Su Dazhi and Liu Mei were stunned when they saw the coal stove that Su Yu and the others had brought back.
"Sister, we have a stove at home, why did you spend money to buy this?" Su Dazhi asked curiously.
Upon hearing this, Su Lin's face fell, and she said unhappily, "Big brother, what do you mean? Just because you cook doesn't mean you don't know how hard it is. It's so hard for me to cook. The earthen stove is so smoky that I can't even open my eyes! And just for this meal, I have to collect firewood on my way home from school."
Tears welled up and streamed down my face.
Su Dazhi blushed deeply. For someone who had never cooked before, he hadn't really thought about all this. Now, hearing his sister's tearful complaint, he felt extremely ashamed.
"Alright, stop crying. I've been through this all these years. A lot of people in the compound have been through the same thing." Su Yu patted Su Lin on the shoulder.
Su Zhi also curled his lips and said with a look of disdain, "That's right, if it weren't for your love of beauty, my eldest sister wouldn't have had to suffer so much all these years, and our family might have been using a coal stove long ago."
Su Lin: "..."
Su Yu smiled slightly, "We're all family, I don't blame you. Now that the family is working together, life is getting better and better. With a coal stove, Lin will be more comfortable cooking. Also, I plan to demolish the earthen stove outside the door, move the wall of our house outward, put a bed on the right side of the door, and create a partition, so that Dazhi and Meizi will have their own room in the future."
Upon hearing this, Su Dazhi and Liu Mei looked surprised, then their eyes lit up with excitement.
If you ask them what their biggest dream is, it's to have their own room. Even if it can only fit a bed, that would be great.
Su Dazhi then realized why his sister wanted to buy a coal stove; it was to give him more space.
"sister……"
Before he could get emotional, Su Yu continued, "From now on, Zhi will sleep in the spot where you guys used to sleep. Ming has a holiday, so you guys can decide what to do."
Upon hearing this, Su Zhi, who had initially felt a bit sour and uncomfortable, suddenly became excited. "Sister, I'll do whatever you say!"
Ah, at least I don't have to share a bed with the fourth brother anymore. I have my own place to sleep now.
That evening, Su Dazhi helped put the iron pot on the coal stove and started cooking. The family cooked a meal together using the coal stove for the first time.
Although it was just a simple corn porridge, everyone felt incredibly happy.
It feels just like my sister's; life is getting better and better.
After dinner, Su Yu mentioned to Su Dazhi and Su Zhi that she had received her salary.
"Sister, you can lead the way, you don't need to follow us."
Su Zhihao said with boundless enthusiasm.
"Yes, that's all good." Su Dazhi nodded. His sister had arranged everything so thoughtfully for him, he had nothing to complain about.
Su Yu smiled and glanced in Liu Mei's direction.
Liu Mei rubbed her fingers together, got up, and took out ten yuan from her bag. As an apprentice, her salary was only twenty yuan. This was half of her income. She also took out fifteen jin of grain coupons.
These were all agreed upon beforehand, and Su Yu didn't stand on ceremony, taking them directly. Then she took out a dollar and a pound of meat coupons and gave them to Su Lin, saying, "Go buy some meat tomorrow. We still have flour at home, so we can have dumplings for National Day."
Upon hearing this, the whole family's eyes lit up.
Even though I've already eaten, my stomach is starting to rumble, and I can't wait to taste dumplings.
Su Lin happily accepted it. "I'll go first thing tomorrow morning."
That night, apart from Su Yu, the rest of the family were too excited to sleep. They were all looking forward to buying meat and eating dumplings the next day, or renovating the house so they could have their own place as soon as possible.
The next morning, Su Yu was still asleep when she heard clattering and knocking noises coming from inside the house. She opened her eyes and saw that the front door was ajar; the noises were coming from outside.
She decided not to sleep anymore. She changed her clothes behind the curtain, then had her hair done, and then took a basin and went out to wash her face.
As soon as the door opened, I saw the two brothers busily working, and even Liu Mei had a towel on her head, helping to clean up the trash to the side.
Seeing that Su Yu had gotten up, Su Dazhi wiped his sweat and said with a sheepish smile, "Sis, did I disturb you?"
"No, but you guys were up and busy early this morning?" The stove is gone. It's been replaced by neatly stacked bricks.
Su Zhi laughed and said, "That's right, sister. We got up a long time ago, thinking we'd take advantage of the two remaining bricks to dismantle them quickly. The bricks from the platform will be perfect for building the wall. As for the rest, we'll use planks for now."
Both Su Zhi and Su Dazhi had inexhaustible energy when it came to this matter.
Seeing how motivated the two brothers were, Su Yu was quite satisfied.
"Work hard, and we'll celebrate with dumplings for lunch." To make a horse run fast, you should give it a little reward.
The people in the compound had been watching the Su family's movements since early morning. After learning that the Su family had bought a coal stove to make a place for Su Dazhi to sleep, they all looked over there.
Sister-in-law Lin carried the laundry basin and followed Su Yu into the bathroom, asking, "Why are you thinking of dismantling the stove? That was made by your parents back then."
The people living in the compound were all assigned here. When they arrived, they were dirt poor and couldn't even afford coal stoves. Each household built their own stove and burned various kinds of wood and firewood. Later, when they could buy coal briquettes, they burned coal briquettes. Even now, very few families in the compound still use coal stoves. Industrial ration coupons were so precious back then; just buying a large iron pot took a lot of effort.
Su Yu sighed, "We have a coal stove at home, so we don't need it anymore. This frees up some space so my family can live more comfortably. No matter what they think of me, all I want is for them to have a better life. I just hope that my family can be of one mind in the future."
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