“Da Mao, Tie Dan…” Ning Shu played with the three kids and the dogs in the small park for a while.

It was time for the kids to go to school. Some kids who had walked with Da Mao and Tie Dan last night came over to greet them.

One of the kids lamented, “I asked my parents yesterday, but they won’t let me have a dog.”

“My mom said the same. She thinks we can’t even feed ourselves properly, why have a dog? She says I’m too troublesome. They just don’t understand me at all.”

“My mom said I could have a dog, but the dog’s food has to come from my portion, but since I can’t even eat enough myself, I can’t have one. Sigh…” This mom was just like Wang Wei’s mom (Sun Li).

“Why isn’t my mom as nice as yours? I really want to have a dog.”

As they envied Da Mao and Tie Dan, the kids discussed their parents.

Listening to them, Ning Shu felt these kids, though young, had a lot on their minds.

Seeing they showed no signs of leaving, Ning Shu had to remind them, “You have to go to school now. Being late wouldn’t be good.”

“Okay, we’re going. Bye, Da Mao and Tie Dan.”

“Da Mao, I’ll come play with you tonight.”

After saying goodbye to Da Mao and Tie Dan, the kids ran off to school.

With the kids gone, the three little ones played by themselves.

Yibao and Erbao played on the seesaw while Sanbao swung on the swing.

Ning Shu stood behind Sanbao, gently pushing him.

She pushed lightly, so the swing moved slowly.

Sanbao held onto the ropes of the swing, giggling like bells.

The passing kids looked on with envy.

They wished they didn’t have to go to school and could play instead.

“Ning, dear…” At that moment, Granny Yang and her daughter-in-law, Zhao Huan, approached, followed by Yang Jinzhu, Yang Mingzhu, and Yang Baozhu.

“Auntie,” Yang Jinzhu and Yang Mingzhu greeted obediently.

Yang Baozhu called out to more people: “Auntie, Yibao, Erbao, Sanbao, Da Mao, Tie Dan.”

“Ah, you’re going to school,” Ning Shu smiled at the three granddaughters of the Yang family.

She also noticed Granny Yang and Zhao Huan carrying a shoulder pole and a basket. “Are you going out?”

“Yes, we’re going to school.”

After bidding farewell, the three granddaughters of the Yang family went to school.

Granny Yang said, “We’re going to gather firewood and pick wild vegetables.” After a moment of thought, she asked, “Ning, do you need firewood at your place?”

“Huh?” Ning Shu suddenly remembered that the bundle of firewood at their home was borrowed from Chairman Zhang’s family and hadn’t been returned yet.

Why was Granny Yang asking this? “Yes, we do. We’ve just arrived, and our firewood is still borrowed.

We haven’t returned it yet.

Does Granny know how firewood is arranged here?”

Granny Yang smiled with both her mouth and her eyes. “There are three ways to get firewood here. One is to pick it up from the mountains yourself, two is to buy it from families who gather firewood in the family compound, and three is to order coal balls from the city.”

Ning Shu felt that picking up firewood herself wasn’t feasible.

It would be better to go pick wild vegetables or bamboo shoots.

Ordering coal balls from the city was troublesome. So, should she buy firewood from the families who gathered firewood in the family compound?

“Will people say anything if we buy firewood from the families who gather it in the family compound?” Ning Shu inquired, thinking it should be fine since Granny Yang mentioned it, but she still wanted to confirm.

Granny Yang hastily reassured her, “No, it’s allowed in the military. Our family compound is large, and several households gather firewood. Our family is one of them. The firewood in the family compound is also uniform. A bundle of firewood weighs around 50 catties and costs 1 mao. Some families have been doing this business for a long time, even picking up firewood to sell to the canteen.”

Upon hearing this, Ning Shu said, “Then, Auntie, let’s order our firewood from your house. I’ll start with 5 bundles and give you 5 mao. When we’re running low, I’ll order more. Is that okay?”

“Sure, that’s fine. When do you want them?” Granny Yang immediately smiled.

She liked Lin Guodong’s wife’s straightforwardness; it suited her personality.

Ning Shu replied, “Could you give me two bundles in the next couple of days? I need to return one bundle to someone else.”

“How about I give you one tomorrow noon and one in the afternoon? What do you think?” Granny Yang suggested.

The mountain behind the military camp was vast, and not very dangerous because the soldiers had already dealt with any dangerous animals.

However, since they couldn’t cut down trees for firewood, they had accumulated it over the years, but not in excessive amounts.

Granny Yang and her daughter-in-law went to gather firewood every day.

Except on rainy days, gathering firewood wasn’t too hard.

They could also find some mountain products along the way, which not only lightened the burden on Yang Fuying but was also much easier than working in the fields at home.

So, they were happy to do it.

Although they only earned five yuan a month from gathering firewood, they were content with it.

Ning Shu said, “No problem, Auntie. Thank you.”

“Oh, Ning, do you eat dried goods? Like mushrooms and fungus? We have them at home, we can exchange with you.” Granny Yang had accumulated quite a bit of dried mushrooms and fungus over the years of gathering firewood.

Initially, they ate them at home too, but after a while, they grew tired of it.

Hearing about the dried mushrooms and fungus, Ning Shu’s eyes lit up. “I love eating those! Auntie, if you’re busy now, I can come over around noon. We can discuss how to make the exchange then.”

If there’s extra, maybe I can sell them on the app. But i need to be careful about safety and think about how to do it properly.

“Ah, okay, I’ll call for you at noon then.” Granny Yang didn’t expect Ning Shu to like them so much. “That’s great. We’ll go busy ourselves now.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Ning Shu replied.

After Granny Yang and her daughter-in-law left, Lin Guodong also finished his meal and came out.

“Why are the buns from the state-owned restaurant so small now?” was there since yesterday, so Lin Guodong naturally knew about it.

He had seen them while cleaning the kitchen yesterday, but he had forgotten to ask about it.

It just came to his mind when he saw them during breakfast.

“Probably because there wasn’t enough meat yesterday, so they made them smaller. And they’re cheaper than usual too,” Ning Shu speculated.

Lin Guodong thought it was possible too.

He only asked out of curiosity and didn’t have any other intentions. “I’m going to the barracks now.”

“Yeah, I’ll go to the nursery later,” Ning Shu said. “Oh, by the way, I just ordered 5 bundles of firewood from Granny Yang. They’ll deliver one in the noon and one in the afternoon tomorrow. We’ll return one to Chairman Zhang’s family first.”

“Okay, I’ll take it over tomorrow at noon. Can I go now?” Lin Guodong asked.

Ning Shu waved her hand. “Sure, go ahead.”

He’s being affectionate again.

Lin Guodong glanced at the children playing before leaving.

After Lin Guodong left, Ning Shu checked the time.

It was almost 9 o’clock, so she took the three kids and Da Mao and Tie Dan to the nursery.

At the entrance of the nursery, the middle-aged woman was still there.

When she saw Ning Shu and the others, she smiled and said, “You’re here? I’ll take you inside, but dogs aren’t allowed. I already mentioned it to the director when she came this morning. She said if the 18-month-old children are quiet and well-behaved, they can be accepted here.”

“Thank you so much, sister.” Ning Shu felt this woman was quite warm-hearted.

“Don’t mention it.” The middle-aged woman thought for a moment and added, “My husband’s surname is Fu, he’s the camp commander here. My children are studying in the high school section. You can call me Sister Fu. Sort out the dogs, and let’s go inside.”

“Okay.” Ning Shu turned to the three kids. “You go inside first. I’ll talk to Da Mao and Tie Dan for a moment.”

“Mom, if we go to school here, can’t Da Mao and Tie Dan come with us?” Yibao asked

“Ning Shu said, “Yes, the school is a place for children to attend classes and learn knowledge. Da Mao and Tie Dan can’t go in. Even if Da Mao and Tie Dan won’t hurt anyone, some people are afraid of dogs, some people are allergic to dog hair, and so on. Everyone has different habits. In case something happens, we need to be responsible for others’ safety.”

“Okay,” Yibao reluctantly agreed.

Ning Shu then turned to Da Mao and Tie Dan and said, “Da Mao, Tie Dan, you wait here. We’ll be right out. Don’t run around.”

Da Mao and Tie Dan watched them.

When they saw Ning Shu and the three kids follow Sister Fu inside, they quickly stretched out their paws, wanting to squeeze in.

“Da Mao, Tie Dan, you can’t come in. Wait outside,” Ning Shu pushed them out. “Stay here, squat down.”

When Ning Shu pushed them out, Da Mao and Tie Dan understood what she meant.

Since she didn’t let them in and told them to squat down, they squatted down at the door.

Sister Fu was surprised. “These dogs really listen to you.”

Ning Shu explained, “They’re military dogs, retired from the battlefield due to injuries. They’ve undergone strict training at the barracks, so they’re very humanized. They can understand simple commands and slogans.”

“Oh, they’re military dogs. That’s impressive.” Sister Fu couldn’t help but take another look at Da Mao and Tie Dan before closing the door.

When she left her post, she would close the door.

Sister Fu led them to the minister’s office, where Ning Shu and the minister discussed the children’s situation and filled out some paperwork.

The minister gave a suggestion, “Normally, we don’t accept children who are 18 months old because they’re still unsteady on their feet, can’t solve their own physical needs, and tend to cry and fuss without their parents around. However, considering your situation with two older brothers, we can give him a day to adjust. If he does well during this time, then we can admit him.”

Ning Shu felt this was completely fine. “So, starting from today?”

The minister replied, “No problem. I’ll arrange a class for them.”

In the end, the three kids were placed in Nursery Class 3.

Unlike the preschools in later years with classes for different age groups, here it was simply a place for children to stay.

Additionally, unlike the primary, middle, and high school sections, the nursery didn’t have holidays.