A ragged cub at the beginning

Mrs. Wang saw Mrs. Wu's hesitation and thought that she had just taken such a beautiful fan from someone else, so she might as well help her. With this in mind, she deliberately fiddled with the folding fan in her hand and said, "It's really beautiful."

Mrs. Wu really looked over and asked, "Where did this fan come from?"

"This person has a bad temper, and it will affect his eyes? Don't you see that it is being painted? Only by sending the child here can we buy such a beautiful fan." Mrs. Wang covered her mouth with the fan and smiled, "But you should not look down on this small school, right? You have a daughter at home."

Mrs. Wu choked for a moment and almost couldn't help rolling her eyes.

When the two of them were arguing, Tang Xu had already finished outlining and was starting to color it.

"Miss Tang, please draw one for me and send it to my daughter as well." Mrs. Wu said.

For a fan? The daughter doesn't care? Tang Xu didn't really understand the train of thought of these ladies, but Madam Wang was helping her, so she couldn't expose her, so she said, "Okay, Madam Wang, I'll paint this for you when I finish it. What kind of flowers does Madam Wu like?"

"Is this a peony?" Mrs. Wu asked after looking at it carefully.

"Yes."

"You're not going to paint the same thing as me, are you?" Mrs. Wang said sarcastically, "You want to copy others in everything? Don't you have any brains of your own?"

"I didn't say that!" Mrs. Wu was actually about to say that she wanted to paint a peony that was more beautiful than Mrs. Wang's, but someone stopped her. She thought for a moment and said, "I want peony."

Mrs. Wang was delighted and said, "The peony is the king of flowers, and the peony is the minister of flowers. My sister is self-aware."

Mrs. Wu glared at him, "Who is your sister? What do you mean by the king of flowers? I said that peony is the king of flowers."

While the two were bickering, Qi Qing poured them tea and served them snacks.

Tang Xu didn't want to get involved, so he just focused on painting the fan during this time.

"Oh, they are so beautiful. The flowers look just like the real ones. It's like I can smell their fragrance." Mrs. Wang happily took the fan.

"Madam, if you have peony-scented perfume at home, you can sprinkle some of it. That way, it will have a fragrant scent," Tang Xu suggested.

Mrs. Wang was delighted at first, but then she frowned, "I don't have this perfume, but I do have a box of rouge."

"That's fine. If the color of the rouge is similar to that of the peony, you can apply it thinly." Tang Xu said.

"Okay, thank you very much. I will send the child here again on the first day of May. It's getting late today, so goodbye." Mrs. Wang went back with satisfaction, holding two fans.

Mrs. Wu snorted and waited for her fan.

Seeing Madam Wang leaving, Tang Xu said, "If Madam Wu likes this fan, I can give you one. There's no need to force the child."

"It's okay. I think your kindergarten is pretty good. My daughter Yu'er is quiet by nature, but too quiet. She can sit still for a whole day. Yesterday was the first time I saw her smile so happily. I'm just worried that she will be bullied by boys and girls mixed together." Madam Wu sighed, "She doesn't talk much to me. I don't know if she will tell others if she is bullied. You don't allow servants here, so I'm still worried."

Tang Xu put down his fan, looked at Madam Wu and said, "Madam, are all the children in your family taken care of by servants? Do you have any playmates?"

"I am in charge of the household finances and have a lot of work to do on weekdays. I will have someone bring her over to see me when I am free. There is no playmate at home, and I only have this one daughter." Mrs. Wu was also worried.

"Then send them over. The children need playmates. We will also do our best to take care of them and won't let them be bullied." Tang Xu saw that she was really worried about the children, and patiently explained to her, "Not allowing servants to be brought along is not only because we want the children to learn to take care of themselves, but also for their safety. If everyone brings servants along, and there are quarrels and fights, the servants will only protect their masters, and if they lose their sense of propriety, they will be more likely to get hurt. In fact, it's rare for children to not quarrel when they are together, but think about it, the children are so small, how much strength can they have to fight."

"That does make sense." Mrs. Wu frowned and nodded.

"Moreover, the child has been locked up at home without a playmate, all alone. The servants are worried about being punished, so they will inevitably restrict the child from playing this and doing that. After a long time, won't the child become corrupted? Children are lively and cheerful by nature. Especially for a girl, she will be engaged in a few years. She will have to be careful in her words and deeds when she marries into someone else's family. She will never be as happy as she is at home. She will only have a few years of happy days." Tang Xu picked up the fan again and continued painting.

Mrs. Wu was silent. Who says it's not true? After all, the husband's family is different from her own family. After a woman gets married, she can't always go back home. With her husband and parents-in-law, even if they spoil her, she won't be so comfortable.

Thinking about this, she was not so happy when she got the fan. Although Tang Xu said he gave it to her, she still kept the silver and said she would send the child on May 1st.

"Three fans, so much silver?" Qi Qing was shocked.

"Tuition fees can be included here too. You don't have to worry about not being able to pay the shop taxes next month, right?" Tang Xu said with a smile.

"No need to worry this year." Qi Qing pursed his lips and smiled.

"This is not difficult. Let me teach you." Tang Xu said.

"I, how can I learn it?" Qi Qing waved his hands quickly.

"Sure, I'll outline and you fill in the colors. I'll teach you." Considering that the guests were all ladies, Tang Xu continued to paint the round fan and carefully taught Qi Qing step by step how to mix and test colors.

Qi Qing is not a stupid person. He has learned some basic painting skills before, so it is not too difficult for him to learn.

After a day, Qi Qing was able to mix and color the paintings by herself, but you could tell at a glance which ones were painted by her. Her color transitions were not as natural as Tang Xu's, so it was hard for an outsider to tell.

Apart from the two ladies in the morning, no one else came to sign up. Tang Xu wrote down the list, packed up his things and went back.

The next day, she only received three. Tang Xu was a little disappointed. What made her even more upset was that someone said that she was a spirit from a white porcelain bowl. Because it was not glazed, she liked to draw. She also said that bowl spirits could not give birth to children, so they loved to pick up children everywhere, and told others to be careful of her stealing children.

Isn't it just carrying a bowl and going out? Just for one day!

"Aunt Tang, Aunt Tang~"

Tang Xu was about to go out when she heard a child calling her. After searching for a while, she found that it was Jiang Xiaodong, who was hiding under the banyan tree in front of the Du family's door.

I haven't seen this kid since the Chinese New Year, and he looks thinner. He held the hand of his sister who had been immersed in her own world and waved at Tang Xu.

"What's wrong? Have you had breakfast?" Tang Xu walked over and asked.

Jiang Xiaodong paused, then said with a smile that he had eaten it.

It’s obvious that he didn’t eat it. If he had eaten it, he would like to think about it before answering you?

Tang Xu pulled him and said, "Come on, I'll buy you some buns."

"No, no, I really ate it." Jiang Xiaodong tried to pull his hand away, but didn't.

"You don't want to eat, and your sister won't eat either?" Tang Xu looked at him.

Jiang Xiaodong's throat choked and his eyes turned red. "My sister ate it."

Tang Xu was afraid that they would not be full, so he bought six meat buns. "Eat quickly."

Jiang Xiaodong thanked him, stuffed one into his sister's pocket, lowered his head and picked at the oil paper that wrapped the dumpling, and whispered, "I'm not here to ask you for food, I just want to tell you that it was Wang Yan who spread bad things about you. It was she who said you were a female demon last time, and it's also she who said you were a monster this time."

"Is it her?" Tang Xu frowned. This woman was really restless. She thought of the two children being treated harshly by their stepmother and said, "Come on, follow me to the kindergarten."

"I don't have any money, I have nothing to give you." Jiang Xiaodong pouted, holding back tears, "You are all good people, I don't want to trouble you."

Tang Xu exhaled and touched his head, "Good boy, it's okay, I don't need you to eat, come with me."

Jiang Xiaodong usually never cried when he was beaten, nor when he was hungry, but every time someone cared about him, he couldn't control his tears. He pulled his sister and knelt on the ground to kowtow to Tang Xu.

"Hey! Don't do this! A man's knees are made of gold! He should kneel only to Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, his parents and his teachers. Get up quickly!" Tang Xu lifted his arm to prevent him from bowing.

Only kneel to the heaven, earth, emperor, parents and teachers. Du Yun just came back to get something and heard this sentence. He repeated it silently, then smiled and said, "What is this for?"

"Master Du!"

"Liu Jing!"

Du Yun nodded and looked at Tang Xu, "What are you doing?"

"I took them to kindergarten and they insisted on kowtow to me," Tang Xu complained.

"Go ahead, Xiaodong. Your Aunt Tang doesn't care about these things." Du Yun smoothed Tang Xu's long hair and looked at her lovingly, "I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

"Okay, see you tonight." Tang Xu said goodbye to him and took Jiang Xiaodong to the kindergarten. Qiyue and Tang Lele were there, and they seemed to be playing house games. Several children occupied different rooms, shouting and playing with each other.

"Mom~" This is July. He always likes to act coquettishly in a dragging tone.

"Mom!" This is Tang Lele, always full of energy.

"nia!" Tang Ji spoke incoherently.

"Aunt Xu!"

"Aunt Tang."

The children came over, greeting them and looking at the two new kids curiously.

"Be good, this is Xiaodong, this is Xiaonan, come and play together." Tang Xu touched their heads one by one. Tang Qing and Banxia were not there, as they had gone out of town to collect herbs.

There were a few women who were life teachers nearby. After hearing the conversation, one of them came up and said hesitantly, "Director, here are two more children."

Tang Xu looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"What you said before, that you can bring your own children, is that true?" The woman lowered her head and twisted her hands together.

Tang Xu had some impression of this person. Her husband died and she only gave birth to a daughter. Her eldest uncle took over the house, so she had no choice but to return to her parents' home with the child. However, her sister-in-law thought she was eating and drinking for free and always wanted to marry her off.

She looked for work everywhere, but there were too few jobs for women. She happened to hear that a kindergarten was hiring and came quickly.

He is an honest man and works hard, but he always looks sad.

"It's true, but there's no one to take care of the children at home?" Tang Xu said, "You can bring them here, but I have to be clear. Everyone can bring their children here, and the wages for taking care of children are less than those without children. And if I find that you only care about your own children and don't work, please leave."

The woman waved her hands and assured, "No, no, I will definitely work hard! My child doesn't need anyone to take care of her! She's very obedient! She won't cause any trouble! The wages don't matter! It's good enough to have food and shelter!"

"Okay." Tang Xu nodded, and then said to the rest of the people: "You can bring your own children if you want, but you can only bring your own children. If you dare to bring relatives or neighbors, you will be kicked out immediately. I hope you understand that I let you take care of the children because I understand that you are mothers. It is not easy for women to find jobs, but if you think I am easy to talk to and bully, then I will let you see my methods."