Chapter 241 Fire started
Seeing his daughter worried about using coal, Su Tingqian quickly took out the bills from his pocket and handed them to Su Mo.
"Momo, this is the coal bill issued by Dad's school. I'll give it to you from now on. It should be enough for you to use it together."
Su Mo waved her hands, "No, give it to me. What do you need?"
"We don't cook, but we need some firewood to boil water. Your mother also has firewood bills issued every month. That's enough."
"Coal bills must be used up in the same month. They will be invalid after expiration. Your father used to exchange other bills with others." Mo Yurong added.
Since Lu Changzheng was transferred here, the two of them deliberately saved these daily bills every month, for fear that their daughter would not have the bills after she came here. Unfortunately, the coal coupons had to be used up within the same month, so they only had enough for this month.
After Fu Manhua found someone to reimburse the overseas remittance the year before last, Su Tingde tried to ask someone to send a message to overseas, asking Su Zhongqing not to send any more money. They must have received the message and stopped remitting money last year.
Su Mo accepted the coal coupon only after she confirmed that her parents really didn't need it.
Su Tingqian's rank was not low, and he got 50 coals per month. With Su Mo's 100, it would be enough for every month.
Su Mo took the coal coupon and went to the family compound management office, found the eldest sister there, borrowed a bicycle, and went to the nearby coal station with Su Tingqian.
When they arrived at the coal station, Su Mo first went to the cashier at the door to pay the money and get a receipt.
Honeycomb coal costs 3.4 yuan per 100 kilograms. One piece of honeycomb coal weighs about 2 kilograms, so 150 pieces are counted as 150 kilograms.
Su Mo paid 5 yuan for the coal and 20 cents for the transportation fee, and asked the coal delivery worker to deliver it to the family compound.
During this period, the tide in Guangzhou was very high, the coal in the coal yard was drying up slowly, and their coal station didn't have much stock left.
The staff who collected the fees originally wanted Su Mo to wait for a few days, but when they saw that the address she said was the military family compound, they wrote her a note.
"Take the note to the back and ask the master to pack it for you and deliver it."
Su Mo thanked him, went to the back and found a coal delivery worker, and gave him the note. The master took the note and asked, "Where are you going?"
"The military family compound." Su Mo said.
The master frowned. He really didn't like going there. He had to register to enter and exit, and the place was full of northerners who spoke in a gibberish way that he could hardly understand.
But the master didn't say anything. He rode his tricycle to the place where the coal was stored and loaded 160 coal briquettes. He loaded ten more because he was afraid that they would be damaged on the road. He had to ensure that the 150 briquettes he gave to people were all good.
The father and daughter followed the master to transport the coal back. When they passed the management office, they returned the bicycle.
Lu Xiaolan had already tidied up a corner in the kitchen. After moving the coal to the kitchen, the daily necessities were basically ready.
Seeing that it was getting late, Su Mo quickly took some old newspapers to start a fire. Today was the first day of starting a fire, so she had to invite her parents to have a meal. The last train is at 8pm, so we have to hurry.
The coal stove provided by the army is the kind with a hot water tank next to it. After the fire was lit, Su Mo cleaned the hot water tank again, plugged the drain, and added water.
This way, when cooking, you can heat water at the same time, without having to heat water for bathing.
When Su Mo was lighting the fire, Lu Xiaolan had gone to buy vegetables.
After a while, she came back, and didn't buy anything. She bought two pounds of eggs and one pound of basil, as well as a few green peppers, a piece of winter melon and a handful of leeks.
"Third sister-in-law, there are not many vegetables to sell, so I bought these. This bunch of leeks was given by the big sister next door."
Seeing people coming in and out all day, the neighbor had wanted to come over to chat for a long time, but seeing that everyone was busy, she never came. Seeing Lu Xiaolan going to buy vegetables, she followed her and chatted for a while.
"It's okay, just eat it."
After the fire was burning, Su Mo cooked rice in an aluminum pot, cut two pieces of basil and put them on top, then made a winter melon soup, stir-fried eggs with green peppers and stir-fried leeks. After
eating breakfast and dinner, she sent her parents to take the tram.
When she came back, she happened to meet the big sister next door at the door calling the children to come back for dinner.
Su Mo watched from a distance, and suddenly three children, two boys and one girl, appeared from nowhere and ran back home quickly.
The elder sister also saw Su Mo and asked with a smile: "What are you doing?"
"To send my parents to the bus." Su Mo smiled, "Thank you for the leeks, sister-in-law."
"You're welcome." The elder sister said, and then asked: "Aren't you from the north to follow the army?" Why are your parents here too?
Su Mo smiled and said: "Yes, my parents were transferred here to work last year."
Wang Cuimei thought to herself that both of her parents had jobs here, and they seemed to be very important. Judging from the way her parents were dressed, they were probably cadres.
"My name is Wang Cuimei, what's your name?"
"My name is Su Mo."
Wang Cuimei wanted to talk to Su Mo for a few more words, but a little boy who looked about seven or eight years old ran out of the house and shouted to her, "Mom, didn't you say it was time to eat?"
"Wait, I'll be there soon." Wang Cuimei said, smiling at Su Mo, "Su Mo, I'll go eat first."
"Okay, sister-in-law Wang." Su Mo smiled and went home.
In the evening, when the man came back, Wang Cuimei asked him, "Whose family lives next door?"
Wang Cuimei also learned from Lu Xiaolan that they were from the north, and she didn't know much else. She was also very curious when they suddenly came.
"He was transferred from the north with the higher-ups. His surname is Lu and he's a regiment commander." Wang Cuimei's husband is Zheng Guosheng, who is in his thirties and works in the General Staff. His rank is the same as Lu Changzheng.
"The house next door has been empty for a few days. How come I've never seen him living there?"
Someone lived next door before, but that person was transferred to another place with his former leader, so the house became empty.
"I heard that he was sent on a mission just half a month after he arrived, and he hasn't come back yet." Zheng Guosheng said.
"No wonder." Wang Cuimei nodded, "Hey, let me tell you, the parents next door also work here. Judging from their appearance, they are probably cadres. I guess they were transferred here because their parents are here."
"I heard from Captain Lu's sister that their family is from the countryside..."
"Stop!" Zheng Guosheng scolded, "I say, can you change your habit of asking questions? Where they are from is none of your business."
"We're neighbors, why don't you ask what's wrong?" Wang Cuimei was dissatisfied.
"Can you stop causing trouble for me? If you can't get along with this family, go back to your hometown." Zheng Guosheng was so angry that he threw his hands and went into the room.
Wang Cuimei had many conflicts with the family that was transferred away before, and the leader reminded him several times to control his family.
After Su Mo went back, she fetched water to give the two children a bath.
Then she made a mat on the bed, and then put a thin quilt sent by mail on it as a mattress temporarily, and began to coax the two children to sleep.
As for the quilt, she brought one from her parents when she came here today. Lu Xiaolan also sent a thin quilt, which was just right for now.
The next day, Su Mo measured the size of the bed.
After breakfast, she went to the post office to send a telegram to the Lu family, asking them to make three quilts according to the size, and sent 50 yuan back.
Then she called Tao Peisheng to ask him when it would be convenient for him to send the bicycle and sewing machine. It was really inconvenient to travel without a bicycle.
Tao Peisheng told her that he had arranged to send it a few days after they set out, and it was estimated that it would arrive in a few days, so she should pay attention to it and wait for notification.