didn't pass the exam, I would only be taught for three years. The adults thought it was good. Because after the age of ten, boys can be half a laborer and help their parents farm. If they go to school, they don't work and they have to spend money. It's good to be able to read and not be blind."
The man reached out and touched the lunch box, then opened it and handed it to her: "Okay, you eat first."
Carrots, white radishes, and yellow radishes were cut into shreds and fried, then two steamed buns were placed on top. Gu Yan took one in his hand and ate it with a piece of radish using chopsticks.
"It's much easier to put pickles in, why do you stir-fry the radish?"
"Eat radishes in winter and ginger in summer, and you won't need a doctor's prescription. Haven't you heard of this health proverb?"
"Is there such a saying? I don't know."
"Haha..." The man raised his hand and poked her forehead gently. "Sometimes you are as agile as a female warrior, and sometimes you are as confused as a child. Tell me, how do you support yourself and several children?"
"There has to be someone in the family who is the adult! If you weren't around, I would have to be the adult."
"Okay, you can be a kid now."
As the man spoke, his fingers had already begun to move the abacus beads. After eating, Gu Yan poured water from the kettle on the stove to wash himself clean. After cleaning up, Niu Niu was still sleeping. She quietly pulled over a chair and sat opposite Li Zhongxia, and they worked together.
It was more efficient to have someone help. After each team had completed the calculations, the two of them added their own calculations together and the results they obtained were completely consistent.
"Mission accomplished." Gu Yan stood up, stretched, sorted out the account books, and pointed at the two spliced chairs. "Niuniu is awake. Go get the baby, be careful not to drop her on the ground. Hold her to let her get used to it. Then wrap her in a blanket and let's go home."
"I know. Just now she said she wanted to be a child, but in the blink of an eye she has become a housekeeper, worrying about everything."
The couple divided the work and by the time Gu Yan had finished cleaning up, Li Zhongxia had already wrapped her daughter into a silkworm pupa. Holding the child in one hand and carrying the bag of quilts in the other. Gu Yan went out and locked the door, and the couple walked out of the Party branch compound with flashlights.
When I got home, the yard was already pitch dark and the neighbors were all asleep. The two of them tiptoed to open the door of the ear room, and after entering the room, they first made a small bowl of rice noodles for Niu Niu.
"Do you want steamed buns or biscuits?"
The little guy shook his head. "don't want."
Gu Yan was a little troubled by the little guy's picky eating. She tilted her head and looked at the child with wide eyes. "Baby, you are grown up now. How can you be full just by drinking porridge? Let's just have a biscuit, okay?"
"No." After taking a sip, the little guy patted his belly: "I'm full."
"Mom, can you make me some steamed egg custard?"
"No, I'm full."
Gu Yan tilted his head with a sad look on his face, and raised his hand to poke the fire with the fire pick. Li Zhongxia came in from outside, closed the door, and asked her curiously what she was doing.
"Make an egg pancake for Niuniu. The little one only had a few mouthfuls of porridge at noon, and wants to have a few mouthfuls of rice porridge for dinner."
Li Zhongxia leaned over and kissed her daughter: "Little rascal, why don't you eat well?"
The little guy giggled and hid from his father because he thought his father's stubble was prickly. "It hurts, Daddy shaves."
Gu Yan was stirring the egg batter. Hearing this, he smiled and nudged Li Zhongxia with his elbow: "Dad, shave. The baby hates you, go shave quickly."
"Yes, mother."
The man went to wash, shave and tidy himself up, while Gu Yan skillfully made the omelet. The aroma of chopped green onions and eggs immediately filled the whole house.
"Come, come, baby, come quickly and try the delicious egg pancakes that mommy made."
The fragrant smell made Li Zhongxia drool, but his daughter only took one bite and left. He waved his little hands to refuse his mother's feeding.
Gu Yanchou sighed and gave the bowl to the one who was swallowing his saliva. "It's a midnight snack for you."
The man didn't hesitate to take it and started eating. Take a bite, look at your daughter, and chew it with big mouthfuls to make her crave you. "Baby, you really don't want to eat it? How can you bear not to eat such a delicious cake made by your mother?"
While the father and son were staring at each other, Gu Yan took another pancake out of the pan. She also imitated the men and served the food to her daughter in a bowl.
"It's delicious. If you don't eat it, it will be gone."
"Eat." The little girl blurted out a word, stretched out her head and bit the egg and scallion pancake that she deliberately placed next to her mouth. The two of them teased the little guy like this and finally got him to eat more than half of the piece.
"Oh my god, Li Zhongxia, where did you learn this trick?"
"I learned it from Xiaohua. She did it this way when she fed Niuniu, letting Xiaoya and Leilei perform a double act."
"Haha..." Gu Yan raised his hand and scratched the child's nose. "You are such a rascal that you bother your brother and sister just for a meal."
The little guy giggled and pointed to the main room separated by a wall. "Hello, sister."
"Okay, hello, sister. Be good and let daddy wash your face and feet. Let's go to bed."
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