After giving out the gifts, Yu Qing asked Han Chen and Xuemei to go back to their room and rest for a while, as they were tired after being on the road for the past few days.
Xuemei and Han Chen returned to the room with scissors. Xuemei took out all the money and bills sewn inside Han Chen's cotton-padded jacket. Then, avoiding Han Chen, she removed the patches sewn inside her own cotton-padded jacket and took out all the money and bills.
Xuemei handed it to Han Chen and said, "Please count it for me. I took 150 yuan, 20 feet of cloth coupons, and 10 industrial coupons."
Han Chen took it, counted it twice, and said, "Yes, it's all here." Han Chen took out the remaining money from his pocket and continued, "I only have 65 cents left."
Han Chen and Xuemei spent quite a bit on the journey. The bus fare from the commune to the county town was 10 cents per person, and the bus fare from the county town to the provincial capital was 70 cents per person. The hard seat ticket on the train was 7.6 yuan per person. In total, the two of them spent 16.8 yuan on the train alone.
Add to that the thirty cents they spent on the guesthouse for one night, the forty cents they spent on the train lunch box, two taels of fine grain coupons, two taels of coarse grain coupons, and one tael of meat coupons, and the cost of their meals before the train. Xuemei and Han Chen spent eighteen yuan and twenty-five cents on the journey, half a jin of fine grain coupons, and two jin of coarse grain coupons.
Xuemei also took the bag, took out the change inside, counted it, and said, "I have a little more left than you. I still have one yuan and a dime, which means we should have at least twenty yuan left when we go home. So we can use one hundred and thirteen yuan out of the one hundred and fifty yuan!"
"We should stay a little longer. Didn't our parents say that a poor family can bring a rich road ahead?" Han Chen said.
"Okay, then we'll keep 40 yuan for travel expenses!" Xuemei thought for a moment and said.
Han Chen nodded, then said: "I'll pack up, you take a nap first!"
…
Two hours later, Xuemei was woken up by Han Chen. She slept very comfortably. The kang was warm and it was very comfortable to sleep.
Xuemei yawned, rubbed her eyes, and asked, "What time is it? I think it's still bright outside!"
Han Chen replied, "It's past four o'clock. My eldest sister-in-law and second sister asked you to go to the bathhouse to take a bath. There aren't many people in the bathhouse at this time, and the water has just been changed. You should get up and take a bath with them!"
Xuemei and Hanchen previously briefly discussed winter bathing habits in northern China. Those who visit the bathhouse every five or six days are generally more hygienic. Many go only once every ten or half a month, and some even go only once or twice a winter. Some people genuinely don't care about cleanliness, while others simply don't have the necessary bath tickets or are reluctant to spend them, so they pay a dime or a ticket for a bath.
In order to save money, many people in the north only go to the bathhouse two or three times a winter, and the rest of the time they just wipe their bodies with hot water at home.
But Xuemei heard from Han Chen that everyone in the bathhouse entered and exited the bathing pool naked, then went to the clothes storage area to put on their clothes before leaving the bathhouse.
Therefore, Xuemei shook her head and said, "I'm not used to having people around me when I take a shower. Why don't I just take a shower at home? Isn't there a shower room next to the kitchen?"
Han Chen pulled Xuemei out of bed and said, "This place is different from our home. The temperature has been below zero today. You'll easily get cold if you take a shower at home. Let's go to the bathhouse. Didn't you tell me you wanted to wash your hair before you got off the train? You can do whatever you want in the bathhouse, as long as it doesn't exceed an hour. Don't soak in the bathhouse for too long since it's your first time."
Xuemei sighed and asked, "What do you need?"
"Put on your clothes first and wear a scarf. Then take some clean clothes. Auntie has prepared a bath towel for you!" Han Chen said.
Xuemei and Han Chen both put on the cotton-padded jackets that Liu's mother had made for them for their wedding, and wrapped themselves in scarves, then carried their spare clothes in a cloth bag and left the room.
As soon as they left the room, they saw Feng Ru and the others already waiting. Lin Ziying looked at the two people approaching and asked, "Xuemei, was this dress also made by your mother? It's very similar to the military uniform, but it's much better-looking and fits much better!"
"Yes, my mother modified it based on the style of winter military uniforms to save some fabric!" Xuemei replied.
"Your mother is really skillful. My sister-in-law and I can only sew clothes with a sewing machine!" After Lin Ziying said this, Feng Ru also nodded.
"I can only sew clothes. I haven't learned my mother's skills!" Xuemei said.
"Okay, hurry up and go! Now that there are fewer people around, the water is cleaner!" Yu Qing urged.
After Yu Qing finished speaking, everyone stopped chatting and went out to the bathhouse together. There was a large bathhouse in the middle of the military compound, about five or six hundred meters away from the Lin family.
The bathhouse is divided into three parts, with two small rooms in the middle. The front room has a counter with a staff member sitting behind it. She collects the money, and you can just go in with your bathing ticket. The back room is the rest room for the bathhouse staff. The men's bathhouse is on the left side of the bathhouse, and the women's bathhouse is on the right.
Wu Jiaan walked up to the counter and said, "Hello, comrade! Five adults and three children!"
The person behind the counter replied, "Adults are ten cents each, and children are half price, for a total of sixty-five cents!"
After Wu Jiaan paid, the person behind the counter tore off eight bath tickets and handed them to Wu Jiaan, saying, "Comrade, there are eight tickets in total. Please take them!"
"Okay, thank you, comrade!" Wu Jiaan thanked Lin Ziying and walked over to her. He handed her four bath tickets and said, "Xiaoying, these are for the four of you. Xiaochen and I are taking Xiaojin and Xiaoren to the men's bathhouse!"
After Wu Jiaan and Han Chen left with Xiaojin and his brother, Lin Ziying handed Xuemei and Feng Ru a bath ticket each, and then said, "Sister-in-law, you take Xuemei with you later. I need to look after Xiaotong!"
Feng Ru replied, "Okay, Xuemei, follow me later. If you scrub your body once, you'll like bathing in the big bathhouse!"
Xuemei nodded, then took a deep breath and followed Feng Ru.
As soon as they entered the bathhouse, they saw a staff member sitting by the table waiting. Xuemei followed Feng Ru and the others and handed the bath tickets to the staff member.
The staff first used a pen to make a few marks on the bath ticket, then threw the bath ticket into a basket, and took out a woolen loop from the basket with a bamboo number plate hanging on it.
Xuemei asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, what is this for?"
Feng Ru explained, "This is the number plate for the locker where we put our clothes. Wear it on your hand and don't lose it. There will be someone guarding the locker later, in case someone deliberately takes other people's things!"
As soon as Feng Ru finished speaking, she arrived in front of rows of cabinets. Xuemei looked up and saw that several people were already taking off their clothes in front of the cabinets. One of them was even naked and walked inside with his legs spread out.
Xuemei stared blankly for a few seconds, then quickly lowered her head to look at the ground. This visual impact made Xuemei's heart churn. Xuemei grabbed the cloth bag in her hand and wanted to leave.
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