The original Xiasanlan Alley in the north of the city has now been converted into Jishan Hall.
Children without fathers and mothers live at the head of the alley, and old people without children live at the end of the alley.
Children and the elderly should not be together. This was specially proposed by Cheng Xue in order to reduce the frequency of illness among children and the elderly.
They eat two meals a day, and the standard for each meal is four dishes and one soup, which is suitable for lunch and dinner. Clothes and shoes are all complete, and there is also a set of quilts and mattresses for each person. It can be said that these children and the elderly have become more mature after entering Jishan Hall.
It is equivalent to enjoying happiness.
The elderly people who are able to move freely will go to the backyard to cultivate vegetable fields to save some expenses for Jishantang. The little girls aged six or seven will help Sister-in-law Yuan wash clothes and clean the house to reduce their burden.
Although there is no great wealth here, the best thing is that life is stable.
In the past, serious people would rather take a detour than pass through this alley. But it is different now. People don’t have any worries and can walk wherever they want. If someone has nothing to do and passes by Jishan Hall, they will go in to take a look.
Turn around.
Cheng Xi drove the car and stopped at the entrance of Jishan Hall. Bai Wei reached out and took Li Tian and Li Huai down, and then helped Cheng Xue down.
The door of Jishan Hall has been kept ajar, but it opens with a slight push.
As the sound of "squeak...ah..." sounded, the little girl washing clothes in the yard looked up, and then narrowed her eyes with a smile.
"Sister Tiantian, Master Huai and Mrs. Yuan Niang are here."
Yuan Tao's wife hurried out after hearing the sound, hurriedly walked up to him, and bowed sideways.
"Greetings to Madam, Second Miss, and Young Master, why are you here now? Have you eaten?"
"You've eaten, don't be busy." Cheng Xue shook her head with a smile, looked around the yard and said, "How are you doing lately? Are you lacking anything?"
Yuan Tao's wife hurriedly shook her head and said:
"No shortage, no shortage. Yesterday, Mrs. Xiao sent someone to deliver a lot of rice, flour, oil and meat. I can eat it for a while."
Her family was hit by a disaster in spring last year, and none of her five children were left. Now that she can come to Jishan Hall to take care of her children, it is a good thing for her, and she cherishes it very much.
Cheng Xi and Bai Wei moved the things in. Cheng Xue pointed at the cotton and materials and said:
"The house has to entertain noble people recently, and we don't have time to make winter clothes for the children and the elderly. During the day, you can take the girls to make them for everyone. It just so happens that the girls can practice their skills. Cotton-padded clothes and trousers always need to be learned.
."
When Yuan Tao's wife heard this, she called out the children and saluted together.
"Thank you madam for taking such good care of you. I am very grateful."
They would do this every time they gave something away, and Cheng Xue did not stop them from saluting. After all, nothing was given for free, and one should always be grateful.
After the children got up, they took the things where they should be put.
Needless to say, Yuan Tao's wife is still very good at raising children, and so far she has not found any problems with her children. They must all be young. The older ones were taken away by the military camp, and the younger ones will definitely be obedient.
As usual, Yuan Tao's daughter-in-law took her from house to house. When they met the daughter-in-law who worked here, they exchanged pleasantries with each other.
After splitting and merging, the house has returned to its original appearance. Because there are many children, each house has two Kangs in the north and south, with a row of kangqins arranged slightly. The house can accommodate twelve children, but currently
There are ten of them, so they are not too crowded.
Each room is assigned two or three seven-year-old children to facilitate the management of the little ones. Everyone is dressed very cleanly, has no runny nose, and has shiny sleeves.
"Madam, would you like to take a look at the end of the alley?"
"Anyone coughing?"
"No, the old people are in good health."
"Then it won't go over." Cheng Xue shook her head and declined, "I came here mainly to take them with me. They want to play with the children."
Li Heng and his three brothers can still have some fun at home. Now that Li Heng is not here, Li Huai wants to be with his sister, but her sister considers herself a big girl and won't mess around with him. Looking at the "big girl" now, she is playing with someone younger than her.
The children played with the eagle catching the chicks, she acted as the hen, and Li Huai acted as the eagle.
The children's laughter was so infectious that Yuan Tao's wife watched for a long time before she realized that she had neglected Cheng Xue. Seeing that she was also watching the children, she simply stayed with them obediently.
At the end of Shenshi, all those studying and studying arts came back, and dinner was served at Jishan Hall.
Children are like this, they will always be the food of others. Even if both siblings have eaten, with so many children accompanying them at this moment, they can still eat another bowl.
The dinner at Jishantang was very sumptuous. The staple food was sorghum rice, and the dishes were pork stewed with beans, eggplant stewed with potatoes, cold cucumber shreds, vegetarian stir-fried cabbage, and a dish of spinach and egg soup.
Cheng Xue and Bai Wei, like other daughters-in-law, helped the children with meals, added vegetables, and took care of them all the time.
The daughter-in-law who comes to work here is paid one hundred cash per month, and she can take care of food, food, and housing, or not. As long as the children are taken care of, everything else is negotiable.
Not long after the children finished eating, Yuan Tao came back from the end of the alley. Seeing Cheng Xue here, he hurried back to the room to get the account book and presented it with both hands.
"Madam, please take a look. These are the recent expenses. Yesterday, Mrs. Xiao sent a batch of food, which can last for almost half a month."
Xiao Song's wife gave her a lot of things, but she couldn't keep up with the talk.
Children have to eat dozens of kilograms of grain in a day, let alone the elderly. There is a word called "old rice grains", and the elderly eat no less than adult men.
Cheng Xue handed it to him after reading it and said:
"I gave you a lot of cotton and materials today. I told your wife to take the girls to make them. You take the time to take the two boys to the old man to measure them. When you are not busy, take the children to Huwei Mountain.
Cut some firewood, we’ll need it in the winter.”
"Madam, don't worry. I've already borrowed a cart from the government office and will take them up the mountain to chop firewood starting tomorrow."
"If someone asks you what you do, just say 'Jishantang'. You can answer whatever they ask. There is no need to be shy."
Yuan Tao was startled when he heard this, and then nodded in agreement. Since the lady didn't clarify what she said, it was hard for him to ask further questions. He just didn't know who this person was, so he could ask the lady to come over and remind him.
After Cheng Xue finished saying what she wanted to say, she ordered Bai Wei to go find the two children, get up and leave the house.
The couple followed each other out to see each other off. They didn't return to the courtyard and bolt the door until the carriage turned a corner and saw it.
"How's it going, old man? Have you taken a bath today?"
When Yuan Tao heard this, he sighed heavily and said:
"Why don't you wash them? Those immobile Beiqi old men only tell them after they urinate and defecate every time. I really want to throw them out."
He is not afraid of serving others. His father and uncle were all served by him, and he is very experienced in this area. What makes me angry is that those old guys from Beiqi are causing trouble to others, and are ungrateful and ungrateful.
Every time it made the house stink, he realized it, and it made him feel aggrieved just thinking about it.
"Forget it, don't get angry with them. Mrs. Li pays us a lot of wages, and these children are also sensible. Look here, don't be like that over there."
"This is the only way." Yuan Tao shook his head helplessly, carrying a bucket to fetch water...