Not long after, rustling sounds came from inside, and the door was quickly opened.
"Xunli? What brings you here? Come in, come in!" Li Huifen, wrapped in her clothes, looked like she had just been woken up.
Once inside, I found that the elderly couple had set up a simple bed frame in the living room for their afternoon nap.
Shen Qingqing glanced at it and then politely stopped looking.
Li Xunli pretended not to see anything and asked directly, "Aunt Huifen, is your family still using that porcelain kiln?"
Li Huifen was stunned for a moment. It belonged to her father. It was originally meant to be left to her younger brother, but unexpectedly, her brother died while serving in the army. Her parents couldn't bear it and followed him, so the porcelain kiln ended up in her hands.
However, she had never learned how to make porcelain since she was a child. It was only after she married Manyu's grandfather that the porcelain kiln was put into use.
Ever since Manyu's grandfather stopped using that porcelain kiln, it has been abandoned.
Now I'm suddenly being asked whether I still need it...
this……
Li Huifen subconsciously turned her head to look at her old man.
Man Yu's grandfather had also gotten up by now. Hearing Li Xunli's question, he naturally took over the conversation: "The land for the porcelain kiln will go to Man Yu in the future. Now, my wife and I can no longer continue doing this. We can't use it even if we wanted to."
Li Xunli understood what he meant, so she stopped asking and said directly, "I'd like to rent your porcelain kiln for the daytime. It's the one that Manyu uses, so you two don't need to worry about breaking anything. The rent is 60 yuan per day. I'll cover everything else for the two kilns you use. Is that convenient for you?"
After hearing this, Li Huifen and her husband exchanged a surprised and delighted glance. They would rent it out even if it were only 30 yuan, let alone 60. The porcelain kiln was just sitting idle anyway, and renting it to Li Xunli would be for their grandson. They couldn't be happier!
"It's so convenient!" Li Huifen replied repeatedly, holding her husband's hand.
Just like last time when she asked Chen Manyu to come and help her, Li Xunli explained in detail that this time a formal contract needed to be signed.
If they agree, she will come over tomorrow with the contract to sign it.
When Li Huifen heard that a contract needed to be signed, she became a little scared: "Well, neither of us can read..."
“Aunt Huifen, don’t worry, I’ll come with my brother tomorrow and explain the contents of this contract to you. If you feel anything is wrong or don’t understand something, you can ask.” Li Xunli said patiently.
After all, she didn't know anything last year, so she had many concerns. After Li Xunjin taught her, she saw a wider world and was no longer so afraid.
Chen Manyu, who had finally heard the commotion, came out of the room, holding the small card book in his hand. The edges of the cards were already a bit blackened, but the card faces were still clean, obviously having been well protected.
He walked up to his grandparents, who looked troubled, glanced at them, then at Li Xunli, and asked softly, "Grandpa, Grandma, what's wrong?"
Li Huifen briefly told Chen Manyu about Li Xunli's desire to rent their family's porcelain kiln.
"Rent!" Chen Manyu answered immediately and firmly after hearing the answer.
He had been busy at the kiln during this time, and that day he heard the unfamiliar uncle urging him to order more goods several times. Just thinking about it, he understood why Aunt Li wanted to rent another kiln.
Not only can their family help, but they can also get rent from Aunt Li. What's wrong with that?
Hearing their grandson say that, the elderly couple relented.
Li Huifen: "Then Xunli, I'll have to trouble you and your brother tomorrow."
Li Xunli immediately waved her hand: "No trouble at all. Since it's agreed, then Manyu will come with me today to tidy up your family's porcelain kiln. After we sign the contract tomorrow, we can officially pay the rent and start using it the day after tomorrow. Aunt Huifen, what do you think?"
Li Huifen nodded: "Okay, okay."
Chen Manyu, who was standing nearby, understood what was going on. After returning to his room and getting the key to his family's porcelain kiln, he followed Li Xunli out.
After walking outside, he saw Shen Qingqing beside him, hesitated for a moment, then flipped through the small card book in his hand to the part he didn't know and handed it to Shen Qingqing, asking, "Qingqing, I don't know how to pronounce the words that can be formed with this character..."
Shen Qingqing stretched her head to take a look, and then taught him in perfect pronunciation.
After listening, Chen Manyu repeated the words, then took back the card album and kept repeating the words over and over. Occasionally, he would go off-key while repeating them, and Shen Qingqing would correct him in time.
Shen Yangyang followed Shen Qingqing and saw Chen Manyu reading aloud. She started to join in the fun, clapping and praising him regardless of whether he was reading correctly or not.
The entire route from Chen Manyu's house to his family's porcelain kiln was filled with the sounds of Chen Manyu reading aloud and Shen Yangyang clapping and praising him.
Fortunately, his house was in a quiet, secluded area with only one or two elderly people who were hard of hearing. Otherwise, Shen Qingqing would have been mortified when she saw people coming out to watch because of Shen Yangyang's loud praise.
However, Chen Manyu's progress did surprise her. She thought this small booklet would be enough for Chen Manyu to study for a year, but judging from his progress on this part, the remaining small stack should only be enough for him to study for another 3 months.
Shen Qingqing pondered, now that she had almost mastered the characters, should she also start working on the texts?
We should be able to borrow Chinese and math textbooks for fourth and fifth graders from Chen Yurong's place.
Alternatively, she could borrow from Ye Ziqi. She didn't know what textbooks were used in elementary schools in other towns, but the textbooks in their town were all the same.
When we arrived at Chen Manyu's porcelain kiln, we found that since Chen Manyu stopped coming to play there, no one had been able to come here anymore, so over the past few months, a thick layer of dust had accumulated on it.
The porcelain kilns in Lijia Village were built together as a whole. The layout and door style of each kiln are exactly the same, and even the walls separating them are just thickened. If they were connected, these seven or eight kilns could be linked together into one large kiln.
As soon as they entered, the dust was so thick that everyone couldn't help but sneeze. Shen Qingqing covered her nose with one hand and Shen Yangyang's nose with the other.
Li Xunli quickly went to the water pump, found the water pipe in the corner and connected it to the outlet. Fortunately, the water pump was still working and the water supply was not interrupted. Water was pumped out soon.
Chen Manyu grabbed the hose and sprayed water into the air. Shen Qingqing quickly picked up Shen Yangyang and hid by the door.
The water-soaked soot all fell to the ground, and the kiln was no longer filled with dust.
The floor of Chen Manyu's porcelain kiln is not paved with tiles, so it's all sand. He'll probably have to sprinkle water frequently to prevent the dust from filling the air.
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