After exchanging a few words with Teacher Jiang, Ning Shu headed back home.

Before leaving, she glanced at her two kids again and saw them still diligently pulling weeds.

Watching Ning Shu leave, Teacher Jiang felt very satisfied with such reasonable and understanding parents.

Looking back at Er Bao, who was working hard to pull weeds, although he had a lot of questions and was a bit difficult to answer, she felt that the parents of the twins were right.

This child was not afraid of hardship and was serious about his work, so he could be nurtured well.

But she also needed to think about how to channel his curiosity into studying.

The Next Day

During breakfast, Ning Shu told her two kids about the reward and punishment plan she had thought about all night.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, I’ve come up with a reward and punishment plan for you two. The reward is money, and the punishment is running for half an hour.”

As soon as they heard about the money reward, Yi Bao and Er Bao, who were still eating, stopped curiously.

“Mom, what’s it about?” Yi Bao asked.

Ning Shu smiled slightly. “Now that Mom can earn money, so can Dad, and you two are also able to earn money now. I’m happy that our family can all earn money together, and I want to praise you for starting to earn money for the family.”

The two kids had bright smiles on their faces, happy to be praised by their mom.

Even if it was just verbal praise, as long as Mom praised them, they were happy.

Ning Shu continued, “We are a family, and in a family, everyone earns money and does household chores together, right?”

Yi Bao nodded. “Right.”

They had done household chores before, like gathering firewood, picking wild vegetables, and taking care of their younger siblings, so they didn’t think doing chores was wrong.

Er Bao also nodded. “Yes.”

Ning Shu said, “So let’s talk about doing chores first. Mom cooks, Dad washes dishes, and you two can also wipe the table. Do you think there’s a problem with that?”

Yi Bao and Er Bao shook their heads, “No problem.”

Ning Shu continued, “Then after everyone takes a bath, you wash your own clothes. Do you think there’s a problem with that?”

Yi Bao and Er Bao continued shaking their heads, “No problem.”

Ning Shu went on, “These are our own chores. Next, there are adult chores, like carrying water, which is for adults to do, so you can’t do it.

That’s why Dad carries water.

For example, buying groceries is an adult’s chore, so you can’t do it. That’s why I buy groceries.

But kids also have chores they can do, like sweeping the floor.

So Dad carries water, I buy groceries, and you sweep the floor. Do you agree with this arrangement?”

Yi Bao and Er Bao nodded, “We agree.”

They couldn’t buy groceries or carry water, so chores like sweeping the floor were suitable for them.

After they nodded,

Ning Shu continued, “So wiping the table, washing your own clothes, and sweeping the floor are your chores.

Cooking, washing your own clothes, and buying groceries are my chores.

Washing dishes, washing your own clothes, and carrying water are your dad’s chores.

Apart from your own chores, if you do other chores, then you’ll receive money rewards.

For example, if you help me wash vegetables or help Dad wash dishes, if you gather firewood, pick wild vegetables, or dig bamboo shoots on the mountain, you’ll receive money rewards.

If you help me wash vegetables for one meal, you’ll receive one cent as a reward.

Helping Dad wash dishes for one meal will also earn you one cent…

Of course, with rewards come punishments.

For example, if you don’t clean your table properly, your clothes aren’t washed well, or the floor isn’t swept clean, then you’ll face punishment.

The punishment is to run with your dad for half an hour every day.

Do you agree? We’re discussing this, and you can also disagree. If you have your own ideas, you can share them.”

Yi Bao and Er Bao nodded enthusiastically, “Mom, we agree.”

This reward and punishment system is pretty simple.

Everyone has their own family responsibilities.

Kids do what they can within their abilities, and adults handle their own duties.

If someone goes beyond their responsibilities, then there’s a reward.

Right now, they’re still little, so the reward is just a penny, and the punishment of running is just to get them to exercise.

When they grow a bit older and start getting pocket money, this system will need some adjustments.

But for now, there’s no rush for that.

Er Bao doesn’t have a say; he’s just a kid who eats.

So after Ning Shu and Yi Bao reached an agreement, this system started working.

After breakfast, Yi Bao brought a wooden basin and put the dishes and chopsticks in it.

Er Bao began wiping the table, going back and forth two times.

After the brothers checked again and made sure everything was clean, they looked at their mom.

Ning Shu watched them work from the side, seeming to inspect but actually considering their safety.

After all, they’re only six.

Ning Shu arranged for them to work to develop their work skills, not to make them do chores for real, so she also needed to ensure their safety.

“Well, you did a great job. The table looks very clean. You can leave the dishes and chopsticks in the wooden basin in that corner on the floor. Your dad will wash them when he comes,” Ning Shu said with a smile to Yi Bao and Er Bao.

Hearing their mom’s approval, the two kids were very happy.

But then, “Mom, we still want to wash the dishes. Is that okay?” Yi Bao asked.

Ning Shu, of course, wouldn’t refuse. “Of course, you can.”

So, she watched as the two kids started washing the dishes in an orderly manner, occasionally giving them some guidance.

Before the two kids finished washing the dishes, Lin Guodong came back and was somewhat surprised to see them washing dishes.

Ning Shu explained the reward and punishment plan to him, and he nodded.

He never interfered with how Ning Shu taught the kids, as long as he felt her way of teaching was fine.

“Tomorrow is a day off. I’ll invite some comrades over for dinner. Is that okay with you?” Lin Guodong mentioned the plan they had discussed earlier.

Ning Shu replied, “Sure, I’ll go buy groceries early tomorrow morning, and we’ll have lunch together.”

“Great,” Lin Guodong said.

After the two kids finished washing the dishes, they received the one penny reward from their mom.

Yi Bao then put on a small satchel for his brother, and they went to get snacks.

Today, they didn’t get green bean cakes but two apples and two pieces of dried sweet potatoes, which were their snacks for the day.

Ning Shu let Yi Bao handle the snacks himself, but being used to being frugal from a young age, he was still very thrifty and wouldn’t eat a lot just because there were snacks.

“Mom and Dad, we’re going to school,” Yi Bao said.

“Mom and Dad, we’re going to school,” Er Bao echoed.

“Mom, San Bao is going to school,” San Bao followed his brother.

“Goodbye, have fun at school today, get along well with your classmates, and listen to your teacher,” Ning Shu waved goodbye to them at the doorstep.

“Goodbye, Mom,” the three kids waved back at her.

“Woof woof woof…” Da Map and Tie Dan barked farewell to their mistress.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, San Bao…” Two girls from the neighboring Yang family also came out of their house, and Yang Baozhu warmly approached them.

Yang Baozhu had been particularly happy lately because her grandma was feeling better now.

Before, grandma always gave the tasty food to mom to eat, saying mom needed to stay healthy to give birth to a little brother for them.

But now, grandma would also give them eggs to eat.

“Baozhu big sister,” Er Bao called out, then asked mysteriously, “Baozhu big sister, do you have any food?”

Huh? Yang Baozhu felt a bit shy. “Do you want to eat? I don’t have any.” She felt a little embarrassed; it was rare for her little brother to ask her for food, but she didn’t have any.

Grandma said there were many people eating at their house, and with only their dad earning money, having eggs to eat was already good enough, so they rarely had snacks.

“I’m not asking to eat. My mom’s dried sweet potatoes are delicious. If Baozhu big sister likes them, you can bring something else to exchange with us,” Er Bao said.

Huh?

Yang Baozhu was a bit confused.

Upon hearing his little brother say this, Yi Bao took out a piece from the small satchel and handed it to her. “Baozhu big sister, try this first. If you like it, you can come back to us for an exchange.”

“Ah… thank you.” Yang Baozhu took the dried sweet potato dumbfoundedly, still not quite understanding.

“Twins… twins…” Some kids from Class 3 spotted the two and one of them called out, “Twins, did you bring the dried sweet potatoes we talked about swapping yesterday? I still want to swap today.”

“We brought them,” Yi Bao patted his small satchel.

“Today, we brought more than yesterday,” Er Bao added.

“That’s great,” the kid smiled.

Indeed, no matter the era, there’s no snack more irresistible to kids than fried food.

However, in modern times, eating too much fried food isn’t good.

But in this era, where people hardly consumed much oil throughout the year, there wasn’t much concern about that, especially since Ning Shu made the fried sweet potatoes herself, so hygiene wasn’t an issue.

As soon as the two entered the classroom, several kids were already there.

Er Bao, in his loud voice, shouted, “Let’s swap snacks, let’s swap snacks…” After a few days of getting along, Er Bao had shed his initial shyness and revealed his true nature.

“Me me me, I want to swap.” Yang Wenjie, sitting in front of them, was the first to speak. “We agreed yesterday while planting together that you’d swap with me. I brought something tasty today.”

Er Bao’s ears perked up at the mention of something tasty.

He immediately asked, “What tasty thing did you bring?”