Chapter 249 Settlement Fee
"Why did school let out so late today?" Sheng Xiping glanced around and noticed that it seemed to be a bit later than usual, so he asked casually.
"Oh, I watched them finish all their homework before they went home from school."
These past few days, without Li Xue at school, they've been completely out of control; these mischievous kids have gone wild.
When I checked the homework today, I found that many students hadn't done it.
"You want them not to write? This time, everyone stays at school. Whoever finishes can go home."
Zhou Qinglan felt helpless whenever she talked about the students in her class.
They were doing just fine before, but because of her wedding, which delayed things for a few days, they all went off on their own, not studying properly, and their homework was a mess.
Today, Zhou Qinglan returned to the classroom and flew into a rage, scaring the students half to death.
"Alright, don't get worked up with them."
Those kids are all like that; they don't understand what independent learning is yet, they're all just playing.
Let alone these days, even thirty years from now, not many children will be motivated to study.
Nowadays, even if parents don't interfere, most children can still complete their homework.
Looking back later, those parents who spent every day helping their children with homework will be furious.
Some children break their bones from slamming their fists on tables, some have heart stents, and some are so angry they want to become monks or nuns. The older they get, the harder the children become to manage.
Zhou Qinglan understood this principle, of course. However, she had just started teaching and was still a substitute teacher who hadn't been promoted to a permanent position. She was eager to prove herself with her achievements.
"Mom, what are we having for dinner? I'll cook."
Once inside the house, Zhou Qinglan tried to stop thinking about work and composed herself before discussing dinner with her mother-in-law.
"It's nothing, just pork stew with sauerkraut and glass noodles, served with a pot of flatbread."
You should take a break. It must be exhausting dealing with those bratty kids every day. Wash your hands and go back to your room for a while.
"My meal will be ready soon." My daughter-in-law works and gets off work late, so how can I wait for her to come home before cooking?
Zhang Shuzhen wouldn't do anything annoying; she always prepared the meals well in advance.
So that the children don't come home starving before the meal is ready.
How could Zhou Qinglan be accused of not doing any work and just waiting to be fed?
He quickly changed out of his coat, washed his hands, took the spatula from Zhang Shuzhen's hand, scooped the flatbread out of the pot, and then put the pork stew with sauerkraut and vermicelli into a bowl.
On ordinary days, the meals are actually very simple.
Although the Sheng family only had one dish, it contained a lot of meat and was quite oily, which was pretty good.
Zhou Qinglan carried the sauerkraut basin into the house and placed it on the table, while Zhang Shuzhen carried the dry food basket into the house.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sheng Xiping pulled down two dried chilies from under the eaves and roasted them over the charcoal fire.
When the chili peppers turn slightly black and are almost burnt, quickly take them out.
At this moment, the kitchen was filled with a spicy and slightly burnt aroma, which smelled quite good, but was also quite pungent.
Sheng Xiping held a plate of chili paste in one hand and took out a stack of four or five bowls from the cupboard with the other before entering the house.
The sauerkraut and glass noodles are placed in a bowl with soup, and while it's still hot, the burnt, crispy chili peppers are crushed and sprinkled into the bowl.
Just a bite of pickled cabbage and a bite of flatbread, and I was sweating buckets while eating—it was incredibly satisfying.
Sheng Liancheng and Sheng Xiping ate like that. The others didn't dare to eat spicy food, so they either ate garlic cloves or pickled cabbage. Anyway, they all ate with great relish.
After dinner, Sheng Liancheng and his wife tidied up and sent the others to the north kang to read and do their homework, leaving Zhou Qinglan and Sheng Xiping to sit on the south kang and chat.
"There were many people at home on the night of your wedding, and the next day you took a car to Songjianghe, so there were some things you didn't get a chance to say."
"Let's take this opportunity to talk about everything we need to."
As Zhang Shuzhen spoke, she rummaged through the cabinet and pulled out a small cloth bag.
The cloth bag was opened, revealing a stack of money and an account book.
Needless to say, this should be the ledger recording the expenses for Sheng Xiping and his wife's wedding.
"This is the account book that I asked my second brother to help me keep. It shows the expenses for your wedding."
This money is what the eldest son left over from the money he handed over to the family last winter and this spring.
I won't go into the specifics of the accounts; you can check the ledgers yourselves. I still have a little over seven hundred yuan left.
Since the beginning of last winter, Sheng Xiping has brought back a total of 1,500 to 1,600 yuan, including wages for winter harvesting and transportation, as well as pine nuts, hides, bear bile, and other items.
After deducting daily food and drink expenses, as well as the expenses for Sheng Xiping's engagement and wedding, there was still more than 700 yuan left.
This is already very good. Many people work hard all year just to earn enough to eat and use during the New Year.
"I'll give you half of this money as a settling-in allowance, and I'll save the other half for my second son's wedding."
"You guys don't have any objections, right?"
Before the children got married, they could pool their money and spend it freely without having to worry about keeping accounts.
But things are different now. The eldest son has gotten married and now has his own family.
Even though they're still living and eating together now that they haven't separated their households, there are some things that need to be clearly defined to avoid mutual suspicion and future conflicts between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
"Also, since you got married, your family received a lot of gifts, so I won't give you these things. I'll handle the return gifts myself."
"When the second and third sons get married and we divide the family property, you'll have to pay for all the social obligations yourselves."
Despite Zhang Shuzhen's lack of formal education, she was an excellent housekeeper, not at all confused.
“You two got married, but we didn’t separate our households. You’re still living and eating at home.”
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