“I’ll take you to the riverbank to see the situation of the wooden fences?” Lin Guodong suggested.

“Mm, I’ll write a plan later, and it’s estimated that before or after the New Year, all the communes will start implementing it. This is indeed a good thing. We can’t guarantee other things, but we can prevent the safety of rural children to some extent.” Meng Jie said.

With that, the two went to the riverbank.

At the riverbank, Meng Jie and Lin Guodong inspected the sturdy wooden fence that had been erected. Meng Jie tried shaking it forcefully but found it didn’t budge, indicating it was very secure.

Then, they walked around to the part of the riverbank where there was no fence to observe the situation there.

The riverbank was low, and because it was made of mud, it was somewhat slippery. If a child fell down, even without the water flowing, it could still be dangerous.

However, with the wooden fence in place, children wouldn’t be able to fall down. After all, even a strong adult like him couldn’t shake the wooden fence, let alone a child.

After inspecting the fence, they returned. Just in time, Ning Shu had finished preparing lunch, whether it was the stir-fried spinach, scrambled eggs, or stir-fried lettuce stems, they were all done very quickly.

“Little sister’s cooking is indeed as good as Guodong said, it looks, smells, and tastes great.” Meng Jie looked at the dishes on the table and sat down.

They were all humble dishes, but each one was beautifully made by Ning Shu, making them very appetizing.

“Then you, Meng Brother, should eat more.” Ning Shu followed his address.

Judging by Meng Jie’s address, he was older than Lin Guodong, so regardless of whether it was in this life or the previous one, he was older than Ning Shu.

Calling him brother was not out of place.

“My mom’s cooking is the best.” Er Bao, proud to hear Meng Jie praise his mom, said. If he had wings, he would surely spread them out.

Meng Jie liked the lively Er Bao, “Yes, you’re really lucky to be able to eat your mom’s cooking every day.”

“Hehe…” Er Bao was a bit proud of the praise, and his eating speed slowed down quite a bit.

Lin Guodong was really helpless with this son of his. He mentioned another thing Meng Jie had brought up to Ning Shu, “Regarding the houses in the county town, do you have any ideas?”

Ning Shu replied, “I don’t have any ideas. Meng Brother, do you have available houses?”

“I just told Guodong, we have houses available, whether it’s apartment buildings, courtyard with yards, or two-story houses without yards, it depends on what little sister likes.”

Ning Shu said, “I’m not picky. If we have enough money, it would be best to buy three sets.”

In fact, she wanted more, but buying too many at once would be hard to explain.

Lin Guodong: … He never expected Ning Shu to be so bold.

Meng Jie: … He thought one set would be enough for Lin Guodong’s family, but he didn’t expect them to want three.

Seeing the two of them looking at her in surprise, Ning Shu explained, “Don’t we have three children at home? When they get married in the future, we can give each of them one set, so they won’t argue.”

Of course, this was just an excuse.

Their children wouldn’t be getting married for another 20 years or so. It was 1970 now, and 20 years later would be 1990, just when the real estate market was booming. So, these three sets of houses were obviously for investment, to become real estate second generation.

Wasn’t that great?

But hearing Ning Shu’s explanation, Lin Guodong didn’t have any objections.

In his eyes, if the conditions were right, it was natural to want to give his children the best.

When he was born, his family was poor, but his parents still did their best to give him the best. Of course, in his eyes, the best his mother gave him was not material things, but the fact that his parents did their best to educate him and his siblings, including his younger sister, which was very rare at that time.

Both of his parents were ordinary people and couldn’t provide them with a good future, so they could only educate them.

If they had the ability, they could rely on their education to secure a good future for themselves.

So, he owed his success today to his parents’ insistence on educating him.

Therefore, within his abilities, he also wanted to give the best to his children.

Anything beyond his abilities, he would let his children strive for it on their own.

“Shall we go see the houses in the afternoon?” Lin Guodong asked.

“Okay.” Although Ning Shu didn’t care much about the houses, she naturally had to go see them if they were buying.

After lunch, Lin Guodong and Ning Shu went to the county town to see the houses, while Yi Bao and Er Bao stayed at home with San Bao.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, don’t go collecting firewood or digging wild vegetables in the afternoon. Wait for Mom and Dad to come back at home. Just play at home, read books, play with blocks, and eat sugarcane, okay?” Ning Shu discussed with the two brothers.

Er Bao were used to taking care of their younger brother, so they naturally agreed. Yi Bao even said, “Mom, don’t worry, I’ll take good care of my brother. I won’t play in the water or with fire.” Every time Mom went out, she would remind them, and he remembered.

“Yi Bao has such a good memory, let’s reward him.” Ning Shu kissed him on the face. “We’re leaving now. If there’s anything, go find Grandpa and Grandma.”

“Okay.” Yi Bao felt a bit shy when his mother kissed him. Even though he was a big kid, he still liked his mother kissing his cheek.

“Mom, what about me? You haven’t kissed me yet.” Er Bao pointed to his own little face.

Ning Shu rubbed his cheek. “When I come back, if Yi Bao and San Bao say you’ve been good today, I’ll kiss you.”

Er Bao agreed immediately, not realizing that this was unfair to him.

What if his brothers said he wasn’t good? Then wouldn’t he miss out on a kiss?

San Bao was still playing and hadn’t noticed that his parents were about to leave.

In the county town, it only took about twenty or thirty minutes for Ning Shu and the others to arrive.

Meng Jie took them directly to the Housing Management Office. Since Meng Jie was from the county government, the staff at the Housing Management Office were very enthusiastic.

However, when it came to looking at houses, Lin Guodong didn’t let Meng Jie accompany them so as not to delay his work in the afternoon.

Meng Jie simply went back to the county government.

The staff from the Housing Management Office showed Lin Guodong and Ning Shu several houses, including apartments, bungalows with yards, and two-story houses.

They looked at almost all the houses available in the county town.

However, Lin Guodong didn’t express his opinion on any of the houses, while Ning Shu said they were all good.

This left the staff at the Housing Management Office puzzled about their intentions.

But considering that they were brought by people from the county government, and seeing Lin Guodong in military uniform, the staff didn’t dare to get angry.

Finally, the three of them returned to the Housing Management Office.

The staff patiently asked, “Comrades, do you have any thoughts on the houses you’ve seen today?”

Lin Guodong asked Ning Shu, “What do you think?”

Ning Shu replied, “Let’s go for the 1500 yuan Courtyard with a yard, the 1200 yuan Courtyard with a yard, and the 1700 yuan Courtyard with a yard.”

Lin Guodong raised an eyebrow, “Don’t want the apartments or the two-story houses?”

Ning Shu explained, “I prefer the Courtyards because they have more space. In the future, when the houses are demolished, the yard area is also included in the compensation area. So, I choose Courtyards.”

When the prices are similar, it’s better to choose a larger area if possible.

Lin Guodong nodded, “Your decision is good.” He had only asked casually.

Ning Shu then asked the Housing Management Office staff, “When can we complete the procedures?”

The staff replied, “As mentioned before when we introduced the houses, two of the houses have owners, so the transfer will require the presence of the owners. The other house was donated to the state, so we can process that one directly.”

Ning Shu said, “You mentioned that before. Can we complete the procedures on the same day to avoid multiple trips?”

The last house was donated to the state by someone with a capitalist background, so it was not a house confiscated during the collectivization process. There would be no subsequent problems.

It had to be said that this person with a capitalist background was also smart. Knowing that these things couldn’t be kept, he simply donated them to the state to gain a good reputation. Even if he was later sent to the countryside, he could negotiate a better placement. Or, he might not be sent to the countryside at all, but instead punished with community service in the county, or even more likely, he might have saved his family through this act.

“Let’s make it 1 o’clock tomorrow afternoon. I’ll go inform those two households after work,” the Housing Management Office staff said. “But you’ll need to leave a deposit, 30 yuan each, 10 yuan per house. Is that okay? I’ll give you a receipt.”

“That’s fine,” Ning Shu and Lin Guodong had no objections.

With the house matter settled, the two went straight home. Even though the three children were well-behaved at home, Ning Shu still felt anxious.

Compared to Ning Shu, Lin Guodong was more composed.

However, when they rode their bikes home, they didn’t see the three children.

“Yibao… Erbao… Did they go to collect firewood?” Ning Shu didn’t hear the children’s response either.

Lin Guodong went to the utility room and took out a hoe. “I’ll go up the mountain and look for them around the foothills.” It wasn’t the right time to go to work.

“Be careful in your search,” Ning Shu cautioned. Generally, she told them to play at home, and with Yibao around, they wouldn’t leave the house.

But now that they were gone, she was still worried. She thought she would go look for them herself later.

“Mother… Mother…” Just as Ning Shu finished speaking, she heard Erbao’s voice getting closer.

She walked to the gate of the yard and saw Erbao running towards the house, panting heavily. When he ran in, Ning Shu saw a scar on his face.

“Where did you guys go? And what happened to your face?” Ning Shu caught his small body as he ran over, squatting down to examine his face carefully.

There was a little bit of blood and a cut that went through the skin.

“We were in grandpa and grandma’s field. This was done by Zhuang Xiaopang. Mother, I didn’t lose. I also scratched Zhuang Xiaopang’s face,” Erbao said proudly, like a little knight.

He thought he had won the fight and was very proud of himself.

As soon as she heard about the fight with Zhuang Xiaopang, Ning Shu had a bad feeling. “How did you end up fighting with Zhuang Xiaopang?”

Could it be that they mentioned what they saw in the morning?

Lin Guodong, still carrying the hoe, hadn’t left. Obviously, he was also thinking about this.

Erbao first covered his mouth, then said, “It’s not that we didn’t listen to mother. We were reading books and playing with building blocks at home when Zhuang Xiaopang came. We didn’t want to play with him, but he insisted. I said his dad would spank him, so we didn’t want to play with him. Then he said his dad wouldn’t spank him, so I said I saw his dad spanking someone on the mountain, and then we started fighting.”

“Mother, he’s really bad. When he couldn’t beat us, he went home to tell on us. Then his dad and mom came. His dad and mom were scary, so we were a little scared. Haicai went to find grandpa and grandma. Then grandpa and grandma came and took us over.”

It was indeed Erbao’s big mouth, and it hadn’t even been a day. But this matter couldn’t be blamed on their Erbao.

When it came down to it, it was Zhuang Xiaopang’s dad who was unreasonable.

“Mother, are you angry?” Seeing his mother didn’t speak, Erbao was a little worried.