The little maidservant Hong immediately chimed in, "Miss, you must be careful. This boy is fawning over you, he probably has ill intentions."
Liu Rumei glared, "What nonsense are you spouting? Chen Xiaobei is not that kind of person."
Seeing Liu Rumei's expression, Hong and Qing exchanged glances, and both of them chuckled.
Chen Xiaobei returned home, took another two taels of silver from his own stash to make it thirty, and went to Chen Lidong's home.
Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei's arrival, Qiu Mei burst into tears again.
"Village head Xiaobei, Lidong is gone just like this, leaving us, a mother and child, what are we to do?"
Chen Xiaobei fell silent for a moment, placed the silver in his hand on the table, and took the three-month-old baby from Qiu Mei's arms.
"Sister-in-law, Lidong brother is gone, the village will take care of you. This silver is a pension from the county. You take it first."
Qiu Mei sighed again, "Alas, if it weren't for those five hundred taels of silver, Lidong wouldn't have gone up the mountain, and he wouldn't have had this accident."
Indeed, Chen Xiaobei also felt a pang of emotion. But then again, if it were himself, would he refuse the temptation of five hundred taels?
Chen Xiaobei returned the baby to Qiu Mei, "Sister-in-law, I'll have Hongyu come over later. It will be more convenient for a woman to help with things."
"No, no need. Aunt Xiumei just came by and said she'd come over after eating."
Xiumei!
This remark reminded Chen Xiaobei. Aunt Xiumei had nothing to do at home, so it was normal for her to come over and help. But it couldn't be a long-term arrangement.
Of course, it was the same for Cui Hongyu. An occasional visit was fine.
On his way home, Chen Xiaobei began to ponder. Lidong's family was not an isolated case; there were several families in the village without strong laborers.
Furthermore, villagers might go out more in the future. If they were to be away for several days like today on Qingniu Mountain, and there was work to be done at home, relying solely on women would not be enough.
Chen Xiaobei thought of an excellent idea.
Upon returning home, Chen Xiaobei pulled Cui Hongyu into the house.
Frightened, Cui Hongyu's face turned pale, and she struggled, "Husband, not in broad daylight. Let's wait for tonight."
Only then did Chen Xiaobei realize he had frightened Cui Hongyu.
"Hongyu, where did your mind go? I have something serious to tell you."
Hearing this, Cui Hongyu let out a long sigh of relief, "Husband, you just scared me."
Chen Xiaobei, with a hint of apology, gave Cui Hongyu a gentle hug.
"Hongyu, I just went to Lidong's house. Life is not easy for a widow and her child."
"Yes, I'll go over and look after them more in the future. Husband, don't worry." A hint of determination appeared on Cui Hongyu's face.
Chen Xiaobei knew that Cui Hongyu would keep her word. She would definitely go often.
"No, Hongyu. You can go to one family, you can go to two. What will you do if there are more?"
His words silenced Cui Hongyu.
Yes, what would she do if there were more?
"Husband, then what do you suggest?"
Chen Xiaobei's expression became serious, "Qiu Mei just told me that Aunt Xiumei will come over this afternoon to help her."
"Isn't that good? Aunt Xiumei is good at taking care of people. She can help with the child."
"Yes, Hongyu, think about it. If Aunt Xiumei is just asked to help without any reward, will she do it for a long time?"
Cui Hongyu thought for a long time after hearing this, and finally shook her head.
"Husband, then, what do you suggest?"
"I suggest we organize the women in the village to form a mutual aid group."
"For situations like Lidong's family, you will coordinate and assign who does what work. At the time, you will record it as a work unit."
"With this work unit, she can either get paid, or in the future, if she needs help herself, she can use this credit to pay someone to do the work for her."
"This way, everyone will maintain good relations and no one will feel like they are only giving without receiving."
Upon hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, Cui Hongyu's face broke into a smile, "This is a really good idea. This way, in the future, when people need help, everyone will pitch in together, making it lively and effort-saving."
"Alright, then you take the lead. Go find a few familiar people first and set up the framework."
Cui Hongyu left. Chen Xiaobei once again went into the courtyard and checked on the large snake and the old turtle. These were treasures; they must not be harmed.
Oh, and the tiger. It was locked in Chen Ermao's house, so he had to check on it too.
Three tigers were locked in the main room. Thick planks were nailed outside the doors and windows to prevent them from escaping.
The furniture in the room was already beyond repair. The bedding on the bed had all been torn to shreds.
It seemed that keeping the tigers confined like this wouldn't work.
If they were kept in such confinement, they might go mad.
However, releasing them back to Qingniu Mountain was also truly unsafe.
How to balance these two aspects? Chen Xiaobei needed to think carefully.
As he left Chen Ermao's house, he heard the sound of diligent reading from afar.
Chen Xiaobei strolled towards the schoolhouse.
Because it had been open for a while, the villagers had lost their initial excitement, and there wasn't a single parent in the schoolyard.
Even more surprisingly to Chen Xiaobei, in Huang Ying's classroom, there wasn't a single villager. Huang Ying was sitting alone in the room, looking dejected.
Chen Xiaobei stood at the doorway and knocked on the door.
Hearing the noise, Huang Ying looked up. Seeing Chen Xiaobei, she had a wronged look on her face.
"Brother Xiaobei, look, they're not coming to class, I..."
Chen Xiaobei walked over, pulled out a stool, and sat down. "Tell me, what exactly is going on?"
"Alas, what else could it be? Yesterday, I was teaching them to read, but that Chen Daqiang always forgot. So I said a few words to him, but he openly yelled at me and then threw the chalk. I am the teacher, so I couldn't just let it slide, and I spanked him twice."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, then continued, "You spanked him, and no one came today, right?"
"Yes. I don't know what they're thinking. Besides, I didn't hit them."
Chen Xiaobei looked at Huang Ying and said earnestly, "Huang Ying, I know you were frustrated because you wanted him to succeed, and it was for Chen Daqiang's own good. But have you considered? These mountain folk have been doing manual labor since they were young. They haven't been exposed to these things. So you need to give them time."
His words made Huang Ying nod repeatedly.
"I understand. I wasn't patient enough."
Chen Xiaobei nodded, "Yes. Look, after this situation arises, what will the villagers do? Who will dare to come anymore?"
"I..." Huang Ying was momentarily speechless.
"Come, I'll take you to find Chen Daqiang to clarify things."
Hearing this, Huang Ying shook her head vigorously.
"No, no, I'm not going."
Chen Xiaobei stood up, "He made a mistake and I will criticize him. You hitting him was also wrong. You need to go and apologize to him."