Zhou Mingli wasn't picky, and Xiao Qu quickly made a deal with him. He went inside for a while and soon came out with money and a piece of paper.
"Here's 155 yuan for you, and this piece of paper. I'll prepare the cloth for you, but you have to pick it up within three days. Bring this piece of paper over."
Zhou Mingli stuffed the money into his pocket. "Okay."
Xiao Qu saw him off, and on the way they met the logistics director of the stone quarry.
"Xiao Qu, what are you doing here?"
Xiao Qu quickly put on a smile, "Director, I'm here to see a friend off. Our groceries delivery truck broke down on the road, didn't it? It was his idea that got the truck fixed."
The logistics director glanced at Zhou Mingli again. "You're not a worker at our stone quarry, are you?"
Zhou Mingli nodded. "No."
The logistics director asked, "Can you fix cars?"
This kind of skilled worker is rare. If he could repair cars, he could be recruited to their stone quarry. Their quarry has several large trucks for transporting stone, and although the repairmen there are not bad, they are not top-notch.
Zhou Mingli waved his hand, "I'm all talk, I can't fix cars."
Hearing Zhou Mingli's answer, the logistics director was somewhat disappointed, but since Zhou Mingli had helped their factory after all, it was not necessary to pry into what he was doing at the factory.
"Okay, you guys go ahead, I'll go to the kitchen and see what's going on."
"Okay, Director, take care."
Xiao Qu smiled and saw the logistics director off before wiping his sweat and seeing Zhou Mingli out.
"It's really strange that our director arrived at the factory at three or four in the morning."
They have to prepare breakfast in the kitchen, so getting up at two or three in the morning to come to the factory is nothing unusual. The logistics director, on the other hand, works a regular job, so coming over late at night must mean he has something to do.
However, Xiao Qu is just a kitchen helper, so it's normal that she doesn't know.
"It's possible that the truck was stranded on the road, and your leader came to check on the situation."
"That's also possible."
"Alright, I'll drop you off here. It's almost five o'clock, you should head back now."
"Okay, then I'll probably come over tomorrow afternoon."
Xiao Qu thought for a moment and said, "Come at three o'clock tomorrow. It's a bit far from the stone factory. I get off work at three o'clock, and I'll look for you then."
Zhou Mingli agreed.
He pushed his bicycle out of the back gate of the quarry. Jiang Ci and Zhou Gou were chatting when they heard the noise and immediately went over.
"How about it?"
"They're all sold out."
Zhou Mingli thought about the 155 yuan and a smile appeared on his face.
"It seems that half a wild boar made you a lot of money."
Zhou Mingli smiled gratefully at Zhou Gou, "I still have some spare ribs at home. I made some for lunch today and sent some to Er Gou's family as well. Try my cooking."
Zhou Gou stayed up late to accompany them on this trip, and he definitely wouldn't accept money from them, so we'll have to find another way to compensate him.
"Okay, then I'll try your cooking and see if it's good!"
The three of them rode their bicycles toward Shanding Brigade.
As dawn broke, Zhou Mingli and Zhou Gou parted ways at the village entrance and went home.
"All the items sold for a total of 163.22 yuan. I took 155 yuan, and used the rest to trade with Xiao Qu for cloth and cotton." Zhou Mingli said as he rode his bicycle with Jiang Ci on his back, recounting the day's income and expenses.
Jiang Ci was dozing off when she heard this and asked, "Isn't that a stone quarry? How can he get cloth and cotton?"
Zhou Mingli smiled and said, "His sister and brother-in-law are workers in a textile factory. I guess his brother-in-law might have some connections with the factory's leaders, otherwise ordinary workers would never be able to get those cloth and cotton."
"Too."
Jiang Ci yawned, "After deducting our expenses during this period, the compensation from Li Hu and Zhou Laoda's wife, plus this 150 yuan, our family's savings are now close to 400 yuan."
"I'm going to the city the day after tomorrow." Zhou Mingli glanced at her as she yawned, her eyes lingering on her palm for a second before he quickly regained his composure and steadied the handlebars.
Jiang Ci's lips twitched; he really was still obsessed with getting a vasectomy.
There was no other way; there really weren't any good contraceptive methods these days. Jiang Ci didn't want to get pregnant, so the only option was for Zhou Mingli to get a tubal ligation.
Back home, Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli took showers. Jiang Ci didn't go to sleep right away, but waited until six o'clock. After delivering food to Cheng Yehan, she rode home as fast as she could, her mind flying behind her as she pedaled.
She fell asleep as soon as she lay down, and even the sunlight outside the window couldn't wake her.
Zhou Mingli returned from who-knows-where, but he knew Jiang Ci was back just by glancing at the bicycle.
He entered the room and saw the woman sleeping soundly on the bed. He approached her quietly.
There were two other children sleeping soundly beside her, just like little pigs.
Zhou Mingli moved the two children a little, then sat on the bed and carefully lifted Jiang Ci's hand.
The palm of the hand that was pulling the string was covered with crisscrossing red marks, and several places were even bleeding.
Her body had never drawn a bow before, and although her hands were calloused, she still couldn't withstand the tension of a fully drawn bowstring.
Without saying a word, Zhou Mingli gently blew on Jiang Ci's palm and took out a small packet of medicine powder and a small piece of gauze from his pocket.
I bought it from Dr. Niu at the clinic. The powder came in a small packet, but Dr. Niu said it was very effective and would heal the wound quickly if sprinkled on it.
The powder gently fell into Jiang Ci's palm.
Jiang Ci frowned, her hand instinctively withdrawing as the wound stung.
Zhou Mingli dared not move too roughly, and coaxed in a low voice, "It doesn't hurt, it'll be over soon..."
Zhou Mingli pressed down on her fingers, which were trying to bend, and quickly sprinkled the medicine powder on them, wrapped them in gauze, and secured them.
As soon as he let go, Jiang Ci immediately pulled her hand back, turned over, and faced away from him.
Knowing she was still asleep and hadn't woken up at all, Zhou Mingli couldn't help but laugh at her actions, which seemed to show a hint of disdain and a desire to ignore him.
He wrapped up the remaining powder and placed it on the table. He then lay down on the bed, leaning against Jiang Ci, and silently reached out to hold her uninjured hand.
Jiang Ci dodged him, preventing him from pulling her.
Zhou Mingli chased after him, insisting on pulling him along.
Jiang Ci, who hadn't slept all night, was furious. She sat up abruptly, flipped over, and sat on his waist. She gritted her teeth, "Zhou Mingli...!"
Zhou Mingli looked at her and slowly said, "I just want to hold your hand while I sleep."
His expression was indifferent, yet it conveyed an indescribable sense of humility and grievance.
Jiang Ci didn't feel sorry for him at all; she was the one who felt sorry for him!
She was woken up by the noise!
"Are you still a child? You still want to hold hands!"
Jiang Ci reached out and saw the gauze on her hand. She paused, knowing without guessing who had done it.
Zhou Mingli leaned back slightly, "I just went to buy some medicine and sprayed it on your bandage."
He gently stroked Jiang Ci's fingers, his head very close to hers. Zhou Mingli whispered, "Does it hurt a lot?"
...
P.S.: There's one more chapter at 12:30.
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