Normally, when He Dongchuan got up, he would do it very quietly so as not to disturb other people in the house. But today, after washing up, getting dressed and getting ready to go out, he pushed open the door of the second bedroom next door, walked into the room and patted He Yan on the shoulder.

During the summer vacation, He Yan slept until seven or eight o'clock every day. After going to school, he had to adjust his biological clock and could sleep until six o'clock every day.

But it was not yet six o'clock, and he could not sleep. He raised his hand and waved it heavily to break the disturbing hand, then turned over and continued to sleep facing the wall.

However, He Dongchuan did not stop. Seeing that he had found the right posture, he continued to pat his back.

Ahhhhh!

He Yan, who was sleep-deprived, became increasingly anxious. Finally, he could not help but turn over and sit up, looking up and asking loudly, "What are you doing?"

"Get up and work." He Dongchuan reminded him with a serious face, "We agreed yesterday that you will start working from today."

He Yan finally woke up and thought about what happened yesterday. He lost confidence, but a glance out the window made him realize that it was probably still very early, so he said confidently, "Mom usually sleeps until dawn, and it's not even dawn yet!"

It was not yet six o'clock, and the morning light was just beginning to appear outside. With the curtains drawn, the light seemed a little dim. It was obvious that it was still early, so He Yan thought he could continue to sleep.

He Dongchuan was even more confident: "Your mother is your mother, and you are you. Just because she can sleep until 7 or 8 o'clock doesn't mean you can too."

"Why?"

"We have said that you should do what your classmates do at home this week. At this point, your classmates must have gotten up."

He Yan didn't quite believe it: "It's so early now."

Although He Dongchuan didn't know Chen Juanjuan and didn't know what time she got up in the morning, He Yan couldn't go to her house to verify it, so he said without any guilt: "Do you think every person who dropped out of school lives as comfortably as you do?"

He Yan didn't understand these things and was fooled by his father. He pursed his lips and thought for a while before saying, "But it's so early, I can't go get milk or buy breakfast."

"Then you can sweep the floor and wipe the table," He Dongchuan stood up, as if he had just remembered, and said with a "oh", "and do the laundry. I didn't wash the clothes I took off last night, so I left them for you."

He Yan yelled, "Those are yesterday's clothes, Dad, you are kidding me!"

"The clothes were not washed yesterday and left over until today. They are your chores. We agreed to do this job for a week. You won't regret it and want to quit before you even start, right?" He Dongchuan looked down at He Yan and made a "tsk tsk tsk" sound in disdain.

He Yan felt that he was being underestimated, and said with a feverish voice: "I will not quit!"

"Then I'm relieved." He Dongchuan said, patting his shoulder, "Hurry up and get up, work hard, I want to check the results when you come back in the evening."

"I know! You go now! I will do my job well!" He didn't want to be looked down upon by his father.

Looking at his son who was ignorant of the immensity of the world, He Dongchuan chuckled and said, "I'm going out." Then he walked out of the second bedroom.

He Yan sat on the bed, listening to the sound of the door closing outside, then fell on the bed with his arms open, staring at the ceiling with his eyes closed, and fell into a fierce struggle.

Dad is out. Should he get up and work now?

Get up, he is so sleepy. If he doesn't get up, his dad will definitely look down on him if he finds out.

After hesitating for a long time, He Yan finally chose to get up. He didn't want to be looked down upon by his father!

At this point, He Yan had completely fallen into He Dongchuan's trap. He had forgotten what he imagined his life would be like after dropping out of school, which was to sleep until he woke up naturally every day and have fun freely and easily, instead of getting up earlier than a chicken and working harder than an ox.

…

Su Ting didn't know about the morning episode. After getting up, she saw that the floor was swept clean and the milk and breakfast were brought back. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "So positive?"

He Yan thought that he didn't want to be so active, but his father wouldn't let him!

But he was a very proud person and didn't want to be looked down upon by his mother, so he didn't tell her the real reason why he got up so early. He just said, "I will work hard."

"Very energetic." Su Ting smiled, but she didn't know how long his energy could last.

He Yan didn't know that his mother thought badly of him. He was very proud in his heart. Thinking of the two large basins of clothes in the bathroom, he complained: "Dad is so bad. He didn't wash the clothes yesterday and let me wash them!"

"Didn't he wash clothes yesterday? Then what did he wash?" Su Ting remembered that after taking a shower last night, He Dongchuan washed in the bathroom for a while.

He Yan wrinkled his nose and said, "He washed my mother's clothes, but he didn't wash his own clothes or mine."

"How could he do this? It's totally wrong. This is clearly his job, how could he leave it to you!" Su Ting scolded He Dongchuan and then changed the subject, "But he only has two sets of military uniforms, and he should wear them tomorrow. It will definitely be too late for him to wash them when he comes back in the evening. What should we do?"

In fact, He Dongchuan didn't wash clothes every night. Sometimes he was busy late and would leave the clothes for the next day. Su Ting would wash them when she saw them. But since He Yan was to experience life, Su Ting naturally wouldn't take the initiative to take over the work.

Although she joked last night that He Dongchuan was insidious, Su Ting supported his idea. Given He Yan's personality, if he didn't suffer enough this time, he would most likely do the same thing every year at the beginning of the school year.

Others suffer from pre-marriage phobia, he suffers from back-to-school syndrome.

He Yan didn't even think about asking Su Ting to help, he thought it was his father's job, but like his mother said, if he didn't wash his father's clothes, he would have nothing to wear tomorrow. And if he didn't finish washing the clothes, his father would definitely look down on him and say that he wanted to regret quitting.

He Yan sighed and said, "I will wash Dad's clothes clean."

"Xiao Yan is really good." Su Ting praised He Yan generously and told him, "After dinner, I will go to your school to ask for leave for you, and I will also go to the seafood supply station to see if there is anything you can do."

If it was yesterday, when hearing Su Ting's words, He Yan would definitely be looking forward to it. But now, although he did not clearly realize that he had stepped into a trap, he subconsciously knew that his life would not be easy in the next week, so he did not show too much excitement, but just said calmly: "I know."

Su Ting had just eaten and drunk enough when she slowly woke up and started crying at the top of her lungs.

Hearing the sound, Su Ting hurried into the room, picked up the girl and touched her diaper first.

Of course the diaper was wet. Su Ting took it off and hung it at the end of the bed. She then asked He Yan to help bring the basin and thermos that were to be used into the room.

She held Manman in one hand and picked up the thermos with the other, poured hot water into the basin, and then asked He Yan to fetch a ladle of cold water.

After getting the water, she threw the towel down, dipped it in the water, wrung it out, and slowly wiped her body.

After wiping the urine stain, Su Ting put her down on the bed, opened the cabinet under the dressing table and took out the diaper. He Yan took the initiative to say, "Let me change my sister's diaper!"

"Are you coming?" Su Ting asked.

"Yes, aren't you going to let me take care of my sister in the future?" He Yan nodded enthusiastically. There are so many things to do at home, but he is interested in this.

Actually, although Su Ting said that she wanted He Yan to take care of her sister, she had never thought of leaving all the things to him. Firstly, he was young and could not hold the baby slowly. Secondly, changing diapers was a delicate job and he was sometimes quite careless. She was afraid that he might not do it well.

But seeing that he was quite interested, Su Ting didn't want to discourage him too much, so she handed the diaper to him.

After getting the diaper, He Yan unfolded it and pointed it at his sister's buttocks, as if he was hesitating where to put it in. Su Ting saw it and reached out to help: "Pinch these two corners and stuff it directly into her pants, then slowly turn her over and stuff it in the front."

"Oh oh." He Yan nodded continuously. When he came to his senses, he found that the diaper seemed to be stuffed in. He looked up and asked, "Can I try again?"

Su Ting said, "Next time, my sister is hungry, I need to feed her milk."

"Then I'll go make milk powder for my sister!" After saying that, He Yan ran out happily.

Su Ting carried the baby out slowly and watched He Yan take out the milk powder from the cupboard, then find the bottle, pour the milk powder into the bottle, add hot water, and shake it.

During the summer vacation, He Yan watched Su Ting prepare milk powder. Although he had never done it himself, he remembered the process by heart and did it quite smoothly. When the milk powder was ready, He Yan looked up and said proudly, "Mom, the milk powder is ready."

Seeing the expression of begging for praise on his face, Su Ting smiled: "Xiao Yan is really amazing!"

He Yan finished making the milk powder by himself and was full of confidence: "I can definitely take good care of my sister!"

Su Ting thought this was just the beginning, but seeing how excited he was, she didn't say anything to dampen his confidence, and smiled, "I'll wait and see."

…

After dinner, He Yan continued to clean up at home. He only swept the second bedroom and the living room, and then continued to sweep the master bedroom. He also had to wash all the milk bottles and lunch boxes after eating.

Oh, and he also had to do the laundry and light the coal stove.

However, Su Ting was not at ease with him doing these two things alone. She was afraid that he would make the bathroom full of water when washing clothes, or fall down alone at home. Not to mention lighting the coal stove, which would be risky as long as it touched the fire.

So before Su Ting left, she repeatedly said, "Don't worry about these two things. I'll talk about them when I come back. After you finish sweeping the floor, play with your sister for a while."

He Yan wanted nothing more than to agree.

After explaining the matters at home, Su Ting went out.

The Dianjun District Primary School was in the morning reading session, and Teacher He happened to be in Class One, Grade Three. There was no lecture during the morning reading session, so she just sat on the podium, flipping through the lesson plan in her hand.

It was not until a student sitting in the first row reminded her that a parent had come that she looked outside. Seeing that it was Su Ting, she quickly put down her textbook and walked out to ask, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to ask for leave for He Yan." Su Ting said.

He Yan was the top student in the class. He didn't come to school, and Teacher He had of course noticed it a long time ago. She had been planning to go to He's house later to check on him, but unexpectedly Su Ting arrived before the morning reading class was over.

After hearing Su Ting's words, Teacher He's first reaction was: "He Yan is sick?"

Su Ting shook her head and said, "No, He Yan is in good health, he just doesn't want to go to school."

"How could that be?" Teacher He was stunned. He Yan was the top student in the grade and had always been a good boy. She couldn't believe that he didn't want to go to school.

"Didn't a student in your class drop out recently? He was very jealous and didn't want to go to school. I told his father to give him a week off and let him work at home. He should do whatever his classmates do at home. If he changes his mind after a week, he can come back to class."

Teacher He frowned. She had also heard the students' talk about Chen Juanjuan dropping out of school. At that time, she just thought that these children were too naive and thought that Chen Juanjuan could play around after dropping out of school.

But she didn't take it too seriously. It is common for teenagers not to want to go to school. As long as the parents can control them, they will go to school even if they don't want to.

But she didn't expect Su Ting and his wife to follow suit, so she hurriedly asked, "What if he doesn't change his mind? Are you just going to let him drop out of school?"

"Probably not." Su Ting felt that He Yan was unlikely to stick to it. He didn't want to go to school, not because he couldn't concentrate or had bad grades, but because he loved to play. When he found that dropping out of school was more tiring than continuing his studies, he would probably give up these messy thoughts.

Teacher He was very dissatisfied with Su Ting's answer and said seriously, "Comrade Su, please don't be careless about your child's education. With He Yan's grades, he will definitely be able to get into a key middle school or high school. If everything goes well, he will most likely be recommended to attend the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University. He is only in the third grade now. If you let him drop out of school so early, what future will he have?"

After asking the question, Teacher He paused and continued, "Let me say something unpleasant. If you were the biological mother, people in the compound would only say that you and your wife have a problem with your thinking if they knew about this. But you are the stepmother. If He Yan really drops out of school, people might think that you instigated him to drop out. Do you want to save your reputation?"

This was indeed not pleasant to hear, but Su Ting knew that Teacher He really cared about He Yan, so she was not angry. She just said, "Teacher He, don't worry. If he doesn't change his mind, his father and I will definitely take him to school. But before that, we still want to temper his temper and let him suffer a little so that he knows the benefits of studying, so that he won't always think too much in the future."

Su Ting's words were sincere, and Teacher He was relieved: "It's great that you think this way. To be honest, I sometimes don't understand these children. How can they think that dropping out of school is a good thing? Can they go home and play freely?"

"Those who have this idea are probably the kids from the compound."

“Mostly.”

“That means life is going too well.”

Although raising children at that time was not as sophisticated as it would be a few decades later, the children in the compound were from good families. Few military wives had jobs, and most did not, so the children basically did not need to help with housework. Therefore, the children in the compound, the well-behaved ones knew to do their homework after school, and the naughty ones put down their schoolbags and went out to play, and their lives were very comfortable.

When people's lives are good, they tend to think about all kinds of things. These children are typical examples and they all need to be taught a lesson.

Su Ting's words touched Teacher He's heart: "I have been thinking these days that people's destinies are so different. Take Chen Juanjuan from our class for example. She is such a good child. She has good grades and a good personality. Even when she is in school, she still has a lot of work to do at home. But her family is not satisfied and insists that she drop out of school. Look at these children in the compound. They are all urged by their parents to go to school."

After listening to Teacher He's words, Su Ting felt that she was an idealist.

It is normal to think about it. Although the college entrance examination was suspended for several years, the mainstream idea at that time was still that studying could change one's destiny. This was true. Many of the big names on the wealth rankings a few decades later changed their destiny through studying.

But before Su Ting traveled through time, the class system gradually solidified, and the idea that it was difficult for poor people to leave the house became the mainstream idea. How to compare? The children of rich people were born in Rome, while the children of poor people, even if they tried their best, might not be able to reach the starting point of the rich children.

After seeing so much, Su Ting became numb and lost all her sympathy. Her own life was so difficult, how could she have the right to sympathize with others?

But she still admires people like Teacher He because she knows that society needs such idealism.

Therefore, Su Ting is willing to give Teacher He some advice: "It is not impossible to make Chen's parents change their minds and let her return to school to continue her studies."

Teacher He's eyes lit up: "Do you have an idea?"

“I have some ideas, but they may not work.”

"Can you tell me about it?" Teacher He asked quickly. She really felt sorry for the student, but she was really at her wits' end. So even if the method Su Ting said was not that easy, she was willing to give it a try.

"Student Chen's parents wanted her to drop out of school. In the end, they just thought their daughter would get married and they didn't want to invest too much in her. They only saw money, so they told them how to make money."

Teacher He frowned: "How can she make money with just one child?"

"She is a child now, but that doesn't mean she will always be a child," Su Ting asked, "Teacher He, what is your family background?"

"A peasant family."

"How did you meet your husband?"

Teacher He asked hesitantly, "Does this... have anything to do with this matter?"

“Of course it does.”

As for the relationship, Su Ting kept it a secret and Teacher He did not ask further, and replied, "We met through a blind date."

"Did your husband say yes?"

Ordinary junior high and high school students who join the army are basically conscripts. Only if they perform well can they become volunteers. If they perform even better, they can be promoted to officers and become platoon leaders or company commanders.

Before promotion, the army pays allowances, and according to the years of military service, the income is not very high. After promotion, salaries are paid. The salary of a deputy platoon leader is 55, which is comparable to the income of old employees in local state-owned factories.

Teacher He said: "He was promoted. He was the deputy company commander at the time."

"Then why would he go on a blind date with you?"

"We are from the same place. His aunt knows my aunt and thinks I have all the qualifications and I am educated, so she proposed a blind date."

"How much was the betrothal gift?"

"One hundred and twenty-eight, plus a watch."

"That's it. You come from a rural area with a junior high school education. The man you were introduced to was a military officer. The dowry was 128 yuan and a watch. I also come from a rural area with a junior high school education. The man I married through a blind date was also a military officer. The dowry was 688 yuan and three big items."

In fact, the original body and He Dongchuan did not know each other through a blind date, but Teacher He did not know this, so Su Ting shamelessly flattered herself: "How much does it cost to raise a child and support her education? Five yuan a year for elementary school tuition and textbooks is enough, twenty-five for five years, and a little higher for junior high school, maybe twenty yuan a year, sixty for three years, and less than a hundred yuan all together."

"Let's talk about making money. How much money can a little kid make? Five yuan a month? Five yuan a month, that's only sixty yuan a year. She's in the third grade now, and it will take six years until she graduates from junior high school. She can only make three hundred and sixty yuan. Her parents don't let her go to school now, so the extra money she can make is only four hundred and sixty yuan. Let's count it a little more, five hundred yuan."

"But if they can let her go to junior high school, maybe she can get into a state-owned factory and find a better job. When she is between 15 and 20 years old, the income from junior high school will not be as high."

"Also, without education, the conditions of the man she can find won't be too different from her family. If she grits her teeth and gets married, the most she can afford is 800,000 yuan for the bride price. But if she goes to junior high school, there are so many military personnel on the island, maybe she can find an officer. You know how much they earn, and a bride price of 300 to 500 yuan is not a problem for them. For example, the bride price plus the three major items cost me more than 1,000 yuan."

Teacher He hesitated: "This... can't be calculated like this, right?"

"How else would you calculate it? Tell her parents that even if she goes to junior high school, she can only marry an ordinary person, and the betrothal gift is only a few dozen yuan. The higher the education, the more loss she will get?" Su Ting asked back, "For people who only see profit, you have to let them see the profit. If the input cost can be compressed, then do it as much as possible. If the income can be increased, then do it as much as possible. The more money you can get, the more likely you are to convince them."

"But...what if Juanjuan grows up and marries someone who is not so well-off and can't afford so much money?"

He Dongchuan could give such a large dowry because he had a high salary and a good family background, so he could afford the money. However, most of the officers and soldiers on the island came from ordinary families, so even if Chen Juanjuan went to junior high school, she might not be able to find a partner with such good conditions in the future.

"So what if they can't come up with that much money? She's already educated. Her parents can't go back and make her drop out of school again, nor can they take away the knowledge she has learned. Whether they can get the expected benefits or not, what does it have to do with her?"

Teacher He vaguely understood what Su Ting meant, but was a little hesitant: "What if they force Chen Juanjuan to marry someone who can afford it for the bride price in the future?"

"Do you think that if she doesn't study, her parents will force her to marry for money when she grows up? To put it bluntly, if she continues on this path, her life has come to an end. No matter whether her future is good or bad, if she goes back to school and starts studying again, her future will not be worse than her current path."

"If you don't want her to be sold as a commodity by her parents, then tell her what is right and what is wrong. Also, tell her to learn to love herself. If she loves herself enough, she will make the best choice when she reaches that age. On the contrary, if she chooses to compromise, then she will not be worse off than a third grade dropout even though she has received education."

After hearing this, Teacher He said, "I understand. I will seriously consider your suggestion."

"Well, I'm going back then."

"Thank you," Teacher He said with a smile, "Also, I hope He Yan can return to school soon."

"Next week." Su Ting thought that with He Dongchuan's personality, even if He Yan wanted to give up halfway, he would most likely not agree.

…

After graduating from the military primary school, Su Ting went to the seafood supply station again and bought a sea fish and a few big crabs. Then she found Li Guifang and mentioned to her about letting He Yan come to work.

Li Guifang was so shocked that she was speechless: "He Yan? Is he too young? Why do you suddenly want him to come and work?"

The wives of soldiers in the compound were very harsh in their words. If a child as young as He Yan were forced to go out to work, it would probably take less than a day for Su Ting's reputation as a vicious stepmother to spread throughout the entire garrison.

Li Guifang knew that Su Ting was not the type to bully her stepson, and she wanted to give her some advice, but she didn't know how to say it.

Although Su Ting was not afraid of being misunderstood, she felt that if she did not explain the matter clearly, the Women's Federation might come to her for ideological work, so she explained the whole story: "We don't expect him to make money, but mainly want him to do something and know that life is not easy. When the time comes, we will pay for his salary ourselves."

"I told you!" Li Guifang suddenly realized and smiled. "Since it's for the good of the child, I won't hesitate. Wait, our director is here. I'll go talk to her about it now."

After saying this, Li Guifang entered the supply station, went out through the back door, found the director of the supply station, and told him about He Yan.

The director of the supply station is also a military wife and has children. Knowing the good intentions of Su Ting and his wife, she agreed very quickly.

When they walked out of the supply station, Li Guifang said to Su Ting, "When the job is done, I'll let He Yan follow me and help clean up the fish scales and internal organs. This job is not tiring, but it has a strong fishy smell. He won't be able to do it for more than two days. I guarantee he won't be able to bear it."

Su Ting also thought this was a good job and quickly thanked the person.

"You are just too polite!" Li Guifang waved her hand and said, "I have work to do. I won't talk to you anymore. Ask He Yan to come over tomorrow morning. He is not a regular employee, so he can come anytime."

Su Ting responded with a "OK", said goodbye, and went to the butcher's station next door to buy meat.

After buying groceries and returning home, He Yan had already swept the floor of the master bedroom, washed the lunch box and milk, and was sitting on the bed playing with his sister.

Seeing Su Ting coming back, he specifically recounted the work he had just done, as if trying to take credit for it.

Su Ting praised him very happily and then assigned him a task: "I bought some fish and crabs. Go and cook them."

When it comes to dinner, He Yan is also very active. He said "Oh" loudly, jumped out of bed and walked out. Just as he reached the door of the room, he remembered to ask: "Mom, how do you cook fish and crabs?"

"Find a bucket, fill it with water, put the crabs in, and let them soak."

He Yan turned around and ran out. He found a bucket as Su Ting had said, filled it with clean water, and put the crab in it. After that, he returned to the master bedroom: "What should we do with the fish?"

Su Ting walked slowly into the kitchen holding the fish in her arms: "I'll do it, you cook. First, find a soup basin, collect water, put the fish in, and clean both inside and outside." After He Yan finished washing the outside of the sea fish, he looked up and asked: "Mom, how do you wash the inside?"

"Put your hand in through the cut to wash it."

He Yan obediently put his hand in, then made a bitter face: "Mom, there is blood."

Seeing He Yan's reaction, Su Ting felt relieved. The fish they bought had already been killed and the internal organs had been removed. He was disgusted with the fish just because it had a little blood on it. He would definitely not be able to bear it if he went to the supply station tomorrow to deal with the internal organs.

Su Ting said without any sympathy: "It has to be washed clean because there is blood."

"Okay." He Yan had no choice but to hold his breath and continue washing the fish.

When the water in the basin turned red, He Yan picked up the fish, changed the water in the basin as Su Ting said, and continued to wash it. After three times, he poured in white wine and soy sauce to marinate the fish.

After marinating the fish, He Yan’s self-confidence swelled again. He thought he was so awesome that no housework could stop him!

"What should I do next?" He Yan asked, looking up. He couldn't wait any longer.

Thinking that the stove wouldn't be lit at noon, Su Ting said, "Let's wash the clothes first."

"Yeah." He Yan nodded vigorously and strode into the kitchen.

This time, Su Ting didn't need to teach him. He had washed his own clothes and knew what to do.

Fill the basin with water, throw all the clothes in, wet them, apply soap, and then rub them. As he rubbed them, He Yan discovered something: his father's clothes and pants were too big, and it seemed that he could never finish rubbing them!

He Yan finished rubbing the clothes with a grunt, and when he was about to squeeze them, he found that his father's pants were too heavy and he couldn't squeeze them at all!

After trying twice, He Yan decided to give up and ask his mother for help.

He had been full of confidence all morning, and finally encountered a problem. Su Ting certainly would not lend a hand easily, and asked: "Do you think Chen Juanjuan in your class will have someone to help her when she washes clothes?"

"No?"

"Of course not. Not only that, she probably has a lot more laundry to do than you do," Su Ting said. "Since you want to drop out of school like her, you should do your own laundry, don't you think?"

Before, when thinking of Chen Juanjuan, the first thing that came into He Yan's mind was always that she didn't have to go to school and could play freely. But now, facing this basin of clothes, he vaguely realized that maybe Chen Juanjuan's situation was not as good as he imagined.

Life after dropping out of school was not as good as he had imagined.

But today was only the first day, and the idea had only just germinated and had not yet grown, so he did not react that quickly. He just sighed and said, "Okay then."

Su Ting left the bathroom and He Yan continued to wring clothes.

Dad's pants were too heavy for him to lift, so he took a clean basin and placed it next to him. He squeezed the pants a little and then put them into the clean basin. After several minutes, he finally squeezed the pants dry.

Before washing the clothes, He Yan thought he could easily finish them in half an hour, but in fact it took him more than an hour to barely wash the clothes clean.

After washing and drying the clothes, hanging them to dry was another big problem. The clothesline was too high for him to hang them on, so he had to use a stool. So after hanging a piece of clothing, he would jump off the stool, pick up the clothing, move the stool, climb up again, hang the clothing, and repeat the same steps.

After hanging up a basin of clothes, He Yan felt his back and waist ached and his legs were cramping. In short, he felt uncomfortable all over.

So when Su Ting asked him when he would light the coal stove, he waved his hand and said, "I can't do it anymore. I need to lie down for a while." He went back to the room and fell on his back on the bed.

Seeing him panting with exhaustion, Su Ting smiled secretly in her heart, but said calmly: "Then don't lie down for too long, there is still a lot of work to do at home."

He Yan said weakly: "I understand..."

Not long after lying in bed, it was already noon. Although he didn't have to cook, the food would not come to him on its own, so after getting up, He Yan had to take the money and ticket, take his lunch box and go to the cafeteria to get food.

There were a lot of people in the cafeteria, and He Yan waited for more than ten minutes just to queue. By the time he got back to eat, it was already half past twelve. After washing the lunch box and wiping the table, it was time for a nap.

He was busy all morning, so Su Ting did not deduct his nap time. She let him sleep until after two o'clock before calling him to get up and light the coal stove.

When he woke up, He Yan's back pain not only did not get better, but became worse. He got up yawning and said pitifully when he saw Su Ting, "Mom, my body hurts so much."

Su Ting quickly asked: "Where does it hurt?"

"My back hurts, my waist is sore, and my hands are uncomfortable."

To put it bluntly, I was tired. Su Ting felt relieved and asked, "What should I do then?"

He Yan asked pitifully, "Can I not work this afternoon?"

Su Ting didn't answer, but just asked: "I have already asked for a week's leave for you, do you want to give up now?"

He Yan hesitated. If he gave up now, wouldn't he have to go back to school? Although he now thought that going to school was good, he had worked for half a day and had no time to play. He had to go back to school to go to school. What a pity!

"So what should I do in the afternoon?" He Yan asked.

Su Ting said, "There's not much to do this afternoon. Just light the coal stove and help take care of it."

Although He Yan himself had never lit a fire, he had seen Su Ting light a coal stove and it seemed easy to do. He immediately became excited: "Then I'll go light a fire!"

When saying this, He Yan did not expect that some things look easy but are difficult to do, such as lighting a coal stove. Although Su Ting was there to instruct him, half an hour passed and the coal stove did not light up, and he ended up with a face covered in dust.

He Yan wanted to give up, but Su Ting kept encouraging him: "Come on, wait until the coal stove is lit, then you can go out and play, and just come back at five o'clock to prepare the dishes."

So He Yan couldn't make up his mind and continued to compete with Meilu.

After more than an hour of hard work, the coal stove finally started. Looking at the flames inside, He Yan smiled, and at Su Ting's reminder, he hurriedly added honeycomb coal into it.

After the coal stove was fully lit, Su Ting carried the coal stove into the kitchen and instructed her to add water to the pot and put it on the coal stove.

After finishing all these things, He Yan finally had time to wash his face.

While washing his face, He Yan was in a very happy mood thinking that he would be able to go out and play soon. He even started singing. However, just as he came out of the bathroom, he heard his mother calling him.

It turned out that his sister had pooped again and needed her diaper changed, so she needed his help.

After changing her diaper and making milk for her sister, she watched her mother feed her sister and then played with her for a while before He Yan remembered to ask, "Mom, can I go out and play now?"

Su Ting looked up at the alarm clock and said with embarrassment, "I don't think so. It's five o'clock and I need to prepare the food."

He Yan was dumbfounded: "Ah? Didn't you say that we can go out and play after we light the coal stove?"

"I told you to come back at five o'clock to prepare the food," Su Ting said confidently, "I didn't expect you to be so slow in lighting the fire."

His hopes of going out to play were dashed, and He Yan collapsed on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.

Seeing that he looked like he had lost all hope, Su Ting comforted him, "Practice makes perfect. You have never washed a pair of clothes before, and you have never made a fire before. Once you become more familiar with it, it will be faster, and you can also squeeze in time to play."

He Yan looked at Su Ting and asked with a sad face, "Really?"

Of course it was fake, she even found him a job. But when facing He Yan, she nodded sincerely: "Of course it's true."

"Then I'll hold on a little longer."

He Yan, who was ready to hold on, received a new blow that night.

He Dongchuan said, "Your mother and I have found a job for you. Help out at the seafood supply station. The work is not hard. Just help organize things. Two hours a day. Go at seven o'clock and finish at nine o'clock. Is that okay with you?"

He Yan was about to say that he had a problem when he heard his father say, "If you can't do it and can't bear this hardship, just tell me directly. Since you are my son, I will give you a chance to regret it."

The little brat also has self-esteem. When He Yan was told that he couldn't do it, he got angry and patted his chest and said, "I won't regret it! I'm sure there will be no problem!"

That night, He Yan, who had boasted about his achievements, twisted his body in bed for half an hour in regret.