Chapter 48 Chapter 48 School Starts

Today is the first day of kindergarten.

After getting up and washing up early in the morning, Meng Yufei combed Xia Qinqin's hair into a neat high ponytail and pinned her favorite hairpin on it.

I opened the closet and took out the blue overalls skirt and light yellow top that she wore on the day she arrived on the island and put them on her. She wore her newly bought sneakers and a small school bag.

Xia Qinqin happily turned around in front of the dressing mirror and said to Meng Yufei with a smile: "Mom, I look so beautiful today~"

The morning sunlight shines through the window onto Xia Qinqin's head, as if she is covered with a layer of soft light. Meng Yufei looks at her daughter's cheerful smile and feels that she is as cute as an elf. She smiles and praises, "Yes, Qinqin is really beautiful today."

On the way to the kindergarten, Meng Yufei held Xia Qinqin's hand and whispered, "Qinqin, after we finish breakfast, I will take you to the kindergarten first. There is your favorite teacher Wen Qian and sister Fangfang next door. You should study hard there. Mom will work in the building behind you. When it's noon, Mom will come to pick you up and we will go home together, okay?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "Yeah, okay."

When we arrived at the cafeteria, there were more people there this morning than usual. I also saw several children sitting inside. They seemed to be kindergarten students who came to class today.

I wonder if the cafeteria chef knows that today is the first day of kindergarten, but the breakfast includes roasted wheat, shrimp wontons, sugar-coated buns, and rice noodles, which is much richer than usual.

The wheat looked tempting, but it was a bit oily. Thinking that Qinqin must have been very active this morning, Meng Yufei was worried that the oily food would cause her to choke on the wind, so she bought a bowl of shrimp wontons and two boiled eggs.

After eating the wontons, Meng Yufei took out a military green flat kettle from her shoulder bag, filled it with half a kettle of hot water, fed Xia Qinqin two sips, and then put the kettle in her small schoolbag.

"Qinqin, drink the water in the kettle when you are thirsty. Tilt your head back and drink slowly, and don't spill the water." Meng Yufei reminded her. In order to prevent her from not being able to hold the kettle, she only filled half the kettle with water, which was just enough for her to drink for the whole morning.

After thinking for a while, he said, "If you can't open the lid of the kettle, go ask Teacher Zhou for help, okay?"

Xia Qinqin weighed her small schoolbag, felt the weight of the water bottle, and nodded after hearing her mother's words: "Okay, I understand."

She put a few candies in her little schoolbag, ready to give to Sister Fangfang and the new kids she met, as well as a handkerchief, a piece of drawing paper, and some colored pencils.

The backpack, which was originally light, now had some weight with the water bottle. Meng Yufei wanted to take the backpack and help her carry it, but Xia Qinqin was unwilling and insisted on carrying it herself.

Fortunately, the kindergarten was just a few steps ahead, so Meng Yufei let her go.

The first day of kindergarten was very lively. Parents sent their children to school. Some children saw their peers and ran over to play with them.

Some children, when seeing their parents leave after sending them in, immediately start crying and making a lot of noise.

Meng Yufei remembered that when she sent Xia Qinqin to kindergarten for the first time last year, her mother and Meng Yufei went there together. The situation in the kindergarten at that time was similar to that of today.

She was worried that Qinqin would cry too, and she had prepared words of comfort in her mind, but Qinqin went into the kindergarten and said goodbye to them obediently, only reminding Meng's mother to remember to pick her up after school.

This time, seeing the little kid hugging his parents and crying, Xia Qinqin whispered to Meng Yufei: "Mom, don't worry, I won't cry." She was no longer a kid on her first day in kindergarten.

Meng Yufei touched her daughter's ponytail and praised with a smile: "Qinqin is awesome."

After entering the kindergarten, Xia Qinqin saw the principal standing at the gate to welcome the new students. She smiled and waved to greet her: "Good morning, principal."

Director Tian smiled and said, "Good morning, Qinqin."

Meng Yufei greeted Principal Tian and then took her daughter to the senior classroom.

At the classroom door, Teacher Tang was trying to coax some children who were crying non-stop because they didn't want to leave their parents. She felt a little flustered. Children's crying is contagious. If one child cries very loudly, other children who don't want to cry will also start crying, one after another.

Teacher Tang coaxed one child, but another started crying again. One little boy was the most noisy. He refused to go into the classroom and insisted on going home. "I don't want to go to school. I want to go home. I want my mom..."

After seeing this, Xia Qinqin walked up to him and said seriously, "You can go home after school. There's nothing to cry about."

The little boy looked at Xia Qinqin who appeared in front of him. Her big round eyes looked at him, which made him feel a little embarrassed. He stopped sobbing and asked, "Really, is it true?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "Yes, if you don't believe me, ask Teacher Tang. Teachers will never lie to children."

Tang Jiayi was relieved to see that the little boy had finally stopped crying, and said, "That's right, your mother will come to pick you up when it's almost time for lunch. The teacher didn't lie to you."

The little boy heard this, sniffed, and stopped crying. The loudest cry stopped, and the other children who were crying with him also gradually stopped crying.

Meng Yufei said: "Teacher Tang, thank you for your hard work."

Tang Jiayi looked up and said, "Well, it's the first day of school after all. My twins were the same back then. They cried and refused to let go. It will be fine later."

Meng Yufei said: "Teacher Tang, I'm leaving Qinqin to you. She doesn't cry a lot, but she's a little naughty."

Tang Jiayi nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll take them into the classroom right away. Teacher Zhou is also in the classroom."

Meng Yufei bent down and stroked her daughter's cheek and said, "Qinqin, Mommy is going to work first, you study hard here."

Xia Qinqin said: "Mom, remember to pick me up early after school."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Mom will come pick you up after work."

Tang Jiayi brought a few children at the door into the classroom. Zhou Wenqian was asking the children in the classroom to line up and sit on the chairs. When she saw Tang Jiayi bringing in a few more children, she directed them to line up and sit on the long, low benches.

The bench is a long wooden bench that can seat three or four adults. The wooden legs are sawed off a bit so that children can sit on it with their feet touching the ground without worrying about falling.

There were five children sitting on one bench. There were four long benches in the classroom. One bench was already full, so this group of children sat together on the second bench.

Fangfang sat on the first stool. As soon as Xia Qinqin came in, she noticed Fangfang with her sharp eyes and waved at her with a big smile. When Fangfang saw Xia Qinqin, she also gave her a big smile.

Xia Qinqin was arranged to sit on the second stool. She stood up and raised her hand and said, "Teacher, can I sit with Sister Fangfang? We are good friends."

Zhou Wenqian said, "Of course you can, but you have to ask Fangfang's opinion." Then she turned to Fangfang, who was sitting on the first stool, and said, "Fangfang, would you like to come over and sit here?"

Fangfang nodded happily, "I do."

Zhou Wenqian smiled and said, "Okay, then go over and sit with Qinqin."

Fangfang heard this, and happily stood up and ran to sit next to Qinqin. The two held hands and smiled at each other. Xia Qinqin said, "Sister Fangfang, you left so early. I wanted to ask you to go to school together, but mom said you and your mom had already left."

Fangfang said: "Because my mother works here, we have to come earlier than you."

Xia Qinqin said: "But, I'm so happy to be in the same class with you."

Fangfang also nodded and said, "I'm happy too."

The two little girls were leaning against each other, whispering to each other with smiles on their faces.

The little boy who had just cried the loudest was sitting on the other side of Xia Qinqin. Hearing the two of them talking, he couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Hey, what are you talking about? I want to listen too."

Xia Qinqin turned to look at the little boy next to her with tears still on his face and said, "Sister Fangfang and I are good friends. We knew each other before, and what we said was a secret that only the two of us knew."

The little boy said, "Then I want to be good friends with you too."

Xia Qinqin tilted her head to look at him and asked, "Well...what's your name?"

"My name is Yang Yongmin."

Xia Qinqin patted herself and said, "My name is Xia Qinqin," pointing to Fangfang beside her, "Her name is Ma Weifang. From now on, we will be classmates and friends."

Yang Yongming asked: "Then can you take me with you to talk?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "Sure, I'll take you with me when we talk in the future. But don't listen when Sister Fangfang and I tell each other little secrets."

Yang Yongming asked angrily: "What little secret?"

Fang Fang then said, "A secret is a secret, and cannot be told to anyone else."

Yang Yongming blocked his mouth unhappily. Seeing that he was about to speak, Fangfang immediately said, "If you don't want to, then don't be our friend."

Yang Yongming: “…”

Zhou Wenqian happened to come over at this time and said to Xia Qinqin, "Qinqin, can the teacher help you hang up your schoolbag? You will be tired if you carry it, and it will be inconvenient for you to play games."

There is a row of long nails hanging on the wall in front of the classroom, which are used to hang students' school bags. The nails are placed very high and only adults can reach them to prevent children from bumping into them while playing.

There are already three small schoolbags hanging on it, a small bag made of floral cloth, a shoulder bag made of black coarse cloth, and a military green satchel.

Xia Qinqin handed the bag over, smiled and said, "Thank you, Teacher Zhou~"

Zhou Wenqian touched Xia Qinqin's hair and said with a smile, "You're welcome."

After Teacher Zhou left, Xia Qinqin whispered to Fangfang, "Look, isn't Teacher Zhou so beautiful?"

Fangfang nodded and said, "Yeah, very beautiful."

Xia Qinqin turned around and asked Yang Yongming, "What do you think? Teacher Zhou is pretty, right?"

Yang Yongming glanced at Zhou Wenqian who was carrying a bag and whispered, "I think - Teacher Zhou seems a little fierce."

Xia Qinqin was surprised and asked, "How is that possible? Aunt Zhou is so pretty, how can she be fierce?"

Fangfang said: "Yes, Teacher Zhou smiled at Qinqin just now."

Yang Yongming said: "I don't know either. As soon as I saw her, I didn't dare to cry." He only dared to cry in front of Teacher Tang.

After a while, Tang Jiayi brought the last two children in. After arranging them to sit on small stools, she said to Zhou Wenqian, "Are all the children here?"

Zhou Wenqian nodded and said, "Yes, including the two just now, there are exactly 15 children."

Before leaving get off work yesterday, the kindergarten counted a total of 28 children who had registered, including 15 in the senior class and 13 in the junior class.

The last time Meng Yufei counted the number of children under six years old in the family home, there were 32 in total, including six children under one year old. This means that almost all the children of school age in the family home have been sent to kindergarten, and two of them are under one year old.

In the large classroom, fifteen children sat next to each other, filling up just three long benches, chattering loudly.

Tang Jiayi clapped her hands and raised her voice, "Dear children, please stop talking and be quiet for a moment."

Hearing the teacher's voice, the buzzing voices suddenly stopped. Tang Jiayi nodded with satisfaction and said, "Hello everyone, I am your new teacher. My last name is Tang. From now on, you can call me Teacher Tang."

"Hello, Teacher Tang~" the children shouted in unison in their baby voices.

Tang Jiayi smiled and pointed at Zhou Wenqian beside her and said, "This is Teacher Zhou."

"Hello, Teacher Zhou~" the children shouted loudly.

Zhou Wenqian smiled and said, "Hello, everyone."

Tang Jiayi said, "From now on, Teacher Zhou and I will teach you together. You all should get along well with each other, okay? Now, how about we play a little game first?"

"Okay~" Hearing the words "play", the children's voices became louder.

Tang Jiayi and Zhou Wenqian gathered the children's benches together and played the game of throwing hand strings with everyone. The children who failed began to introduce themselves.

This will not only quickly bring everyone closer together, but also allow everyone to better understand each other.

Unlike the laughter coming from the large classroom from time to time, the students in the small class next door were still crying.

After all, they were still relatively young, and they didn't listen to the adults talking to them. They just wanted to go home. The two caregivers and the teacher coaxed them for a long time, and the children stopped crying only when they were tired.

It was almost nine in the morning, and the admission time had already passed when Tong Caifeng came over with the child. Wei Shufang said unhappily, "It's already past the admission time, why did you come just now?"

Tong Caifeng rolled her eyes and said, "I came a little later and took care of your children for a little longer, which saved you a lot of effort. Are you not happy about that?"

Wei Shufang said angrily: "What do you mean by taking care of our child? Is this child yours or ours?"

Tong Caifeng handed the child over and said, "If you want it, I'll give it to you. You are just taking care of the child, right? The salary the army gives you is not for nothing."

Wei Shufang pushed him away and said with a stern face, "The crib will be delivered this afternoon. You can bring the child here tomorrow."

Tong Caifeng said, "I don't care. Didn't your school start today? So many children from other families here can be sent here. Why can't my child be sent here?"

Wei Shufang rolled her eyes and said, "I won't take it anyway, you can just take it home."

Tong Caifeng threw the child to the ground and said unhappily, "Anyway, I sent the child here. If anything goes wrong, your kindergarten will be responsible."

Wei Shufang had never seen such a shameless person before. She pointed at Tong Caifeng and cursed angrily: "How...how could there be such a shameless person like you? You are deliberately looking for trouble! Is this child yours? How can you be more cruel than a stepmother!"

Tong Caifeng said in a sneer: "I'm not like you, who loves to be someone's stepmother. I'm the original wife!"

Wei Shufang choked, her fingers trembling with anger, "You...you..."

Tong Caifeng snorted coldly and turned away.

The child who was thrown on the ground seemed to feel the coolness of the ground and opened her mouth to cry. Her cry was very small, and she cried with a humming sound with her mouth pursed.

Mrs. Zhang couldn't bear to see this, so she rushed over to pick up the child, patted the child's shoulder and coaxed him softly, "Be good, be good, don't cry."

Yin Guixiang walked over and said, "I have some maltose in my bag for my little girl. I'll make some for her."

Mrs. Zhang said, "Well, look at the complexion of this child, she is pale and thin. You say that Tong Caifeng, is she mentally ill to be so cruel to her own daughter? She is committing a sin!"

Yin Guixiang put her daughter on the small table, took out her shoulder bag, put maltose in the lunch box, poured hot water from the kettle into it, and sighed, "She has already given birth to three daughters. I guess she feels unhappy that she didn't give birth to a son."

Mrs. Zhang said, "You can't take your anger out on the child. The child has done nothing wrong. Besides, Guixiang, you have three daughters. I think you are still very good to the children."

Yin Guixiang took the lunch box over, and Zhang Dasao took it and said, "Let me feed her."

Carefully feed the malted milk in the lunch box to the child. When the child tasted the malted milk, he stopped crying and opened his mouth to drink it in big gulps.

Mrs. Zhang said, "Poor child, he probably didn't even have breakfast this morning. That Tong Caifeng is such a bastard who only gives birth to children but doesn't raise them."

Yin Guixiang picked up her little daughter on the table, touched her forehead and said, "Since I gave birth to the child, I must treat her well, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl."

Mrs. Zhang thought of the rumors she had heard recently about Mrs. Xue and asked, "By the way, how is your mother-in-law doing recently? I saw you taking your children to eat in the cafeteria these past two days."

Yin Guixiang said, "I will not be involved in family affairs now. Let them quarrel as they please. They are mother and son, and their relationship will not be severed no matter how they quarrel. As an outsider, I will not interfere."

Mrs. Zhang nodded in agreement, "You are still open-minded. Just ignore them. I don't think your Captain Xue is a fool. He won't let his mother make too much trouble."

Yin Guixiang smiled and said, "Indeed, he is not stupid. He can calculate the accounts clearly and will not let himself suffer too much loss."

Mrs. Zhang said, "That's good. If he doesn't suffer any loss, your family won't suffer any loss either. The most important thing is that you hold on to your salary firmly."

Yin Guixiang nodded and said, "He earns so much money a month, I must save it well for the children."

…

Meanwhile, Captain Xue did not go to work after getting up early in the morning. When Yin Guixiang took her daughters to kindergarten, she also went to the cafeteria and had breakfast together as a family.

After eating, I packed a few portions and took them home.

Brother Xue had already gotten up and was sitting on the sofa in the living room, thinking about something. Next to his feet was the bag he brought yesterday.

When Brother Xue saw Captain Xue coming back, he asked, "Brother, you didn't go to work?"

Captain Xue put breakfast on the table and nodded, "Well, I've taken a leave of absence this morning to take you aboard. Have breakfast first. I just bought it from the cafeteria."

Brother Xue opened his mouth to say something, but finally nodded and walked to the dining table and said, "Okay."

Captain Xue knocked on the door of the small room and said, "Mom, it's time to get up. I've bought breakfast."

I vaguely heard Tiedan's voice coming from inside the house, "I want to eat breakfast! I'm hungry!"

After a while, the door opened, and Mrs. Xue pulled Tiedan to sit at the dining table. While chewing a steamed bun, Mrs. Xue said, "You can send your elder brother to the boat first. Tiedan and I will leave in a few days. Your nephew just came to your house, and he left after less than two days. What will people back home say about you?"

Captain Xue sat on the sofa and said calmly, "You can say whatever you want to say. I don't care. Anyway, I don't have a house in my hometown. I won't even have a place to live if I go back. Why should I care what others say?"

Xue said, "Second brother, when we were building the house, we didn't have enough money, so we didn't build your house. I didn't expect you to care so much. Let me tell Dad when I get back and I'll build you another room at home."

Mrs. Xue drank a mouthful of porridge and said, "Yes, didn't your wife tell you yesterday that your family still has savings? It's going to be given to your nephew anyway, so use it to build a house first."

Captain Xue looked at Mrs. Xue and said coldly, "That was what Guixiang said. I didn't agree. My money will only be given to my children in the future. Don't even think about it for others."

Mrs. Xue put the bowl on the table and shouted, "You unfilial son, you don't listen to a word I say to you. Tiedan and Goudan are the children of the Xue family. Why do those girls in your family use the money of our Xue family?"

Captain Xue stood up angrily and said, "Brothers should settle accounts clearly. When did my money become my eldest brother's money? Since the year I joined the army, I sent five yuan home every month, and it has been increasing to twenty yuan a month now. Over the years, the money I have sent home is at least a thousand yuan! Go ask the troops, whose son would send so much money home? How dare you say that I am unfilial?"

Mrs. Xue heard this and said, "What's twenty yuan? I've asked around and found out that your battalion commander gets paid more than ninety yuan a month! You only gave twenty yuan to your family out of that much money, and you still have the nerve to say that!"

Captain Xue lowered his voice and said angrily: "I fought hard for that! What did you do at home? Why do you ask for so much?"

Mrs. Xue frowned and said, "Because I am your mother, I gave birth to you and raised you, you must repay me for the rest of your life."

Captain Xue took a deep breath and said, "Forget it. I won't argue with you anymore. Just finish your meal and go to the dock."

Mrs. Xue said, "I won't leave. If you have the guts, throw me out."

Captain Xue said coldly, "It's okay for you to stay here. I'm your son and I should support you. Before, you lived with your elder brother in your hometown, and I sent back 20 yuan every month to support you and your father. Now that you are not going back, I will only send back 10 yuan every month. Oh, and I will also transfer your grain capital relationship, so the team will not have to give you work points and grain every year in the future."

The more Mrs. Xue listened, the more she felt something was wrong. She immediately shouted, "No, you dare!"

Captain Xue said, "Then you can see if I dare to do it. At worst, you can go and make trouble. The leader has already said that if anyone in my family makes trouble again and disturbs the family compound, I will leave the army directly. Then I will go back to my hometown and have a good fight with you about those houses."

When Brother Xue heard that he was leaving the army, he was shocked. Captain Xue was not only the most promising person in the Xue family, but also the most promising person in the entire production team. He knew clearly that the captain and secretary of the team were so polite to their family because of this second brother...

Thinking of this, Brother Xue immediately said, "Oh, why are you quarreling over nothing? Second brother, what you said is too serious. Why do you want to leave the army?"

Captain Xue said, "I didn't say it was serious at all. Thanks to my mother, the commotion during this period has alarmed the division commander. He has spoken. What can a battalion commander do?"

Big Brother Xue glanced at Mrs. Xue and saw the guilty look on her face. He knew that what his second brother said was probably true. Eh...

Brother Xue said, "Mom, you've been here for quite a long time. Dad and Goudan are missing you at home. I think you should come back with me first."

Mrs. Xue still looked unwilling, so Brother Xue said, "Dad often tells others at home that my second brother is the most filial. Although he can't go home all year round, he sends money home every month. Twenty yuan a month is enough for the salary of a commune clerk!"

As he spoke, he winked at Mrs. Xue, "Oh my god, what if my second brother really gives me ten yuan less every month? There are also annual work points and food, which are all subsidies for his family!"

Mrs. Xue looked at her eldest son's expression and thought of her old man. She trembled in her heart. If she knew that because of her, the family would lose ten yuan every month...

"Humph, go back if you want. Do you think I want to stay in this shabby place of yours? You are an unfilial son, an ungrateful person who forgot his mother after marrying a wife. I should not have given birth to you in the first place. You don't even look at who raised you. Now that you have grown wings, you start to dislike your mother..."

Mrs. Xue sat down and continued to eat, cursing. Captain Xue listened to her cursing and stood in the living room with an expressionless face, watching her eat.

After breakfast, he watched Mrs. Xue pack her things. When Mrs. Xue came, she only brought a small bag, but now she was leaving, so she packed two large bags and took away everything she liked at home.

Seeing that she was about to go to the master bedroom, Captain Xue stopped her and said, "There's nothing of yours here. I see you've almost packed up. Let's go."

Mrs. Xue glared at him fiercely, and finally took away the bag of peanuts that Brother Xue brought yesterday.

South Cliff Island Pier.

Seeing the ferry coming, before boarding, Brother Xue said to Captain Xue: "Well, second brother, what do you think about finding a job for Goudan..."

Captain Xue frowned and said, "My comrade-in-arms left the food factory a long time ago and went to work in another province. He is no longer in his hometown."

Brother Xue glared and said, "But, yesterday my sister-in-law clearly said..."

"What does she know?" Captain Xue interrupted. "What do women know about men's affairs? She only heard me mention the current situation a few years ago, but she is no longer there now."

Brother Xue believed what he said. In his opinion, women are ignorant and the affairs of the family should be decided by the fathers. It seems that the second brother does not want to find a job for Goudan.

Well, I should go home and talk to Dad and ask him to send a letter to persuade my second brother, Brother Xue thought to himself.

Captain Xue watched the ferry depart, and the depression in his heart dissipated by a large margin. After so much trouble, he could finally resume his peaceful life...