At dawn the next day, Qibao and her brothers got up and started training, even though they were going to the academy today, they didn't want to be just a civilized scholar, and with more diligence, both could progress at the same time.
The mother-in-law and daughters-in-law made breakfast early, thinking not to delay the children's time to go to school.
After breakfast, the boys also changed into new clothes and got on the oxcart with the schoolbags sewn by their mother diagonally across their shoulders. Xiaowu said: "Sister, I'm going to the school, don't miss Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother will be back after school, and little sixth, you have to be good and listen to Grandma and Auntie." After saying this, he looked reluctant to leave.
Qibao felt very funny after hearing Xiaowu's words. She knew that what her fifth brother wanted to learn most was martial arts. Then she said: "Fifth Brother, don't act as if you can't come back in ten days and half a month. Sixth Brother and I will be at home waiting for brothers finish school, so don't worry!" After saying that, she bids farewell to her brothers. Xu Dabo greeted the rest of the family and drove the oxcart in the direction of the town.
When the bullock cart drove away, Xiaoliu said in despair: "Sister, eldest brother and the others will have to go to school every day from now on. We are the only two children left at home."
Qibao knew that Sixth Brother was used to spending time with his brothers every day. It's hard to get used to the idea of being separated. So she said comfort him: "Sixth Brother, our brothers will be back in the afternoon. If you're bored, sister will teach you how to read at home. Okay?" Xiaoliu knew that his sister had learned how to read with the old deity master, so he agreed.
Not long after, the village chief and his son brought the recruited workers to the door of Old Xu's house, and the Xu family immediately greeted them: "You're here, village chief, come and sit in the house!"
The village chief quickly refused: "No need, your house can't accommodate so many people, so just sit in the yard! Brother, the people we have recruited are all here. I wonder if older brother has anything to explain?"
Elder Xu said: "We are all from the same village and have the same ancestors, there is nothing important to say, so Chunsheng will lead the team. He has experience in building houses, so let him arrange workers for everyone." After saying that, he said politely to the villagers he had invited: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. It's a sign of respect that you've come to help my family build a house. In the future, if you encounter any difficulties, please come to my home, I will never refuse if I can help!"
After listening to Elder Xu's words, the men felt warm to their hearts. Sighing in his heart about the honesty of the old Xu family, Xu Daniu in the crowd said loudly.
"Uncle Dashan, What are you talking about? If anyone in the village is building a house, the big guys will lend a hand if they can. And the wages your family pays are so high, we can find a livelihood to earn money at our doorstep, we are grateful to your family from the bottom of our hearts, what is there to be dissatisfied with, do you all think I'm right?" The crowd agreed, and all of them loudly agreed.
"Good, since all of you believe in my Old Xu Family, let Chunsheng divide the fellows for all of you, he has enough experience, it's going to be hard work for everyone." Elder Xu said.
Xu Chunsheng took over and said: "Since uncle believes in me so much, I can't let you down, everyone, pick up your equipment and start working now!" He said, leading everyone toward the open space where the house was built.
The first step in building a house was to map the boundary points of the house before digging, and when the positions of the four walls were roughly marked, Xu Chunsheng had Elder Xu dig the first handful of soil before work began, then waved his hand and signaled for the people to start digging the foundation.
"Uncle, the foundation can be dug in two days. I wonder when the materials for building the house will arrive?" Xu Chunsheng asked.
Elder Xu replied: "Chunsheng, you don't have to ask me, but I'm going to ask you. You used to build houses, so you should know where to buy bricks and wood, right?"
Xu Chunsheng replied back: "Uncle, I do know that there is a brick kiln factory in the north of the town that specializes in firing green bricks, and the price is quite fair, and the quality is good."
Elder Xu said: "Alright, when my family's eldest coming back from town, I'll let him drive the ox cart and go with you to inquire."
"Sure, no problem. Your house is really not small, but it requires a lot of bricks. If they are shipped all at once, there won't be enough room to put them." Xu Chunsheng said.
Elder Xu sniffed and thought for a moment: "Then let the owner deliver it without having to send all of it over, just some every day, as long as it's enough for the day!"
Xu Chunsheng heard this and stated: "That's a good idea, let's do it, when big brother Xu comes back, I'll go with him!" After saying that, he turned around and went back to follow workers and dug up the soil.
All of the Xu family also returned to their house, Elder Xu said: "Wife, prepare more food for lunch. There must be enough oil and water. We can't let everyone help our family work without having enough to eat. I'll boil some tea to dry later and let the second child be sent to the construction site."
Mrs. Zhang said: "Father, it's not necessary for you to boil water, I'll do it." After saying this, she turned around and went to the kitchen.
Seeing that her sister-in-law had a job to do, Mrs. Li said: "Mom, the 3rd sibling and I will go to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables and prepare them, there are many people eating at noon, so we need to prepare them early, if we're late, we won't be able to keep up with the work!" With that, she and Mrs. Lin each took a bamboo basket and went to the backyard to pick vegetables.
Mrs. Wang smiled and said: "Old man, look at how filial the three daughters-in-law are. They are all rushing to do the work just because they are afraid of tiring me, an old woman!" There was a look of satisfaction on her face.
"Well, look at your happy face, but these three daughters-in-law are really good, and we won't treat them poorly in the future." The old man also echoed with a happy face, after saying that, he turned around and went to the construction site worriedly. But nothing can go wrong, Mrs. Wang saw the old man running out in a hurry. She just smiled and scolded and went to the kitchen.
Qibao took the brush and led her sixth brother to sit in front of the wooden table in the courtyard and said: "Sixth Brother, I will now teach you to recognize words, and first I will teach you to write your own name." Holding a brush in her hand, she wrote down the three words "Xu Mingxuan" with one stroke. Then she pointed to a character with one hand and taught her brother how to read it.
Seeing that her sixth brother had memorized it after reading it after her a few times, Qibao grabbed Xiao Liu's hand again and taught him to write his name.
Xu Laosan saw his daughter teach his youngest son to write, he also sat over curiously, watched the siblings write, he also wet his finger and wrote on the table, Qibao found that her father was also learning, and since teaching one was still teaching anyway, and teaching two was still teaching, she taught them together.
Mrs. Lin came back from picking vegetables with her second sister-in-law. When she saw her husband learning to write from her daughter, she joked: "How old are you? You are still learning to read with your children. You are not afraid of people laughing at you."
When Qibao heard her mother say this to her father, she asked: "Mother, you can't say that, as the saying goes, live to grow old, learn to grow old, it's a good thing that father is motivated, you can't say that about father."
Mrs. Lin saw her daughter protecting her husband so much, she said in a sour tone: "Okay, okay, I won't talk about your father. You and your daughter have a good relationship. I, the mother, am an exception, right?" As she spoke, she pretended to reach out and wipe the corners of her eyes...
When Qibao saw that her mother was sad, she got up and ran to Lin's figure, hugging Lin's thighs and said: "Mother, Qibao also likes her mother, and mom loves Qibao the most. Mom, don't cry!"
Mrs. Lin saw that she had made her daughter anxious. She immediately smiled and said: "I'm just teasing you, I'm not crying. Just because you have such a good relationship with your father, mother said this because she felt a little sad." And secretly laughed at herself for being so childish. She should be happy that her daughter and husband are in a good relationship!
Xu Laosan saw his daughter defending himself, he stepped forward and picked up Qibao and said proudly: "My daughter is so nice, look how considerate she is!" He said and kissed Qibao on the face...
Xiaoliu, who was next to him, saw his father and sister and hurriedly ran to them, tilting his face and saying: "Dad, I want to kiss you too!" Xu Laosan laughed and said: "You stink brat, you don't smell as good as your sister!" Although he said that, he bent down and picked up Xiaoliu, and gave him a kiss on the face....