Chapter 53: Just fool your brother-in-law when assembling.
With so many people coming at once, Yan Xue had no intention of keeping them for dinner at Shan Qiufang's house.
She hadn't expected Qi Fang to be at the supply and marketing cooperative for so long. Seeing that it was almost noon, she tried to ask to leave, but Dan Qiufang immediately rebuffed her, "Why are you leaving? Your little Qi hasn't come back yet."
As she spoke, she had already picked up her basket and was about to go to the small market to buy some groceries. "You guys wait here, I'll be back in a bit."
Yan Xue was too embarrassed to wait at home, so she simply went with her and rushed to buy a few dishes, including fresh black fungus sold in a nearby ditch.
Back then, wood ear mushrooms were all wild and sold for more than frozen mushrooms, with fresh ones costing 50 cents per pound. Shan Qiufang was clearly distressed. "Why did you buy something so expensive?"
Yan Xue, of course, wanted to find out about the market price of wood ear mushrooms so that she could sell them later. Upon hearing this, she simply smiled and said, "We have some at home. I'll send some to you when the time comes. You won't mind the price."
Shan Qiufang thought she was talking about the things she had picked up in the mountains. "Why would you give them to me? It's not easy for you to get these things. Keep them and sell them for money. We also have Jigang and your grandmother."
As a result, after buying vegetables and eating meals, even Yan Jigang couldn't stand the summer sleepiness and took a nap with Shan Qiufang's children. Only then did Qi Fang come back.
The man's cold, pale face was slightly flushed from the rush of travel, his short-sleeved shirt was slightly wet with sweat and stuck to his body, and his hands were full of things Yan Xue didn't recognize.
Shan Qiufang was also surprised. "What did you buy? You brought back half of the supply and marketing cooperative, didn't you?"
"There's a part that's out of town, so I went to the county." Qi Fang put the thing down on the ground and asked Shan Qiufang, "Can I wash my hands?"
"Yes, yes." Shan Qiufang hurried downstairs to point to the basin and changed the water for him. "What are you going to do with all these things?"
Qi Fang thanked him, took it and put it on the washbasin rack, and said, "I'm going to help someone in the field fix something."
"Xiao Qi can do these things?" Shan Qiufang was surprised.
Yan Xue also helped the man by blowing his own trumpet to prevent him from holding a grudge. "Didn't the forest farm have a big flood a few days ago? A lot of people's things were damaged."
"That rain was quite heavy. Water even entered the houses in the town," Shan Qiufang said. She then looked back into the house and then at Qi Fang, who was washing his hands and face. "Can you repair the radio?"
She explained, "It's not a big problem. There's just a button that doesn't work, and I haven't had anyone fix it yet."
"Let me take a look." Qi Fang didn't say whether he could fix it or not. He wiped his hands and went into the house.
Dan Qiufang took out a small semiconductor device that was equipped with a battery. It was more convenient to carry out than the large one, but it could receive fewer channels.
Qi Fang took a look and asked her: "Do you have a screwdriver?"
"Yes, yes." It was obvious that there was a way. Shan Qiufang immediately rummaged through several drawers and found it for him.
Qi Fang lowered his eyes and quickly disassembled the radio. After a while, he replaced it with a smaller part. "Try it."
Shan Qiufang tried it and found that it worked. She immediately praised Qi Fang highly and invited him to eat the watermelon they had specially reserved for him.
Yan Xue looked at the spare parts the man brought back, but no matter how she looked at them, she felt that it was not as simple as just repairing a few things for the factory. On the way back, she asked the man, "Are you really planning to open a repair shop?"
"No." Qi Fang first helped the second old lady onto the train, "I plan to install a few radios myself."
"Install it yourself?" Yan Jigang, who was walking behind, widened his eyes. He didn't even go back to his own room after returning home, but followed to see how his brother-in-law installed the radio.
"How can it be so fast? This thing requires electric welding, right?" Yan Xue looked at Qi Fang uncertainly.
"Use a soldering iron." Qi Fang put the things down and looked up at her. "I find you know a lot."
Which modern person who has experienced the information explosion doesn't know much? Yan Xue can't pretend to be ignorant everywhere.
Facing the man's inquiring gaze, she said with an expression that said, "As long as I don't feel guilty, no one can say anything is wrong with me." "I heard it from others after coming to the forest farm."
Qi Fang had no way of verifying this, so he lowered his peach blossom eyes and showed Yan Jigang a few key parts. "This is the speaker, and this is the transistor."
Yan Jigang nodded every time he looked at one, but he didn't know whether he remembered it or not.
As they were talking, Liu Weiguo came in. He didn't look at anyone when he entered the room, but sat down on the kang with his head lowered.
No matter how Yan Xue looked at him, she felt that something was wrong with him, and his expression was too distorted.
If he said he was unhappy, the corners of his mouth would twitch from time to time; but if he said he was happy, even his shoulders would droop.
Yan Xue tried to understand for a long time, but found that she really couldn't understand it, so she could only pat her brother.
Yan Jigang understood and immediately went back to his room. Yan Xue then asked, "What's wrong with you?"
When Liu Weiguo heard this, the corners of his mouth curled up first, then the corners of his eyes drooped, and he sighed, looking even more complicated.
Qi Fang was more direct and pointed. "Did you have a stroke by sleeping with the window open at night?"
Yan Xue almost laughed out loud, but when she saw Liu Weiguo's twitching face, she held back her laughter.
Liu Weiguo tried to hold it in for a while, but couldn't hold it in any longer. "Can't you just hope for me to be better?"
Qi Fang didn't say anything, waiting for him to explain why his expression was so distorted.
Seeing that he didn't ask any more questions, Liu Weiguo finally confessed, "Didn't my mother go to Zhou Wenhui's house the day before yesterday to discuss our marriage? Her father said there's no rush. Their factory director's father is celebrating his 70th birthday soon, and he's thinking about what to give as a gift. We'll talk about it after we're done with this."
Not to mention that it’s not customary for leaders to celebrate their family’s birthdays these days. Even if it is customary, can a leader be so busy when his father turns 70 that he can’t even take care of his daughter’s marriage?
Yan Xue and Qi Fang were right. Once Zhou Wenhui's father tasted the sweetness, he would never stop.
What he said was clearly a hint that the Liu family should help him produce something as a gift to the factory director, otherwise he would delay the marriage between the two families and not give any definite news.
He simply didn't take the Liu family seriously, thinking they were inferiors, and that the marriage was initiated by the Liu family. Why not try replacing the Liu family with the Jiang family? Would he dare to say this to his own boss?
"My mom's face turned blue with anger. She kept calling her dad a piece of shit when she got home." Liu Weiguo buried his face in his hands, his voice muffled. "Do you think my marriage will fail?"
After waiting for a while and hearing no response, he raised his eyes and said, "And my ginseng, I guess it was given away for free."
Still no response, Qi Fang even lowered his eyes and began to fiddle with his accessories.
"Qi Fang, is this your reaction?" Liu Weiguo was furious. "I'm about to lose my wife and ginseng. Are you still my brother?"
"Then could you please stop smiling?" Qi Fang glanced at him slowly, "You didn't block it with your hand just now."
Liu Weiguo couldn't pretend anymore and immediately fell apart. "How come your eyes are so sharp? Can't you just let me keep you in suspense for once?"
Qi Fang didn't say anything, but his eyes clearly said that he didn't hide it well enough and he had no one to blame.
Yan Xue was also left speechless by his poor acting, "So? Did this really happen?"
"Yes, those were her father's exact words. My mother was really furious and her face turned blue. When she came back, she cursed her father as a good-for-nothing and asked me to get the ginseng back."
Huang Fengying was really angry when she said this. Zhou Wenhui's father was really a piece of shit. He was addicted to selling his daughter.
"What happened next?" Yan Xue was still in the right mood and even poured Liu Weiguo a glass of cold water.
Liu Weiguo liked to gossip with Yan Xue because of this. "When Zhou Wenhui heard about it, she immediately went back to her parents' home."
He paused again, the corners of his mouth rising, "Guess what she said to her dad?"
The only thing he can do is to save himself from losing both his money and his life, and at the same time, he can get a great deal.
Yan Xue simply expressed her emotions again, "What did you say? She won't marry anyone but you?"
"Not really." Liu Weiguo lowered his voice. "She said she's pregnant. Her father doesn't need to rush. He can wait until her belly gets bigger before getting pregnant."
This was something Zhou Wenhui didn't think she would say. Yan Xue looked at Liu Weiguo and asked, "She wasn't beaten, was she?"
"Yes." Liu Weiguo sighed again when he mentioned this. "She asked her father to slap her once, but her mother stopped her from getting hit a second time. Her face was swollen."
But beating her is useless. They've already slept together and everything is already there. Can her father really risk his reputation and sue Liu Weiguo for being a hooligan?
Not to mention that the two families are already engaged, even if her father is really furious and doesn't care about his face anymore, haven't they both slept together yet?
It seems the Zhou family isn't so desperate as to disregard everything else, and they're planning to hasten the wedding while Zhou Wenhui's pregnancy is still young. Previously, it was the Liu family who proposed the marriage, and they were anxious. Now, it's likely the other way around, with the Zhou family anxious to marry off their daughter, fearing the Liu family might deny the agreement.
Zhou's father is really a sinner. He forced a good girl to say such words.
However, Yan Xue was a little surprised, but not that surprised. After all, Zhou Wenhui was a girl with her own ideas. You could tell from the fact that she didn't follow the trend to see Qi Fang, and she dated Liu Weiguo regardless of other people's opinions.
But she has a very strong sense of morality and always has a little fantasy about family affection. Unless she hears Jiang Debao say with her own ears that her father wants to be the deputy director, she will never believe it.
It was also because of her strong sense of morality that she couldn't stand the fact that her father accepted such expensive old ginseng from the Liu family and had the nerve to drag out the marriage and ask the Liu family for things.
I guess Zhou's mother also helped here, otherwise even if Zhou Wenhui said she was pregnant, her father might not believe it.
Regardless, Zhou Wenhui's resolute stance on Liu Weiguo's side, and the Liu family's, must have comforted Liu Weiguo. His previous annoyance had probably long since vanished, as could be seen from the way Liu Weiguo's mouth clenched.
But they were talking about Liu Weiguo and Zhou Wenhui's marriage, why was Qi Fang staring at her?
Yan Xue glanced at the man, smiled and said to Liu Weiguo: "Congratulations."
Despite some twists and turns, the young couple is finally getting married.
Qi Fang retracted his gaze and asked directly, "When is the wedding date?"
"It's the 29th of this month." Liu Weiguo was referring to the lunar calendar. "There's only about half a month left, so I came to ask if you have time."
Qi Fang immediately knew what he was talking about. "Let me know when you're going to start building it."
"I'm going too." Yan Xue replied with a smile.
It just so happened that there was no work at the forest farm recently, and when their family was building a house, both the Liu family father and son went out to work.
Liu Weiguo thanked them one by one, then noticed Qi Fang's pile of spare parts. "Why do you have so many? Are you planning to open a repair shop?"
He actually said the same thing as Yan Xue. Qi Fang looked up at him and said, "No, I'm going to install some semiconductors."
"You can assemble semiconductors yourself?" Liu Weiguo was surprised. He had thought his buddy was already impressive just because he could repair things. "I was wondering why you weren't in a hurry about the training. If you have this skill, why would you need to be a chainsaw operator? You can just sell a few more radios and you'll have it."
Secretary Lang had good intentions after all. As soon as Qi Fangyi decided not to take up the training position, he went to talk to Secretary Lang. The forest farm had already submitted a new candidate in the past two days.
The person was recommended by another work team. Li Shuwu had been dismissed from their team before, and their team was in even greater need of chainsaw operators than Qi Fang's team.
No matter how secretly delighted this man was, or what the other people in the forest farm were thinking, these past few days, all the small loudspeakers were from Qi Fangxiu, and quite a few people had gone to Qi Fangxiu for things, so there was less talk than expected.
Secretary Lang was rejected by his superiors, and he was really unhappy about it. He was also annoyed by the repeated quota-raising.
So when the list of programs to be performed by the forest farm this year came out, he said on the spot that if anyone was dissatisfied with Yan Xue and Qi Fang participating in the poetry recitation, they could come up and compete with the two to see whose image was more suitable.
Isn't that a public execution?
Qi Fang is so handsome that all the newly arrived female educated youth want to come and see him, and Yan Xue is no less handsome. Who would dare to stand next to them and compete with them?
So no matter whether they had any ideas before, everyone said that they had no ideas, and the matter was settled, with only the manuscript for the poetry recitation being finalized.
Liu Weiguo was really curious and rubbed his hands. "You just said to install a few. If not, install one for me too. I'll give you money."
It just so happened that he was getting married, so the family had to get some big items. It was always cheaper to buy his buddy's items than in the store, and he didn't need a ticket.
Qi Fang had indeed gathered together several sets of accessories, and upon hearing this, he simply asked, "Which one do you want?"
There are several types of semiconductor radios. The smallest is the one Dan Qiufang owns, a single-tube radio with just one transistor. Its advantages are its small size, portability, and battery life. Its disadvantages are its limited reception and mediocre sound quality.
The big one is the one that Secretary Lang has at home. It has multiple tubes and a rectangular wooden shell, commonly known as an "electric box."
This type of semiconductor can receive many channels and has good sound quality, but it is large and needs to be plugged in. There are also types that can be plugged in and run on batteries, but the batteries are very expensive, requiring four D-type batteries, which is generally not something people would buy, after all, a flashlight only uses two.
Qi Fang asked this, obviously there would be more than one kind installed. Liu Weiguo thought for a moment and said, "That kind of electric box?" He raised his hand to gesture.
"Okay, come and get it the day after tomorrow." Qi Fang agreed.
He spent the next few days in the small repair shop, including at night. After all, with his brother-in-law around, he couldn't do anything at home.
When Liu Weiguo came to get something, two semiconductor radios were already placed side by side on the table in Yan Xue's house, and one of them was still clacking.
Yan Jigang rested his chin on his two little hands, leaning over the table and listening attentively. Although he didn't understand, it didn't stop him from practicing his English listening skills.
After a while, he turned around and asked his college brother-in-law: "What did he, they say?"
"You think your brother-in-law is omnipotent." Yan Xue couldn't help but pat him.
Yan Xue believed that Qi Fang could speak Russian, after all, Teacher Qi Fang had studied in the Soviet Union, but this was a BBC radio station and he spoke with an authentic British accent.
Unexpectedly, Qi Fang actually answered seriously, "They said that there was a match between the two teams and the fans started fighting."
At that time, Yan Jigang's eyes showed surprise, "Ball, fans?" Obviously he had never heard of this new word.
Liu Weiguo, who came in from outside, hadn't heard it either, and said to Qi Fang: "Just fool your brother-in-law."
Liu Weibin, who came with Liu Weiguo, didn't even listen. He ran directly to Yan Jigang's side, his eyes wide open, "Can you really do it yourself?"
Behind the two of them were Liu Chuncai and Liu Chunni. Since school was on vacation recently, they had time to run around.
After hearing Liu Weiguo say that he had deceived his brother-in-law, Qi Fang did not explain much. He just pointed to another semiconductor next to him and said, "Yours."
Only Yan Xue looked at Qi Fang for a second longer.
After all, she had taken English classes in school. Although she hadn't used it for many years and had forgotten about it, she could still recognize the words "football" and "fans".
However, with so many people coming to her house, she still smiled and asked Liu Chuncai and Liu Chunni: "What have you two been doing at home these days?"
Liu Chunni was obviously a good student, smiling shyly, "Doing homework at home."
Liu Chuncai was different. She went up the mountain to pick wood ear mushrooms, went to the river to catch fish, and took care of newborn puppies at home, but she didn't do her homework.
As they were talking, Liu Weibin was already getting a little anxious. "What are you talking about? Is there no one speaking human language?"
"Yes." Yan Jigang felt embarrassed by what he said and quickly turned the knob to start tuning the frequency.
Qi Fang pointed to the knob he was carefully turning and explained to Liu Weiguo, "It's FM. Medium wave is for domestic broadcasts, and short wave is for international broadcasts."
After a pause, he added, "Listen less."
Liu Weiguo also knew what the remaining two were used for: one for switching on and one for adjusting the volume.
He picked up his own, eager to try it out. "Can I try it?"
Qi Fanggang looked at Yan Jigang, who had already turned off the radio and sensibly asked his brother-in-law to open the back cover and get the batteries.
Qi Fang's model was also dual-purpose, plugged in and battery-powered, but he'd tweaked it so it only used three batteries, saving a bit of energy. Liu Weiguo eagerly took it, installed it, and flipped on the frequency converter, while the Liu children watched eagerly.
When they finally heard the understandable broadcast from the radio, they all gathered around him, "Let me try it!" "Let me try it too!"
"What are you trying to test? Let's plug it in and try it out when we get home tonight." After confirming that it really worked, Liu Weiguo took out the battery and asked Qi Fang, "How much is it?"
"No, I'm giving it to you as a wedding gift."
"That won't do." Liu Weiguo immediately put the radio back. "Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly."
A wedding gift is only two dollars, but a radio costs more than twenty dollars.
A radio this big costs more than 100 yuan in the county department store and is not easy to buy.
Liu Weiguo insisted, so Qi Fang quoted a price, "Then give me forty."
"Can you afford it? Don't pay me any money."
"It's enough." The price of the radio that Qi Fang bought was only forty.
In the end, Liu Weiguo left only 40 yuan and left with his younger brothers and sisters.
I guess with this radio, all the children of the Liu family will have to stay at home and wait for the forest farm to supply electricity. Huang Fengying will no longer have to worry about them running around these two days and having to bring them back one by one to sleep at night.
But a few days later, when the Liu family's new house was finished, Liu Weiguo came over and asked Qi Fang, "Is your radio still usable? How much is it for sale at regular price?"
Yan Xue understood as soon as she heard it and looked at Qi Fang with a smile.
Qi Fang didn't show any surprise on his face, and asked calmly, "Anyone want it?"
Liu Weiguo nodded. "Didn't you tell me how many you wanted to install? I went out to show off and negotiated this price for you."
He gestured to seven with one hand and to five with the other, and the total price was seventy-five, which was actually five dollars higher than Qi Fang had originally expected.
Yan Xue was a little curious, "How did you tell them?"
After all, although the things are cheap, they are not store-branded goods, so most people will definitely doubt the quality.
Liu Weiguo chuckled, "I told him to use it without worry, it will definitely work, and if it doesn't, we'll fix it for him."
It actually came with a free warranty service. Yan Xue was a little impressed. "You really thought of that."
In this day and age, regular branded goods do not come with warranties. Liu Weiguo said so, and the goods are indeed cheap, so it is no wonder that the other party would be tempted.
Qi Fang couldn't help but glance at his good friend, "Do you still want someone like you?"
"Yes, yes." Liu Weiguo nodded, agreed on the delivery time with Qi Fang, and then said goodbye.
After the people left, Yan Xue couldn't help but say, "Liu Weiguo is quite smart."
"Yeah." Qi Fang just responded when he heard the second old lady in the main hall call out, "Xiao Qi, the fever has healed."
Yan Xue dared to guarantee that the man's usually cold and handsome face must have froze at that moment.
There was no way. The medicine was too bitter this time. When Qi Fang drank it for the first time, he put the bowl down after just one sip and waited for two seconds before drinking it all in one breath.
Chinese medicine is very interesting. When you are seriously ill at the beginning, your sense of taste is poor and you can't taste it. The later you take it, the harder it becomes to drink and the harder it is to drink.
Yan Xue went out and brought it in. The man took it in his hand, looked at it, and put it on the table again. "It's still a little hot."
He drank both morning and evening. Yan Xue ignored him and went out to get medicine for her brother Yan Jigang.
Yan Jigang was treated much better, even receiving candy after his meal. However, this time he took the candy wrapper and put it in his pocket, as if planning to enjoy it at another time.
"Remember to rinse your mouth after eating, and don't eat in bed at night." Yan Xue only told him this.
The young boy nodded, turned around and ran away. Not long after, in the room opposite, Qi Fang, who was finally about to take his medicine, had something hard stuffed into his hand.
He pinched it and was about to hand it back when Yan Jigang had already run out the door. He turned back and leaned against the door frame to lip-sync with him, "I, I won't tell my sister."
Looking at those bright big eyes, Qi Fang drank the medicine soup for the first time and didn't feel any bitterness.
The candy was also very sweet, so sweet that when Yan Xue came in and asked him if he had finished his medicine, he was about to answer but subconsciously closed his mouth.
"Have you finished drinking? Why don't you say something?" Yan Xue couldn't help but say to him.
This time Qi Fang spoke, a "hmm" coming out of his nose.
This made Yan Xue look at him, "What's wrong? Is the medicine so bad?"
Should I confess to my wife at this time, or should I help my brother-in-law keep the secret?
Qi Fang was pondering when Liu Weiguo came back from outside and asked as soon as he entered the room, "Did you see the spring flowers?"
The two of them looked over immediately, and the second old lady also hurriedly asked: "What happened to Chuncai?"
It is obvious that he did not see it. Moreover, he had only been gone for a short time, so he probably could not see it.
Liu Weiguo's face turned pale. "She told my mother she went up the mountain to pick wood ear mushrooms and she hasn't come back yet."
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