Li Xu's mother, Mrs. An, was very happy to see Yingbao and quickly brought out a plate of fruit.
Yingbao thanked her and asked, "Auntie An, are you used to being here?"
"I'm used to it." An said with a smile, "My mother and I are very comfortable here. Last month, Jiang Cunzheng built a mushroom shed for us so that I could learn how to grow mushrooms."
Yingbao was relieved and talked to her about Chu Man again.
An sighed, "That Chu Man is a little out of tune. She often comes here to disturb my son. Alas, I can't say it directly, but she is becoming more and more unreasonable. She even asked my son to teach her how to read and write."
"My son refused several times, but she seemed not to understand what he was saying. She kept giving him sachets and fans. One time, she even gave him a handkerchief embroidered with lotus flowers."
An said helplessly: "The clan leader and her parents-in-law have warned her, but not long after, she repeated her old tricks again, saying that her husband is Xu'er's good friend, and she is looking after our family on behalf of her husband. Alas..."
Myself and my son are living here as guests, and it is not easy for us to get into arguments with others, let alone be gossiped about. But this woman is like a dog-skin plaster, sticking to me all day long, which is really infuriating.
The more Yingbao listened, the more she felt that Chu Man was mentally ill. She was really a headache.
To say that she is stupid is not the case, because she knows how to seek benefits and avoid harm. She also knows how to use her own money to control Chen Laoshuan's family, and then use her husband's identity to blackmail others.
I guess Chu Man deliberately used this method to annoy the Chen family in order to express her dissatisfaction with the Chen Feng family.
But it doesn't matter if she kills herself, but it's not okay if she drags innocent people down with her.
Yingbao pondered for a moment, walked around the school, and then said goodbye and left.
When she came back, she told her father to ask someone to build a wooden fence outside the school yard and a guard room.
Afterwards, a villager was arranged to sit there and guard the gate to prevent outsiders from entering and disturbing the students in class.
Jiang Sanlang agreed with his daughter's suggestion and immediately arranged for someone to do it.
Within two days, the school yard was surrounded by a tall and sturdy wooden fence. Students also planted flowers, plants and gourd vines around the edge of the fence, which was both beautiful and safe.
Afterwards, Jiang Sanlang moved the martial arts training ground to a new location and built it next to the school. He also planned to build three tiled houses as classrooms and named it Wuxiu Hall.
Of course, this matter still needs to be discussed with the clan leader and village elders, and the money for building the martial arts hall has to be contributed by everyone.
According to Yingbao's idea, the school in Dongchen Village should have been expanded long ago, and in the future there would not only be a literary school but also a martial arts school.
After finishing their liberal arts classes, students can go to the martial arts class next door to stretch their muscles and strengthen their bodies.
In their spare time, students who are not interested in martial arts can also go to the backyard to plant some vegetables, water the fruit trees, catch insects, and identify herbs.
The plaque of the Aichang Women's Medical Clinic is still there. Yingbao plans to ask someone to build another women's medical clinic after the busy farming season is over, and specifically recruit girls in the village to study medicine.
We don't require all of them to become female doctors, but it is necessary for them to understand some medical principles.
Since ancient times, pregnancy and childbirth have been the most dangerous periods for women, especially for new mothers, many of whom died from dystocia or postpartum diseases.
There are also many newborn babies who die prematurely due to improper care.
Therefore, the Aichang Women's Medical Clinic must continue to operate.
Yingbao is not short of money now, so building a few schools is just a drop in the bucket.
But in order to make people pay attention to girls' education, she had to ask people to donate money, and then engrave a stone tablet with the donor's name on it and place it at the entrance of the village to highlight their good deeds.
Yingbao told her father about her plan, and Jiang Sanlang also agreed.
Now, my family and the villagers are no longer short of money, but we lack reputation.
With such reputation, even when you go to other people's banquets, you will be invited to sit at the table at the head, which is a very honorable thing.
Especially this year, many people have come to Dongchen Village, making the village very lively.
Some people who have not found a job yet set up small stalls on the roadside outside the village, selling homemade baskets, straw sandals, raincoats, bamboo hats and other items.
Many people from surrounding villages also came to join in the fun, bringing their own pickled vegetables, eggs and other things to sell on the south slope.
It's even more outrageous these days. The roadside outside the village is filled with stalls, selling vegetables, tofu, pork, and even peddlers selling miscellaneous items. With the arrival of so many vendors, they treat this place as a small market.
Because there are no less than a hundred families living on the south slope, and everyone has plenty of money, during the busy farming season, there are a lot of people buying meat and tofu.
The young girls from other villages would take the opportunity to visit the stalls and buy things to secretly inquire about the young men from the East Village, especially those who were of similar age and handsome, and they would pay special attention to them.
Some people would also walk into the village and their eyes would light up when they saw the rows of blue brick and tile houses.
Yingbao helped her family buy vegetables and meat these days, got to know many small vendors, and even met a village official who collected taxes.
The tax collectors are really omnipresent. I don't know whether the taxes they collect go into their own pockets or are paid into the national treasury.
However, the township officials were still quite polite to the people of Dongcun. Even though a few Dongcun villagers set up small stalls here, they did not collect taxes from them.
For example, Aunt Wang set up a fruit stall at the intersection, selling peaches and apricots from her fruit trees and melons from her vegetable garden, and her business was pretty good.
Those who come to buy her fruits and vegetables are all from other villages, because every household in the village grows fruits and vegetables, and these peaches, apricots and melons are no longer rare to them.
Yingbao also saw that Erni's mother, Leng, also set up a small stall here, selling sweet soup made from apricots and peaches.
This sour and sweet fruit drink is very popular among everyone, especially the young ladies from other villages, who have to eat a bowl of it every time they come.
When Leng saw Yingbao, she insisted on serving her a bowl of soup and refused to let her leave unless she tried it.
Yingbao had no choice but to sit at the small table and eat a bowl of fruit drink made from peaches and apricots.
At this time, Chen Zhao and his younger brother Xu Bao also came to visit the stall. When they saw Ying Bao, they immediately ran over and said, "Ying Bao, so you are here."
Yingbao nodded, and seeing Xubao staring at the fruit in her bowl, she pushed half the bowl of fruit to him.
Xu Bao didn't mind, he picked up the spoon and started eating.
Chen Zhao pulled Ying Bao aside and whispered, "I'm going to tell you something. You must pay attention."
Yingbao was confused: "What's the matter?"
"Chen Erya's father is back. He came to my house a few days ago and talked a lot with my grandfather. He also said that he would make your family look good." Chen Zhao whispered, "I overheard this. Grandpa told him not to be impulsive."
Yingbao frowned: "What else did he say?"
Chen Zhao whispered in her ear with his gloves: "He also said he wanted to take elder sister to a rich family to enjoy a good life, but my grandfather didn't agree."
Chen Wan is thirteen years old this year, in the prime of her youth. She is 60% similar to Chen Changping, with a refined and elegant appearance and very beautiful.
Yingbao: "Didn't he say which noble person it was?"
"No." Chen Zhao curled his lips and snorted, "Does he have such good intentions? I don't think he is a good person. I guess he saw that my aunt remarried and deliberately wanted to trick my eldest sister away to take revenge on our family."