Follow the army to the island, the rebellious male protagonist was led by me to counterattack

Chapter 242: Aboveboard
Uncle Cao readily followed Shi Xia, his steps practiced and his back view exuding righteousness.

The two walked to a secluded corner. Uncle Cao, as was his habit, observed his surroundings and waited a while before saying, "Speak."

Shi Xia laughed out loud when she saw it.

"You really have the charisma to lie dormant."

"Thanks to you."

Uncle Cao gave Shi Xia a forced smile, and Shi Xia laughed even louder.

"That's true."

The two stopped joking and started talking about serious matters.

"I've acquired a batch of fabric."

Uncle Cao, ever the go-getter, asked, "Should we organize the move tonight or sometime?"

Shi Xia shook her head.

"No need for the dark and windy night. This time we're doing it openly and honestly. I've bought it, and the higher-ups will ship it to us. We can just go to the shore to pick it up."

"After we bring them back, we'll distribute them to each household."

Uncle Cao waited for Shi Xia to finish speaking, then pondered deeply.

"What's wrong, Uncle Cao?"

Uncle Cao turned his head.

"Why are we plotting something so perfectly legitimate?"

Shi Xia blinked, "Yeah, that seems to be true." She chuckled and said, "I'm used to it."

Uncle Cao: "..."

"Oh, right, there's another thing. I expect someone will be coming to cut electricity to our three islands soon."

"Really? That's great!"

Uncle Cao was really overjoyed, finally he didn't have to use kerosene anymore, his nose was always black in the morning.

"It absolutely has to be true, just wait and see."

After Shi Xia finished speaking, she thought about it again and realized there was nothing else to say.

"That's all. I'm going back to Haiming Island today. If I don't have anything else to do, I'll come back and take the fishing boats out to fish a few more times."

Uncle Cao had no problem with it, and the two parted ways.

Shi Xia hadn't gone far when Accountant Xu came over, his face showing a knowing, lurking expression, and he casually bumped into Uncle Cao.

"How many people are needed?"

"No need for people, that's a good thing, a good thing that can be done openly and honestly."

Accountant Xu didn't believe it.

"Nonsense, why would you two go so far in broad daylight? You even asked me to keep watch for you."

Uncle Cao was also helpless.

"I thought Shi Xia was going to tell me some secret."

After Uncle Cao explained, Accountant Xu showed the same surprised expression.

"That's great! You have no idea, that night I was cutting my toenails, and the kerosene lamp was too dim, so I ended up cutting my toes instead."

Uncle Cao pushed Accountant Xu away with disdain.

"That's because you're blind."

"Who are you talking about?"

The two of them were happily chasing each other when Shi Xia took a stroll around the village and first went to check on the school.

The children are all good, and the teacher is very dedicated.

Just as Shi Xia was about to leave, Cheng Qingmin called her back.

"Comrade Shi Xia, Principal Shi Xia!"

With just one word, "Principal Shi Xia," Shi Xia turned around.

"Comrade Cheng, hello."

Cheng Qingmin came over through gritted teeth.

"Principal, I was wrong. You still remember to come back?"

Shi Xia felt a little guilty.

“You’re right, I haven’t done a good job as principal. How about this, I’ll apply to the higher-ups and let you be the principal.”

Cheng Qingmin had just started to relax a little after hearing the first half of the speech when he was terrified by the question, "You're going to be the principal?"

"I won't do it!"

"Why? The principal took an extra dollar and fifty cents." Cheng Qingmin pointed to his head and said, "That dollar and fifty cents isn't even enough to cover my hair loss!"

“Principal Shi Xia, could you please hire two more teachers? The children have been divided into classes, and the three of us are really not enough.”

"Class assignment?"

Shi Xia had no idea until Cheng Qingmin explained it to her.

Cheng Qingmin, Xu Danhong, and Uncle Qu divided the children into three classes according to their learning level, which resulted in the three of them being extremely busy.

"Okay, I'll talk to the teacher. It's a small matter, don't be angry, don't be angry. I'll voluntarily take a pay cut and give each of you an extra two yuan."

Cheng Qingmin has already managed to remain unaffected by money.

"Just find me a teacher."

Recently, Cheng Qingmin has been teaching diligently, and with Uncle Qu's extensive knowledge, he and Xu Danhong have learned a lot from him.

In addition, Shi Xia trusted Cheng Qingmin and entrusted him with all the school affairs, so the parents and children trusted him as well.

The islanders' simple and honest treatment made Cheng Qinmin, who had no relatives since childhood and lived as a dependent, genuinely fall in love with this place.

"Okay, I'll find it for you! I'm leaving now."

Shi Xia was about to leave when Cheng Qingming suddenly turned back.

"Principal Shi Xia, don't look for educated youth."

It's not that Cheng Qingmin is petty; it's just that none of the remaining educated youth are easy to deal with.

Needless to say, his fiancée, Li Yafang, never wanted to stay here. As for Guo Yunyun, she always found opportunities to go to Haiming Island, hoping to find a military officer.

Last time, when she learned that Li Daniu was visiting his family, she deliberately dressed up in a flamboyant way to find him, but Li Daniu suspected that she was a spy and took her away.

After that incident, Guo Yunyun behaved herself for a while.

The other two educated youths, one of whom was an honest and simple man named Zhang Jian, were found by Cheng Qingming to be very secretive after a period of contact. He felt that Zhang Jian had some great secret.

Another female educated youth, Jia Yue, seemed honest and straightforward, but Cheng Qingmin couldn't quite put his finger on it; he just felt that something about her was off.

It's like... can someone really be that good?
He felt that he had a good personality, but he would get angry sometimes, while Jia Yue never got angry.

After hearing Cheng Qingmin's words, Shi Xia asked a few more questions, and Cheng Qingmin did not hide anything and told her his guess.

"I just said it based on our daily interactions; actually, I didn't find any problems."

Shi Xia nodded, not ignoring the problem, and besides, it wasn't good to have a few dishonest educated youths in the village.

It seems we need to get rid of them.

This is not difficult.

Thinking of this, Shi Xia looked directly at Cheng Qingmin.

"Cheng Qingmin, do you want to go back to the city?"

"what?"

Cheng Qingmin didn't follow along. Weren't they talking about educated youth and teachers?

"I asked you if you wanted to go back to the city?"

Cheng Qingmin understood and shook his head.

"I don't want to, I like it here."

"Do you like your fiancée?"

Cheng Qingmin didn't think Shi Xia liked him, so Shi Xia must have had her reasons for asking that question.

Cheng Qingming's smile was tinged with bitterness.

“The Li family has been kind to me, and I cannot break my promise. As long as Li Yafang is willing, I will definitely marry her.”

Shi Xia nodded and said no more.

"I'll take care of it. Just focus on your studies."

"it is good!"

Cheng Qingmin left, and Shi Xia said she could handle it, and she definitely could.

As Shi Xia left, her gaze drifted in one direction, and she saw Zhang Jian nervously turn his back and quickly walk away.

It seems there really is a secret.

It's alright, she's an expert at interrogation.

Shi Xia checked the time; it was still early, so she simply followed Zhang Jian, making no attempt to hide her whereabouts.

Zhang Jian heard footsteps behind him. Could it be that Cheng Qingming had said something nonsense?
Zhang Jian wasn't stupid; she knew Shi Xia's status in the village, but she didn't know Shi Xia's strength.

After all, no one in the village gossiped, and Zhang Jian and his group were excluded.

Zhang Jian panicked and strayed further and further off course.

(End of this chapter)