NOVPUB
Chapter 758: Chapter 748: Children Who Enjoy Themselves
By the time Shen Yunfang finished enjoying her husband’s attentions and came to check on them, they had already allocated the rights to today’s beds as they had finished making them.
When Shen Yunfang went over, she saw that the children had already taken their places. On the upper bunk, which was one meter and twenty centimeters, Jiajia and Manman were sitting, evidently talking about something and giggling together.
On the lower bunk, which was one meter and fifty centimeters, Shuanzi and Erdan were lying back to back as if they were angry with each other.
Pangpang and Sandan had pulled out the drawer bed beneath, also close to one meter and fifty centimeters wide, which was more than enough space for the two of them to sleep.
There was also a pallet on the floor, which belonged to Shitou.
"Oh no, this won’t do. It’s winter now, you can’t just sleep on the concrete floor; what if you catch a cold," Shen Yunfang said, not caring how they had distributed the beds, but absolutely opposed to them just laying a mat on the concrete floor and sleeping on it.
"It’s okay, Aunt," Shitou said unconcernedly, "I have a strong constitution."
"Even if you’re healthy, it’s not okay. You can’t abuse your body just because you’re young; you’ll feel the effects when you’re older," Shen Yunfang came over and shooed him away, "Get up, quickly. You can’t just lay it directly on the ground." 𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Shitou obediently climbed up.
"Wait here, I’ll go get a bedboard for you," Shen Yunfang told him to roll up the mat, then she went back to her room.
When buying the larger furniture, they had anticipated such a situation, so they had some extra bedboards made at the same height as the drawer bed.
However, those two bedboards had never been used; as the house did not have much space, she had put them in storage. Now she would have to find a place in her room for this bedboard.
It wasn’t long before Li Hongjun came over carrying the bedboard. He set it next to the drawer bed; it was almost the same height but a bit narrower.
"Here, first put down a layer of down mattress pad," Shen Yunfang spread a down mattress pad she was holding on the very bottom for moisture and heat insulation, "Okay, now you can lay the mat on top of it."
Shitou made his bed himself, and once he had finished, Shen Yunfang asked him to lie on it to try it out.
Shitou did as he was told and was quite satisfied with his bedding.
"Hehe, with this setup, it’s like the whole room has been turned into a big pallet bed. Be careful when you get up at night to go to the bathroom; don’t step on anyone," Shen Yunfang noted. The room wasn’t very big, and now there was hardly any free floor space left.
The children heard this, all poked their heads out to look at the floor bed, and giggled.
"Alright, kids, don’t just lie on the beds anymore, get up, it’s time for a bath," Shen Yunfang said. This was an important routine, as whoever visited always had this part on the first night.
Then an amusing sight appeared in the large courtyard. Li Hongjun and his wife led seven children, parading through the yard.
The following day, Li Hongjun still had to go to work and couldn’t look after the children, so it was up to Shen Yunfang to take them all to the farm, which was perfect as it also gave Erdan and Sandan a chance to visit Goudan.
Once at the farm, the children, seeing so much space, were absolutely thrilled.
Shen Yunfang wasn’t strict with them, but she made it clear from the start that they could look around all they liked, just as long as they didn’t cause trouble. If anyone came to her with complaints, they’d have to stay home and behave.
So, Shen Yunfang continued to oversee the processing factory, while Erdan and Sandan went off to the breeding department to find Goudan. The remaining children all headed for the greenhouses.
Shen Yunfang also made a point of asking Zhao Dabao to keep an eye on the kids for her. If there were any issues, he was to send them straight back to the office.
Over at the processing plant, the workers had mostly mastered the machinery’s operation. Potato chips, corn nuts, and puffed rice were now being mass-produced.
As for the sales, they were following the old routes — the first push was toward the railway and bus stations. As for retail, Yunfang was considering setting up some kind of agency to make management on her end easier. But of course, these were still just thoughts. After all, "Feiyang" potato chips and corn nuts weren’t widely recognized yet. It would all have to happen gradually.
Come noon, Shen Yunfang wanted to take the kids home for lunch but not a single one followed her. They were having too much fun. She was puzzled — what could these kids possibly help with that they didn’t want to go back home? After she called Li Hongjun to let him know they wouldn’t be home for lunch and asked him to handle it himself, she made a point to wander through the breeding department and the vegetable greenhouses. She finally understood why the kids were playing so hard they didn’t want to leave.
Because the breeding department was closer to the office, that’s where Shen Yunfang went first.
On her way to find Goudan, she saw Erdan and Sandan each holding a basket, bent over, picking eggs in the chicken coop.
The expressions on their faces were akin to mice that had stolen some oil, sweet and brimming with happiness.
"What are you up to?" Shen Yunfang asked with a smile.
Goudan, Erdan, and Sandan all turned to look at her.
Sandan, holding up the eggs in his hand, shouted to his aunt, "Auntie, eggs, eggs, so many eggs!" He even slurped his drool a bit. Goodness, he’d never seen so many eggs in his life. To be able to pick however many eggs he wanted, whenever he wanted — he’d never imagined days like these. This morning’s experience had sent his happiness levels through the roof.
"Auntie, ever since those two arrived, they kept causing trouble, so I found them some work to do. The chickens in my area haven’t laid their eggs yet, so I talked it over with some folks, and we agreed to leave the eggs for these two to collect," Goudan explained scratching his head while speaking to his aunt.
"Alright, as long as they’re having fun. It’s almost lunchtime, don’t forget to take them to the canteen to eat," Shen Yunfang reminded.
"Oh right, I reckon we’ll finish collecting these before lunch. So, you guys will have nothing to do in the afternoon. Why don’t you go to the greenhouses and find Shitou and the others to play with?" Although the breeding department was cleaned and disinfected daily, the odor from so many chickens together was still quite strong.
"No need for that, they’ve already said that once they finish here, they’re going next door to collect more," Goudan said, slightly embarrassed for his brothers’ lack of experience and for having pulled strings himself.
You see, their morning work was the busiest. Apart from cleaning and feeding the chickens, collecting eggs was a major task. But today, to fulfill his silly little brothers’ wish, he had specially asked his co-workers to hold off on egg collecting so that his brothers could do it in the afternoon.
Shen Yunfang didn’t make a fuss about it, smiling instead, "Sure, let them pick as much as they want for as long as they want. We’ve got plenty of eggs, enough for them to pick until they’re sick of it."
After that, she rode her bike over to the greenhouses. With over thirty to check, she visited each one. Right before lunchtime, she finally found those kids.
They were crouched inside the persimmon greenhouse, laughing and giggling as they picked persimmons and secretly ate them.
"Hey, you lot, isn’t this guarding and stealing your own stuff? These persimmons are supposed to be sold. If you eat them all, what am I going to sell? And hey, you’ve been sneaking them all morning. Can you even fit lunch in now?"
