Just as Xu Ning delivered the steamed buns and vegetables to the cowshed, he saw Lu Xiaotang and Xu An coming down the mountain, each carrying a load of firewood. They had just returned from working in the fields and went straight up the mountain instead of going home.
Xu An carried less, but Lu Xiaotang carried at least over 100 kilograms.
Xu Ning hurriedly brought the boiled water on the table for the two of them to drink. Lu Xiaotang finished the water in the bowl and said, "I'll go upstairs again. Xiaoan, you don't have to go."
Xu Ning advised, "Brother Lu, you don't have to go either. You've been tired all day. Eat and rest early. I'll go up the mountain to chop tomorrow."
"It's okay, I'll walk one more distance and be back soon. You two put these in the woodshed." After saying that, he took the carrying pole and strode up the mountain.
Lu Xiaotang worked during the day and went up the mountain to chop firewood when he came back in the afternoon. When Xu Ning wanted to go to work, he wouldn't let her, and told her to just clean the house and cook.
She had to cook different kinds of food for them every day, and sometimes she would go to the mountains to chop some firewood and pick some early-ripening pine nuts.
Time passed quickly and the crops in the fields were almost harvested.
The woodshed was already full of firewood and there were cabbages in the yard, so there was no place to put the chopped firewood. So Lu Xiaotang piled it in front of the gate and asked them to move in after harvesting the cabbages.
He will be leaving in a few days. He has been coming back from the mountains very late these days, bringing back a lot of pheasants and rabbits.
After dinner, Xu Ning said to Lu Xiaotang, "Brother Lu, the crops in the fields have been harvested. Tomorrow I will go with the aunties in the village to peel corn. You don't have to go. Just rest at home for two days."
Lu Xiaotang nodded and said, "Okay, I won't go tomorrow. Xiaoan will start school soon. I will take him to the city to register tomorrow."
Xu An is going to be a freshman in high school this year. There is no high school in the village, so he has to go to school in the county town and live on campus.
Xu An hurriedly said, "Brother Lu, you should rest at home. I will go there by myself tomorrow."
"It's okay. I'll go with you tomorrow. I discussed it with Grandpa Qi a few days ago. Xiao Mo is almost seven years old and it's time for him to go to school. I asked Grandpa Qi to talk to the village chief and the principal and let Xiao Mo go to school this year."
Xu Ning said worriedly, "I don't know if the village chief and the school will agree to let Xiao Mo go to school. After all, his class background is there."
"It shouldn't be a big problem if Seventh Grandpa comes forward. Go ask first. If it doesn't work, I'll find another way."
After dinner, Xu Ning found some pieces of cloth and prepared to make a small schoolbag for Xu Mo.
After breakfast the next day, Lu Xiaotang and Xu An rode their bicycles into the city.
When Xu Ning went to work, he went with Yang's younger sister Wei Lanlan.
When they saw her, they teased, "Oh, your partner is willing to let you go out to work today! We were all tanned like little black balls after the autumn harvest, but your face is so white and tender that you can pinch water out of it. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, it's different when someone cares about you."
Xu Ning listened to the two people chatting and laughing with each other without blushing. She was more thick-skinned than the other two when it came to joking.
She laughed and said, "Why, your Chen Xiangdong doesn't feel sorry for you? When I go to deliver food, I often see you sitting under the tree while Chen Xiangdong works alone."
After that, he looked at her belly again and asked, "Are you pregnant?"
Before Wei Lanlan could react, she said to Yang Xiaomei, "And your little sister, I saw it all. Sun Hao even put the kettle to your mouth and fed you water. Why, you two are not going to invite us to the wedding banquet?"
After hearing this, Yang Xiaomei's face instantly turned red, and Wei Lanlan's face also blushed because of what she said. The two looked at each other and were about to go up and tear her mouth apart.
When Xu Ning saw the two men blushing, she was ready to run away. Before they could even start to fight, she had already run far away with a smile on her face.
Chunhua, Jiaohua, Wang Juanjuan and Gu Wenjing, who were standing behind, looked at the people fighting and playing, all with confused expressions.
Gu Wenjing snorted and said, "You found a partner of that kind and you still have the nerve to laugh so loudly. How shameless."
Wang Juanjuan glanced at the few people, lowered her head to hide the emotions in her eyes, and looked at her hands again. Her hands, which originally had slender fingers and no scars, were now covered with calluses, her face was tanned, and her skin was much rougher.
I looked at the people in front of me who were smiling brightly, and the jealousy in my heart couldn't help but surge out.
Jiaohua and Chunhua also looked unhappy. In the past, Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei liked to talk to them, but now they seldom played with them. It was all Xu Ning's fault.
A few of them walked to the place where the corn was stored in the village. Many aunties and sisters from the village had come. Some of them who knew her saw her and joked, "Xu Zhiqing, why are you the one working today? Your partner didn't come."
Xu Ning could joke with Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei without batting an eyelid, but she couldn't handle the aunties and aunties in the village.
She smiled shyly and said, "Aunt, he went to the city to register my brother."
Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei laughed out loud in revenge when they saw how shy she was.
Xu Ning, Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei sat together, chatting and laughing with several aunts from the village, and time passed quickly.
When getting off work, Wei Lanlan asked, "When will your partner come back?"
Xu Ning sighed and said, "It's just these few days. The reason he can stay for such a long time this time is because he saved up two years of vacation time."
Wei Lanlan teased, "Why, you can't bear to part with it!"
Xu Ning rolled her eyes at her and said, "Nonsense. Let your Chen Xiangdong be gone for several years. Just try it."
When I got home, I saw the bicycle in the yard and a piece of meat in the kitchen, but I didn't see the two people. They must have gone up the mountain.
She went to the yard to cut some leeks to make dumplings for lunch. The weather was cold and she could not eat leeks very often.
When the two men came back carrying the firewood, Xu Ning had almost finished wrapping the dumplings.
Xu An saw her and said happily, "Sister, when Brother Lu took me to register today, I met my classmate who also went to register. We were even assigned to the same dormitory. He is from the team next door. From now on, we can come back together on Sundays."
Xu Ning smiled and said, "That's great. I'll have someone to accompany me when I go back and forth. Dalin and Jianmin will also be going to high school next year, right?"
"Yes! We can go to school together again next year, but Jianmin said he doesn't want to go to high school anymore. Dalin and I tried to persuade him when we were working the other day, but he said he would think about it again."
In the evening, when Lu Xiaotang came back from the cowshed, he said to Xu Ning, "Grandpa Qi went to see the village chief and the school principal today and said he wanted Xiao Mo to go to school. They both agreed. Tomorrow Grandpa Qi will take Xiao Mo to the school to register."
Xu Ning and Xu An said happily, "This is great. Xiao Mo will be able to go to school with the other children in the village. Brother Lu, when you go to the cowshed later, take the schoolbag I made for Xiao Mo with you."
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