Chapter 18

Su Xiu

In the evening, the three children had a pot of hare mushroom stewed with rabbit. They ate so much that their stomachs were full. They drank too much soup, and their little faces were rosy from the warmth.

The three children were supposed to take a bath tonight, but their bathtubs were smashed when their grandmother came to make trouble, and now they are planting vegetables.

Nie Bozhao still ran to Xiao Chen's house and borrowed a bathtub so that he could give each of the three children a bath.

The fire wall was lit and the big kang was exceptionally warm, but the quilt was a little too small.

Nie Weimin finally found an opportunity when Chen Lina was not around, and whispered to his father, "Dad, Comrade Chen went to your unit today and asked for the living allowance for the three of us."

"real?"

"Well, isn't it?"

"That's it. Your grandmother will definitely come to make trouble within a week."

"That's what I said. How about this? Give her the pension and send her away. When grandma comes and sees that she's not there, she'll leave, right?"

Having just taken a bath, the little guy has a round face, big eyes fluttering around, and looks very serious.

Although Nie Bozhao was still troubled by his mother-in-law, he was a man after all and had wanted to get the money back for a long time. However, his leader did not give the order and he did not want to cause trouble for the base, so he was not too surprised about this.

Instead, he took the opportunity to tease his son, "It's impossible to ask her to go back. A revolution has broken out in Qisi Township. People like her will all be re-educated. Have you seen anyone being re-educated?"

"No." said Nie Weimin.

Nie Bozhao described it as "a chain on the shoulder, ropes tied through the bones, and cuffs on the legs, just like Lin Chong's night escape in my father's "Water Margin."

There were comic books in the house. Although Nie Weimin could not read, he loved looking at the pictures, especially Lin Chong Climbing the Beam on a Snowy Night. Although he could not read, he never got tired of reading it.

When the child heard that Comrade Xiao Chen would be treated like this when he returned to Qisi Township, he remained silent.

"If you don't want it, your uncle Liu will be happy to accept it. He even asked dad several times, saying that if you can't, you can go to cook for his daughter Liu Xiaohong. Otherwise, he can give your mother to Liu Xiaohong?" Dad looked serious and didn't seem to be lying at all.

Little Nie Weimin was so scared that he sat up with a cry, "Well, how can we do that? She's going to Liu's house, where are we going to eat?"

Nie Bozhao patted his son's butt and said, "That's right, kid. Obey orders and follow instructions. From now on, she is your mother. If you dare to call Erdan "Grandma Yao" again, I will spank your butt."

Nie Weimin cried out and wanted to cry, but Nie Bozhao waved his hand again and said, "If you dare to cry, I will slap you twice more."

My stomach was full after eating so much, and it was snowing heavily outside, so I had no room to digest the food.

As for Chen Lina, I haven't seen her for a long time and she's not in the kitchen either. Could it be that she has gone out to visit friends in just one day since she arrived?

"Comrade Xiao Chen, didn't I tell you that no one except me is allowed to enter the door of this small bedroom? Where did you get the key?" When I pushed open the door of the small bedroom, she was actually inside it.

In order to prevent wind, the house on the frontier has a kitchen behind the hallway with doors on both sides. On one side is a large bedroom, and on the other side is a living room with a storage room and a small bedroom.

If the door to the living room is closed, no light can come in even if the light is on.

So, Nie Bozhao had been staying in the big bedroom and didn't expect that she would actually come into the small bedroom.

There was an abacus in the small bedroom, and Chen Lina was typing away. "Oh, it's so troublesome to use an abacus to keep accounts. A calculator is more convenient. But, I still have to use Excel to keep accounts like this. I can just fill it out on the computer. How easy."

You know, the widespread use of calculators was only after the reform and opening up. Before that, people mostly used abacus.

At this very moment, the first microcomputer was being developed in Silicon Valley in the United States.

Although the entire country is in a state of lockdown, cutting-edge technology talents like Nie Bozhao, who are at the forefront of research and development, are able to access the most cutting-edge news.

Every month, Beijing would purchase large quantities of science and technology and petroleum journals from all over the world, package them in confidential form, and send them to the base for engineers to refer to, so that they would know the current development stage of European and American countries.

So, you can imagine how shocked Nie Bozhao was when he heard the terms "calculator" and "computer".

"Comrade Xiao Chen, can we talk now?"

"Tell me, what do you want to talk about?" Chen Lina asked.

"What is a computer?" he asked.

"That's right, um, it should be called a computer. There are desktop ones and laptop ones. Laptops are very expensive." Before she was reborn, it was the year 2000. At that time, an IBM laptop cost at least 10,000 yuan.

At that time, Chen Lina wanted one, but she thought it was too expensive, so she gritted her teeth and groaned. Nie Bozhao waved his hand and said, "If you are happy, buy it. Buy two, one for home and one for business trips."

A real rich guy, so willful.

Look at Nie Bozhao now. Well, he is penniless and has three burdens, who are still on guard against her. His only advantage is probably his good looks.

"Computers are a type of logic chip made of large-scale, ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, which are made into a small size.

However, giant computing processors that can perform at speeds of 100 million or even several billion times are still under development, and only the United States has them. Comrade Xiao Chen, why do I feel that you…"

Chen Lina smiled immediately. "Are you curious? Ask me now. I will answer whatever you ask."

Under the lamp, she smiled triumphantly, which reminded Nie Bozhao of two lines of ancient poetry that he would never dare to recite now: "It seems like a fairy has come down to earth, and her smile is brighter than the stars."

His heart was filled with shock, and he pretended to be casual and turned his head away. "Let's be honest, you didn't know these things from your Russian-speaking pen pal, did you?"

"You said the computer is still under development. I haven't communicated with my pen pals in several years. How could I know all this?" Chen Lina spread her hands.

"Where on earth are you from?"

"It should be thirty years from now. I will be your little princess and you will be my prince charming. Unfortunately, you are in poor health and have accumulated a lot of hardship, so..."

"Okay, let's talk about this. You are never allowed to come into this small bedroom again from now on." Just like that, Nie Bozhao drove Chen Lina out.

Chen Lina walked angrily to the front hall and looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. She was still very beautiful.

She thought to herself, I am so beautiful, but you knelt on the ground and begged me nine times before I agreed. Why are you so unromantic now?

"Just wait, I won't tell you. I'll just wait for the day when you kneel down in front of me and ask me. Humph." Chen Lina thought to herself.

She just didn't believe that she couldn't bring back the gentle and humorous Nie Bozhao.

The next morning, Xiao Chen reported on time to eat, but his hands were not idle. He brought half a bag of rice from his home. When he entered the door, he said, "Comrade Xiao Chen, I don't often cook at home. I always eat from one family to another. You can keep this rice."

"No, the two bags of rice in my kitchen are almost infested with worms. How can I take yours? Take them away quickly." Chen Lina quickly refused.

Today, she emptied the flour box and baked a few soft cakes and made a bowl of hot soup. The three children didn't even have eggs to eat. Now that Xiao Chen had come, it was not easy to withhold food from them. Chen Lina had to mix milk powder and maltose for the two children and took out her treasured biscuits. Fortunately, the two children liked the taste of this, and each of them ate a big bowl of biscuits.

As for Chen Lina herself, she was still drinking the rabbit soup from last night.

But the shiitake mushrooms were really fresh. After leaving them overnight and reheating them, the soup became even more delicious. Erdan was so greedy that he kept shouting, "Mom, give me a sip, give me a sip."

"You guys take care of things at noon, and we'll have mutton in the evening. I'm leaving now." Nie Bozhao came in and said hello.

Chen Lina rolled her eyes at him and said, "Whatever you want."

"How did I offend you?" It was the first time that Nie Bozhao saw Chen Lina get angry. Why did she disown him when she got angry?

Nie Weimin was very happy. "Yes, whatever you want."

"Children are not allowed to interrupt when adults are talking." This time, both adults spoke at the same time.

Nie Weimin had a bitter face and thought to himself, how could I have said anything wrong?

Nie Bozhao added, "Just accept the rice. The three children probably want to eat rice. Our family has only mutton and cabbage left, except for rice and noodles."

"If you dare to take Xiao Gong's rice, I will take the accountant's car to Umay today, then take the shuttle bus to Uru, and then go back to Qisi countryside." Chen Lina picked up a piece of wild rabbit meat with chopsticks, and seeing Nie Weimin licking his lips with greed, she gave it to him.

Nie Weimin devoured the food. "Yes, I'm leaving too."

Erdan had no idea what the adults were arguing about. He blew bubbles while holding the milk powder. "Let's go together."

Nie Bozhao was still in a daze, but Chen Lina just burst out laughing, then swung the curtain and went out.

Xiao Chen was still trying hard to promote his bag of rice infested with insects. When Nie Bozhao thought about Chen Lina's expression, he finally didn't dare to take it. He took the initiative to help him and took both the man and the goods out.

Yesterday, the accountant told me that the factory's Dongfeng truck would leave for Umay today. So Chen Lina packed up her three children early, tied a cotton belt around Nie Weimin's waist to protect him from the wind, and then set off to catch the Dongfeng truck.

The child immediately became like the girl dancing the yangge. Oh, he was so embarrassed.

"Hey, Comrade Xiao Chen, come on, there's still room here, get in quickly." Sister Wang was actually going to Umayee as well, and Mother Ham was there too. There were several other people in the car, and they were obviously female relatives of the base, some of whom were pregnant.

But Chen Lina was the one who took care of the most. She carried one on her back, pulled one, and had another running behind her.

Because it was covered with green fur, the wind was not too strong. When the car passed by, there was nothing but white snow on both sides.

The three children had big cotton shoes, so their feet weren’t frozen, but the adults were wearing only sandals and were shivering from the cold.

"Xiao Chen, do you have tickets? Let's take a look and see if you want to exchange them." Mother Ham's voice was dragged out with a long tail. She smiled and rubbed the various tickets in her hand.

Grain coupons, cloth coupons, sugar coupons, egg coupons, and so on. At this time, Sister Wang and the other family members smiled at each other and took out their own coupons.

Well, you have too many candy tickets, so give me one. I have some extra egg tickets here, how many do you think would be suitable?

Well, you have one extra cloth coupon. Is it okay if I exchange it with your sanitary tape coupon?

The family members gathered together and started to discuss it without any hesitation.

However, they all seemed to be wary of Chen Lina. After all, Sun Gong's mother was a big threat to the base.

As soon as she arrived, the base was basically paralyzed, and as soon as Chen Lina arrived yesterday, she immediately asked for the support money for the three children.

So everyone felt that there was going to be a bloody storm.

Mama Ham pointed at herself and said, "I, I want to switch with you!"

Chen Lina shook her head and whispered to Mama Ham, "I only have money, but no tickets. Mama Ham, do you know where I can buy things with just money?"

The family members around immediately took a deep breath and looked around. The alimony was due yesterday, but they started spending it like crazy today.

Mother Ham looked around and stopped talking for a while.

However, when they arrived at Umayyad, everyone got off the bus together. She did not go straight to the supply and marketing cooperative and state-owned stores like other family members. Instead, she asked Chen Lina, "Xiao Chen, do you want to follow me to my relatives' house and have tea and milk tea?"

"You can't go. My grandmother said that she is a Soviet revisionist and a great-power chauvinist." Nie Weimin pulled Chen Lina's sleeve.

"I've met Su Xiu before, but she doesn't look like her. But I think she should be able to lead us to find cotton. You really dislike this flowered cotton jacket, don't you? Once she takes us to buy cotton, mom will change your cotton clothes." Chen Lina said affirmatively.

Nie Weimin was curious, "Where did you meet Su Xiu? Are you Su Xiu?"

Chen Lina said, "No, I am a stinky old nine, similar to Su Xiu. But this stinky old nine gave you candy, eggs and instant noodles. What do you think of her?"

For a moment Nie Weimin wanted to blurt out "good", but he held the words back because he was too stubborn.

Sure enough, Hamma took Chen Lina around and came to a Kazakh family. They were received by an old Kazakh man with a white beard.

Chen Lina was like Columbus discovering the New World. The best quality cotton, various dyed cotton fabrics, and needles and thread, which Chen Lina needed most, were all available.

There were even onions, apples, tomatoes, peppers, rice, flour, and oil. Chen Lina even found a can of Soviet coffee.

"Comrade Xiao Nie, although the money is in my hands, you have to supervise me in using it. Let me ask you, do you think we should buy some onions?" Chen Lina asked Nie Weimin while rocking Sandaner on her back.

Nie Weimin was a smart kid, and what he wanted most was respect from others. He immediately straightened his back and asked, "Will it be too expensive?"

"Dip onions in egg liquid, fry them into crispy rings, and eat them with malted milk in the morning. They are so delicious." Chen Lina felt a little sorry.

"Buy, buy, buy, let's buy it." Erdan was the first to get excited.

Chen Lina picked a few large onions and put them in her big red and green cloth bag. After a round, she saw that the apples were big and round, and they were the old variety Guoguang, which was rare in the market later. The kind that gets sweeter as winter approaches, so she asked Nie Weimin, "Apples, do you want some?"

"how much?"

"50 cents per pound, 80 cents per two pounds." said the Kazakh grandfather.

"It's too expensive." Nie Weimin started to be petty again.

Chen Lina smacked her lips and said, "This apple has a lot of sugar. If I make kimchi out of it, it will definitely taste better than last time."

When Nie Weimin thought of the apple-flavored kimchi, his eyes immediately lit up like little lights. "Buy, buy, let's buy five kilograms."

After a long journey, not only did Chen Lina spend all the thirty yuan she had, she also spent some of her own pocket money.

In the bedroom of this Kazakh, she saw a glittering silver sewing machine produced by Shanghai Butterfly Sewing Machine Factory. You know, in today's society, providing clothing for a family of five is a big problem.

When Chen Lina married Nie Guozhu in her previous life, she asked for nothing but a sewing machine. Then, with the end of the revolution in 1976 and the advent of the great wave of reform and opening up, she could make fashionable clothes at a glance.

At this moment, I really wanted to hug this sewing machine and give it a kiss, but such a machine costs a hundred dollars on the black market.

Squeezing the money in her pocket, Chen Lina ruthlessly refused it.

Forget it, I'll just sew clothes to make a living first, and buy them when I have money.

However, before leaving, Chen Lina found that she could not lift ten kilograms of cotton, a bag of rice, two bags of noodles, and various fruits and vegetables.

Mother Ham has a deep nose and high eyes, and she smiled kindly, "Don't pay yet, wait until the goods are delivered to the base."

Oh, Chen Lina thought to herself, what a good relationship they have. This Kazakh guy is even responsible for delivering the goods to her door.