Life is getting better and better now, and she has saved up a lot of money. At the moment, Sheng Xi'an has no plans to find a partner or get married, nor does she plan to build a house for the time being, as the family doesn't have that much money to spend.
On the other hand, on Sheng Xiping and his wife's side, Xinhua is getting older and needs money for food and clothing, and their second child is in Zhou Qinglan's belly and will be born in about two months.
The days of needing money are yet to come, so the young couple needs to save some up.
Sheng Xiping put away the money, took the radio out of the cardboard box, and placed it on the cabinet at the east end.
The thermos, teacups, and other items that were originally on top of that cabinet were moved to the other side. There's a wall socket there, which is perfect for plugging in a radio.
Zhang Shuzhen looked at the radio and began to think, "Hmm, I should embroider a piece of cloth to cover the radio when I have time."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiping couldn't help but laugh.
Some things are truly ingrained in one's very being, like what Zhang Shuzhen just said about covering the radio with a cloth.
Sheng Xiping vaguely remembers that in his previous life, from the 1990s to around the 2000s, almost every household had a cover for their television.
Cover it during the day and uncover it when watching TV at night.
Not only televisions, but also refrigerators, washing machines, sofa armrests, backrests, and even landline telephones all need to be covered.
Moreover, they are usually made of white polyester fabric, embroidered with all sorts of patterns, and it's unclear how they manage to make them all the same.
Sheng Xiping didn't comment on any of this; he was only responsible for buying them back, and he didn't care about anything else.
The news that the Sheng family had bought a radio spread like wildfire throughout the forest farm, attracting many people to come and see it.
However, the forest farm had no electricity in the afternoon, so they couldn't listen to the radio. Everyone said they would definitely come to listen to the radio in the evening.
Even Zhou Qinglan and her classmates heard the news that their family had bought a radio before they even got home from school.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Xitai turned and ran home. "Mom, we bought a radio, right? Where is it? Let me see?"
"Isn't it inside? On top of the cabinet." Zhang Shuzhen was cooking and didn't even look up, just casually replied.
Sheng Xitai ran into the house with his schoolbag on his back, and as soon as he entered, he saw the radio on the cabinet.
It has a bakelite casing, a black glass front, two tuning buttons, and a large speaker at the other end.
"This is a radio? I heard someone talking in it, what was they saying?"
Sheng Xitai leaned over the cabinet, tilting his head to examine it, but he couldn't figure it out no matter what.
"Wait until six o'clock, when the forest farm has power, plug in the electricity, turn on the switch, tune to the channel, and you can listen."
Sheng Xiping carried Sheng Xinhua in from outside to answer his younger brother's questions.
As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei, accompanied by Zhou Qinglan, also came in from outside.
Zhou Qinglan was seven months pregnant, but her belly wasn't very noticeable, and she was quite agile. The older people who saw Zhou Qinglan's figure all said it was a boy.
Sheng Xiping and his wife didn't care much; they didn't care about their daughter or son, as long as they were born smoothly and grew up safely.
“We haven’t even gotten home yet, and we’ve already heard that you bought a radio. I reckon a lot of people will come over to listen to the radio tonight.”
Zhou Qinglan came into the house with a smile, took Sheng Xinhua from him, and said while teasing the child.
"Yeah, I think so too. I just told Mom that we should eat dinner early tonight."
Sheng Xiping only wanted to buy a radio to listen to national affairs, but he forgot how sensational it was to have a radio in this small mountain valley.
But the items have already been bought and can't be returned, so what can be done? Can't we just close the door and stop people from coming? Let them come.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qinglan asked Sheng Xiping to watch the child while she went to the kitchen to help out.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, along with Sheng Yunfang and her sister, quickly prepared dinner. Just then, Sheng Liancheng came home from work and they hurriedly served the meal.
Just then, after finishing our meal and clearing the table, it was already six o'clock, and the forest farm started supplying electricity.
Sheng Xiping quickly turned on the radio, turned the tuning knob, and after a series of crackling and rattling sounds, there was sound coming from inside; he had received the provincial radio station.
The room fell silent as the whole family sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) listening to the radio.
The broadcast had barely started when the sound of dogs barking outside came on; someone had come to the house.
Neighbors from all sides, from the front and back yards, and even from houses quite far away, all came. The east room and a half of the Sheng family's house was almost packed to the brim.
It was the first time everyone had ever heard the radio, and they all found it quite novel.
Some people said that this is like the loudspeaker in the forest farm, with someone speaking into a microphone on the other end.
The people listened to the radio while whispering among themselves.
That evening, the Sheng family stayed lively until 8:30 p.m. When they saw that the power supply to the forest farm was about to be cut off, everyone dispersed and went home to sleep.
On July 7th, Sheng Xitai and his classmates, all fifth graders, will take the entrance exam for junior high school.
After the exams, Sheng Xitai and his classmates officially started their vacation, and would enter junior high school in the fall.
With Zhou Qinglan keeping an eye on him, Sheng Xitai's studies have always been good, so the entrance exam for junior high school is naturally not a problem.
On the 9th, other grades in Qianchuan primary and secondary schools also began their final exams, with middle school students taking two days of exams and primary school students taking one day.
Students finish their exams and go on holiday; teachers finish grading papers, compile a list, assign holiday homework, and then they too go on holiday.
Sheng Xitai is transitioning from primary to junior high school this year. He didn't have any summer homework, and his entrance exam results were also good, ranking first in his class. Zhou Qinglan didn't assign him any additional homework.
This made Sheng Xitai extremely happy, and he spent all his time showing off with his friends.
The forestry team began dismantling and transporting timber, and Sheng Xi'an, being part of the educated youth team, inevitably had to go and do the work.
Sheng Xiping contacted the work team, got the logs back, and asked Wang Jianshe and others for help. They gathered all the logs together and used the forest farm's vehicle to tow the special three-plank trucks back to the forest farm.
Then they contacted the forestry station dispatcher to arrange a vehicle, obtained a transport permit, and transported the goods to Songjiang River.
Last time, Sheng Xiping provided the Zhou family with more than ten zhang of firewood. Three years have passed since then, and even if they use it sparingly, the Zhou family's firewood stack is almost empty.
There happened to be quite a few logs from the demolition this year, and Sheng Xiping and his team also collected a lot from the woods. This time, they filled a whole truck with them and delivered them to the Zhou family.
In fact, given Zhou Mingyuan's current status, if he wanted some firewood, he could simply ask the Banshihe Forest Farm, Donggang Forest Farm, or even a timber yard or lumber mill; he would never have to worry about firewood at home.
But the son-in-law's thoughtfulness and consideration for his in-laws made Zhou Mingyuan and his wife extremely happy. They praised their son-in-law to everyone they met, saying how considerate he was.
Sheng Xiping, along with his two younger brothers and a group of friends including Wang Jianshe, spent the whole day working at the Zhou family's house, sawing, splitting, stacking, and tidying up all the firewood.
The next morning, the group went to Sent Railway Station, intending to take the small train back.
As a result, at the Sen Tie small train station, Sheng Xiping unexpectedly saw two familiar figures.
"Xiaofeng? Brother Ruiqing? What are you doing here?"
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