Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei nodded. This matter had been arranged before he went to Hulu Valley. Calculating the time, it had indeed been four days.
"Alright, Brother Dayong, you can tell the Liu family people how to burn charcoal later. From now on, your charcoal and the Liu family's should still be stored separately. Although Liu Rumei has married me, her subordinates are ultimately not of our kind."
"Brother Xiaobei, don't worry, I understand. I promise to keep them separate to avoid future trouble."
Chen Xiaobei nodded and looked outside. "How has the charcoal delivery to the city been these past few days?"
Chen Dayong nodded. "The weather is getting cold, and more families are selling charcoal. The charcoal can barely be sold out every day, but with the addition of the Liu family, it's hard to say."
Chen Xiaobei nodded. This was within his expectations, as only those wealthy families could afford charcoal.
"Ah, I'll discuss this matter with Rumei."
"I'll have Rumei bring people to find you later. You can hand over the charcoal furnace to them."
At this moment, Cui Hongyu walked in with a smile. "Brother Dayong, the meal is ready. Feel free to have a bite."
After a hasty breakfast, Chen Xiaobei took Chen Qiaoer's hand and said he would send her to school. In reality, everyone understood that Chen Xiaobei wanted to take the opportunity to see Fang Jun.
At this time, Fang Jun was already busy in the classroom.
After all, he was a scholar and was very strict with himself.
After breakfast, he began to organize all the desks and chairs in the classroom, preparing to welcome the children.
Chen Qiaoer arrived at the classroom door and bowed respectfully to Fang Jun. "Greetings, teacher."
Fang Jun walked forward, smiled, and patted Chen Qiaoer's head. "Good morning, Qiaoer. Go and study."
Chen Qiaoer agreed and obediently walked to her desk.
On the blackboard in front were several lines of text, which were the morning reading poems Fang Jun had prepared for the children today.
While Chen Qiaoer was studying, Fang Jun walked out.
"Brother Xiaobei, why do you have time to come today?"
Chen Xiaobei smiled slightly. "I mainly came to see you today."
"I'm thinking that you and Xiaoyue's matter needs to be expedited."
Fang Jun looked a little shy and smiled somewhat unnaturally. "I've considered this too, but my grandfather and Xiaoyue's parents are coming soon. I want to wait until they arrive before proceeding with the wedding ceremony."
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei nodded. Fang Jun was, after all, a scholar and was well-educated and reasonable.
"Remember to tell me when the time comes."
After discussing this matter, Fang Jun changed the subject. "Brother Xiaobei, there's one more thing I need to tell you. These past few days, villagers have been coming to ask if they can come to learn to read, but I'm truly spread too thin."
Chen Xiaobei raised an eyebrow at this. Yes, with less work in the winter, villagers had more time. Since Huang Ying's incident, no one had brought up teaching the villagers to read.
After leaving the school, Chen Xiaobei turned to find Liu Rumei. Liu Rumei had already returned to her residence and was about to start embroidering when she heard Chen Xiaobei calling from the courtyard.
Xiao Qing hurried out to meet him and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, son-in-law. The young lady is in the inner room."
Chen Xiaobei stepped inside, and Liu Rumei had already prepared tea and placed it on the table.
Chen Xiaobei didn't stand on ceremony. He sat on a chair, picked up the tea, and took a sip, smiling. "It smells really good. The tea brewed by my wife is the best."
His words made Liu Rumei's face blush slightly. In fact, the tea was brewed by Xiao Qing.
Xiao Qing also lowered her head in slight shame.
Chen Xiaobei skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. "Rumei, I went to the school just now, and Fang Jun said that villagers have been coming to him these past few days, wanting to learn to read and study."
"I was thinking, since you are also a literate person, would you be willing to teach them for a while until I find someone else..."
Before Chen Xiaobei could finish, Liu Rumei had already nodded. "Of course, I'll handle this. You go and tell the villagers. I can start tomorrow."
Chen Xiaobei clearly hadn't expected Liu Rumei to agree so readily.
"Alright, then I'll go and spread the word. Let those who want to learn come to the school tomorrow morning and wait."
Chen Xiaobei left happily, but Xiao Qing was unhappy. She pouted and said to Liu Rumei, "Miss, a month as a teacher doesn't earn much money. Why do you have to endure such hardship?"
Liu Rumei looked at her and said solemnly, "Xiao Qing, we can't just look at how much money we earn. Do you think Brother Xiaobei lacks money?"
Xiao Qing looked at Liu Rumei and shook her head slightly. "If you say he doesn't lack it, he doesn't, but it's certainly not as much as our Liu family."
"Yes, he could have lived a life of ease and comfort, but he's busy running around in this small mountain village."
Xiao Qing then said blankly, "That makes sense, Miss. What do you think he's after?"
"What's he after? Of course, it's for peace of mind."
Xiao Qing couldn't understand this for a while. What did "peace of mind" mean?
Liu Rumei, however, seemed to take it very seriously. She opened her cabinet, which was full of clothes. She picked one up, looked at it, and put it down. She picked up another, looked at it, and put it down.
Seeing her apparent dilemma, Xiao Qing couldn't help but say, "Miss, it's just teaching a few villagers to read. Why do you have to take it so seriously? If you ask me, I can teach them too."
Liu Rumei turned and looked at Xiao Qing, her voice deliberate and serious. "This is not an easy task. If you want all the villagers to learn, do you think you can do it?"
Her words left Xiao Qing somewhat speechless. She was silent for a good while, then put on a cheerful smile. "Then forget it. When I was learning to read, I almost drove my teacher crazy."
After that, they both burst into laughter.
When Chen Xiaobei returned home, Cui Hongyu had already started preparing lunch with Qiu Mei and the others. It was evident that the amount of lunch was less than the previous two days.
Suddenly, Chen Xiaobei slapped his forehead, realizing. Yes. Chen Xiaowen had taken people to Jizhou to deliver cabbage and hadn't returned yet.
Counting the days, today was the fourth day. He should have been back in a few more days.
They could return in a few days, but the cabbage in the field couldn't be left unattended.
Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment, then turned and headed towards the village entrance, where the village guards were on duty.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei arrive, everyone greeted him enthusiastically.
"Have people been delivering cabbage to the city and Xiaojia Town these past few days?"
The village guards nodded. "Yes, it was arranged by Xiaowen before he left. Someone delivers it every day."
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei felt relieved.
Although Chen Xiaowen was young, he was diligent and organized his work systematically. It seemed his worries were unnecessary. Sudan Novel Network
However, this made Chen Xiaobei suddenly realize something. If everything was proceeding as planned, he seemed to have nothing to do. Chen Dayong was in charge of charcoal burning, and Chen Xiaowen was in charge of delivering cabbage.
It seemed he could become a hands-off manager.
As he was thinking this, he heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance.
A group of people was approaching from afar.