Chapter 077 1975

There is no snow this winter.

To be precise, there is no snow in Linhe City, but in the surrounding higher places you can see white snow.

It fell on the ground, on the leaves, and on the rocks, forming a thin layer. In less than half a day, it was almost gone.

Although there was no snow, Wen Jiajia didn't feel that the weather this year was much warmer than in previous years. The wind was still biting and the frost was as thick as last year.

The stove in Wen Jiajia's house is burning every day, and the water in the pot is gurgling non-stop, boiling and stopping. It is not for drinking - oh no, not all the water in the pot is for drinking, boiled water is harmful, it is mostly used to warm hands.

After Wen Jiajia's tireless efforts, she now has 6 hand warmers at home. And she managed to get 6 after exerting great effort!

Wen Jiajia thought it was too little, but Wei Dai thought it was too much. He really couldn't understand why there were so many hand warmers at home.

"Well...are our hand warmers defective?" Wei Dai asked one day.

Looking at the hand warmers lined up on the coffee table, waiting for Wen Jiajia to fill them with boiling water one by one, Wei Dai felt that this was the only explanation.

Huh! This was an explanation she had never thought of.

Wen Jiajia was stunned for half a second, then quickly claimed it, posing as if it was a matter of course: "Yes, I bought these defective products from Lao Yu. Didn't you see the pattern? It's a little broken, and there's also a piston. It feels like there's a seam. If it wasn't a defective product, I wouldn't have bought so many."

Wei Daishi couldn't tell where the pattern was broken or where the piston was cracked. These six hand warmers were obviously fine.

He looked at Wen Jiajia with suspicion and reluctantly believed his wife's lies.

I didn't suspect anything, but I suspected that his wife was secretly doing some reselling and cooperating with the two friends in the department store to do some things like putting the head on the waist!

Wei Dai said, "The situation has been a bit tense recently. It's better to stop doing some things."

In fact, the family is not short of money.

"Go!" Wen Jiajia kicked him and talked nonsense, but he actually guessed some of her ideas correctly.

She certainly didn't cooperate with the people at the department store, as that would have been a big problem if someone had discovered it.

Especially at a time like this when everyone is in danger, if Lao Yu and the others were caught, at best they would be transferred from their positions and lose their jobs, or at worst they would be thrown into jail. Even if they dared to do it, Wen Jiajia would not dare to accompany them.

But it is still possible to make a few hand warmers yourself and use the excuse of "buying them for others".

Even if this matter is discovered, there is no way to prove it. To be honest, is it wrong to ask a neighbor to help make a pot of soy sauce?

Moreover, Wen Jiajia only does business with people she knows, and she mostly sells hand warmers to people she knows. Both the price and style are exactly the same as those sold in supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores, so even if they are people she knows, they wouldn't think she is speculating.

After all, the price was not mentioned at all, so how could I make any money?

So after a winter, Wen Jiajia made a little money from the hand warmers.

I secretly counted the money I had at work two days ago and found that I had 88 yuan and 10 industrial tickets.

Tsk tsk, nowadays anyone who has anything to do with industry can make a lot of money, almost as much as her two months salary.

This is also because Wen Jiajia has a wide network of contacts. She sells to pharmaceutical factories, medical glass, and several chemical factories. The largest group of buyers actually comes from the army. Half of the hand warmers are sold to the army. The families of the army thought that she had bought all the goods in the supply and marketing cooperative.

Except for the hand warmers, all other synthesis opportunities of Wen Jiajia are used to synthesize cement.

So far, she has synthesized a total of 663 kilograms of cement, all of which is stored in the system.

The system was updated with a new feature in early November, which allows users to choose whether to save or not.

At first glance, it sounds like there is "storage space", but in fact it is not, because only the products synthesized by the system can be stored. But once she takes it out, she can't put it back.

This function is useful, but it seems quite useless.

But to be honest, it's quite useful at this time.

Wen Jiajia decided to synthesize a lot of cement in the next two years. After all, cement is needed for building everything, and before the 1990s, cement was always in short supply.

Speaking of hand warmers, at this moment Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were each holding a hand warmer, and sharing a hand warmer on their feet, nestling on the sofa waiting for the chicken soup in the stove to be ready.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t buy a chicken before the New Year. At worst you can just kill the chicken. You still have two chickens at home.

Wei Dai got up early this morning and killed one. He secretly placed a table full of chickens, ducks, fish, meat, fruits, etc. on the table to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. Then Wen Jiajia put the chicken in the stove and simmered it over low heat.

We hadn’t had chicken soup at home for a long time, and the rich aroma lured the two sisters who were hiding in the house out.

Of course, Wen Jiajia had reason to suspect that they were here to eat New Year's goods. Now they were half lying on the sofa, eating bites of five-spice beans and bites of butterfly cakes.

It’s really hard to understand why I like butterfly pastries so much. I eat them almost every day and I haven’t gotten tired of them even after eating them for a year or two.

"Eat less, we have a big dinner tonight!" Wen Jiajia brought a basket of hot buns to the table, "Don't eat too much. If you eat snacks or too much today, you will lose the opportunity!"

"I won't hoard food. I have a voracious stomach." Wen Xuan shook her head while holding a piece of shrimp in her hand and said, "I can eat a whole table of food in one mouthful."

Wen Jiajia said to her: "You have gone crazy listening to stories."

Recently, Wen Chun got a picture book about supernatural stories from somewhere. Although it was very old, she enjoyed reading it.

When they come across words they don't understand, they will ask others, but the two words "Taotie" alone stumped their uncle-in-law.

Wei Dai was extremely embarrassed, but Wen Jiajia was not at home at the time and could not save him.

He then wickedly diverted the blame and asked Wen Chun to ask Xie Yang next door, saying that Uncle Xie would definitely know the answer since he had attended junior high school.

As he expected, Xie Yang was also stumped.

In the end, it was Teacher Shen who rescued the two, but this also made them even more embarrassed.

On New Year's Eve, Wen Jiajia didn't care if they insisted on eating like this. Anyway, there were two of them to eat.

There are steaming buns in the pot right now, one kind is sauerkraut meat buns, the other kind is bamboo shoot meat buns.

A pot of buns had already been steamed. Despite the burn on her hands, Wen Jiajia picked up a bun of a different flavor and broke open to taste it.

“Mmm—delicious!”

The sauerkraut buns are oily but not greasy, because the acid in the sauerkraut can neutralize the greasiness and the oil can also enhance the flavor of the sauerkraut.

Bamboo shoots dumplings are a regular guest in our home. Bamboo shoots must be included every time we make dumplings.

In winter, we naturally use fresh bamboo shoots that are available everywhere in the mountains.

Winter bamboo shoots are delicious. They are cut into cubes and used as fillings with meat, green onions and dried mushrooms. The flavors of the four foods blend together, and the taste is even more delicious than sauerkraut meat buns.

After eating two buns, the hunger caused by the hard work finally eased a little.

She got up at 7:30 this morning and hasn't stopped to rest since she got up!

After breakfast, I knead the dough, then stir-fry the stuffing. In the meantime, I have to make chicken soup and marinate fresh vegetables, chop the duck, and peel the quail eggs... In short, my hands are wrinkled from dryness.

Since Wen Jiajia became the head of the family, she completely understood why her parents didn't like the Chinese New Year, because during the Chinese New Year they had to be busy preparing a large table of food.

Only those who do housework know how hard it is.

"Chun'er, help me get two bunches of dried bamboo fungus from the utility room. Do you know how many two bunches are? If you don't know, just count out 15."

"Xuanxuan went to Teacher Shen's house next door to get a frying pan. Teacher Shen borrowed our frying pan and I need it now..."

Wen Jiajia was not used to the two children being so comfortable, so she assigned a task to each of them.

The two children covered their legs with blankets, just like they were covered with quilts. They were so warm that they were reluctant to get up.

But since there was no hint of negotiation in Jiajia's words, they were reluctant to leave and got up.

Wen Chun, who could read, went to the store room, stood in front of the cupboard, opened the drawer with the three characters "竹荪干" (stem bamboo fungus) labeled on it, and counted out 15 bamboo fungi.

"Aunt, the bamboo fungus net is so easy to break." She shouted outside the house.

"It doesn't matter, take out the broken ones too."

The skirt and stipe of bamboo fungus have two different tastes. Wen Jiajia and Wei Dai like to eat the crispy and juicy stipe, while Wen Chun and Wen Xuan like to eat the skirt that looks like a net.

Soak the dried bamboo fungus in warm water and then add it to the chicken soup that has been simmering for more than an hour.

After the show, Wen Xuan also came back.

"Why does it take you so long to hold a frying pan?" Wen Jiajia pinched Wen Xuan's chubby cheeks. "Tell me, what delicious food did you eat at Teacher Shen's place again?"

Wen Xuan smiled and said, "We are eating donkey rolls. Auntie, do you know what donkey rolls are? You definitely don't know. Let me remind you, it has nothing to do with donkey meat."

"I don't know where it comes from, it's probably bean flour cake."

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes and said, "Why are you looking down on others? She had also replicated this old capital snack in her previous life."

I just felt that the taste was just average and not to my liking. Maybe she made it too sweet and she doesn't like sticky and sweet food.

Wen Xuan showed a surprised expression: "Aunt, have you ever been to the capital?"

"Do you have to go to the capital to know what donkey rolling is? You silly girl, I should have told you to read more books and newspapers, eat less snacks and sleep more." Wen Jiajia raised her eyebrows and taught her a lesson.

For Wen Xuan, this is exactly the truth that fits her.

This girl is greedy and noisy. Not only does she dislike reading compared to Wen Chunlai, she also sleeps even less every day. But she just has the energy to run around.

Wei Dai happened to come back and couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "Xuanxuan, your aunt is talking seriously this time, you have to listen."

Wen Jiajia snorted and raised her head slightly: "When have I ever said anything other than serious? I have always been a serious person."

Wei Dai laughed: "Okay!"

As he said this, he put the things in his hand on the stove.

"What?" Wen Jiajia leaned over to look.

Wei Dai: “New Year’s goods.”

"Wow! You still have New Year's goods this year. Let me see what they are." Wen Jiajia quickly pushed him away and untied the two bags.

What? One bag contains a quarter of duck, and the other bag contains two apples.

Wei Dai pointed outside the house and said, "There is still one piece of sugar cane, which is not too little."

It’s not a small amount, after all, it’s meat and fruit, which were not available in previous years.

Wen Jiajia took out the dried duck and smelled it. It smelled salty and fragrant, so she said, "It looks like it should be able to be kept for a week. Hang it on the beam and eat it after a week."

There is too much food at home now, so we don’t need any dried duck.

Wei Dai nodded, rolled up his sleeves and started making dumplings with her. The two of them worked together and their efficiency was much higher than double. After a while, they had made all the dough into plump white dumplings. They were steaming them as they were wrapping. Now, only the last two layers were left to be steamed.

Half an hour later, the kitchen was filled with white mist and the aroma of the buns could be smelled from far away.

Sister Bao is indeed a loyal believer of Northeastern sauerkraut. She can smell the sauerkraut inside the buns even from a distance of more than ten meters and through the bun skin.

So, with an awkward smile, she came shyly with a plate of chive dumplings and exchanged them for six sauerkraut buns from her house.

Okay, she likes chive dumplings more than sauerkraut buns.

So at noon today, there were two flavors of buns at home, leek buns and already stewed pickled fresh buns.

Finished the New Year's Eve lunch with the bright and delicious pickled mustard soup.

Ah, while I was eating, small snowflakes were falling outside.

It was so small that it melted before it even hit the ground. It only lasted for half a minute, and after half a minute it turned into a water stain.

Wen Chun was surprised at first, but then a little disappointed: "I was thinking about making a snowman."

Wen Jiajia: "Let's wait until next year. There will probably be no snow today, and even if there is snow, it won't be heavy snow."

In the evening, the table was filled with food.

As time passed, Wen Chun almost forgot what happened when his parents were alive.

Looking back more than ten years later, she only remembered that her New Year’s Eve dinner was always sumptuous.

"Come on, let's have a drink!"

Wen Jiajia bought eight bottles of soda. After she got home, she put them outside the house to cool down. She only opened them now.

The sound of glass bottles colliding was clear and loud, and the four people said at the same time: "Happy New Year——"

The last red persimmon on the top of the persimmon tree next door was also pecked down by the birds. The old goes and the new comes, and the new year arrives.

——

"I don't know what's going on with the third brother and his wife, or when they'll be back."

In Hegou Township, Cai Ruyun suddenly said this when the Wei family gathered together to roast fire.

There was no snow in Linhe on New Year's Eve, but there was a rare heavy snow in my hometown. Everywhere I looked was white, a scene that had not been seen in the past ten years. Some young people in the village were worried that the weather would be abnormal next year, but the elderly were still calm.

"Don't worry, mother. He must be doing well. Just look at the things my second sister-in-law sent back."

Wei Xin now particularly likes her second sister-in-law. After all, so far, only her second sister-in-law can let her wear shoes from Shanghai and use Pechoin shoes from Shanghai.

Now I wear the shoes every day, and I wipe them every day. I am very careful when I go out. After wearing them for ten days, there is not even a trace of mud on the surface of the shoes.

Wei Chengcai couldn't stand it and tapped his cigarette stick and said, "Don't walk around in those white shoes of yours all day. What if someone steps on your foot one day?" He would be so heartbroken.

Oh my god, such white shoes, whiter than rice. Those with evil hearts can’t stand the sight of them and have been wanting to step on them for a long time.

Wei Xin was unhappy: "Shoes are meant to be worn, otherwise you'd lose money. They don't like me, but I'll show off in front of them a few more times. As for whoever dares to step on them, I'll make them pay for it."

Wei Chengcai had nothing to say, and just took a puff of cigarette, "What a twisted theory, all you said is a twisted theory."

Mrs. Wei agreed with her words and said with a smile, "If my feet weren't so swollen, I would wear it too."

She was leaning back in her chair, her belly bulging. Because she had been taking supplements for the past few months, she looked much plumper than usual, and even had a faint double chin.

But despite her plump appearance, this pregnancy was really difficult. Most people would develop edema after five or six months, or even seven months, but she was already a little edematous now.

Wei Xin asked worriedly, "Sister-in-law, what did the doctor say yesterday?"

"Well, they said it would be fine if I just keep it like this. I drank the milk powder my sister-in-law sent back, and I felt pretty good after drinking it." Mrs. Wei said happily. She really felt it was good, and she didn't have cramps as often now.

Wei Xin said, "How much milk powder do you have left? After you finish it, I'll see if I can lead a sheep that produces milk."

Mrs. Wei smiled and said, "There are still two bags. My eldest sister wrote to me last time and said that she would send me two bags as well. It should be enough until July."

"Okay! I'll slowly look for it in the next two or three months." It's not easy to find pregnant ewes, not to mention that they don't raise sheep here. But Wei Xin had found goat milk for her son before, so she wasn't blind.

As they chatted, the topic turned to Wen Jiajia and Wei Dai.

Cai Ruyun said: "The Red Army came the other day and said that Jiajia is still a leader. Both husband and wife eat public meals, so they don't have to worry about the future."

Parents hope their children have a stable job, no matter how much money they earn. At that time, besides soldiers, workers were the most honorable, and the couple had both, so their Wei family suddenly became a "rich family" in the surrounding villages.

Wei Xin ate roasted sweet potatoes and laughed: "Sister-in-law, do you still remember who is the father of Wen Xuan from the second sister-in-law's family?"

"How could I not know that the educated youth from Fuyang returned to the city with great fanfare. I don't know how many educated youth envied him."

As he said this, he turned his gaze towards the man next to Wei Xin.

Wei Xin's husband was peeling chestnuts for his son to chew, and he quickly said, "Don't look at me. I've never been jealous."

"No one said anything to you." Wei Xin clicked her tongue.

She was not stupid, she knew which educated youth she could talk to and which she could not talk to. Her husband had six or seven brothers and sisters, and he was in the middle, unloved by his parents. Even if he wanted to go back, there was no place for him to stay.

Of course, character is what matters.

Like her second sister-in-law's ex-brother-in-law, she had met him once and he didn't look like a peaceful person.

Mrs. Wei was busy taking care of her baby and had not paid much attention to the gossip in the village. When she heard the news, she knew something was going on and asked hurriedly, "Any news about that educated youth?"

"Of course. It's just a coincidence that one of the two educated youths assigned to our commune after the autumn harvest knew him and said they were from the same school."

When Mrs. Wei heard this, she sat up holding her belly, her eyes brightening up: "That's a coincidence! We should ask that educated youth to tell us the address of Wen Jiajia's second brother-in-law, so that we can find out how to calculate the alimony."

Wei Xin's husband said, "Actually, the address is easy to find. It's all on record at the Youth Educated Office in the county."

Mrs. Wei: "Why didn't the Wen family look for him back then?"

"I don't know."

Wei Xin said, "You think Wen's family didn't go to the Youth Educated Office to inquire? His file was directly transferred away. We only know which city his family lives in, but not the specific street."

Her husband shook his head: "The Youth Educated Office must be bluffing."

Mrs. Wei: "What's the point of saying this now? He's a disaster. He's actually a worker. We should get money from him as soon as possible."

Wei Chengcai, who had been listening for a long time, said angrily, "You can't take the money from a ghost. It's not like the aunt can't support her."

Wei Xin laughed and said, "Now even if I ask, I don't have any money. They said they lost their jobs... It's really strange. Shouldn't jobs be iron rice bowls? How can they be lost?"

Mrs. Wei was very disappointed: "I don't have a job. People without a job can't afford to spend a few dollars."

Cai Ruyun sighed: "So people should not do things that hurt their conscience! I have to write a letter to tell Jia Jia about this, and it will also make her happy."

It was already past the fifteenth day of the lunar year when Wen Jiajia received the letter.

But she was not in a happy mood, as the man himself had almost forgotten about it. So after receiving the letter, she forgot about it and didn't take it seriously. Who could have known that it would cause trouble many years later?

After the Lantern Festival, the factory becomes busy again.

Wen Jiajia has been connecting a new machine recently, which is said to be a new product developed by Haishi, so she asked them to try it out first.

In fact, the factory didn't really want it. After all, they liked the foreign products, but they hadn't bought them because the money hadn't been transferred yet.

But Teacher Yan and his group insisted that they wanted it, and said that only what they had was real.

Regardless of whether it is good or not, we have to try it out in the front-line workshop, so that we can know its advantages and disadvantages ourselves.

Wen Jiajia thought it made sense. After all, a dog will never dislike a poor home and a son will never dislike an ugly mother. No matter how bad your own things are, they are still yours.

So she was in a miserable situation. As a liaison person, she not only had to run back and forth in the factory, but she also had to make a trip to Hai City.

Oh, from what Director Gao said, there will only be one trip for now, but there may be two or three more trips.

Director Gao was also a little embarrassed: "I have too much to do in the factory and I can't leave. How about I give you a vacation after you finish this matter?"

Wen Jiajia was surprised: "Really?"

You know, there was no such thing as annual leave at that time. It was easy to take leave in the workshop, and occasionally when there were guests at home or when something happened to the children, etc., it was easy to take leave.

It's not the same in their office, everyone has their own job and it's hard for others to replace them.

For example, you have been organizing this document and following its progress. If you suddenly take a leave, the work will have to be piled up, and many times your colleagues cannot help you even if they want to.

"How can I lie to you? I've exhausted you. Who will I find to help me with my work in the future?"

There are only two or three capable people in the department, and Wen Jiajia is the best among them. There is basically nothing she cannot complete when assigned to her. Director Gao is really afraid that she will give up.

Wen Jiajia immediately said, "Go, I'll go! You have to at least give me three days off after I'm done with this!"

"Not one day?"

"No, it takes three days." Then it would be great to have four days off including Sunday.

Oh, she is so miserable.

Even the holiday is only three days.

Director Gao nodded in agreement, and Wen Jiajia regained her energy and returned to work.

Organize the information first, and if you don’t understand any words, you need to ask Teacher Yan and others to clarify them.

The next day, Wen Jiajia took Dong Qi to Hai City and went straight to the machinery factory to receive the glass forming molds and cutting machines.

I compared the parts one by one and was busy until midnight.

The next day, it was transported to the train station and loaded onto a train. During that time, Wen Jiajia was very nervous, fearing that it might be bumped or scratched.

Afterwards, they had to receive another batch of raw materials. This batch of raw materials was more important, so Wen Jiajia needed to count them package by package.

After working non-stop until the evening, the train finally started. Even though Wen Jiajia was extremely sleepy, she still had to keep an eye on the goods.

When they were almost halfway through the journey, they woke up Dong Qi, who was sleeping soundly, and continued to watch. Dong Qi wrapped her head with clothes, tilted her head and fell into a deep sleep.