Chapter 70

Roll on the kang?

Erdan ran into the kitchen, first picking up the bowl and then the chopsticks.

Tonight we had steamed white rice, steamed on a honeycomb coal stove, in a cast iron pot, with a layer of golden burnt dough at the bottom of the pot.

So, Erdan served himself some rice, first giving a big bowl to his father and then a small bowl to his mother. Well, after he had served himself some, he held the pot and started eating.

"So, how many points did Erdan get in the exam?" asked Nie Bozhao.

Erdan, who was holding the pot, was troubled again. He turned around and looked at Chen Lina with a pleading look, "Mom."

"The child has just put the food into his mouth. Can you ask this question after he finishes eating?" Chen Lina then made excuses for the child.

"Uncle, Erdan scored 61 points in the exam, and he also won a reward." Liu Xiaohong also hurried to plead for Erdan.

As expected, the father, whose face looked like a poker, finally relaxed his lips and asked, "What prize did you win?"

"Best Improvement Award."

"There is such a prize? How did you get it?"

"He only scored 8 points in the midterm exam, but 61 in the final exam, an improvement of 53 points. He ranked first in our class," said Liu Xiaohong.

Erdan also nodded quickly. If he didn't have two top students at home to support him, why couldn't he be proud of his 53-point improvement?

"Well, Dad didn't make so much progress when he was a kid, so that's good news. Here, here are your rewards."

After finishing the meal, Nie Bozhao took out a few things from his bag and put them on the table.

"Dad, this is a pencil, but why is the lead so thin?"

"Son, this is called an automatic pencil. It can help you write your homework fluently. Moreover, this thing is not available on the market now. You can only write with it at home and cannot take it to school."

"Why, Dad?" Nie Weimin was curious and pressed the automatic pencil to make a rubbing sound.

"Because this thing was produced by the Japanese. Did you see the words on it? They're in Japanese. It's strictly forbidden to circulate this kind of thing on the market. We don't have it in our country yet. Dad only applied for it for research purposes. You are not allowed to spread it around or give it away randomly."

Each person got one, and a box of thin automatic pencil refills. Erdan pressed the pencil once, and it broke. He pressed it again, and it broke again. The tortured children were sweating profusely.

"Then Dad, how are we going to sleep at night?" Sandan asked suddenly, and everyone fell silent.

"Liu Xiaohong will go back to the farm, mother, right? She will go back to the farm." Nie Weimin said quickly.

Chen Lina shook her head and said, "No, it's snowing outside and it's not safe to drive. Mom won't send her off. She has to stay at home."

"Then let her sleep with you tonight. I want to sleep with Daddy, Erdan and Sandan. I don't want to sleep with her."

There were two firewalls in the house, but the children were absolutely not allowed to enter Nie Bozhao's small study, so there were only two kangs for sleeping.

"Nie Weimin, your kang is big enough and very hot. The four of you must sleep together tonight," said Nie Bozhao.

"Okay!" Erdan and Sandan said in unison.

"Not good." Nie Weimin firmly objected.

"My child, Xiao Hong helped you a lot when you were in school. When your mother was busy picking cotton, she cooked for you. Why are you so stubborn?"

"Aunt, I'd better go back to the farm." Liu Xiaohong said quickly.

"No, it's so cold tonight, I won't drive out again. If you want to sleep, then sleep. If you don't want to sleep, Nie Weimin can go and sleep in the warehouse alone. Stay and watch over the mutton for us. Be careful that mice don't steal it." Chen Lina said.

Nie Weimin went back to the room, picked up his small quilt and pillow, and was about to go to sleep in the small storeroom in a huff.

The whole family, Erdan and Sandan surrounded their sister, the two adults were also angry, and Liu Xiaohong was the most embarrassed.

"Okay, you sleep on dad's steel bed tonight, but you are not allowed to jump on the trampoline in the middle of the night. If you dare, I will throw you out."

"But you guys all dance sometimes, why don't you let me dance?"

…

"Go to bed early. I'm listening. Wei Min fell asleep obediently and didn't disturb the bed." Nie Bozhao said.

Chen Lina finished applying the cream on her hands, listened patiently for a while, and said, "No, your son is not right. I have to go talk to him."

He will be eight years old next Chinese New Year, and Nie Weimin is also a big boy.

Chen Lina has raised many dogs in her life, but never children. However, she has always believed that dogs are all the same, and as long as they are well fed and well clothed, and taken out for walks more often, they will basically be obedient.

There are not many people like Nie Weimin who are so moody and have no idea why.

Chen Lili was pregnant. Although she treated Liu Xiaohong the same as before, the adoptive mother soon had her own child, and girls are sensitive.

At this time, Liu Xiaohong needed care the most. If she was rejected when visiting her aunt's house, the child must feel bad.

"Guardians, open the door."

After a long while, Nie Weimin finally opened the door, and then he dived into the quilt.

Well, he really wasn't jumping on the trampoline, he was reading a book, a physics book his father used to read in junior high school. Like his father, like his father, Nie Weimin seemed to have inherited the family tradition of learning mathematics, physics and chemistry.

"I ask you, why don't you want Xiaohong? Haven't you eaten the food she cooked? She would pick up any steamed buns made of fine flour on the farm for you. When you were eating dry food at school, others would eat it cold, but she would bake all the buns until they were golden brown before giving them to you. Why don't you want her?"

"It's not that I don't want her, I just don't want to sleep with her, Comrade Xiao Chen, these are two completely different concepts."

"Why? You're just a little kid. How old are you that you don't sleep with her?" No way, such a young child actually understands the matters between men and women, right?

Chen Lina thought about it and couldn't find anything in the house that could corrupt the child.

Nie Weimin covered his head with the quilt and suddenly kicked off the bed board. "Mom, can you buy me another pair of trousers?"

"What's the matter? Don't your newly patched trousers look good? " He called his mother, which meant he was asking her for a favor.

"Wow, that bull head on your butt is so ugly!"

As he said that, he angrily lifted the quilt, revealing only his round little butt.

Chen Lina burst out laughing and almost couldn't breathe.

Yes, three years of new clothes, three years of old clothes, and three years of mending and patching clothes. The frontier is a place where cloth is particularly wasted. All year round, spring, summer, autumn and winter, clothes have to be changed and patched with cloth.

The bottom of Nie Weimin's tights was torn, so he patched it up, but the bottom was not patched tightly and the thread stuck to the top.

So he added a piece on the left, and then another piece on the right. The two younger ones often took off their clothes and laughed at him, saying that their brother had a bull's head hanging on his butt.

Well, he didn't want to sleep with Liu Xiaohong, probably just because he was afraid that the little girl would laugh at the patch on his butt.

"Xiaohong is your sister, she won't make fun of you."

"It's so ugly. I don't dare to go to the toilet in school because Wang Fan and Qian Goudan always laugh at me." With a cry, the child really started crying.

Well, Chen Lina coaxed and comforted the crying child until he finally calmed down. Nie Weimin, who was very concerned about his reputation, probably only cried and acted like a spoiled child in front of Chen Lina.

"Ms. Chen, when it's time to pay your rations, why do you always sit in front of the sewing machine? Sometimes I wonder if the one you love most is not me, but this sewing machine."

The laborer lying on the kang, preparing to do a set of radio gymnastics, was very dissatisfied.

The sewing machine was clattering as it cut the butt of Nie Bozhao's old trousers and pasted the various patterns on Nie Weimin's trousers on.

Well, now Nie Weimin shouldn't be ashamed of showing his butt anymore.

"Comrade Nie Gong, isn't your laboratory now highly valued by the higher-ups? You are not allowed to go out for military training and must focus on experiments. Why is your salary so much lower this month?"

Opening the baffle under the sewing machine and pulling out a few large knots from the cabinet, Chen Lina said, "It's only 120 this month, and the mining district gave me 60 this month."

"Why, not enough?" Nie Gong said with an attitude that he was the boss and that he made money to support his family. "Hurry up and get on the bed. I have to go to Beijing to attend a commendation meeting soon. I don't know when I can come back."

"Not enough, very, very not enough. Well, cotton is free, but cloth costs money. Homespun cloth is used to make trousers, which is what the guards are wearing now. You have to go out, and your clothes cannot be too short, so I have to sew their clothes. Your eldest son has very strict requirements for clothes, and I have no money in my pocket, so I can't make good clothes."

"He's just a kid, why not just tear some cloth and make him some clothes?"

"Then when you go to the commendation ceremony, I'll give you a pair of torn pants with the crotch patched, okay?"

When we arrived in Beijing, we had to stay at the State Guest House. Of course, it was impossible for each of us to occupy a room, so two experts would live together in pairs.

Although in Daqing or Yanbian, most people probably wear ripped trousers, but after all, we are in the capital, and it is certainly not okay to show the other party my autumn trousers with patched crotch.

That kind of autumn pants can only be worn at home.

"He is still a child and he doesn't go out. He rolls around on his kang at home. Is he afraid that his brothers will laugh at him?"

"It doesn't matter to Erdan. You can ask him to go out naked without worrying about being laughed at. But for your eldest son who cares about his reputation, he won't take off his pants to squat in the toilet at school even if it's just a small job. He will hold it in until he goes home to use the toilet."

"Okay, I'll give you an extra 200 yuan next month when your salary is paid. This month's salary should be higher. Come up and sleep."

After turning on the lights and getting on the kang, the workers, who have already done the pre-match warm-up, are ready to officially go on stage and engage in the once-a-month couple's life.

But Miss Chen, who always put in her best effort every time, was not interested today.

With a snap, she pulled the light cord and the light came on again.

"Tell me, where did the money go? Stop lying. I've asked Wang Fan's mom. Chief Engineer Wang's salary this month is 180 yuan, plus the New Year's allowance, a total of 200 yuan. You're an engineer, and you have two students under your wing. Your salary can't be lower than his, and you also get a year-end bonus. Who are you kidding?"

The worker seemed a little embarrassed to say it.