33.033 plans

As November drew to a close, the pace of work at the factory slowed down noticeably. Even Ning Jin had to rest at home for four or five days after a short trip. The factory's canned goods were all being stockpiled, and they were waiting to set off again closer to the Chinese New Year.

"Is everyone here? I have something to say." Director Hong walked into the logistics office and said with a smile, "As in previous years, we will have a 20-day holiday. Everyone will come back to work on December 18th. We haven't had any rest during the year, and we're even less busy than cowherds who go to class. Everyone should take a good rest during this time."

"What about salary?" For someone who wants to support a family, money is the most important thing; whether or not they take a break is secondary.

“You only get paid if you work. If you don’t work, of course you won’t get paid. This month’s salary will be paid together with next month’s.” Director Hong still had a smile on his face. “There’s no work to do today. Pack up and go.” He glanced at the unfinished sweater next to the table leg. “Take your personal belongings. Lock the door and open it again when you come to work.”

After he left, Su Yu put the unfinished sweater on the stool into a bag, exchanged a glance with Wang Xiaoxia, and said with some regret, "I still don't know how to finish the cuffs." She would have started knitting the sweater in another half day.

“I know how. You can come to me or I can go to your house and I’ll teach you.” Wang Xiaoxia immediately took on the task. She had only been married for a year and didn’t have any children yet. She was also too lazy to stay at her in-laws’ house to do chores. After thinking for a moment, she said, “I’ll go to your house. My family is large and noisy, and it’s a hassle that’s annoying.”

Su Yu agreed, and she spent a lot of money to buy six kilograms of yarn to knit sweaters for her family of four. She has only just started knitting the first one.

That day, as the sky darkened, Wang Xiaoxia packed up her needlework to leave. "I see you've learned it too. I won't be coming over anymore. It looks like it's going to snow. It'll be too cold walking in the wind."

Su Yu saw her out, and just before leaving, she turned back and said, "It's so nice to be able to live alone after getting married, with a separate house and yard. No one will nag if I light a brazier to warm myself."

“Each has its own advantages. When you have a baby, your mother-in-law will help you take care of the baby,” Su Yu said with a smile, not joining in her complaints about the disadvantages of living with the elderly. Wang Xiaoxia lives with her in-laws and doesn’t even have to cook.

She had just left, and Su Yu hadn't even reached the main room when someone knocked on the door again. Somewhat puzzled, she went to open it, and there stood her third sister, Su He, trembling at the door.

"Is my brother-in-law home?" the woman with a headscarf asked, rubbing her hands together.

"You're looking for him? He just left yesterday, he should be back in about three days." Su Yu led her into the main room, poured her a glass of water from the thermos and held it to warm her hands.

“I’m not looking for him, I’m looking for you.” Su He moistened her dry, chapped lips with water, glanced at the furnishings in the room, licked her lips, and said, “Little sister, do you have any extra money? Could you lend me some? Xiao Xing is sick again, she has a fever, and the herbs she got from the team aren’t working. Her fever goes down during the day but comes back at night.”

Su He rubbed her warmed hands. As her hands warmed up, the frostbite on her fingers started to itch. She told Su Yu that she would never have asked her for help if she hadn't had no other choice. She was a second-time wife with a child and had lent money to her sister's family. Nine out of ten men would have their own thoughts about her.

“We separated from the family a while ago, and finally we didn’t have to eat at my mother-in-law’s mercy anymore. Your third brother and I thought that as long as we were willing to work hard, life would get better.” Su He paused, and said in a dry tone, “Who knew that God couldn’t bear to see us have hope? Everyone else’s chickens and ducks are doing well, but ours keep getting sick and dying. Now that autumn has come, Xiaoxing has had a fever and cough that hasn’t stopped. I want to take her to the hospital to see a doctor, but we really don’t have any money at home.”

"I'll lend it to you, how much do you need?" Su Yu asked.

"Do you have twenty? Ten yuan will do too," Su He said somewhat nervously, trying to negotiate.

Su Yu went inside and took out twenty yuan, handing it to her. "We're all sisters from the same mother. If you need anything, just come over. If I have any and can afford it, I'll lend it to you."

"Thank you, Third Sister." Su He held the twenty yuan tightly. "I'll pay you back when I have the money. Explain it to your brother-in-law, and you two won't have any disagreements."

Suhe refused her younger sister's offer to stay for dinner. She shrugged and walked back with her hands in her sleeves. It's true that when you're poor, people look down on you. A few days ago, she and her husband went to her in-laws and relatives' homes to borrow money. Not only did they get a lot of scolding, but they only managed to scrape together five yuan.

That night, Xiaoxing's fever returned. Before dawn the next day, Suhe's husband took the child to the town hospital, where she stayed for a week before the fever subsided.

When Ningjin returned, Su Yu mentioned that her third sister had come to borrow money. "She can pay it back at the earliest by the end of this year, but if she can't find the time, she might have to pay it back next year."

"It's nothing, the child is sick, it's an emergency. Our family doesn't lack twenty yuan for the New Year. Besides, you're the head of the household, the money is in your hands. I'm just the employee, you don't need to tell me about this." Ning Jin teased her.

"What a disgrace." Su Yu was in a great mood and spat at him with half-closed eyes.

"Since we've got nothing to do, I'd like to go check out the orchards in the next town. Would you take me and the two kids out for a trip?" Su Yu finished sewing the last stitch and tossed the gray sweater to him. "Try it on, and I'll alter it if it doesn't fit."

"It's freezing cold, and there's not a single leaf on the fruit trees. What's there to see?" the man muttered. He put on his gray sweater, stretched his arms, and said with satisfaction, "It fits perfectly. No need to alter it. I'll wear it tomorrow. It's quite warm. No wonder yarn is so expensive."

Su Yu insisted on going. She had been here for several months, just hanging around her family's factory and relatives' home. She also wanted to see what the situation was like at the orchard and whether she could expand her business there. Her current job was easy, but she was only 27 years old. If she stayed in this retirement job for a few more years, she would be useless.

"Brother, do you need your bicycle tomorrow? If not, I can borrow it for a day." Ning Jin went back to the old house to borrow a bicycle again.

"Little Wu, why don't you buy one too?" Sister-in-law Ning said, seemingly serious but not quite. "Your older brother rides a bicycle less often than you do. Now that there are two people in your family earning salaries and only two kids, buying a bicycle would be a piece of cake."

"It'll be soon, we're collecting tickets. Sister-in-law, if you have any bicycle tickets, I'll trade with you." Ning Jin said, "Once I buy a bicycle, you can come to my house to get it if you need one."

Sister-in-law Ning said awkwardly, "I don't have as many connections as you, so I wouldn't have a bicycle ticket."

The next day, when the sun came out, Ningjin took out his bicycle, wrapped an old cotton coat around the front crossbar, and let the two boys sit first, with Su Yu sitting in the back. Ningjin, like a clumsy ox plowing a field, pedaled with all his might.

"Dad, I'm going to fall!" Xiao Yuan grabbed Ning Jin's clothes tightly, he was about to fall.

"Sit in the back, sit on my lap, I'll hold you." Su Yu told the man to stop the car, and Xiao Yuan slid off the bar and sat on his mother's lap in the back.

"I also want to sit in the back; it's freezing in the front, both my face and hands are freezing," Ping An also complained, not wanting to sit alone in the front.

Ning Jin glared at him, "Cold my foot! I'm still sweating." Riding his bike against the north wind, with a couple hundred pounds of people on it, he was so tired he was practically steaming.

After riding for a while, he gave up, saying, "Everyone get off and walk around, I'm exhausted."

"I'll ride." Su Yu took the bicycle and rode it alone for a while. The bicycle was a bit high for her, but it was fine once she got used to it. "Come on, Ping An and Xiao Yuan, get on. I'll take you."

The two boys squeezed onto the back seat. Su Yu got on the bike and rode off, shouting, "Little Wu, run! Catch up!" She laughed as she rode, pedaling hard, leaving the still panting man behind on the road.

How novel! Ning Jin hadn't been this crazy since he got married, not even 10 years ago. Suddenly, his wild side kicked in, and his legs stopped aching. He took off chasing after them, shouting, "Run faster! If I catch you today, none of you three will escape. You'll all be getting beaten up!"

"Mom, hurry, push harder, Dad's catching up!" The two people in the back seat screamed in surprise, broadcasting to Su Yu the whole time where Ning Jin was running. "Ah, he's catching up, Mom, hurry up!" They were so excited they wanted to jump out of the car and push it as fast as they could.

Ning Jin noticed that Su Yu couldn't ride anymore, so he ran to the front of the bike with a sly grin and encouraged her along with his two sons: "Hurry up, push harder, don't stop, don't let me catch up."

"How annoying!" Su Yu stopped riding; her legs were aching too. "Remember this, I'll pay you back," she said with a wicked grin.

Both were badly injured and hadn't run far, but they were both exhausted. The man pushed his bicycle along, while the two boys ran around wildly on the road. "You can ride a bicycle? I've never heard you mention it before."

"You'll learn it just by watching. Don't even mention a bicycle, I could drive your big car after watching it for a few days," Su Yu said proudly.

"You're bragging. If you're so confident, there's nothing you can't do." The man wanted to pinch her; her smug look was really tempting.

"Anyway, if I were a man, you wouldn't be a problem driving." Su Yu laughed. This was genuine boasting. Although she had a driver's license, she hadn't driven much. In big cities, taking the subway was much faster than driving.

"I thank you for not being a man." He finally couldn't resist reaching out and pinching her cheek, and she behaved herself after being slapped a few times as if she deserved it.

"Look, that's the orchard you wanted to see, just bare tree trunks." The man pointed to it. "There are pear and peach trees on that mountain over there, orange trees over here, crops in the low-lying areas, and grapes near the village. I heard that watermelons and cantaloupes are also intercropped in the fields in the summer."

"So much fruit! I wish we lived here." Su Yu said with longing, "This place has an endless supply of fruit in the summer!"

"That's wishful thinking. It's not like you can just eat it whenever you want. The good stuff is sold off, only the rotten and bad stuff is distributed." He chuckled. "Of course, you can steal some to try."

“You stole it,” she said definitively.

"Who hasn't done petty theft when they were young?" he said, touching his nose as he carried his two children on his back.

Su Yu walked into the orchard and asked Shu Manpo, "How are you? Are the trees sick?"

"Yes, trees are like people. Over time, they will develop all sorts of problems. The fruit trees on this mountain are quite old, the soil is no longer fertile, and the fruit trees are already reducing their yield." Shu Manpo said firmly, without any ambiguity.

"Alright, I'll come back next spring. I can't find anyone here now." After wandering around for a while and not seeing a soul, Ningjin rode his bike back home with the passenger. He was so tired when he got home that he couldn't move anymore.

"I'm exhausted," he cried out, feigning distress as his two sons massaged his arms and legs.

As he lay in bed that night, he slipped under the covers to undress, and Su Yu put her hand on his shoulder. "Not tired anymore? Feeling energetic?"

"You've rested up, don't worry, I'll definitely make you satisfied."

He spoke too confidently, and after one time he wanted to withdraw. Su Yu clamped her legs around him to stop him from leaving, saying, "Hurry up, push harder, don't stop. If you can't do it, I'll push you."

Having said that, how could he refuse? He bit her shoulder and said, "You wait, there will come a time when you'll be begging me to stop."