Chapter 16 Chapter 16 The Children Are Here
"Comrade, this bowl with flowers on it has a crack. I took it down."
Every time he took something, Wang Nian would say it loudly first, and then put the damaged one aside in full view of everyone.
Just like that, pick one and say one, leaving the driver no time to say anything more.
"Comrade, this one is also broken..."
Then, some people started to follow suit, and all of a sudden there were shouts all around, which made the middle-aged man's face darker and darker.
You know what, the middle-aged man is right about one thing.
There were some good things under the basket, but they were covered with dust and red mud, and had a somewhat rotten smell.
It seems that not only have they been stored for a long time, but most of them have also been exposed to floods, so they look shabby.
Wang Nian touched it with his thumb and found no cracks, so he put it next to his leg.
As for whether there are minor flaws, it all depends on luck.
The store manager was actually standing by and watching. If it was wiped too clean, its original appearance would be exposed. It was hard to say whether it could be bought at such a low price.
After picking and choosing for a long time, Wang Nian selected a lot.
He pounded his aching legs and stood up. Wang Nian sighed and said with embarrassment: "Comrade, please lend me a cloth. How can I know what it looks like if I don't wipe it clean?"
The store manager did move, lowered his arm and walked to the car.
"This is a benefit provided to our employees in the factory. If it were the same as in the store, how could it be sold so cheaply..."
The store manager is a middle-aged female comrade with the word "Manager" written on a red armband on her left arm. When she spoke, she naturally put one hand on her waist and deliberately showed the armband to everyone.
"What about these..." Wang Nian pointed at the pile at his feet: "What if they all have cracks?"
"Lesbians, why are you buying so many?" The store manager pretended to be embarrassed and hesitated for a long time. After a long while, he waved his hand and said, "I'll give you a lower price, but we can't guarantee whether it's good or bad. It's up to you to choose whether it's good or bad!"
Wang Nian looked as if he was hesitant to make a decision, and he squatted down to wipe off the mud, but was immediately stopped by the manager.
After a while, Wang Nian reluctantly agreed: "Just consider it as luck, at worst you can just break it and pave the corner of my toilet wall."
"Young comrade is really smart!" Wang Nian's seemingly casual remark immediately made the store manager's eyes light up, and he walked a few steps closer: "Why don't you take the broken ones too? I'll give you a discount."
After some price negotiation, Wang Nian bought the pile of dishes for six yuan, and the store manager also gave him a broken basket.
Wang Nian smiled and slowly put all the broken bowls and jars into the basket.
The store manager and the driver seemed to have found a good way to sell the broken porcelain, and they were busy promoting ways to use the broken porcelain to everyone who came.
Before leaving, Wang Nian heard others say that they were a couple.
No wonder the store manager was so eager to help...
***
No. 43 Family Building.
"Girl, what did you buy?"
Wang Nian was busy in front of the store for several hours and didn't even have time to eat lunch. After choosing the fabrics, he paid for a cart to deliver them to the gate of his family's compound.
"Some broken bowls." Wang Nian replied.
When he came back, several families came to see the house. Liu Chaoxian saw them from a distance and hurried in to help carry the things.
When he looked down, he saw that it was indeed a pile of broken bowls and plates. Liu Chaoxian was even more confused.
"Why buy it when it's already broken? Our life is not that hard."
Then I heard Wang Nian say that it should be laid in the corner of the toilet wall, and I couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Wang Nian thought that laying some tiles on the corners of the wall could prevent mold, but Liu Chaoxian's first reaction was that he would have to spend money to buy cement again.
With completely different thoughts in mind, the two of them carried the basket to the water pipe and put it down. Wang Nian picked up the cloth on the surface and said, "Put it here first and wash it later."
It wasn't just Liu Chaoxian's family that came to collect the house, several other families had their doors wide open.
"We are real neighbors now."
"There will be plenty of time to travel in the future." Wang Nian smiled.
When passing the staircase, I happened to meet Gao Jianhua and his wife coming down the stairs.
"Comrade Xiao Wang."
Luo Xiuying smiled widely, holding her waist as she walked carefully in front.
"Comrade Luo."
"My family chose room 5 on the second floor, which is right above Comrade Liu's family's house." Liu Xiuying raised her chin towards Liu Chaoxian and said, "There are people on both sides, so it will be warmer in winter."
Then he started to talk about why he didn't choose the first floor.
To sum up, there should be no toilet at home. The whole family will smell the stench of poop, there are many mosquitoes in the yard in summer, and the dam is very noisy with people coming and going.
In short...the first floor is full of flaws.
“…”
She seemed to have completely forgotten that the two people in front of her had chosen the first floor.
"Then sister-in-law, please walk slowly. I'm going back to the house to wash my hands first."
After listening for a long time, it was already just polite talk. If he continued listening, Wang Nian felt that he might not be able to help but open his mouth to refute.
"We're moving tomorrow, come and help if you're free!"
Wang Nian: “…”
Wang Nian pretended not to hear these words spoken to his back.
After returning to the house, he lingered to wash his hands, and ate a cold steamed bun that he had not finished in the morning. Only then did Wang Nian roll up his sleeves and walk out of the house.
Most of the people who came to view the house had left, leaving only Liu Chaoxian and his wife still busy.
Both the husband and wife have to go to work, leaving only the elderly and children at home. They plan to take advantage of today's rest day to move all the large furniture that can be moved.
This time there was no need to remind him, Wang Nian took the initiative to offer to help.
I was busy until dark, and only returned to the dark family building after having dinner in the cafeteria.
I pushed the door open and walked into the room. I fumbled to pull down the light cord, and the room suddenly became bright.
He didn't notice it when he was busy during the day, but when the surroundings became quiet at night, Wang Nian suddenly felt a little lonely, as if he had returned to his previous life.
After just a few days, I seemed to have gotten used to the sound of two people in the room.
Wang Nian walked to the cupboard and turned on the radio, letting some other sounds into the room. Then he turned around and moved the basket into the house.
Except for the dozen or so bowls at the top which had obvious holes in them, Wang Nian picked up the rest very carefully.
She was lucky, as there weren't many obvious cracks in the basket she randomly chose.
However, the truck driver kept reminding Wang Nian that he would have to pay for any damages, so he simply put all the items into the damaged pile.
In the end, no one even looked at it, and all of them were sold for two yuan. In the end, someone even lent a hand to help free up space quickly.
Use clean water to wash away the mud and reveal the original appearance of the dishes.
Most of them are styles from this era, with flower patterns printed on the outside, and some are simply three blue lines around the edge of the bowl.
After washing several of the jars and bowls clean for the first time, Wang Nian went to get a basin of water and cleaned them carefully.
"What a great thing!"
Even in the dim light, you can still see the enamel peony pattern on the outer wall of the jar.
Wang Nian is not a professional and cannot tell whether it is real or a replica, but the beautiful pattern alone is worth it.
After wiping off the moisture with a towel, Wang Nian carefully put the bowl into the closet.
"Finally I have a place to put my spices."
Looking at the row of clean little jars, Wang Nian couldn't help but laugh out loud.
I thought most of them were intact, but I didn't expect that 90 percent of them were good, with only the first few bowls that were broken.
The big one is for lard, the small one is for soybean oil... Wang Nian has already thought of the use of each utensil.
She spent that night in the joy that filled her small family.
***
Wenxi Township, Changshengpo Station.
The muddy bus stopped and the driver complained loudly about the bad weather, swearing as he opened the back door.
A crowd of people came.
Shi Xiangming, who was the last to come down, looked up at the sky, then turned back to warn the two children with some concern: "It's raining heavily, Shuwen, hold on to your sister."
A childish voice responded with "OK", and then a thin little boy turned around and gave instructions to his sister.
As soon as I landed, my rubber shoes were immediately covered with slippery red mud.
"The road is slippery, be careful."
Shi Xiangming turned back and reminded the brother and sister again with concern.
"Xiang Ming!"
Suddenly, a clear and cheerful voice broke through the rain curtain and exploded in Shi Xiangming's ears like a natural sound.
The voice would unconsciously rise in tone when it was happy, and become low and slow when it was thinking about something. In the night, the voice was so gentle and charming that Shi Xiangming could only listen to the countless syllables in a trance.
Wang Nian was wearing a straw raincoat and holding an umbrella while running.
"Why are you here?" Shi Xiangming stopped the two children who were about to get off the car with his backhand: "I didn't tell you when I'd be home!"
"I calculated it." Wang Nian looked up, his beautiful eyebrows slightly raised, his face full of cunning: "How about it, it's amazing!"
"Amazing." Shi Xiangming praised sincerely, and then made way: "This is Shuwen, and the one behind is Xiaowan."
Shi Shuwen has long and curly eyelashes that frame her dark eyes. She has the same thin lips as Shi Xiangming, but she is so thin that her jawbone is very prominent.
He doesn't have the innocence of a six-year-old, but is instead full of... hostility.
His eyes were full of vigilance, and the little subordinate consciously protected Shi Wan behind him.
Shi Wan was blocked tightly and carefully observed Wang Nian through the gap of her brother's elbow. She could only see a pair of rolling eyes.
"Hurry up if you want to get off the bus!"
In the distance, the driver's voice urged them to go. Wang Nianxian handed the umbrella directly to Shi Shuwen: "You hold Shuwen, and I'll hold Shi Wan."
Without giving Shi Xiangming a chance to refuse, he untied the belt of his raincoat, picked up Shi Wan and stuffed her into the raincoat.
The little girl was so light that Wang Nian could pick her up with one hand, and could even clearly feel the edges of her bones.
He turned around, took the bag from Shi Xiangming's hand, and urged him loudly, "Hurry up, the rain is getting heavier."
"Okay!" Shi Xiangming nodded silently, bent down and picked up Shi Shuwen, who was as stiff as a stone.
It was the first time that Wang Nian hugged Shi Wan, and it was also the first time that Shi Xiangming hugged him.
The raindrops hit the umbrella with a crackling sound, and soon soaked Shi Xiangming's pants and feet.
He asked again.
"How did you know I'd arrive this morning?"
"I came to inquire about the time when the county bus arrives here a few days ago. It came twice yesterday, and today is the first one." Wang Nian answered honestly.
Shi Xiangming's throat moved slightly, his lips moved, but in the end he said nothing.
After a long while, he sighed and said with a smile: "Let's go home!"
A family of four...let's go home.