So, altogether, just from the New Year’s money, Yi Bao had saved 33 cents, and now with this extra 3 cents, he had a total of 36 cents.

After Yi Bao had safely stored away the New Year’s money, he hesitated for a moment and asked, “Mom, what do you like?”

Ning Shu found it amusing. “I like a lot of things. Why are you asking?”

Yi Bao thought for a moment. “Er Bao, San Bao, and I have earned five reward stars. We can exchange these stars for things. We want to exchange them for something for you.”

Because they didn’t know what their mom liked, that’s why he came to ask.

“But reward stars can’t be exchanged for money, meat, or pretty clothes.” Those were things Mom liked, but they couldn’t be exchanged, and Yi Bao couldn’t help that.

“Oh, I see.” Ning Shu was very happy. “As long as it’s from you, I’ll like it.”

But when she heard that the kindergarten had a reward system with reward stars, she also thought of something.

She could establish a reward system at home.

If they behaved well, they could earn 1 cent as a reward, and if they misbehaved, they could be punished, like sweeping the floor or something.

This would help motivate them and encourage their positive behavior.

“Brother…” Er Bao heard Yi Bao and Mom talking, so he pulled Yi Bao aside. “Brother, I’ve thought of a way to earn money with our reward stars, and we can give it to Mom.”

“Huh?” Yi Bao looked confused. “What way?”

Er Bao said softly, “Brother, we can sell our reward stars to other kids, then we’ll have money.”

Yi Bao thought about it and thought it was a good idea. “Let’s eat and then ask the other kids at school.”

But then he remembered about trading sweet potatoes for other snacks.

So he asked Ning Shu, “Mom, can we trade our dried sweet potatoes with other kids for other snacks? Today we took dried sweet potatoes to school, and some kids liked them and exchanged them for White Rabbit milk candy, peanut candy… They said they want to trade again tomorrow.”

Ning Shu said, “You can decide for yourselves on the snacks allocated to you each day.”

Upon hearing their mom’s response, Yi Bao and Er Bao were very happy.

They could exchange for different snacks now.

When Lin Guodong returned from the camp and saw the three kids, Da Mao, and Tie Dan lining up neatly, he quickly joined the queue.

During lunch, Lin Guodong mentioned the incident of Yi Bao and Er Bao answering the phone.

As soon as he mentioned it, Ning Shu remembered and asked, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, how did you go and answer the phone?”

Er Bao replied, “We didn’t answer the phone, we just wanted to see the phone.”

Yi Bao added, “The soldiers said Mom’s family could answer the phone, and we’re Mom’s family too.”

Ning Shu listened and praised with a smile, ” Er Bao is brave to try new things, it’s a good idea. Yi Bao is right too, you’re all my family.”

Then, she introduced He Ling, “The auntie you talked to on the phone today, He Ling, is my best friend.

We grew up together.

When I had no food to eat, she gave me food.

When I had no clothes to wear, she gave me clothes… Next time, I’ll take you to meet Auntie He.”

“Mom, Auntie He is really nice.” Er Bao, hearing about Auntie He giving Mom food and clothes, felt grateful to her.

He thought that when he earned money, he would also buy food and clothes for Auntie He.

“Yeah, Auntie He is a good person.” Yi Bao remembered Auntie He’s kindness to Mom.

At the same time, he also remembered how unkind Ning’s family had been to Mom.

After lunch, Lin Guodong continued to help Da Mao and Tie Dan with their house, while Ning Shu went for a walk alone in the back hills, carrying a sack.

The season of spring had arrived, and there were many things on the mountain.

Ning Shu had been busy with this and that before, and hadn’t had time to go, but now she could spare some time.

Moreover, the mountain here was very safe; dangerous animals had all been taken care of by the soldiers and had already ended up in everyone’s stomachs, so she could be even more at ease.

Actually, with the current situation, the larger animals wouldn’t come down the mountain.

When Ning Shu went out, she met Yang Granny and her daughter-in-law.

“Ning girl, where are you going?” Yang Granny asked when she saw Ning Shu carrying a sack.

“I’m going to the back hills to take a look,” Ning Shu replied. “Auntie, are you going to gather firewood?”

“Yes, and several households have ordered firewood, so we have to gather some to deliver to everyone,” Yang Granny said.

All three of them were going to the back hills, exiting through the back gate of the family compound and crossing the vegetable field.

However, after passing through the vegetable field, they went their separate ways.

Yang Granny and her daughter-in-law went to gather firewood, which they had to go deeper into the mountain for, while Ning Shu went to dig bamboo shoots, heading towards the bamboo grove.

Ning Shu didn’t know where the bamboo grove was, so before leaving, she asked Yang Granny about its location.

“The bamboo grove is this way. Just keep going forward, and when you see a ditch, turn right, and you’ll be able to see it,” Yang Granny said.

The path to the bamboo grove was different from the path they took to gather firewood.

Firewood needed to be sturdy branches and wood that could withstand burning, while the bamboo shoots weren’t suitable for burning, so they couldn’t be sold for that purpose.

“Thank you, Auntie. I’ll be going then,” Ning Shu said, following the directions given by Yang Granny.

Watching Ning Shu leave, Yang Granny and Zhao Huan started chatting. “Ning girl looks delicate, but I didn’t expect her to come up the mountain.”

Zhao Huan smiled, “People can be surprising sometimes.”

She often didn’t give her opinions on people; she only agreed when her mother-in-law spoke.

Granny Yang said, “That’s true. Look at that girl, Ning Qin. She looks delicate, but she’s difficult to deal with. It’s good that she’s gone. Our alley is peaceful now. Just don’t know when she’ll come back. It’s really bad luck.”

Whenever she got the chance, Granny Yang wanted to talk about Ning Qin.

Zhao Huan said, “If she comes back, we’ll just ignore her.”

In the past, when her mother-in-law spoke ill of Ning Qin, she actually wanted to advise her, but she was afraid her mother-in-law would retaliate, so she always just agreed with her mother-in-law.

But now she thought about it, she should advise her mother-in-law.

Regardless of whether Ning Qin had recently returned to her hometown or not, they were still family members, and it was better to have fewer conflicts.

Of course, Zhao Huan didn’t know that in the past, she hadn’t advised her mother-in-law because of the rules of the storyline.

According to the rules, her character was submissive to her mother-in-law, and whatever her mother-in-law said was always right.

Now, without the restrictions of the storyline, she was starting to think like a normal person again.

Ning Shu found the bamboo grove and was surprised to see it full of bamboo shoots.

Didn’t people in the army dislike eating bamboo shoots? Why were there so many bamboo shoots in the bamboo grove?

Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. Many people didn’t like eating bamboo shoots when there were vegetables available.

If bamboo shoots weren’t cooked well, they could be quite unpleasant to eat.

Moreover, cooking bamboo shoots deliciously required a lot of oil, which many people were reluctant to use.

Carrying the thirty to forty catties of bamboo shoots, Ning Shu walked slowly out of the bamboo grove.

After walking for a while, she finally saw the vegetable field, and then she saw her three kids in the field.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, San Bao…” Ning Shu called out loudly, using her kids’ names.

The three kids were pulling weeds from their plots, as Teacher Jiang had instructed.

Teacher Jiang said that they had to work on their plots themselves.

They had to pull the weeds first, then loosen the soil, and then plant the vegetables.

They were bending over, working hard to pull out the weeds.

Beads of sweat had already formed on their foreheads when they heard their mom’s name being called.

The three kids stood up from their plots and looked in the direction of the voice.

Sure enough, they saw their mom coming over with a sack.

“Mom…” Er Bao waved to his mom.

Ning Shu walked over, placed the sack to the side, and went to see them.

Besides her three kids, there were also two other kids and Teacher Jiang in the field.

Teacher Jiang and the other two kids naturally heard Ning Shu’s call and saw her approaching.

When Ning Shu came over, Teacher Jiang smiled and greeted her, “Sister-in-law, do you know about the children working in the fields? I’m not sure if the parents are aware.”

She was worried that the parents might blame her, so she brought it up immediately.

Ning Shu replied, “I’m aware of it. Thank you very much for your guidance to them. I’m very satisfied with how you’ve arranged things.”

She genuinely felt that Teacher Jiang was a good teacher, the kind she would write a thank-you letter to when her kids graduated from kindergarten.

Hearing Ning Shu’s words, Teacher Jiang felt relieved.

She had been worried that parents might spoil their sons too much, but it seemed that the mother of the three kids wasn’t like that.

However, Teacher Jiang had her own headache. “Sister-in-law, is Lin Hairui usually… very lively?”

When Ning Shu heard Teacher Jiang’s question, she knew that Er Bao must have been causing Teacher Jiang some trouble.

She replied tactfully, “He’s just very curious. We used to live in the rural production brigade, and the education there was limited.

Children his age hadn’t started school yet. Now that he’s exposed to the outside world, he’s curious about everything unfamiliar.

As a parent, I’m happy that he has this curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

Only when he’s interested in something will he make the effort to explore and understand it.

If he focuses this curiosity on learning in the future, I believe it will be even better.

Teacher Jiang, I entrust the future pillars of our country to you.”

Ning Shu was basically washing her hands of it. She wanted to say, “Forgive me, Teacher Jiang, but even I, as his mother, can’t handle Er Bao’s mouth.”

Teacher Jiang: “…”

What could she say? But Ning Shu’s words did make some sense.

The students’ curiosity and thirst for knowledge should be a good thing, and she shouldn’t shy away just because she couldn’t answer the questions Er Bao asked.

She should make good use of Lin Hairui’s curiosity.

At the same time, Teacher Jiang felt a sense of responsibility for the first time, being valued and trusted by a parent like this.

She wouldn’t let Sister-in-law down and would make sure to tap into Lin Hairui’s curiosity!