Chapter 955 New Year's Day

After having Chen Xiangdong put the two sacks in a corner of the yard where they wouldn't get in the way, Lu Miao looked at Xiulian and asked:

"Is there a shovel in the yard?"

"some."

Xiulian responded quickly.

Although she didn't know what Lu Miao wanted the shovel for, Xiulian quickly got it.

Lu Miao took the shovel and handed it to Chen Xiangdong, then turned around and went to fetch water with Xiulian, carrying the iron bucket.

Winter in northern Beijing is very hard to endure.

The first few times he came here, Lu Miao noticed that Master Zhou's room was very cold.

When she went home yesterday and was thinking about this, she said hello to Chen Xiangdong.

Let Chen Xiangdong free up today and not go to the courtyard near the Forbidden City, but go with her to the coal supply station.

There are several prices for coal on the market. The most expensive is raw coal, which costs seven cents per pound.

The second is honeycomb coal, which costs five cents per pound.

The coal produced during coal mining, transportation or processing is the cheapest.

For ordinary people, it is also the most economical and affordable, costing only two cents per pound.

Take it home, add water, mix in a little loess, and use a shovel to randomly build blocks. Wait until it dries and burn it.

Lu Miao only found out about this thing when he happened to see his neighbor doing it when he got home from get off work.

Yesterday, Master Zhou mentioned giving her kickbacks, but she didn't agree.

She guessed that if she brought some real coal, Master Zhou would definitely not accept it.

So I came up with this idea and called Chen Xiangdong to the coal supply station to shovel two large bags of coal dust...

After working here for a while, Lu Miao put down the iron bucket and ladle only after he had piled up several long rows of irregular coal blocks in a corner of the yard.

She and Chen Xiangdong washed their hands and put the tools back to their original places.

After entrusting Xiulian to help clean up the black coal marks on the ground in the yard, she and Chen Xiangdong went home first.

It was a bit troublesome to come here, but fortunately the things were given away.

After all, she made so much money through Master Zhou, and being able to help the old man solve some of his life problems can be considered as a way for her to give back.

That’s what Lu Miao thought.

Although Chen Xiangdong came to do this job, he had nothing to say after understanding the twists and turns involved.

Even thinking about establishing a long-term cooperative relationship, he took the initiative to say:

"Sister-in-law, it's getting cold. I'll come over every two weeks."

"Um."

Lu Miao nodded and said:

"Today's purchase of coal and flour cost two dollars and forty cents and put it on the public account. Go back and have the finance department record it. From now on, every penny spent on public funds must be recorded. Even if you add money personally, you must report it promptly."

"good."

"Um."

This matter was completed quickly, and Shi An's yard at home was also vacated.

Chen Xiangdong was staring at the courtyard on the other side of the Forbidden City, so Lu Miao didn't disturb him for the time being.

Let Mei Zi continue to patronize the factory yard. Lu Miao changed into simple clothes and took Lin Xian there to clean up.

Pick up all the useless things and throw them in the yard. Chop up the ones that can be burned and use them as firewood. If you really can't use them, just throw them away.

This yard has always been rented out to others, and the house inside and out is kept very clean.

Lu Miao cleared the things out and basically just swept up the dust on the wall.

In the past, when Fu Jingyou was at home, he was responsible for all these tasks.

Now he runs back and forth between Beijing and Tianjin every day, and is exhausted every day.

Lu Miao didn't tell him about the things in the yard.

Lu Miao slowly researched and handled door and window repairs and painting on his own.

She had cut a square piece of cloth early on, and every time she came to work, she would fold it diagonally and tie it behind her head as a mask.

She found some sandpaper and started sanding the door panels and wooden windows, then cleaned and painted them. Although she was not familiar with the movements, she was busy running around and looked quite capable.

If there were some things she really couldn't do, Liu Chunxiang would often ask her younger brother Liu Xiaozhu to come and help when he was not busy.

On New Year's Day 1983, the factory and the engineering team took a day off.

Chen Xiangdong greeted people in advance, carried back a few bags of painting materials, installed the electrical circuit in the yard, and painted the walls.

After that, while waiting for the walls to dry and the smell to dissipate, Lu Miao invited his internal staff to his home for a meal.

Originally we were going to the state-owned restaurant.

However, several nearby restaurants had no heating facilities, and it would be too cold to sit there, so Lu Miao simply changed his mind.

If Tang Mei brings people home for dinner, her workload will increase.

Lu Miao only asked Tang Mei to look after the children and didn't ask her to do too much.

She got up early and bought some beef, mutton, fish, seafood and large bones.

While Chen Xiangdong, Xie Fei and others were busy painting the walls, she had already prepared the soup at home and prepared the fish fillets and fish balls.

When people came over after work in the afternoon, the table was filled with ingredients for the meat and vegetable hot pot.

When it’s cold, nothing is better than eating hotpot.

There was no shuangyuan hotpot at home, and Gu Ying couldn’t eat spicy food, so the only thing in the pot was the broth base.

But it didn’t matter. Lu Miao cut the butter he had cooked earlier into several small pieces, put it on a plate and brought it to the table.

If you can handle spicy food, just put some in the bowl and scoop some soup to dissolve it.

Everyone took their seats one after another.

Lu Miao prepared everything. When Chen Xiangdong was eating mutton hotpot, he mentioned that the copper pots in his hometown of Tianjin were also very famous.

Everyone chatted about all sorts of things and had a very enjoyable meal, which lasted from the afternoon until Fu Jingyou came back in the evening.

At that time, there was a knock on the gate, and Lu Miao put on his clothes and went to open the door.

When I walked into the yard, I found that the sky was drizzling and the first snow of the year was falling.

She breathed out the cold air, quickened her pace and unbolted the gate.

"Brother You!"

Seeing who was coming back, Lu Miao was happy at first, but then he frowned.

There was a stranger at home, so Lu Miao didn't say anything. She stepped aside to let him in. She quickly locked the door and pushed him into the house.

"Come in and warm up, I left some food for you, it's a good time to sit down and eat together!"

Fu Jingyou nodded, took her hand, wrapped her small hand with his warm big hand, and took her into the house.

The young couple has a good relationship and their intimate behavior is no longer surprising to everyone.

Before, only Lu Miao was there, so Chen Xiangdong and the others didn't know what to say. But now that Fu Jingyou came back, everyone looked at him, asked if there was any wine, and sat down to have a drink together.

Fu Jingyou took off his coat and looked back at Lu Miao teasingly.

Lu Miao glared at him angrily, took his coat away, put it on a chair, and placed it next to the chimney stove to dry.

When she turned back, she had an unopened bottle of Erguotou in her hand:

"Just a small taste will do. Don't drink too much. You still have things to do tomorrow!"

"I understand, sister-in-law!"

Lu Miao nodded and brought over all the ingredients left in the kitchen.

There were not enough leafy vegetables, so she opened the greenhouse and picked some more.

Gu Ying had finished her meal and left the table long ago.

Tang Mei didn't let her stay outside.

Let her go into the house first and sit on the kang with the other children to warm up and rest.

After Lu Miao finished entertaining the guests in the main hall, she followed the men into the room while they poured spicy butter base into the pot.