Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Humph, and you still say you are not targeting someone! ...

The Yangliu Brigade has a good harvest this year. You can see it when you are cutting the rice. The rice ears are heavy and full. How can the harvest be bad? Thinking that they can get more food this year, the members are very happy.

Zhou Mancang is also very happy. Of course he is happy about the good harvest, but he is even happier that the children have won awards!

After all, the grain harvest is good. He has been walking around the fields every day and has been mentally prepared, but he really didn't expect that the children could win awards and enter the finals.

For several days, he had a smile on his face.

Because of this incident, the big news that Shen Moer's family had an extra bicycle did not cause much sensation in the village.

Buying a bicycle is indeed a big deal, but this is not the first bicycle in their village. The team leader Zhou Mancang has one, and the accountant Ding Shouchang's family also has one. Since Shen Laoqi has started working in the kiln factory, it is only a matter of time for his family to buy a bicycle.

What's more, his bicycle is a second-hand one, and people don't want it to be repaired, so there is nothing new about it.

It's normal. Shen Laoqi's family has just built a new house. How much money can he have left? In fact, many people have some idea in their hearts. It is estimated that even if it is a second-hand bicycle, he will have to sell his iron and steel to make money.

In comparison, it is more shocking that two children are going to the provincial competition!

Yes, two.

Although there were six people participating in the preliminary competition, only two of them won the prize and entered the finals. One was Zhou Xiaoshuan's daughter Zhou Zhaodi, who won the second prize, and the other was Chen Yu, also known as Maomao, from Chen Zhuangzhuang's family, who won the third prize. The other four also won prizes, but did not enter the finals, but they all won an excellent prize. It is said that the city, county, and commune may give out prizes in the future. What

surprised everyone the most was that Zhou Xiaoshuan's daughter, who was thin and small and dared not speak loudly, actually painted better than others, better than several boys!

Moreover, Zhou Zhaodi and Chen Yu are going to the provincial capital at such a young age!

They don’t have to pay for their own travel expenses, as the government will pay for their food and drinks. They can go to the provincial capital for free!

You know, many members of the village have only been to the commune at most, and they don’t even know where the county town is, let alone the provincial capital.

I heard that when some kids went to the city, they ate white rice, stir-fried pork with carrots, and scrambled eggs with green peppers. The food in the city is so good, I wonder how much better it will be in the provincial capital? !

Although everyone is very busy and tired during the autumn harvest, they have to look forward to it when they have a little time to rest. Such a young kid can actually see such a big world, even adults can’t help but envy them.

Shen Moer had not thought that some of the children would definitely win awards, but she also did not think that they would not win awards. She was somewhat surprised by the result, but not as surprised as the villagers.

Although it was not a long time, she really spent a lot of time teaching these little brats, so isn’t it natural for them to win awards? Even

the ones in the commune primary school, who had only followed her father like apprentices for a period of time, had two of them won third prizes.

This time, there were only seven children in the whole county who entered the finals, and Liuqiao Commune accounted for four of them. It was said that the leaders of the commune were overjoyed.

The next step is to improve the painting skills of the two children. However, nothing is more important than the autumn harvest. They still have to work, so Shen Moer can only use the time of morning classes, or before and after meals, to open the small stove for the two children.

"Huh, the rice should be harvested in another day or two, right?" Wang Qiutong sat on the ridge of the field, pounded her stiff shoulders, and sighed.

Their "four-person team" has been working together for many days. Wang Qiutong came up with a thick face at the beginning, and she was actually afraid of Fu Mingze. After all, she saw Fu Mingze kick Shi Wei into the stream with her own eyes, so she was always a little trembling.

However, after a period of time, she was able to integrate into this "small group". She was still afraid of Fu Mingze, but she got along well with Shen Moer and Zheng Jiamin.

Shen Moer took out the enamel pot from the bamboo basket and looked at the farmland in the distance while drinking water: "It should be about the same. I heard from the team leader that it will be several days faster than in previous years."

A few days ago, when they were off work, Fu Mingze suddenly took back their sickles and said he would go back to modify them. Then, no one knew how he did it, but the sickles he brought back the next day were very different from the original ones. The handle became longer and the blade was sharpened, which was much more labor-saving to use than the original sickles.

He did explain a lot of mechanics and other things, but unfortunately none of the other three understood it. But it doesn't matter if they don't understand, as long as the sickle is easy to use.

That day they finished the work an hour earlier than usual.

Then the team leader of Team 12, Shen Zhiguo, told Zhou Mancang about it, and Fu Mingze was dragged away by Zhou Mancang.

Later, the sickles of the team members were modified one after another, and the efficiency was indeed improved.

Wang Qiutong secretly glanced at Fu Mingze, thinking that Fu Zhiqing was really amazing, why didn't he show it before?

Zheng Jiamin patted Fu Mingze on the shoulder: "It's still our old Fu. Don't mention it, Comrade Shen Moer, if you hadn't asked this guy to tutor you, I wouldn't have realized that this guy's academic performance is so good!"

Fu Mingze glanced at him indifferently: "You can now tell the difference between good and bad grades, just because you don't understand what I say?"

Zheng Jiamin: "..."

This guy's mouth is really poisonous sometimes, I don't know if he has been beaten for this before.

However, Zheng Jiamin quickly chuckled and shifted the blame: "Comrade Shen Moer, did you hear that? Fu Mingze is mocking us for not understanding anything."

Fu Mingze choked and subconsciously glanced at Shen Moer. Seeing that she was smiling and didn't seem to care, he said, "Isn't it normal that people don't understand since they haven't learned these things yet? You are different. Aren't you a high school student?"

Shen Moer watched them bickering for a while with a smile. Wang Qiuting touched her belly, then came to Shen Moer and whispered, "Comrade Moer, do you want to go to the toilet?"

Shen Moer glanced at Wang Qiuting and nodded, "Let's go together."

In fact, she had discovered a long time ago that Wang Qiuting seemed to be afraid of being alone. Whether she was working or going to the toilet, she would find ways to pull someone else together. At first, when she didn't notice, she said she didn't want to go, and as a result, Wang Qiutong didn't go either, and only followed her when she was about to go. Judging from her appearance, she must have been very reluctant that time.

After that, as long as she asked, Shen Moer would agree to go with her. After

saying something to Fu Mingze and the others, the two of them walked along the ridge of the field to the nearest dry toilet.

The dry toilet was built behind a small bamboo forest, so even though it was right next to the rice field, it was still somewhat hidden, unlike some brigades whose dry toilets were built next to the main road, with people squatting inside, and people coming and going could see them.

After all, Yangliu Brigade was close to the commune, and was one of the best brigades in the entire Liuqiao Commune, so in all aspects, they would consciously lean on the commune, and even build a dry toilet, they also learned from the advanced experience of the commune.

In any case, this was very friendly to female comrades.

As soon as they reached the edge of the bamboo forest, they heard someone talking: "...I believe in Comrade Shen. You are so kind and responsible. You said those things for the sake of the students. After all, who can predict the award in advance?"

Wang Qiutong reacted very quickly. Almost at the same time as she heard the voice, she grabbed Shen Moer and hid in the small bamboo forest next to her. She quickly hid behind a clump of thatch and squatted down with Shen Moer.

Shen Moer: "..."

Why do you look so experienced?

But Shen Moer had already heard that the person who spoke seemed to be Zhang Zhiqiang from the educated youth point. As for the person he was talking to, Shen Moer almost guessed it.

Sure enough, Shen Lingling's voice was heard next. She sighed slowly at first, and then said with emotion and grievance: "Zhang Zhiqing, you are really a wise person. Unfortunately, in this culturally poor land, everyone lives in ignorance and stupidity. They can only see the surface and cannot see through the essence. It doesn't matter. Even if someone slanders me behind my back, I won't care. After all, I just said what I think is right. Teachers should not only think about showing off themselves, but also consider the fragile and young hearts of students."

"I know, Comrade Lingling, can I call you like this, Comrade Lingling, I know everything, you have a heart of gold, but those people don't understand you." Zhang Zhiqiang's voice sounded a little excited.

"Ah, this, you can't shout like this in front of people..." Shen Lingling said with a hint of shyness.

"Okay, okay, I'll just shout when no one is around. Comrade Lingling, in my heart, you are the kindest and bravest person in the world. You are a person with a will of steel like Pavel Korchagin. You are the kind of person I admire the most." Zhang Zhiqiang's voice became lower as he spoke, "Comrade Lingling, actually I, actually I want to..."

Shen Lingling suddenly interrupted him: "Zhang Zhiqing, it seems that someone is coming. Let's talk about it another day."

Zhang Zhiqiang: "Ah? Ah! Oh, okay, then, then you go first..."

Then there was a rustling sound of footsteps, as if Shen Lingling had left quickly. Then Zhang Zhiqiang sighed in annoyance and followed her.

Shen Moer and Wang Qiutong, who were hiding in the bamboo forest: "..."

looked at each other and were speechless for a while.

Wang Qiutong suddenly stood up, stamping her feet: "No, no, I have to go to the toilet."

Shen Moer: "..."

In fact, she also felt a little confused. Couldn't Shen Lingling and Zhang Zhiqiang choose a better place? They had to "confide in each other" in this place. Look, how much inconvenience it brought to others, and almost made Wang Zhiqing feel suffocated again.

When the two of them went back, they saw Shen Lingling sitting on the edge of the field peeling a yellow-skinned orange. Not far from her, Zhang Zhiqiang was holding a sickle and working hard. Occasionally, he looked up at Shen Lingling, and his square face was full of happiness.

Wang Qiutong simply couldn't bear to watch it, and secretly whispered to Shen Moer: "Shen Lingling didn't pay much attention to him before, and he was just being sentimental. Now, I'm afraid he will risk his life for Shen Lingling. Tsk, in fact, people just want to coax him to help with the work."

Everyone in the village knew that the relationship between Shen Moer and Shen Lingling's family was very bad, especially with the matter of Wang Jinbao and the brick theft in the middle. It was good enough that the two families didn't regard each other as enemies, so Wang Qiutong was not afraid to tell the truth in front of Shen Moer.

Shen Moer smiled and said, "It's a matter of one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten. As long as they are willing, no one else can interfere."

Wang Qiutong curled her lips and said, "That's right. Zhang Zhiqiang has a problem with his brain. He will regret it one day."

As the two were talking, a person suddenly emerged from the rice field next to them. Wang Qiutong let out a low cry and quickly ran to the other side of Shen Moer. Her fingers subconsciously grabbed Shen Moer's clothes.

Shen Moer raised her eyebrows and glanced at the male educated youth. She remembered that his name seemed to be Shi Wei. She didn't know the other person either. She glanced at him without stopping.

Unexpectedly, Shi Wei suddenly stopped, smiled at her, and said, "Comrade Shen Moer, congratulations on your good performance in the competition."

It is said that you should not hit a smiling person. Shen Moer nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Shi."

Shi Wei smiled and said, "Then I wish Comrade Shen Moer more success."

Shen Moer did not say anything else, smiled, and continued to walk forward.

Wang Qiutong grabbed Shen Moer's sleeve and refused to let go. After walking a long way, she quietly looked back. When she did not see Shi Wei again, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief and let go of Shen Moer's sleeve.

Shen Moer looked at her and asked, "Are you afraid of Shi Zhiqing?"

Wang Qiutong thought for

a moment and lowered her voice and said, "He is not a good person. Neither he nor Yang Qingqing are good people. Remember to stay away from them." Shen Moer looked at her deeply but did not ask any more questions.

The rice in the field was harvested in a few days, just as Shen Moer expected. However, the next work was not easy either. Threshing, husking, drying, and dusting the rice. When the rice was completely dried, it had to be bagged and delivered to the public grain. Only when all the public grain was delivered could the work be considered over.

However, the teachers and students of the brigade primary school no longer had to participate in these tasks. Shen Moer returned to her original rhythm of teaching all day, and at the same time, she had more time to open the stove for Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi.

At noon that day, after finishing her meal, Shen Moer prepared to light the stove for Maomao and Zhou Zhaodi at home as usual. However, Maomao came for a long time but Zhou Zhaodi was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Moer had no choice but to teach Maomao first. Zhou Zhaodi did not show up until the gong sounded in the afternoon when the bell rang for work.

"Let's go to her house and have a look."

Shen Moer put away the paper and pen on the table and the books she was reading, closed the gate and took Maomao to Zhou Zhaodi's house.

Zhou Zhaodi's father was Zhou Xiaoshuan. His brother Zhou Dashuan lived on the other side of the brigade headquarters. It was a house he built after getting married. Zhou Xiaoshuan lived in the old house of the Zhou family with his parents.

Generally speaking, parents live with their eldest son, but this is obviously not the case in their family.

It is said that when Zhou Dashuan's wife married into the family, she gave birth to two girls in a row. She suffered a lot during the difficult labor when giving birth to the second one, so the couple discussed and decided not to have more children. However, the old man of the Zhou family wanted his grandson to carry on the family line, so he forced them to have more children. The situation became very tense between the two sides, so Zhou Dashuan and his wife simply moved out.

Zhou Xiaoshuan is said to be a "filial son" who can fully understand his father's desire for a grandson. His first wife gave birth to three daughters in a row, but she died of heavy bleeding when she gave birth to the third daughter. Within a year, he married another widow with a son. Now that woman is five months pregnant.

Because this woman gave birth to a son before, the Zhou family is sure that she can continue to give birth to boys, and the whole family worships her like an ancestor.

——These are all what Shen Moer and Aunt Chen found out after she selected Zhou Zhaodi to participate in the competition.

Shen Moer walked to the door of Zhou's old house holding Maomao's hand, and heard a woman's voice in the yard: "Cry, cry, cry, it's so unlucky! Didn't you already win the award? You said there would be a prize, but now you haven't seen anything! Anyway, you can already win the award, why do you still need to study? There are so many chores at home, do you expect me to do it all by myself?! I'm carrying your Zhou family's precious grandson in my belly. If I get tired or have something in my belly, can you bear it?"

Another thin and weak voice said with sobs: "I work, I get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night, I can do all these chores, wuwuwu, I'll find time to go to Teacher Shen's house."

"Isn't it your duty to get up in the morning and do more work? Your family provides you with food, clothing and schooling, can't you do something to contribute to the family? Forget about nighttime, it's pitch dark, doesn't it cost money to light a lamp?!"

The woman became angry and cursed, "Zhou Xiaoshuan, you stupid idiot, are you just going to listen to this damn girl talking back to me? Do you want her to go paint?" Hua, do you want to tire me to death? !”

A man’s voice: “How could that be? Didn’t I tell her not to go? Zhaodi, you have to be obedient. You are a girl, you should be able to recognize a few words. Your family can support you to go to school, you should be grateful. Your mother is pregnant now, you should be more considerate of her.”

The weak voice did not argue anymore, but continued to sob.

With a bang, something was thrown to the ground. The woman said angrily: “Did you touch my head on purpose? If you cry again, I will beat you to death!” There was

a commotion inside.

Shen Moer banged on the gate a few times and shouted: “Is Zhou Xiaoshuan at home?”

The yard was quiet for a moment, and soon someone came to open the door. The man who opened the door looked about the same age as Chen Zhuangzhuang, but his face had a sad expression. When he saw Shen Moli, he was stunned for a moment, and then felt a little embarrassed: "Teacher Shen."

Shen Moli stood at the door and did not go in. Instead, she said: "I'm here to find Zhou Zhaodi. She did not attend the tutoring today. I may have to keep her for another class in the afternoon. Let your parents know in advance."

Zhou Xiaoshuan opened his mouth, frowned, and looked embarrassed.

A woman with a slightly protruding belly came out with her back propped up. She looked Shen Moer up and down and said, "Teacher Shen, our Zhaodi doesn't want to learn anymore. Drawing this useless painting is not only a waste of paper and pens, but also a waste of time. There is a lot of work at home, and Zhaodi has to help with the laundry and firewood at home. She has no time for extra lessons, so don't bother with her." Before

Shen Moer could say anything, Maomao snorted angrily, "You bad woman, you are talking nonsense. The drawing paper and brushes were bought by the team leader and sister Moer, not your money! You, an adult, don't work, and you let Zhou Zhaodi do it. You don't even give her food, you bad stepmother!"

The woman's eyebrows were raised immediately, "Hey, you little bastard! " "Son, how can you talk like that?!"

She still held the laundry mallet that she had used to hit someone before in her hand, and raised her hand to hit Maomao. Shen Moer quickly picked up Maomao and stepped back, angrily saying, "Yang Da Nv, is this your child? Why are you hitting him?!" Yang

Da Nv glanced at Maomao, and thought that Chen Zhuangzhuang and his wife and Chen's mother were not easy to mess with, so she withdrew her hand embarrassedly, "I just wanted to scare him, how could I really hit him!"

Shen Moer ignored her and shouted "Zhou Zhaodi". In fact, Zhou Zhaodi had been leaning on the door for a long time. When she heard her shout, she immediately came out and said, "Teacher Shen."

She accidentally caught the eye of her stepmother Yang Da Nv, and she shrank back and subconsciously hid behind Shen Moer.

Shen Moer patted her head: "It's time to go to school, let's go."

She glanced at Yang Da Nv and said: "The competition is not just your business, it is related to the honor of the brigade, the commune, the county and even the city. If you continue to disturb Zhou Zhaodi's study, I will have to tell the brigade leader."

Yang Da Nv pouted: "I don't believe that the city and the county can still control us little members?"

In the end, she didn't say anything more.

Shen Moer led the two little ones to school, thinking in her heart that she might have to talk to Zhou Mancang about this matter. She had a hunch that Yang Da Nv would not cooperate because of a few words from her.

Just as she was thinking, someone suddenly called out from behind: "Comrade Shen Moer!"

She turned around and saw Fu Mingze walking towards her from the direction of the educated youth point. After he walked in front of her, Fu Mingze looked at her carefully, frowned slightly, and asked: "What happened?"

Shen Moer's wrinkled brows relaxed, and she smiled and shook her head: "A little thing." After

she finished speaking, she saw that Fu Mingze was still looking at her, as if he was not satisfied with this answer, so he patted Zhou Zhaodi's furry head and said: "The students' parents are not very cooperative with our work, but I will discuss it with the team leader and solve it properly as soon as possible."

Zhou Zhaodi touched her head, and the thin little girl, whose face had been tense, visibly relaxed.

Maomao stretched out his index finger to poke her frizzy short hair, and laughed happily.

Fu Mingze breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Zhou Zhaodi, and said, "If parents beat or abuse their children, you can find the women's director or the commune women's federation, or ask the police station to intervene."

The women's director of their brigade was surnamed Shen, and was a distant relative of Shen Moer. She married in the same village and had the support of her natal family and husband's family. She has been in this position for more than ten years.

However, this director Shen was a smooth-talker and did not want to offend anyone. She was always very active in organizing women comrades to study □□, carry out activities such as supporting military families, and visiting people in need. But once it came to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, and the abuse of women and children, she began to play dumb.

Shen Moer knew that it was useless to look for her, but the Women's Federation and the police station could be taken into consideration. After all, that girl Yang dared to use such a big club to attack Maomao, and who knows what she would do when she attacks Zhou Zhaodi, her stepdaughter.

In the cold winter, it was common for parents to beat and scold their children, so Shen Moer didn't know that in this world, parents who beat and scold their children would also be arrested by the police.

The original owner didn't seem to have this impression.

But Shen Moer naturally believed in Fu Mingze. She had discovered that Fu Zhiqing actually knew a lot, but he didn't seem to want to attract attention, so most of the time he didn't want to say much.

"I know, if they go too far, I'll find the police." Shen Moer said.

Fu Mingze nodded, looked at the two little ones who were curiously looking at them, took out two oranges from his pocket, and stuffed the round orange one into Shen Moer's hand: "Eat it yourself, don't share it with others."

He gave the other smaller orange with some green and yellow peel to Maomao: "Share it between you two."

Maomao blinked his puppy eyes, and somehow felt that this scene was familiar... This was how Fu Zhiqing shared candy with him and Shun'er before, favoring one over the other.

He couldn't help but say: "Sister Moer's orange is big and red, and ours is small and yellow, so we should share one between the two of us!"

Fu Mingze glanced at him, nodded, and said seriously: "It's because this one might be a little sour and not delicious that I didn't give it to her."

"Otherwise, how can you, a little kid, have a share?"

Maomao: "..."

Humph, and you still say you're not dating!

Liar!