Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Sticky Soles

After chatting with Mrs. Zhang for a while, Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin home.

Xia Junshan had already boiled the bath water, and the family of three took a bath one by one, lying on the big bed in comfortable pajamas.

The reserved program before going to bed every night is to tell stories to Xia Qinqin. Today, the storyteller is still Xia Junshan, telling the story of his childhood when he was herding cattle.

"When my father was a child, he herded cattle for the landlord in the village. He had a big blue cow. Every morning, I would lead it to the mountain to graze. The mountain where my father's hometown is very big, and there are many fruits on the trees. Every time, I would pick a few and lie on the grass at the foot of the mountain, and let the cow graze aside. It was very docile and kept circling around me..."

"Dad, is the fruit delicious?"

“Delicious, sweet and sour.”

"Wow~ Can you pick some for me next time?"

"No problem. Dad will take you to my hometown when there's a chance. I'll pick lots of fruits for you then."

"Dad, can I ride that big blue bull?"

"Yes, but in the countryside, people are reluctant to ride it because they need it to plow the fields and transport goods."

"Oh, Dad, why does the big blue ox only eat grass? Does it eat candy?"

"It doesn't eat candy, but it will eat beans, corn, and wheat."

"dad……"

…

As she spoke, Xia Qinqin's voice gradually became lower and she fell asleep soon after.

Meng Yufei patted her daughter's shoulder and whispered, "Didn't you tell me before that you always stole and rode that big blue ox when you were herding cattle?"

Xia Junshan said with a smile: "If I tell you, believe it or not, Qinqin will have to let me take her to ride the big blue bull tomorrow. Where can I find a big blue bull for her on this island?"

Meng Yufei smiled gently and said, "You know Qinqin quite well now."

Xia Junshan raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course, she is my daughter."

He turned around and looked at her and said, "By the way, I reported to the teacher today about the snakes in the family compound. The teacher decided to organize our family compound staff to carry out a 'pest control' operation the day after tomorrow, which is Sunday."

"It's great. The weather here is hot and humid, which is a good way to prevent summer mosquitoes."

"I was planning to take you out of the island and walk around the city." Xia Junshan said with some regret.

Meng Yufei said: "Then let's go next week. There's still plenty of time."

Xia Junshan held Meng Yufei's hand. The bright moonlight shone through the window into the room. The two looked at each other and smiled. Xia Junshan said softly, "Yes, there is still a lot of time."

—————

At 7:10 in the morning, Meng Yufei woke up Xia Qinqin.

"Mom, are you still going to work today?" Xia Qinqin asked, rubbing her hazy eyes.

"Yes, you can continue to go with mom, okay?"

"Okay~"

Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin to the faucet in the yard to wash their faces and brush their teeth. Fortunately, the weather here was not cold, so they could use water by simply turning on the faucet.

If you were in Hai City, you would still need to boil some hot water in this month of the year. You would have to boil it the night before and put it in a thermos bottle for use the next morning.

After washing up, the mother and daughter went into the bedroom, opened the closet, and took out the clothes they would change into before going out today.

I didn't bring many clothes when I came here, so today I let Xia Qinqin wear the same clothes she wore when she first arrived on the island: blue overalls with a goose yellow floral top and white sneakers.

The weather here means that clothes and shoes dry the same day they are washed.

Meng Yufei was also wearing the same outfit she wore when she came to the island, a blue shirt with black pants, and white sneakers on her feet.

I picked up my satchel, which contained some drawing paper and colored pencils, some candies, a military flat water bottle, and a few lunch boxes. I filled it up completely.

Taking the change and tickets, the mother and daughter left at exactly 7:30.

Facing the rising sun and feeling the sea breeze, Meng Yufei walked towards the cafeteria holding Xia Qinqin's hand.

Along the way, Xia Qinqin was often attracted by the flowers and plants on the roadside and wanted to let go of her mother's hand and run over to play. However, after what happened yesterday, Meng Yufei was not at ease to let her go and held her hand tightly to prevent her from running away.

Fortunately, we reached the cafeteria in five minutes.

There was fresh soy milk for breakfast today. Smelling the full bean aroma, Meng Yufei got a bowl and spent two cents.

I also bought a sugar-coated bun and a vegetable bun. They were still big in size and the fillings were generous.

After breakfast, the time was exactly seven fifty.

Meng Yufei asked Xiao Zhang yesterday, and he found out that the logistics department’s morning work start time is 8 o’clock.

After leaving the cafeteria, I went up the stairs from the west to the logistics department. The third room on the left was the finance department. Meng Yufei took out the key that the general affairs department gave her yesterday from her bag and opened the door to go in.

The first thing I did when I entered the room was to open the window to ventilate the room. I asked Xia Qinqin to sit at the table where she was yesterday, and I took out her pen and paper from my bag and let her play with it first.

Meng Yufei picked up the basin and rag on the shelf at the door, went out to get a basin of water, and came back to wipe several tables carefully, then picked up the broom and swept the floor clean.

After finishing her work, Meng Yufei sat on a chair and nodded with satisfaction as she looked at the fresher room. A good environment will make people feel good.

Xia Qinqin lay on the table with her hands on her chin, looking at the drawing paper in front of her and thinking: What should I draw today?

Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she turned around and said happily, "Mom, can I draw our new home?"

"OK."

Hearing that her mother agreed, Xia Qinqin happily picked up the pen and started drawing.

Seeing her daughter drawing seriously, Meng Yufei also started to work. She was going to reorganize an account book and record in detail which invoices the family members should issue every month.

She first designed a table, with the column headings recording the names of the tickets to be collected and the row headings the fixed standards for collection, such as how much to be collected for different ages, how much to be collected for different types of work, how much to be collected for different levels, and so on.

Now, if people who issue invoices in the future can't remember, they don't have to look through the documents one by one like Accountant Xiao Zhou did before. They can just take out the form and see everything clearly.

Moreover, people who come to collect the tickets can quickly find out which tickets their family should collect, which can avoid a lot of disputes.

Of course, the prerequisite for making this form is to accurately understand the invoice information. She took out the document that Xiao Zhou had found earlier and read it carefully while writing down the information of each ticket.

—————

After finishing her breakfast and washing the dishes and clothes, Mrs. Zhang went next door to find Han Jianhong.

At this time, Han Jianping went to junior high school, and Wei Shufang sent Han Jianbao to kindergarten, leaving Han Jianhong alone at home.

Mrs. Zhang has been here for such a long time that she is very familiar with the work and rest schedules of the families in this row, and she chose this time specifically to come here.

There was a knock on the door and the person who came to open it was naturally Han Jianhong. Mrs. Zhang was a little surprised to see her at the door.

"Auntie, what do you want to do when you come here? Come in and tell me."

Mrs. Zhang waved her hands and said, "I just came to ask what your shoe size is."

As he spoke, he looked down at the shoes on Han Jianhong's feet. As Meng Yufei had said, there were indeed several patches on the toes.

What a sin, she sighed in her heart.

"Shoe size?"

Han Jianhong was stunned, looked down in the direction Zhang Dasao was looking, and unconsciously shrank his feet.

Mrs. Zhang said, "Yesterday, your Aunt Meng discussed with me that she wanted to make you a pair of shoes to thank you for saving the two girls. It just so happens that she has some scraps of cloth for the soles, and I have some uppers, so I came to ask about your shoe size."

Han Jianhong was stunned. She never thought that there was someone in this world who would want to make shoes for her.

Mrs. Zhang said to herself, "I guess you don't know either. Look at your shoes, they are so high. They are obviously too small. Come, take off your shoes and let me measure the size." As she said that, she bent down to untie her shoes.

After measuring the size of Han Jianhong's feet, there was still a dazed expression on her face. Mrs. Zhang knew that this girl was not talkative, so she didn't think it was strange. She said, "Don't worry, it will be done in two or three days," and went home.

Han Jianhong stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at Zhang Dasao's back as she left. He happened to catch a glimpse of Qi Huiying who was leaving the house next door. His eyes paused, and the tips of his fingers that were holding the wooden door turned slightly white.

After arriving home, Mrs. Zhang cooked a small bowl of paste and went out with a pair of rag scissors.

Two or three women came to visit Captain Cao's home just after they finished their meal. One of them was holding a half-finished vest in her hand, intending to bring it over and continue making clothes while chatting.

"Hey, did you hear that Director Wang took Sun Dahua to apologize to Accountant Zhou yesterday?"

"Who is Sun Dahua?"

"Tsk, you are the one from Captain Qin's family."

"Oh, the one who went to the Finance Department and scolded someone last time."

"It was her. When we were about to have dinner yesterday, I saw Director Wang taking her to Accountant Zhou's house."

"She is said to be the most aggressive girl in our townhouse area. She should just go and apologize honestly."

"Yes, the man of Accountant Zhou is also a battalion commander, not higher than her husband. How come Sun Dahua apologized so obediently?"

"Didn't you hear that it was Director Wang who forced you to go? You guys don't know this Director Wang."

"I heard that a new person came to the Finance Department and has already calculated her family's bills."

"A new person has arrived in the Finance Department?" Several people were concerned at once. "It's time to issue invoices now. My family doesn't even have enough food coupons this month."

"It's the same in everyone's family. My family hasn't eaten a single bite of meat in this month."

When Mrs. Zhang arrived, several people had already gone over what they had discussed yesterday, and were talking about the family of the new head of the Finance Department, Captain Xia.

"Hey, why are you here today?" When Captain Cao's family saw Mrs. Zhang coming in, they moved a stool for her and greeted her warmly, "Hurry up and sit down. We were just talking about your new neighbor who moved in next door."

As soon as Mrs. Zhang sat down, someone next to her noticed what she was holding and asked casually, "Whose shoes are these for?"

Mrs. Zhang replied, "It was made for the girl Jianhong from Captain Han's family."

"who?"

"Jianhong? How do you make shoes for her?"

Mrs. Zhang explained, "Yesterday, my little girl Xiaoya and Qinqin, oh, the daughter of Captain Xia who just moved in next door, were playing on the grass at the intersection when a snake appeared. Fortunately, Jianhong showed up and caught the snake."

Captain Cao's family patted their chests and said, "Oh my god, I was wondering why Lao Cao came back last night and suddenly said that he would 'deworm' on Sunday. It turns out there really is a snake!"

The person next to him nodded and said, "I also heard from my husband yesterday that we should take a closer look at the family compound. There are so many children in this compound."

"That's right. Fortunately, Jianhong was here this time. I didn't expect this girl to be so brave that she actually dared to catch a snake."

Captain Cao's family said, "You forgot that Jianhong grew up in the countryside. Children in our countryside have seen snakes when they were young. It's not difficult for them to catch a snake."

Mrs. Zhang said, "We should thank them very much."

The people around agreed: "That's right, we should thank the girl, but why did you want to make shoes? It takes a lot of effort."

Mrs. Zhang skillfully glued the soles of the shoes and explained, "Xiao Meng noticed that Jianhong's shoes had several patches on the toe. She thought her shoes were too small, so she thought of making a pair of shoes for her."

The person next to him raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh, these shoes are too small. If they are torn, they can be repaired. But if they are too small, they cannot be worn. It will be so uncomfortable to walk. How can her mother be so careless?"

The person opposite coughed lightly, and Captain Cao's family member looked at her and said, "You forgot that Captain Han is married for the second time, and his family member is Wei Shufang."

"Wei Shufang! She is the good stepmother in our courtyard."

"That's her."

"Ah? This..."

For a moment, several people looked at each other, with rich expressions on their faces.

Mrs. Zhang said at the right time: "When I went to measure Jianhong's feet this morning, you didn't know." She shook her head and said: "Her thumb was squeezed and deformed, and her little finger had several layers of skin broken, tut tut..."

Captain Cao frowned and said, "Wei Shufang is too careless."

Someone speculated: "Could it be that she didn't notice?"

"Well, that's possible. Jianhong doesn't seem to like to talk usually. I guess she thinks she's not her biological mother, so she's too embarrassed to say it."

Captain Cao's family retorted, "How is that possible? A child's feet don't grow in one day! Captain Xia's family noticed it after just a few days of meeting him. How could Wei Shufang, who lives with him every day, not notice it?"

"I was afraid she would find out and she did it on purpose... You see, the daughter she brought over was wearing the same clothes as Jianhong. We usually thought she treated them equally and didn't notice the decoration on the shoes."

"Will Jianping's shoes be too small?"

The person next to him glared at the person who asked the question and curled his lips and said, "Do you think it's possible? If you don't believe me, take a closer look next time you see it."

"Hey, it seems that this stepmother is a stepmother."

"Who said it wasn't true? You said that mean stepmothers usually act badly in public. Who would have thought that Wei Shufang would act well in public but use tricks behind the scenes."

"Yes, poor Jianhong. She looks honest, but I don't know how badly she has been bullied in private..."

Captain Cao's family complained: "You said that Captain Han doesn't care about his own daughter."

"Captain Han is a grown man, why would he care about these things?"

"What's wrong with the man? The child is not his own."

"It seems that Wei Shufang is also capable. Not only does she have a firm grip on Head Han at home, but she also maintains a good reputation outside."

"Who says it's not?"

…

Mrs. Zhang lowered her head and worked diligently on making insoles while listening to the discussion among several people. She estimated that within a few days, the entire family compound would know about this matter and that Wei Shufang was trying to make things difficult for her stepdaughter Han Jianhong.

The people who were at Captain Cao's house today were all well-informed and loved to pass on information.

Captain Cao's home is in the family compound, which is like a small "intelligence station".