Shen Meng handed the child over to Shen Shoutian and went to the office herself to pay the tuition and collect the new books. The process went smoothly; she simply gave her name and the teacher took care of everything else. She experienced the convenience of pulling strings through connections.
Lu Mingyang had never been to school before. He usually earned work points in the fields with his younger siblings, mostly interacting with Daqing and Erqing. Now seeing so many children, he felt incessantly uneasy and didn’t know how to interact with other kids. He stood at the door with a stern expression.
When Shen Meng arrived, she saw her eldest son standing obediently at the entrance of the classroom, while her second son was already chatting with several little girls, looking quite playful.
"Mom!" Lu Mingfang hurriedly greeted Shen Meng as she came out of the office.
"Ah, Mingyang, come here, you and Ming Liang and Ming Fang have all been registered. Here are your textbooks, from now on you’ll be first-grade students. Ming Fang, mom wants to say a few words to you. If someone bullies you at school, find your brothers. Don’t keep quiet. Also, mom has a task for you, make sure to supervise your brothers in their studies, okay? Tuition is expensive, so they have to be diligent."
Lu Mingfang stood straight and nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Mom, I will definitely supervise them well. If anyone does not study properly, I’ll report to you at home, and I can fight myself, I won’t let anyone bully me."
"Good child, Mingyang, Ming Liang, I am telling you, protect your sister well at school. We do not start trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble. If you are wronged and can’t solve it, come home and tell mom. Mom will take care of it for you. Don’t be afraid of anything. Okay, mom still needs to go home and help your uncle clean up the straw in the reserved land, do you know the way back home from school?"
"We know it, Daqing said his mom is also registering Erqing for school. They haven’t come yet. Also, there are several other people from our village going to school. We can all go home together, mom, don’t worry."
Shen Meng straightened up, looked around, and noticed that Wang Lianhua was not present yet, she frowned,
"Maybe she’ll be late. You kids go to the classroom first, we are heading back now. Mom will make you something delicious tonight."
Lu Mingyang waved at Shen Meng, "Don’t worry, mom!"
Watching them enter the classroom and settle down in their seats, smiling cheekily at her, Shen Meng felt reassured and went back home with Lu Mingkai.
Shen Meng took Lu Mingkai home first, letting the child play in the courtyard while she checked if there was still hot water in the kettle on the big table, and then topped it up.
She took out pig’s trotters and meat that were stored in the space and pretended to soak them in a water tank.
Looking at the somewhat lonely little figure, she asked, "What’s wrong, Xiao Kai?"
Lu Mingkai pouted and glanced at her.
"Xiao Kai is a bit sad, mom. It hurts here," the little guy covered his chest, scampering towards her, his demeanor really softened Shen Meng’s heart.
"Oh dear, my sweetie, it hurts here?"
Shen Meng knew it was because his siblings had gone to school, and he was not used to it yet,
"It’s okay, your mom is here. In a while, your elder uncle will come, and we’ll go to the reserved land. After collecting the straw, what vegetables does Xiao Kai want us to plant more of? Oh, and should mom take you to see Xiao Gang? You can play with your brother and help mom keep an eye on your third aunt, alright?"
The little guy seemed to have been given a significant task, his little face turned serious for a moment, and he vigorously nodded his head.
"Okay, mom will take you to your third aunt’s now, and get you two shortbreads. You can share one with your brother, alright?"
"Alright."
With a crisp and emphatic lilt in his voice, Shen Meng felt a warm fuzziness inside, this child was getting chubbier and softer, and she couldn’t resist going up to him and "smack smack" planting several kisses.
Xie Jinghao was sewing on the kang bed, watching Xiao Gang, who looked dejected, lying on the quilt, and could not help but laugh. Last night, Xiao Gang was still thinking about his elder aunt’s pig’s trotter soup, and only after asking his mother did he find out that his elder aunt had gone to visit relatives. The little guy had been muttering about pig’s trotter soup in his dreams.
"Alright, alright, your elder aunt mentioned she’ll be back today, right? No need to rush!"
"Mom, I’m hungry. The pig’s trotter soup smells so good."
Xie Jinghao chuckled and shook her head, "Silly boy, you’ve become quite picky eating with your elder aunt lately, always thinking about delicious food now."
"Jinghao, is Jinghao there?"
Before Xie Jinghao could move, Xiao Gang suddenly sprang up from the bed and jumped several times on it.
"Elder aunt is here, elder aunt is here, hehehe, elder aunt is here..."
"What’s gotten into you, so excited to see elder aunt, Xiao Gang?"
When Shen Meng walked in carrying Lu Mingkai, she could clearly feel Xiao Gang’s excitement increase.
"Elder sister-in-law is back, he’s been missing your cooking, begged me to take him to your place yesterday, but the doors were locked, and he even pouted."
Shen Meng took off Lu Mingkai’s shoes, reached out to pick up Xiao Gang and weighed him in her arms,
"Elder aunt will make something delicious for Xiao Gang tonight. Your little brother brought you some shortbread, Xiao Gang can have it first. Jinghao, my elder brother is here. He’ll be tidying up the straw from the private plot later, we’ll leave Ming Kai here with you. I’ll come to pick him up after I’ve cooked lunch!"
"Alright, elder sister-in-law, go ahead. After cleaning up, do you need my elder brother to take the straw to Shenji?"
Shen Meng kissed Xiao Gang’s forehead and nodded at Xie Jinghao.
"Elder sister-in-law, you better hurry then. I heard mom and his second uncle discussing taking the straw back home. They said since they grew the crops, they should keep the straw. You better be early, get it cleaned up and hauled away today since they’ve all gone to work."
Shen Meng pursed her lips, ugly but with wishful thinking.
"I’ll get going then. You’re pregnant, take a break from needlework to rest your eyes."
"Alright!"
When Shen Meng got home, Shen Shoutian was already waiting at the doorstep. They didn’t enter the house but went directly to the private plot. Five parts of private land were quite large indeed, and it was impossible for just the two of them to finish in one day.
"Elder brother, you go ahead, I’ll find a couple of people to help so we can finish as early as possible."
"No need, I can manage alone. Getting help means owing favors, which have to be repaid."
The task might take these two until tomorrow, but she wanted it done by this morning, ideally hauling it away by noon, which would absolutely infuriate Lu Jiahe.
She had long realized that this jackass always had to oppose her.
Coincidentally, just as Shen Meng reached the main road, she saw Uncle Guai driving a ox cart, free from work today after having dropped someone off in the morning.
Sleep beckons, and here comes the pillow, thought Shen Meng as she promptly invited him into her own private land. As she was about to look for a second person, she ran into Wang Lianhua returning from enrolling Erqing in school.
Isn’t this a fortunate coincidence? Shen Meng joyfully went to invite people. This was her network of connections!