Returning home, there was still no one in the house. He locked the door and went directly into the space.

Taking advantage of the time before dinner, he prepared some fish.

He took a large carp weighing about five catties, leaving only the belly with few bones and the belly part, and put the rest aside.

He heated the pot, added some oil, stir-fried the ginger and chili until fragrant, and then fried the prepared fish belly in the pot.

He added soy sauce and stir-fried until fragrant, then added water.

After simmering for a while to reduce the soup, he added scallions and garlic, and put the fish meat into the aluminum lunchbox.

After finishing, he washed the rice and started cooking it.

Feeling that it was almost time to finish dinner, he quickly left the space.

During this time, he had already figured out the time for meals. It was basically half an hour before dark, which was now just after six o'clock.

After coming out, he hid the lunchbox and waited there.

"Third Brother, Third Brother, it's time for dinner. Where are you?"

Soon, Xi Zi's anxious voice came from outside.

Xi Zi pushed open the door and shouted anxiously, "Third Brother, hurry up, it's time for dinner. I'll go get the bowls! Huh!"

After speaking, just as he was about to leave, he stopped in his tracks.

"Sniff~ Sniff~"

Xi Zi sniffed inside the house, widened his eyes, and said, "Brother, what smells so good? Don't tell me it's farting again."

Then he searched inside the house.

Yang Xiaole shook his head and said, "Who knows! I didn't steal any. Alright, you go get the food, I'll be there in a moment. Xiaoli, stay here. I have something to tell you."

Xi Zi looked around the house but couldn't find anything.

In the end, he nodded and left in a hurry.

Can't delay his meal!

Xiaoli blinked her eyes and revealed a mouthful of crooked teeth. She curiously asked, "Third Brother, what's wrong?"

"Third Brother wants to tell you, wait a moment, wait for Xi Zi to get the food, and then go tell Mother that I'm not feeling well, got it?"

"Ah, Third Brother, you're sick again?"

"What sick again? Just say what I told you to say, got it? When you go, keep your mouth shut. Think about when Xi Zi drank your sweet soup, got it?"

After Yang Xiaole finished speaking, he looked at the bewildered Xiaoli and rubbed his forehead.

"Forget it, just wait a moment."

"Oh!"

Xiaoli agreed in a daze, occasionally looking outside, thinking about when they would eat!

After waiting for a while, Yang Xiaole finally said to her, "Alright, go find Mother and tell her I'm not feeling well."

Receiving the decree, Third Brother nodded, and ran out of the yard with a clatter.

Even his braids were standing straight.

Afraid that the delicious food would be gone if he was late.

Yang Xiaole looked at the other person's appearance and smiled. Children were always children, they either played or ate.

After waiting for a few minutes, he saw Wang Qiuju coming back anxiously with a bowl in her hand.

Xiaoli followed behind her.

As for Xi Zi, he didn't know where he went.

"Third Brother, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm not feeling unwell. Didn't I tell you last time that they caught fish? They sent me a lunchbox of fish because it's inconvenient for so many people to eat there."

After speaking, he opened the lunchbox.

Looking at the full fish meat in the aluminum lunchbox, Wang Qiuju frowned slightly, "You went to catch fish again?"

"I didn't! Didn't they use my bait? I didn't go, they went to sell it themselves and brought me some fish. Well, that's all. There's no meat this time, I don't know if they bought meat or not."

Yang Xiaole innocently said, then asked, "Mother, calculate the time. I went to school and came back. Is there enough time for me to catch fish?"

Wang Qiuju calculated for a moment, it seemed to be true.

But when she heard that those people went to sell fish again, she felt conflicted and asked, "How much money did they sell it for?"

Yang Xiaole pretended not to know and said, "It seems to be more than twenty yuan!"

"2... More than 20 yuan? They didn't give you a share?"

"I didn't even go, why would they give me a share? They just made a lunchbox of fish for me and brought it over. What's wrong with that?"

Looking at her indifferent son, Wang Qiuju felt uncomfortable.

More than twenty yuan!

Then she asked, "If you had gone, how much could you have gotten?"

"5 yuan! What's wrong?"

"Mother, can we eat first?"

As they were talking, Xiaoli, who was beside them, smelled the fragrance of the braised fish and couldn't help but swallow her saliva. She weakly asked.

Wang Qiuju looked at the hungry Xiaoli and instructed, "Go call Xi Zi and then we'll eat.""Don't call out, others will suspect. Just leave some for him."

Yang Xiaole stopped Fifth Brother from going out to call someone.

Wang Qiuju thought for a moment, then nodded, "Alright, leave some for him. Otherwise, he'll come back making a fuss again. Let's eat."

Upon receiving the order, Xiaoli quickly picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth.

A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled.

"Mmm, delicious."

It was all fish belly, and the bones had been removed. It melted in the mouth, and there was plenty of oil. Of course, it was delicious.

Wang Qiuju handed Yang Xiaole his bowl of rice and muttered, "It cost 5 yuan! How much did your big sister spend on school? If you don't want it, then don't take it."

Yang Xiaole shrugged as he took the bowl, "There's nothing I can do. Who asked me not to go!"

5 yuan was a large sum of money for people in the city, let alone in the countryside.

Dinner was steamed corn stalk rice with potatoes, and the vegetables were shredded pork with celery and stir-fried leeks. It was decent, except there was too little meat.

Yang Xiaole cut the fish into 8 pieces, with 2 pieces for each person.

Xiaoli finished her two pieces and looked at the remaining fish, knowing that it was for Fourth Brother. She soaked her rice with the remaining fish soup.

Just as they were about to finish eating, Xi Zi finally came back.

As soon as he arrived home, he felt something was wrong.

It smelled too good.

When he rushed into the room and saw everyone eating, he pouted, "You didn't call me when you were eating. I knew there was a delicious smell just now."

Yang Xiaole glared at him irritably, "I'm not feeling well, and you didn't even bother to come and check on me. Do you still have the nerve to say that? We shouldn't have saved any for you."

Wang Qiuju shook her head as she watched the scene, "Alright, we saved two pieces for you, exactly two pieces for each person. Don't say you ate too much. If you don't want it, we'll eat it."

"I'll eat!"

Xi Zi pouted and put the fish into his unfinished bowl of rice.

Wang Qiuju thought for a moment and then instructed, "Don't tell anyone what we eat at home. If anyone finds out, we'll secretly eat without them."

Upon hearing this, Xi Zi hurriedly agreed.

After collecting the bowls and chopsticks, they lit a mosquito coil, which immediately masked the smell of the fish. Plus, they were eating inside the house, so even if someone came, they wouldn't notice anything.

Yang Xiaole looked at Xiaoli, who was satisfied, and said to Wang Qiuju, "By the way, Mom, Uncle sent a telegram. He wants Big Brother to come to the city on the 6th."

"What? Uncle sent a telegram? When?"

Wang Qiuju paused for a moment, looking at him in surprise.

Seeing this, Yang Xiaole took out two pieces of paper, "One is the telegram from Uncle, it's written on it. The other is the certificate I got for Big Brother, otherwise no one in the city will accept him. He won't be able to go to the city."

"Oh, you just went to get the certificate?"

Wang Qiuju took a glance and then handed it back to him, "Alright, keep it safe. I'll go to the mine to take a look another day."

"No need, the people who bring back coal will pass by the school gate. I won't come back tomorrow noon. I'll wait for Big Brother there."

While saying this, Yang Xiaole put away the things.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Qiuju nodded, "Alright, keep the things safe and don't lose them. Don't give them to your Big Brother yet, let him come and get them when he comes back."

Yang Xiaole nodded, "Got it. I'm going to sleep, I'm too tired."

He had woken up so early in the morning, and he was already exhausted.

After taking a bath, he lay down on the heated bed and fell asleep.

As for Xi Zi, who was complaining and reluctant to eat without waiting for him, Yang Xiaole kicked him, and he immediately quieted down.

...

Early the next morning, just as the sun was rising, Yang Xiaole left the house with his two little followers.

It was fine in the summer, but in the winter, they had to leave before dawn.

They all carried cloth bags on their backs, slung over one shoulder.

Xiaoli was still using Big Sister's old school bag.

It was her first day of school, and she was the happiest. She had already prepared everything early in the morning.

Her hair had been combed and the lice had been removed with a comb by Mom. She tied two pigtails.

As soon as they left the house, Gousheng was already waiting at the door.

"Xiaole, I've been waiting for you!"

By now, some children from the village had already started going to school, but not many. Xiaojuan from the Yang Guangping family next door had already gone far.

Yang Xiaole nodded, "Let's go!"

After all, they were in the same class.

The group of them walked towards the school.

When they reached the riverbank, instead of going to the bridge, they crossed the river by wading through the water.

Taking the detour was too far.

A group of children were washing their feet and putting on their shoes there, some wearing straw shoes and walking directly through the water.

After putting on their shoes, they walked on the street.

Yang Xiaole looked around and said to Xi Zi, "You take your sister and Gousheng to school. I have something to do."Xi Zi gave a light sigh, leading his people and the dog away.

Meanwhile, he quickly made his way to one of the houses.

Arriving at the Liu family's home, the door was already open. Yang Xiaole pretended to pass by, and seeing that it was indeed a man of the Liu family inside, he felt relieved.

After some thought, he took out 20 yuan, tied it to a stone with some grass, and threw it into the main hall.

After doing so, he took off running.

"Who the hell did this!"

Not long after, the man of the Liu family came out, his face full of anger.

"Hey, Old Liu, look, there's money here!"

Upon hearing his daughter-in-law's words, Liu Dongsheng looked puzzled. He came back and saw that there really was 20 yuan.

He quickly ran out again, but saw no one.

He returned home, still puzzled.

"Old Liu, what's going on? Why is there so much money?"

Liu Dongsheng was also baffled.

...

After dealing with one family, Yang Xiaole hurried to the other two. Once he confirmed the people, he used the same method to throw the money in.

If the three people were paired, they could guess something.

But he didn't care.

After all, no one saw him.

Arriving at school, he headed straight for his class.

But he was still late.

Luo Jinping was sitting in the classroom, talking to everyone!

Seeing him come in, he frowned and asked, "Why are you late?"

"Oh, I felt unwell on the way and took a break."

Hearing this, Luo Jinping didn't say anything. It was usual for this guy to be in poor health.

"Alright, come in!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaole walked in.

What surprised him was that there were quite a few students from Class B.

When he got to his seat, he sat down.

Next to him was the dog.

He then asked him, "What's going on? Why are there students from Class B?"

The dog covered his mouth, his eyes looking forward, and whispered, "We're not called Class A and Class B anymore, but Class 1 and Class 2. There are fewer students now, so our two classes have been merged into one."

Yang Xiaole understood upon hearing this.

It was the fifth grade, and fewer people were coming to school. Originally, the two classes had about seventy students, so there was already talk of merging.

Now there were about thirty fewer, leaving only about forty.

The classes had been merged.

That is to say, from the fifth grade onwards, there would only be one class.

He guessed that there would be even fewer students next year.

"Alright, I've said what needs to be said. Everyone needs to get along well from now on. To complete the tasks from above, starting today, we need to cooperate with the commune to complete tasks. Senior students need to help the commune, that is, grades four and five. From now on, we will only have two cultural classes, Chinese and arithmetic."

Luo Jinping was saying this on the stage.

Yang Xiaole shook his head, damn, they had to go too!

He definitely wouldn't do it. He was sick!