Chapter 49 Old Building
The day after Tao Nanfeng came back, Tao Shouxin opened the tea oil given by his daughter and fried a pot of Chinese cabbage.
The herbal fragrance of camellia seeds filled the air, wafting through the stairwell of the small red building, attracting neighbors to come out and inquire.
"Whose family is cooking? It smells so good."
"It doesn't look like rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil has a green smell."
"It's not lard either. Lard is thicker."
At present, oil, meat and fish are all supplied with tickets. It is rare to have delicious food, so everyone will ask each other who makes something delicious.
There are six households on each floor of the professor's building. Except for two households who went back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year, the remaining three households immediately found Tao Shouxin's house.
"Lao Tao, what kind of oil do you use for cooking? Where do you get it?"
Tao Shouxin was wearing an apron and holding a spatula in his right hand. When he opened the door, he saw his neighbors crowding in front of his house, asking curious questions one after another.
He was stunned for a moment, then answered honestly, "My Nanfeng brought it back. He said it was tea oil squeezed by the farm itself."
"Oh~tea oil, this is a good thing!"
When the grandmother of the Wang family who lived across the street heard this, she was overjoyed and shouted louder, "Nanfeng, Nanfeng, you're back? Give me some tea oil if you have any."
Tao Nanfeng heard the noise, walked out of the house, and responded with a smile: "Grandma Wang, do you have an oil bottle at home? Bring it here and I'll give you some oil."
Before Tao Nanfeng came back, Xiangbei gave her ten kilograms of tea oil coupons. She was very strong and carried it all back in one breath.
Oil separation? This made all the neighbors in the building very happy. They all brought small glass oil bottles from their homes and asked Tao Nanfeng for a few ounces of oil.
Everyone knew their limits and didn't ask for too much. Moreover, when they brought the oil bottle, they would give some small gifts, such as cakes, bread, side dishes, candies... After all, everything now required tickets and supplies were in short supply.
Although tea oil is produced on the farm, it is not easy to bring it back from thousands of miles away.
The neighbors who received the tea oil were intoxicated by the aroma. "Oh, the quality of this tea oil is really good. Tao Nanfeng, your farm is really good. You distributed so much oil at once. Now we will have no shortage of oil for frying meatballs and fish balls during the New Year."
Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin looked at each other and felt a little embarrassed. Both the father and daughter are new to cooking and have no idea how to fry meatballs or fish balls.
Tao Shouxin said to Grandma Wang, "I still have some meat at home. Can you help us fry some meatballs tomorrow? I'll pay for the oil."
Granny Wang smiled so hard that her eyes could no longer be seen: "Sure, sure. Of course."
Eating fried food during the Chinese New Year is a tradition in Jiangcheng. As long as there is oil, you can fry dough nests, dumplings, glutinous rice chicken, fried cakes, meatballs, hairtail... everything can be fried.
Tao Shouxin exchanged two kilograms of tea oil for New Year's goods from Grandma Wang next door, which freed him from the kitchen and made him very happy. Grandma Wang had nothing to do anyway, so she worked hard and got two kilograms of tea oil in return. She was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling.
Everyone is happy.
Grandma Wang’s son Ouyang Cheng is a civil construction expert at Jiangcheng University of Architecture. He is simple and easy-going. The two families live next door to each other, and he is the elder who watched Tao Nanfeng grow up.
Ouyang Cheng was an old-school scholar who respected privacy and never discussed family matters with others. His friendship with Tao Shouxin was as pure as water. However, his mother, Grandma Wang, had a sharp eye and secretly told him that Feng Chun'e and Tao You had too ghostly eyes and might not be good people.
Grandma Wang has lived for over sixty years. What kind of people has she not seen? She also implicitly reminded Tao Shouxin to pay more attention to Tao Nanfeng's study and life. But at that time Tao Shouxin was deceived by Feng Chun'e's diligence and gentleness, and did not understand the old lady's true intention.
Now that Tao Shouxin and Feng Chun'e have divorced smoothly and kicked Tao You out of the house, the happiest person is none other than Grandma Wang. Seeing Tao Nanfeng coming back from the farm to visit his relatives again, she was so happy that she held her hand and praised her repeatedly.
"Beautiful, the stronger the south wind blows, the more beautiful it is. It seems that you are having a good time on the farm. In the city now, you need a ticket for everything, and it is inconvenient to eat and drink. Your farm produces and sells its own products, with oil, meat and vegetables. How great is that~"
Tao Nanfeng withdrew his hand somewhat embarrassedly and responded politely: "Grandma Wang is getting better and better. Will you stay at home for the New Year this year?"
The more Wang Shuzhen looked at her, the more she liked her. She whispered, "Does Nanfeng have a partner now? Do you think my two grandsons are good enough for you? How about..."
Before she could finish her words, she was pulled back by her wife, who said with a forced smile: "Mom, there are a lot of things going on at home, why are you still chatting with someone else? Go back and cook."
When they dragged Grandma Wang home, her wife gritted her teeth and said, "Mom, what are you doing? My son has a good family background and a bright future. How can he marry a girl whose mother is a landlord? Professor Tao's family is in a mess. You must not get involved in it!"
Wang Shuzhen opened her mouth, but finally let out a long sigh and said nothing more.
In this age where background is everything, so what if Tao Nanfeng is so good? What Zhou Hongying said represents the thoughts of most intellectual families.
Tao Shouxin was ignorant about other things, but he was very sensitive about his daughter's affairs. Seeing Mrs. Ouyang hurriedly dragging away Grandma Wang, fearing that her son would be involved with Tao Nanfeng, she felt very uncomfortable.
He sat back in his chair dejectedly, feeling guilty and hating himself for dragging Nanfeng down.
Tao Nanfeng didn't care about it at all. He smiled and coaxed his father: "Dad, what do you think of the tea oil from our farm?"
Tao Shouxin perked up and looked at the large pot of tea oil on the dining table: "The oil is good, but the packaging is a bit shabby."
Ten kilograms of tea oil are packed in an ordinary white plastic oil bottle without any fancy decorations, and look very inconspicuous.
Tao Nanfeng blinked his eyes: "How about we design a package for tea oil? You draw it, I'll find a printing factory to print some and stick it on the oil bottle. It will look festive as a gift, right?"
Tao Shouxin immediately became interested when he heard this, and stood up and said, "Let's go to the study."
The moment of disappointment just now was thrown behind his mind. Professor Tao Shouxin spread out a piece of white paper in his study and started to sketch with a pen. Tao Nanfeng stood aside, offering suggestions and advice from time to time, and the morning passed quickly.
After the final version was finalized, Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin looked at the packaging design on the white paper - the background of lush green mountains, a beautiful camellia flower that is bright and juicy, and the five words "Xiufeng Camellia Oil" that are vigorous and powerful, and they smiled at each other.
——How can the tea oil sold by grain and oil companies have such beautiful packaging now?
The father and daughter spent two busy and happy days.
When the father and daughter were chatting, Tao Nanfeng mentioned that she wanted to systematically study the relevant knowledge of architectural mechanics and structure. Tao Shouxin went to the college library to find some professional books and gave them to her, asking her to study them carefully.
Tao Nanfeng took a look at "Theoretical Mechanics", "Structural Mechanics", "Material Mechanics", "Masonry Structure", "Reinforced Concrete Structure", "Steel Structure"
——Wow, six thick textbooks. When I opened them, I saw a lot of professional terms. It looks very difficult to understand.
She looked at her father with a wry smile: "Dad, there are so many books, I'm afraid it will take me a year to study."
Tao Shouxin had a stern face and taught his daughter very seriously: "Only those who endure hardships can become successful. Since you have realized that you are not knowledgeable enough during your infrastructure work, you must study hard. Otherwise... do you think it is easy to be the head of the infrastructure department?"
Tao Nanfeng took his father's arm and said coquettishly: "Okay, okay, Dad, I know. I will study hard, don't worry."
It was rare for his daughter to act like a spoiled child. Tao Shouxin's heart almost melted. His tense face could no longer hold back and he began to smile, showing both helplessness and doting.
"You, Nanfeng, you should know that infrastructure projects are a huge responsibility. They must not only be practical and beautiful, but more importantly, they must be safe. You should systematically learn the professional knowledge of structural engineering."
The father and daughter were talking and laughing when they suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.
"Knock knock knock..." a timid voice said, "Excuse me, is Tao Nanfeng at home?"
Tao Nanfeng was stunned and ran to open the door quickly.
As soon as the door opened, Xiao Aiyun saw her and tears started to flow: "Nanfeng, I...I want to go back to the farm."
Tao Nanfeng led Xiao Aiyun into the house and turned to introduce her to his father: "Dad, this is Xiao Aiyun, my best friend on the farm."
Hearing the name Xiao Aiyun, Tao Shouxin said "Oh" and nodded politely: "Please sit down, I'll go pour tea."
Xiao Aiyun was filled with grievances. She couldn't help shedding tears when she saw her friend. When she saw her friend's father, she wiped her tears with embarrassment and called out, "Uncle Tao."
Tao Nanfeng had originally made an appointment with Xiao Aiyun and Hu Huanxin to meet up early tomorrow morning. Now Xiao Aiyun came to look for her ahead of time. It was obvious that she had encountered something. She hurriedly asked, "Xiao Aiyun, what's wrong with you?"
Xiao Aiyun sat down, and after drinking the hot tea handed to her by Tao Shouxin and feeling his hands warm, she began to tell the story of the past two days since returning home.
Xiao Aiyun returned home happily, but she didn't expect that after two and a half years of working in the countryside, there was no place for her at home.
The old dormitory of the towel factory was not big. It was a tube-shaped building with two bedrooms and a living room. It housed a family of six and was very cramped. In the past, my parents and younger brother lived in one room, and my four sisters lived in another room. There were many people and the space was small, so the living conditions were very poor.
I originally thought that since she hadn't been back for so long, her parents and family must miss her very much. Even if the conditions were good, they should at least arrange a place for her to sleep, right? I never thought that was not the case at all.
The eldest sister got married. Her husband was also the son of a towel factory worker. There were many brothers in her husband's family and there was no house for them to live in. The couple is waiting for their company to allocate housing, so they are temporarily living in her mother’s home for the time being. They had to use a curtain to divide the small room where the four sisters originally lived into two small rooms. The eldest sister and her husband lived in the inner room, while the second sister and the fourth sister lived outside.
Now that Xiao Aiyun is back, the problem becomes where to sleep.
The living room was very small and there was no room for a bed. Xiao Aiyun had to share a small bed with her second sister and fourth sister, with only a curtain separating her from her eldest sister and her husband.
The room was stuffy and crowded, and I had to endure my second sister's ridicule.
"How wonderful it would be for you to be free and easy out there, why do you come home and suffer like this? Aren't you a public school teacher now? With a salary of more than 40 yuan a month, you live much more comfortably than your parents. You give up your good life and come back to share a bed with us, it's really weird!"
Xiao Aiyun was so angry that she started arguing with her second sister: "Do you think I want to come back? None of you wanted to go to the countryside back then, so you pushed me to sign up. Now it's the New Year and I can't come back to visit my parents and show my filial piety?"
The pregnant elder sister was annoyed by what she heard, so she put her hands on her hips and started arguing with her: "If you hadn't rushed to sign up, your second sister and I wouldn't be left here to suffer. I've been unemployed for so many years, and I finally took my mother's job at the towel factory. I'm exhausted every day, and now I have to get married and have a baby. This life is really unbearable!
What are you coming back for? Are you trying to show off to us that you have a high salary and good benefits as a public school teacher? Why did you bring back tea oil and corn? You are so showing off! If you really want to, you might as well send half of your salary back home every month so that mom can take a break and not be so tired. ”
Xiao Aiyun cried and complained to Tao Nanfeng: "I took such a long car ride to come back, and I didn't expect to be scolded by my two sisters. But... I can't bear to leave my mother and my sister.
You don't know, my mother was so annoyed by my eldest sister that she retired early and let her take over. Now my mother has become the old lady of the family. She is only fifty years old, but her back is a little hunched, and she looks so old that she looks like she is in her sixties.
My younger sister is now in the third year of junior high school. She has very good grades and has been determined to study hard to get out of school. However, my parents are unwilling to support her to go to high school and want to send her to a relative's house to take care of their children as a nanny. My little sister kept hugging me and crying yesterday, begging me to help her, saying that she wanted to study and didn’t want to be a nanny. I feel really bad! ”
The first time Tao Nanfeng heard that parents from a working-class family wanted to send their daughter to be a nanny, his eyes widened.
"Your parents are regular employees of the towel factory, and your sister and brother-in-law are both workers. How could they think of sending your little sister out to be a nanny? If this gets out, won't you be scolded to death?"
Xiao Aiyun's tears fell down. Whenever she thought about the mess at home, she felt bitter in her mouth.
"They definitely wouldn't tell anyone that I was a nanny. They just said that a relative had just given birth to a son and they were too busy to take care of the baby. My little sister is fourteen years old and is diligent and capable, so they asked her to help take care of the child.
This helps with taking care of the children, provides food and accommodation, and gives five dollars a month, so my father and my second sister both agreed. My dad wants to save money on food, and my second sister wants to sleep in a bed by herself. They are both selfish people! ”
Tao Nanfeng didn't know how to comfort Xiao Aiyun after hearing this. She asked Xiao Aiyun to sit down and take a breath, then went to the study to ask her father for his opinion: "Dad, our house is big, why don't we let Xiao Aiyun live in the same room with me for a while?"
Tao Shouxin knew that his daughter was soft-hearted, and seeing that he and Xiao Aiyun were fellow educated youth and had a deep relationship, he nodded in agreement.
Tao Nanfeng came out and said to Xiao Aiyun, "How about this, you stay at my house first, and then we can go back to the farm together, okay?"
When Xiao Aiyun heard this, her tears fell even harder: "Thank you, thank you!"
In the afternoon, Tao Nanfeng followed Xiao Aiyun to Jiangbei to drag the luggage. He witnessed the dilapidated tube-shaped building of the towel factory with his own eyes. Only then did he deeply realize how difficult it was for Xiao Aiyun.
It was an old house built in the 1950s. It had a dim and narrow stairwell, with honeycomb coal, firewood, and shoes piled up at the door, and the corridor was filled with the sour smell of all kinds of old things.
Although it has two bedrooms and a living room, the living room is so small that it can only accommodate a dining table. There are two bedrooms, a toilet, and a kitchen, and there is room for six people. Clothes, tables, chairs, benches, bedding, books, old cardboard boxes... personal belongings are piled everywhere, leaving no place to step.
Tao Nanfeng was wearing a plaid jacket and a matching belt around her waist. She stood tall and graceful at the door, so radiant that Xiao Aiyun's family couldn't open their eyes.
When hearing that Xiao Aiyun was going to move in with Tao Nanfeng, her father said nonchalantly: "You've made some wealthy friends, and it's good to have someone to rely on. Remember to come back for the New Year dinner and give your parents some gifts."
The eldest sister, with a big belly, said in a sarcastic tone: "The third child has become successful now. Our house is too small to accommodate such a big Buddha."
The second sister looked Tao Nanfeng up and down and said, "If your house is big, I'll move in with you. My eldest sister is married, and it's really inconvenient for her to sleep behind a curtain."
Tao Nanfeng turned away and ignored her. He said to Xiao Aiyun, who was holding her mother and younger sister's hands and crying, "Come out when you're done. I'll be waiting for you at the door."
After saying that, Tao Nanfeng walked out of the dormitory building that made her feel depressed, looked up at the gray-blue sky, and felt an indescribable emotion surge in her heart.
Compared to Xiao Aiyun, I am actually lucky. Although my stepmother was not kind, my family was well off and I never had to worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation.
I wish I had thousands of spacious houses to shelter all the poor people in the world and make them happy.
At this moment, Tao Nanfeng deeply felt the connotation of this sentence. If people could live in spacious and bright dormitory buildings, perhaps they would not have so many worries.
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