"How about we go to my hometown?" Mrs. Zhang suggested.
Where is your hometown?
Mrs. Zhang mentioned a place name, and everyone immediately shook their heads. It was a mountainous area in Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang Province is a strong province with a developed economy. Even in mountainous areas, life wouldn't be too hard. What use would it be for the children to go there?
“Your place won’t do. We need to find a place where children can’t afford meat and have to work every day. Ideally, it should be a mountainous area that the government is helping to alleviate poverty in. Children there can’t even afford meat all year round. They eat potatoes for three meals a day, and they have to walk dozens of miles through mountains and rivers to get to school. They also have to work in the fields. Since we’re so determined to let our children experience hardship, we have to find a difficult area. Otherwise, it won’t be effective.”
Mrs. Qian was determined to make her daughter suffer. If she weren't worried about something going wrong, she would have sent her to an African refugee camp. The African children on TV were so hungry that they were skin and bones, and it was heartbreaking to see them like that. Then she looked at her daughter, who would take one bite and then throw her away. Mrs. Qian really wanted to pack up and return her daughter. She regretted giving birth to such a troublesome child at her advanced age.
"Yes, preferably the impoverished mountainous areas in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. They are very poor. Does anyone have connections there?" Mrs. Wang asked.
Everyone shook their heads. They didn't know anyone from that side. They were all housewives who stayed at home to take care of their husbands and children, and they didn't know anything about what was happening outside.
“Men should have connections, why don’t we let them look for ways?” Madam Xie said.
“No, this can’t be allowed to be known by my husband. He treats our little girl like the apple of his eye, he won’t even let her wash the dishes, how could he bear to send her to suffer in the mountains? This has to be done secretly, without my husband knowing.” Mrs. Zhang shook her head repeatedly.
If her husband finds out about this plan, he'll definitely fight her, so she has to keep it a secret.
"My husband is the same way. He treats our youngest daughter like royalty. I've seen through him long ago. I'm nothing to him, but our daughter is a gold nugget." Mrs. Qian's tone was sour. Luckily, she's her own daughter, or she would be dying of jealousy.
The other wives also didn't want their husbands to know, so they all agreed to do it secretly. Once summer vacation started, they would say they had enrolled their children in summer camps and sent them abroad for study tours, and then send the children to the mountains. That would solve everything.
"Where are we going to find a suitable place? My husband Xie has no connections either. He's just a scholar who spends all his time in his office; he doesn't know anyone," Mrs. Xie said modestly.
"Director Xie is a man of great things; we can't let him worry about such trivial matters. Let's inquire slowly; we'll find it eventually."
"We can just give them more money. There's still a month and a half until the holiday, so we have plenty of time."
Ye Qingqing remained silent. She didn't share the same feeling. Little Pig had never caused her much trouble since he was little. After becoming Zhu Zi's apprentice, he became even more sensible and could even help her take care of her younger siblings. She didn't need to worry about his studies or life. He was really very easy to take care of.
She didn't dare to speak out, afraid of provoking these outbursts of mothers; it was better to keep a low profile.
However, she still supports the idea of letting her child experience hardship. Nowadays, children are indeed too pampered and have not been toughened up by society. It is necessary for them to experience some hardship. Moreover, she has a suitable place, namely the medicinal herb bases that Tiedan is in charge of. Every day, people are needed to work, plant medicinal herbs, and take care of them. The people hired are all local villagers, and they are paid according to their work.
Those children could work and study at the medicinal herb base, but Ye Qingqing wasn't too keen on taking on that job. The children were her precious darlings, and it would be difficult to handle if something happened to them at the base.
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