Chapter 95: What Exactly Did Shen Xunbao Do with the Money?

Xiang Shi'an had originally been taking Xiang Xiaoqiang to the Qingshan Team; this time, since their village was deliberately not cooperating with Shuangshui Village, he also had the idea of having his own child go to the County to study with the Su Family's children.

Returning to Shuangshui Village, everyone walked while discussing the matter of the children's schooling.

Widow Liu came back from the fields after finishing work and listened to their discussion from behind, walking toward them in a few steps, "Village Chief, if your grandson is going to the County to study, take our family's three little ones along too."

"All three little ones want to go?!"

It wasn't just Xiang Jianming; the others were also surprised upon hearing this.

Everyone knew the situation in Widow Liu's home; the tuition for one child for one semester alone was eight yuan, so three would be twenty-four yuan, not counting living expenses and the cost of traveling back and forth.

Furthermore, among her three children, the eldest, Liu Shu, and the youngest, Liu Qing, were boys, but the second, Liu Nian, was a girl, and yet she was to be sent to study as well.

Generally, families in poverty prioritized sending boys to study, having more or less some bias toward men over women, but Widow Liu's upbringing of her three children was not like that; she treated them all equally.

Su Qingyue observed Widow Liu with very complicated feelings; she was a good mother, but she did not approve of her personal conduct.

"If you want to go, prepare schoolbags and stationery for the little ones in advance, and when the time comes, just bring the money and we can go register together."

Widow Liu looked at Su Qingyue gratefully, "Thank you, Sister Qingyue! I know that your family's Qingxi is tutored by you, and she has already learned the first-grade books."

"See if you can let my children play with Qingxi and Zhuangzhuang more these few days; you don't even need to teach them anything, I'm just afraid that when the children go to the city school, they won't know anything when the teacher asks, and they'll be mocked."

Xiang Shishui and Xiang Shi'an had the same intention; their children spent the whole day running wild and causing trouble, so they had to set some rules before school started.

"Can we call Xiang Xiaoqiang and Xiang Xiaole to play together too?" Xiang Shi'an asked.

Su Qingyue smiled, "Then how about this: tomorrow after work, have the children come to my house, and I will explain how city teachers usually lecture and teach the children how to do self-introductions; practicing at home for two days will be enough."

Hearing this, several people were very grateful and surrounded Su Qingyue to thank her.

Su Qianqian returned to the village and saw exactly this scene; she was so angry that she went home and complained bitterly to Qiao Wang, "It must be that Su Qingyue knew I was pregnant, and that's why she reported me to get Zhang Dongfeng to fire me!"

Qiao Wang had been getting along very well with Widow Liu recently, and he perfunctorily brushed off Su Qianqian, "Then just stay at home and take good care of your pregnancy."

Thinking back that if Su Qianqian were in the village, it would be inconvenient for him and Widow Liu, he felt very irritable again, "If you caused less trouble, would you have been fired?"

"What do you mean, Brother Shen? You're actually speaking up for Su Qingyue?" Su Qianqian was furious, her tone very sharp.

Qiao Wang pushed up his glasses, "You're pregnant, I don't want to argue with you!" He threw down this sentence and went out.

Su Qianqian cried for a long time, then opened her wallet and found that more than a hundred was missing; her heart turned cold—what had Shen Xunbao taken the money for again?

"You say the money for Widow Liu was given by Shen Xunbao?" Su Qingyue asked Pei Huaiye suspiciously, "Did you see it?"

Pei Huaiye shook his head, "Widow Liu's husband and parents-in-law died early, and her maiden family looked down on her and provided no relief; she works the fields alone to earn Work Points to support the whole family, and it's good enough if the children can eat their fill, but where would she get the twenty-plus yuan for the three children's tuition? The only people she has close contact with are the couple Su Qianqian."

Su Qingyue found it hard to judge Widow Liu's behavior, "The village will announce the making of bean sprouts tomorrow; her family's vegetable garden is small and she didn't catch the last chance to earn money with vegetables, so if she grabs this opportunity, she might have some income with the little money she has on hand."

"That depends on her own choice; collect the introduction letters and certificates for your factory recently, and I will help inquire about connections to see how we can get them processed faster."

Su Qingyue opened her arms and threw herself into Pei Huaiye's embrace, lifting her delicate little face, her eyes bright as she said, "How did you know this was giving me a headache again?"

Pei Huaiye hugged her, stroked her head, and chided, "You're almost a mother, don't jump around like you just did; it's dangerous, you know?"

"Alright, I know."

The next day, the village broadcast sounded on time, and Xiang Jianming's voice came out, "Hey, hey, everyone who hears this, please come to the Production Team to hold a meeting; there is an important matter to announce!"

Once everyone had arrived, Xiang Jianming began to announce the matter.

"The autumn harvest is over; after our village handed over the grain, we didn't get much, and it was all coarse grain. Plus, summer is over, and now there are only chili peppers and spinach in the fields. Everyone has no income; I know all these situations."

"First, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative will continue to collect our mountain goods; wild mountain fungi, mushrooms, and wood ear will be gone by October, so everyone should hurry and pick more in these two months."

"Second, Comrade Su Qingyue purchased two thousand jin of soybeans from Pingshu Village, hired professional masters, and bought a Diesel Pulp Grinder. After one week of training, we successfully made tofu and bean sprouts and have already supplied the Hongqi Supply and Marketing Cooperative twice."

"In order to give everyone an extra source of income, I, Su Qingyue, and several Team Leaders discussed teaching everyone to make bean sprouts. Follow the standards, and the previous Team Leaders will collect them. We will collect them at three cents per jin of bean sprouts, with a minimum of ten jin to start."

The crowd began to discuss it in whispers.

"I said the Production Team's office had been buzzing for a week; they must have been doing something! You guys didn't believe me!"

"Three cents for a jin of bean sprouts; ten jin of bean sprouts is a net profit of three dimes? That's even more profitable than vegetables!"

"But where will you get the soybeans? How many jin of soybeans do you have in total? Once they're used up, won't there be no profit?"

Xiang Jianming waited for everyone to finish discussing and continued, "Don't worry about the soybeans running out. We purchased them from Pingshu Village at the price of two dimes. We will calculate it for you at this standard without changing the original price. After you make the bean sprouts and settle the accounts, we will deduct the cost."

"Does that mean we don't have to advance the cost, and we can just collect the soybeans, make them into bean sprouts, and earn money?"

Xiang Jianming said happily, "That's right! So we need a standard production process. If you want to make bean sprouts, you must learn well from each Team Leader. You must ensure quality; otherwise, once discovered, it will be recorded as a demerit, and the village will absolutely not cooperate with you on good things in the future!"

"Team Leader Xiang, we will definitely learn well. This is a good thing to support our families; who would dare to mess around? Thank you and Comrade Su Qingyue!"

"Team Leader Xiang, can we make tofu? Doesn't the Supply and Marketing Cooperative also collect tofu?"

Xiang Jianming organized his words, "Everyone making tofu themselves, first, there aren't that many soybeans; second, it consumes a long time and energy; third, the standards are different for every family—some are old, some are tender, and the thickness is uneven, so it's hard for us to fulfill the order for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative."

"Comrade Su Qingyue bought two pulp grinders and also hired professional masters to train the Team Leaders. In the future, we will have specialized people making tofu to sell. If the scale expands in the future, we will hire workers, but the prerequisite is that whether it's mountain goods or bean sprouts, the quality must be guaranteed!"

"Finally, don't hand over the chili peppers in the fields yet; keep them, as they will have a big use later!"