At the beginning, he took his seven younger siblings to join Yi Zhonghai.

"Dingya is right. We can't spoil them. This is our first time raising a child, so let's listen to him."

"How about this, we'll add a chair here, you can sit here and eat with them."

"Tomorrow I'll go to the old carpenter across the street and ask him to make another small table, so that the kids can sit at one table."

Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

"When you go out later, go over there so you can use it a day sooner. Don't forget you need the stool too; these were borrowed from the front yard."

Tan Xiulian moved a stool over and sat down in front of the doll.

"Brother, you forgot? I know how to do carpentry, but I need to get a set of carpentry tools. I've sold all the ones I had at home."

"I can buy or borrow a set of tools and build that stroller frame myself."

Yi Zhongding then interjected.

"Hey, how could I forget that? Dingya has been learning carpentry from his fourth uncle since he was a child."

"Let's eat first. I don't know where to buy woodworking tools. I'll have to ask the old carpenter across the street."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai immediately smiled.

"Dingya is so capable! He can do carpentry at such a young age."

Tan Xiulian said with a smile.

"Whatever the family does to make a living, the children have to help out, and they learn by doing."

Yi Zhongding replied.

That's certainly true.

As the saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and mice beget mice that know how to dig holes.

"Hey, how about we buy a few old hens? Can we take care of them? That way we can cook one for the kids every now and then."

After Yi Zhonghai sat down, he looked at the scrambled eggs and asked.

"That's good, but there's nowhere to raise them. Don't count on the open space in the yard. You know how we are in this yard; if we start, will they fall behind?"

"By then, this huge courtyard will smell like chicken manure every day, and there won't even be a place to stand."

Tan Xiulian turned her head and said.

"That's true. They're not expensive to buy. They're four cents each now. If you buy eight every day, that's thirty-two cents. Wow, that adds up to a lot over a month, nine dollars and sixty cents."

"Adding to the meat we talked about yesterday, those two items would cost 16 yuan a month."

Yi Zhonghai counted on his fingers.

"No, brother, you're raising young masters and misses, spending 16 yuan a month just on meat and eggs, that's too extravagant."

Yi Zhongding has been in this era for almost two months now, and he can be considered to have fully integrated into this era.

To put it bluntly...

Nowadays, kids are treated like it's New Year's if they can eat just one egg a month.

We can only eat meat once every year or two.

Those days were as blissful as being in paradise.

Who can afford to eat eggs every day?

So of course they knew how luxurious the life Yi Zhonghai was talking about was.

"Hey, you're worried about money again, aren't you? Come on, let me show you what I'm made of. You can relax and eat and drink as you please. I have plenty of money to support you guys."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai was immediately delighted, stood up, and said with great enthusiasm.

"No, brother, please sit down. I know you and sister-in-law care about us and want to give us the best life, but we can't live like this."

Yi Zhongding quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back to sit down.

It's not that he's unwilling to give his younger siblings a better life.

If he could now earn money openly and honestly.

Then let alone eating an egg a day.

Even meat must be eaten once a day.

But now he finds it hard to accept his elder brother and sister-in-law's contributions with a clear conscience.

Furthermore, there is the situation we face.

He had to speak up.

Regardless of whether it's hypocritical or not.

Otherwise, what would he have become?

"Alright, your sister-in-law and I will figure this out. You're just a kid, eat and drink your own food, don't worry about anything else."

"If we're going to cut back, we can't cut back on your food and drink. Children can't do without nutrition."

"If it weren't for the thought that in a couple of years you'll all be grown up and this house won't be big enough, and we'll have to buy a few more houses."

"Believe it or not, your big brother will make sure you eat meat every day."

Yi Zhonghai patted his chest and said.

"Dingya, listen to your older brother. Our family isn't short of money. Your older brother earns sixty yuan a month now."

"However, one egg a day is indeed a bit too much. One egg every two or three days is more appropriate. You also have to avoid people, otherwise there will definitely be a lot of gossip."

Tan Xiulian also chimed in.

"Yes, of course. The food's getting cold."

Seeing that his younger brother still wanted to talk, Yi Zhonghai changed the subject.

Yi Zhongding smiled helplessly, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating.

Sixty yuan a month sounds like a lot.

However, when ten people share the same income, it's only one yuan more than the national poverty line of five yuan.

This would definitely be a tight budget for an average family.

How could I possibly spend all sixty yuan in a month?

People of this era are not like the "moonlight clan" of later generations.

He didn't know how much savings Yi Zhonghai had to cover his losses.

But judging from their tone, they clearly knew what was going on.

Moreover, they were in a state of extreme excitement and couldn't listen to anything being said.

It's as if someone is preventing them from spending money on their children.

They acted like they were in a real hurry with someone.

After the family finished lunch, they waited for Tan Xiulian to clean up the dishes.

So he dressed neatly and prepared to go out.

"Ding Yazi, don't forget to bring all your documents."

As Yi Zhonghai carried the child to his side, he gave instructions.

"Don't worry, I've brought everything. Sister-in-law, I'll carry Zhongxin and Zhongyan on my back. They're both sturdy and quite heavy."

Yi Zhongding has already checked it several times.

"No need, I'll do it. If there were room, your older brother wouldn't have gotten a chance to carry you."

Tan Xiulian shook her head vigorously, like a rattle-drum.

She now adores these little babies.

No one is allowed to touch it.

She even considered whether Yi Zhongding should sleep with his older brother.

She came to put these dolls to sleep.

Thinking this way.

She looked down at Zhong Yan in front of her.

She noticed that Zhong Yan's dark, round eyes were also staring at her.

Zhongyan noticed his sister-in-law looking over at him.

He immediately burst into laughter.

She giggled and reached out her little hand to grab her sister-in-law's face.

"Hey, this kid knows who's good to him. Look how close he is to his sister-in-law."

Upon seeing this, Yi Zhonghai smiled and said...

"Sister-in-law, you have to be careful. These two rascals may look small, but they're surprisingly strong. Sometimes when they're asleep, one of them will suddenly kick me, and it'll hurt for ages."

Yi Zhongding also smiled and reminded him.

"It's okay, being strong is good. Boys need to be strong so they won't be bullied in the future."

"His older brother, do you see? Just look at him, he seems much smarter than that Jia family kid."

"Those small eyes are so bright, just like the gems described in those plays."

Tan Xiulian didn't care at all, and even leaned forward to let him scratch her face.

"Haha, that goes without saying."

Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

After the family got ready, they set off for the police station.

I just stepped out the door.

The door across the hall opened.

A plump white mouse nimbly darted out.

Oh.

No.

A plump, fair-skinned woman named Jia Zhangshi emerged.