Only then did Xu Haizhou realize that a letter had arrived from home.

I opened it, read it quickly, put it away and threw it into the trash can.

Qiao Lu had a bad feeling: "What's wrong? Are you saying something unpleasant again?"

Xu Haizhou shook his head and sat down next to her: "No."

"You look unhappy then." Qiao Lu poked his cheek.

Xu Haizhou smiled, with a hint of relief in his eyes. Qiao Lu thought she was dazzled.

"What's wrong? What's in the letter?"

"You want to see it? Here you go." He suddenly lowered his head and handed the letter to her, but Qiao Lu put her hands behind her back and refused to take it.

"If you don't want to watch it, you can just say it briefly. If it's something unpleasant, then don't say it."

He was silent for a few seconds, then raised his face again, smiling: "After New Year's Day, let Li Hongjun look after the store, and I'll take you back to the north."

This year's Spring Festival comes earlier than last year, on February 1st. A few days after New Year's Day, it's just the right time to go back to the north to celebrate the Spring Festival.

Qiao Lu was stunned for a moment, thinking that what is supposed to come will eventually come.

"Well, you arrange it. I can do anything."

He slowly rubbed her palm, his fingertips were slightly rough, and it made her skin itchy: "If they don't like you, I will bring you and An An back immediately."

This sentence amused Qiao Lu, and she suddenly felt relieved: "Okay, let's talk about it when we get there. We don't know what the situation is like now."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek softly: "Don't worry, I can always give you support, you don't need to care about other people's opinions."

"Yeah, I know." She stuffed the vegetable basket into his arms and said, "Go wash it."

"good."

Looking at Xu Haizhou's receding back, Qiao Lu poured him a glass of water. She didn't notice that it was a little hot and her tongue was slightly numb.

Xu Haizhou cooked tonight and his cooking skills have improved since he was newly married. After dinner, he took his son to the park for a walk, came back, took a bath and went to bed.

He was very gentle at night. Qiao Lu vaguely felt that she was floating on a calm lake, in a boat that could not find the shore, swaying and drifting, and no one knew where her destination was.

The only thing that was clear was that I felt really safe lying in his arms.

…

They were so busy with business that they completely forgot about going back to the north. If it weren't for this letter, the couple probably wouldn't have remembered it until a few days before New Year's Eve.

Pack up and quickly make a plan to buy train tickets.

There was no such thing as buying tickets online at that time, and tickets were even harder to come by during the Spring Festival. It was common to see the entire family going out just to buy a train ticket.

Generally, several ticket purchasing plans will be made in advance, and people will split into several groups and go to one station to queue up.

During this period, no matter how early you go, you can always see a huge crowd of people in the ticket hall. It is common to queue for three days and three nights to buy a ticket, which is not only freezing and hungry, but also very anxious.

Xu Haizhou had taken a train before, including during the Spring Festival. He didn't want to recall the feeling. It made him feel creepy whenever he thought about it.

Can you imagine everyone being squeezed like sardines in a small can filled with all kinds of flavors? And for three days and three nights or even longer... That's really a memory I don't want to mention.

"I'll go find someone to see if I can buy a berth. If I can't, I won't go back." No matter how hard life is, I can't let my wife and children suffer. Adults can bear it, but children can't.

Qiao Lu was confused: "Ah? You're not going back?"

"Yes." Xu Haizhou explained, "You don't know if you haven't taken a train before. It takes at least three days and three nights to get from Li'an to Ancheng. You have to change trains along the way. It's so crowded that it's hard to breathe sometimes. I'm afraid you and the child can't stand it."

Thinking of the scene where everyone was packed together like sandbags, Qiao Lu shuddered. "Then go find one. If there's no berth, we won't go back. I don't think I can stand it."

Xu Haizhou went out to look for someone. Qiao Lu didn't know who he was looking for. She guessed it was Hou Caijun. After all, that person had great magical powers...

He left in the morning and came back at noon. Qiao Lu hurried to greet him and asked, "How is it? Can anyone buy a sleeper ticket?"

Xu Haizhou walked into the room quickly, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and gave her a relieved look: "Well, it's done, Li Yu's father can help us buy it."

"That's great!" I was happy but also a little worried: "I don't know how to thank you."

Xu Haizhou smiled nonchalantly and poured himself a glass of water: "We are all friends. Today he helps me, and tomorrow I help him. It's the same."

Today's society really proves the saying: one more friend means one more way.

"But you can't buy them now. You can buy them for us in mid-January, around the 10th. Tickets for dates after the 20th."

"If we buy it then, it will be almost Spring Festival when we get to the north, right?"

"Well, I'll go back and spend the New Year there, then come back and take you and An An to experience the Spring Festival in the north."

Qiao Lu raised her eyebrows and sat down next to him: "Now that you mention it, I'm a little looking forward to it."

Qiao Lu has been a southerner since she was a child. She has traveled to the north, but has never celebrated the Spring Festival in the north. She wonders if the Spring Festival in the north would be interesting.

…

In the evening, after washing up, Qiao Lu sat at the dressing table and counted the money. She counted the sales for the day, then compared it with the sales slip to see which clothes were sold, calculated the cost, and after deducting it, she had a profit of 68 today.

"Let me do the math... the dividends for the Red Army are 1,800 yuan, and we have more than 3,000 yuan. Add to that your savings before we got married, and there's already about 5,000 yuan in our passbook. If we can keep our monthly profits at just over 1,000 yuan, and we can make a profit occasionally... we should be able to buy a house in half a year."

Half a year, it seems like a short time... Can I finally get rid of the public toilets?

But you have to spend at least two thousand for living expenses and purchasing costs.

"I'll have to trouble Hongjun to look after the store during the first month of the year, and we'll give him more when the time comes." Xu Haizhou said, after carrying Qiao An, who had fallen asleep from playing, to the crib and covering him with a quilt.

"Well, that's for sure. I estimate that we can earn a month's worth of goods in one week during the first month of the lunar year. I'll give him the lion's share then."

With a smile, Xu Haizhou walked forward and put his arms around his wife's waist from behind: "Have you finished counting? It's time to go to bed."

"What's the hurry?" Qiao Lu nudged him away with her elbow, stood up and looked around the main room: "It's only half past eight, you may be sleepy, but I am not."

"I'm not sleepy either, so let's do something that can make me sleepy." Without saying a word, he picked up his wife by the waist, causing Qiao Lu to scream out in surprise. He didn't know if the neighbors next door heard it.

"Ah! Why are you in such a hurry? I can walk by myself!"

Xu Haizhou chuckled: "I'm worried you'll get tired."

"Get lost!" She turned his face away in annoyance: "Why are you so poor? Have you been corrupted by Li Hongjun?"

As she spoke, she pointed her index finger at his nose. Xu Haizhou bent his neck, bit her knuckles with his teeth, and pressed down lightly, causing a slight stinging pain.

"You don't like it?" The man curled his lips, his eyes full of teasing.

"I still like the state where you are very shy in front of me." Flirting with a little wolfdog or something, that's exciting!

Instead of being teased by him, okay!

With a low laugh, his body was soon stripped clean. His hands were so fast that it was obvious that he had practiced a lot!

His gaze was like a rough big hand, caressing Qiao Lu from head to toe. After looking enough, he stood up and slowly walked over.

In an instant, her whole body felt numb as if it was surged with electric current. He was becoming more and more proficient in how to stimulate her, and this time it seemed to have opened up her nerve center, causing her brain to explode.

From the coccyx to the cerebral cortex, it's all numb...very numb...

"Bang--"

“Clang—”

There was the sound of the door slamming shut and porcelain breaking.

"Come back! Where have you been? Come back here!"

"Huh? What's going on outside?" While enduring the man's rapid attack, she raised her head and looked towards the window.

Because the curtains were drawn tightly, I couldn't see anything outside.

"...I don't know, don't move." Holding her shoulders and pressing down her head, Xu Haizhou didn't care about what was happening outside, and was immersed in his own world.

However, it was a good coincidence that something really happened tonight. The noise outside was getting louder and louder, and Qiao Lu gradually lost interest. She gently pushed his chest with both hands and muttered:

"Hurry up, I want to go out and take a look."

"What are you looking at, huh?" He leaned over and tried to seal her lips with a kiss, but she slapped his head away.

"Hurry up, stop kissing, um... hurry up, let me go out and take a look..." There seemed to be a quarrel outside, and the commotion was quite intense. Qiao Lu was curious and there was no way she could resist the big melon.

She had been married into the compound for almost a year, and this was the first time she heard her neighbors quarreling!

"Oh, hurry up, why are you taking so long?"

Xu Haizhou: “…”

Several black lines slid across her forehead, the speed increased, and it was so stimulating that Qiao Lu couldn't utter a word.

"ah,"

Finally, he whispered in a hoarse voice close to her ear: "Wife, are you still going out?"

Qiao Lu was so tired that her fingers had no strength to move, but her mouth was still stiff.

"I want... to go out." As she said this, she pushed him and tried to crawl out.

The man laughed, stretched out his long arms, pulled her into his arms, and pressed her tightly into his arms.

After a long time, Qiao Lu shuddered violently and her eyelids began to droop.

"Don't go out, go to sleep, and we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"You're bothered..."

"Go to sleep. Sleep when you are tired."

"Don't...annoy me..."

Patting her back gently, he said, "Go to sleep, go to sleep."

The coaxing voice kept brainwashing her in her ears over and over again. After a few minutes, Qiao Lu closed her eyes sleepily. After a few minutes, she fell asleep in his arms.

Xu Haizhou smiled and stroked the top of her head slowly. That smile was clearly that of a cunning fox.

"Go to sleep and have a sweet dream."

…

The next morning, Qiao Lu went next door to find Wu Guifang and asked about what happened last night.

Wu Guifang is the most gossipy person in the entire inner courtyard, so she will definitely know the most if you ask her!

"What's wrong? What's wrong? I seemed to hear Auntie Chen's voice last night. I almost fell asleep and didn't come out to check on her."

Looking around, Wu Guifang quickly pulled her into the house: "The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a quarrel! Qingping went back to her parents' home in anger!"

"Ah? What's going on?"

It turns out that the culprit of all the trouble is that "New Year's uniform"!

It is said that after Song Qingping bought the "New Year's uniform" home, her mother-in-law has been nagging her. The two have had big quarrels, but small quarrels have continued.

Last night, Song Qingping went to the bathroom to take a shower. When she came back, she found that her sister-in-law Chen Jiamei had stolen the key to the room while she was away, opened the closet, and put on her "New Year's suit"!

Song Qingping was so angry that she caught Chen Jiamei and started scolding her. The two of them had a huge argument.

Song Qingping was really furious. She had only worn the new clothes for half an hour and was reluctant to put them on any longer, but her younger sister put them on directly. The most intolerable thing was that, not only did she put them on, but she actually sat at the dining table in them for a while, and a small soy sauce stain got on her butt. She was so angry that she wanted to hit someone!

He was so angry that he blurted out all the words, calling Chen Jiamei a shameless thief!

Aunt Chen couldn't help it and slapped her.

"What's wrong with your sister wearing it? It will make her look less fat! How can you be a thief? I didn't say anything even though you spent so much money on a piece of clothing. Even if your sister made a thousand mistakes, it's not your turn to teach her a lesson!"

Aunt Chen was also very angry. Although her daughter often made her angry, she was still her own daughter. No matter how good her daughter-in-law was, she was still an "outsider". When she got angry, she subconsciously protected her daughter.

Song Qingping was not someone who could tolerate humiliation. Although her mother-in-law often oppressed her, she would never hit her for no reason.

She burst into tears of grievance, and in a fit of anger she packed her bags and went back to her parents' home. No one could persuade her to do anything about it!

He also stripped Chen Jiamei of her New Year's uniform, and glared at her as he walked away.

Knowing that she was at a disadvantage, Chen Jiamei did not dare to cheat at all during the whole process.

When I was leaving the house, I happened to meet Chen Ershun who was coming back from a walk with his kids. On the way, he bought a bag of peach cakes for his wife.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do is eat! Garbage!"

She pushed his hand away, and the peach cakes shattered to the ground.

"Hey! What's wrong? Didn't you tell me to bring it back along the way? Did I bring the wrong thing?"

When he learned that his daughter-in-law had gone back to her parents' home, he quickly took his son and went after her. But he was scolded and sent back.

Not only Song Qingping cursed, but her mother-in-law cursed as well.

Song Qingping's family is not bad. Both of his parents are government employees. If Song Qingping had not fallen in love with Chen Ershun at first sight, his parents would have introduced him to a gay man with better conditions. However, considering that Chen Ershun is an honest man and they are in love with each other, they agreed reluctantly after failing to stop him.

Originally, people married their daughter to you because they wanted you to treat her well and protect her. However, not only did you fail to protect her, but you also made her suffer injustice and kicked her out of the Song family.

Qiao Lu secretly felt lucky that she didn't have to live with her parents-in-law.

But in the end, I have to sigh: "To put it bluntly, it's all about money. If they had money and each of them had a woolen coat, would they still quarrel over such a thing?"

"That's right...but the Chen family is not poor. Except for the old couple and Jiamei who is about to graduate, the others are all able-bodied. With so many people supporting a family, the conditions are not bad. It's just a waste. The daughter-in-law has given his family grandchildren. I haven't seen Qingping buy anything good for so many years. Now she bought herself a piece of clothing to reward herself. Although it's a bit expensive, it doesn't need to be so fussy."

"Yeah, who says it isn't?"

…

Except for the eldest brother's family, everyone else in the Chen family is worried about Song Qingping's matter.

Zhang Hongyan felt that she was right, while Chen Jiamei felt that she was wrong and felt a little guilty, but she also thought that her second sister-in-law's insults were too harsh and she was a little angry.

Chen Ershun went to his wife's house several times but was rejected. When he came back, he felt that his wife was angry and ran away, so he had to ask the culprit Chen Jiamei and his mother to coax her back.

The whole family was in a bad mood, and it was cloudy and rainy over Old Chen's house for several days.

But soon everyone had no time to care about the Chen family's affairs because the situation at the top had changed drastically!

"The cloth coupons have been cancelled! You don't need coupons to buy cloth anymore! Comrades, go buy cloth!"

In December 1983, the □□ issued a notice to cancel the cloth coupons. From then on, textiles were open to supply. !

Early in the morning, Qiao Lu was dragged by Wu Guifang to buy cloth, and almost all the women who could be mobilized in the inner and outer courtyards ran to buy cloth.

The men were puzzled: You don’t need a ticket to buy the cloth, but you need money. You are so excited that people who don’t know would think you are grabbing the cloth for free!

"Hurry, hurry! I heard it starts at nine o'clock. If we go too late, we won't be able to squeeze in!"

Qiao Lu was inexplicably dragged away when she was halfway through her breakfast. After learning the whole story, she was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"It's only 7:30 now, sis!"

"What do you mean it's only half past seven! Look, everyone in the inner courtyard has run away, and there's no one left in the outer courtyard either. We're all falling behind! Hurry, hurry, hurry—"

Since the country has decided not to accept cloth coupons, it means that cloth coupons will no longer be used to implement a planned economy, and that the production capacity of cloth has been upgraded. In the past, demand exceeded supply, but now supply exceeds demand. Otherwise, it would not be possible to let people buy cloth freely.

so--

"Sister, don't worry. Even if you can't buy it today, you can buy it in a few days!"

"No, no, everyone was short of cloth coupons before, but now they are no longer needed. Why don't you buy them with an empty stomach? If you go too late, what will happen to you?" He said, speeding up. "You are a clothes seller and you don't have to worry, but I am worried to death! I am just waiting to buy some cheap fabrics to make new clothes for my kids!"

Well, it seems there is no point in persuading her, so I can only let Wu Guifang drag me to the department store and run like crazy.

When she ran to the outer courtyard, she remembered that Qiao Lu had a car, so she turned back to the courtyard, braved the cold wind, rode her bicycle, and took Wu Guifang to buy cloth.

Good man, you don’t know what’s going on until you get here. You’ll be shocked when you first arrive. The department store isn’t even in sight from so far away, but there’s already a long queue and an endless sea of ​​people.

It's around eight o'clock now, and there's still an hour before the start.

After an hour of cold wind, the door was finally opened and the rush to buy began!

In an instant, they swarmed towards the same goal like a swarm of bees, people were crowded together, cotton-padded jackets pressed against each other, they were stepped on, bumped, pushed and shoved from time to time... After all the crowding, Qiao Lu's head was buzzing.

Looking at Wu Guifang beside me, she seemed to have taken stimulants and did not feel cold or crowded at all.

When I got to the counter, I strangely met several other ladies from the inner courtyard. At this time, "fellow villagers meet each other", and their morale was greatly boosted. The first thing they said was: "Comrade! Give me two meters of cotton cloth! And two meters of woolen material!"

"I want the polyester one!"

"I want plain cotton! And twill!"

It's so noisy and my ears hurt.

But the salesperson at the other end of the counter was not panicking. She took her time and calmly to measure the sizes of the customers and cut the clothes... Of course, although her expression was calm, it didn't look good either, as if she was venting her anger and just threw the clothes in front of you instead of giving them to you properly.

But in this situation, who cares whether the salesperson has a good attitude or not? It’s good enough if they can help you buy cloth.

After getting the cloth, I happily squeezed out of the crowd.

Seeing what Qiaolu was holding, Wu Guifang was stunned: "Oh my! Sister Qiaolu, why did you only take such a small amount of cotton cloth? It's not even half of what I have! You finally squeezed in, why didn't you grab more? What a pity."

Qiao Lu smiled and said indifferently: "It's enough to make a few sets of underwear for the family. Why buy so many?"

Besides, I only had one bicycle, and I had to carry Wu Guifang and some cloth. How could I go back if I bought so many things?

Besides, there’s no need to rush to buy this cloth. The stock will be replenished for you tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest. Why bother?

Qiao Lu just doesn't want to dampen everyone's mood, otherwise she wouldn't come no matter what.

"Okay, I've grabbed enough anyway." He patted the cloth in his arms and said, "Qiao Lu, let's go!"

All the cloth was handed over to Wu Guifang, and Qiao Lu rode in front.

As soon as I got in the car, old man Chen from next door followed with his wife Zhang Hongyan.

"Oh, what a coincidence, you bought it too?"

"Yes." Wu Guifang quickly took credit for it and smiled secretly, "Look, I bought so much, even a quilt cover!"

Zhang Hongyan gave her a thumbs up and said, "You are really good."

"Are you seated? Are you leaving?" Qiao Lu asked.

"Okay, I won't chat with you anymore." Kong didn't even bother to say hello to Zhang Hongyan. He got into Qiao Lu's car and left.

Over there, Zhang Hongyan had to go home after buying fabrics. Before leaving, she saw Liu Xiaohong standing at the door of the store: "Xiaohong, have you finished shopping? Why aren't you leaving yet?"

She was seen holding a large piece of cloth, staring blankly at one place.

"I seemed to see Youwei just now." She said in disbelief.

"What are you talking about? Today is Thursday. Isn't Youwei working in the factory? You must be seeing things. There are so many people who look alike." Zhang Hongyan was sure that Liu Xiaohong must be dazzled: "Okay, let's stop chatting. I'm leaving too. You should go home quickly and stop looking. It's very cold outside!"

As she said this, she was taken away by her man.

Liu Xiaohong originally had a bicycle. In August this year, her son, who had just graduated from the college entrance examination, found a job, so she gave it to him. He usually walks to work.

As she carried a pile of cloth home, the figure she had just seen kept appearing in her mind.

How could I be wrong? That dress, those facial features... It's impossible to be wrong...

…

The compound is extremely lively today, and you can hear many arguments everywhere you go.

Qiao Lu overheard that someone had bought too much fabric, more than the whole family could use. Some even spent two hundred yuan!

Tell me, according to the current prices, how many years would it take for a family to use up two hundred yuan worth of cloth?

This is really exaggerated...

Some are happy and some are sad.

Everything is calm here in Xu Haizhou.

"——Dad, look! Mom bought so much cloth! So much!"

"Where did you buy it?" Xu Haizhou walked over to take a look and smiled.

This kid has so much, it’s just three meters of cotton cloth.

"I can tell you haven't listened to the news today."

"News? What news? I'm too busy to listen to it." There is a Li Hongjun single-player machine in the store for daily entertainment, but business is busy today and he has no time to listen to it.

Qiao Lu smiled and said, "From today on, you don't need a ticket to buy cloth! You can buy it with money!"

Xu Haizhou raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Then your cost of making clothes will be reduced in the future."

"Yes, you can buy as much as you want!" Suddenly he slapped his head and said, "Oh, I forgot to check the cotton. I don't know if it's easy to buy. I can still make a velvet jacket! And there's leather. I really want to make a leather bag!"

"How much do you need? How about I bring it back for you tomorrow?" Xu Haizhou asked her with a smile.

"Okay, thank you, husband~" and gave him a kiss.

It was a rare opportunity for Xu Haizhou to call her husband, and he was very excited. Qiao An's mouth opened into a "0" in surprise.

"I, I want a kiss too."

"Come on, little baby, give me a kiss too~"

A kiss landed on Qiao An's neck, making the little guy giggle.

…

The next day, Qiao Lu was making clothes at home, preparing to make a few underwear and then draw a design.

It was around nine in the morning when a violent quarrel suddenly broke out outside the yard.

Qiao Lu didn't take it seriously at first, thinking that it was just another couple arguing over fabric.

After listening carefully, I found the voice was quite familiar. It was... Liu Xiaohong?

The sound was very intense, with a faint tone of crying. After a while, the door of Wu Guifang's room next door opened, and the sound of hurried footsteps was heard.

"Hey! Sister Liu, what's going on, Youwei? Why are you here? Why aren't you at work?"

"Youwei! Tell me, are you worthy of your mother? Are you worthy of me?" This was Liu Xiaohong's heart-wrenching roar.

Wu Guifang was confused: "What's going on? Youwei, what did you do to make your mother so angry?"

A few minutes later, Auntie Chen also came: "What's wrong, Youwei? Didn't you go to work? What are you...what are you...doing? Hey, my dear sisters, why are you crying? Youwei, your mother worked so hard to raise you, it's not easy, why are you angry with her?"

Liu Xiaohong was very popular in the compound. She had a forthright and unpretentious personality. Her husband died a few months after she married into the Fang family. In addition to raising her son, she also had to support her mother-in-law. She was the only one who raised the family of three. She worked hard for most of her life, and no matter how hard it was, she never complained or cried.

Fang Youwei ignored them, hunched his head, and said nothing. His fists hung powerlessly at his sides, and he trembled with every breath he took.

"Three points! In the first half of the college entrance examination, he missed the college entrance examination by three points. He said he wanted to repeat his studies. Tell me, given our family's financial situation, how can we afford to let him repeat his studies for a year? Besides, isn't a high school diploma good enough in today's society?"

"I was promised that I would not go to school again and would find a job in a factory so that my mother could enjoy a good life. I really cried at that time. My family has grown big! We can support this family now!"

"He said he found a job as a technician in a mold factory, earning 30 yuan a month, and 50 yuan after becoming a regular employee. You see, this salary is so good! I don't have to ride a bicycle to work every day, and I can use it for my family. But guess what I saw when I followed him out today?"

"What did you see?" everyone asked in unison.

Liu Xiaohong was really angry, and it took her a while to calm down:

"My son Youwei is not working at all! He is back to school to repeat his studies!"