Chapter 127 Returning Home for the New Year
Before Ding Jianshe was transferred to the lower level, Pei Che was urgently recalled to the army.
The two were reluctant to part at the station, but as the train started moving, they had no choice but to watch the distance getting farther and farther away. Only when they could no longer see the waving arms did Ding Guo look away and leave the station.
When I walked out of the station, I felt sad.
Getting used to this thing is a strange thing. Between this case and the annual leave he applied for, Pei Che's total time here is less than a month. During this limited time, he was often gone for several days, but this sporadic companionship took root in her heart. Now that she knew she wouldn't be able to see him for a long time, she was so reluctant to let him go.
It was obvious that Pei Che was not around for a longer time!
Ding Guo sighed, went to the car shop to pick up his bicycle, and rode back to Zaohua Lane.
On the train, Pei Che took out a brown paper bag from his bag, put it under his nose and sniffed it. It was bread with the aroma of burnt and wheat mixed with the aroma of eggs and milk.
We left in a hurry and had no time to prepare anything. This is the bread that Ding Guo baked yesterday. He added a small amount of chopped red dates, walnuts and peanuts to it. When it was just out of the oven, the whole yard was filled with fragrance, and the taste was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
The bread was bigger than his fist, and he ate four of them in one go, having just finished lunch, before he stopped, feeling unsatisfied.
Knowing that he was going back to the team, Ding Guo gave him all the bread left over from yesterday and asked him to eat it on the train.
Pei Che had a smile on his face. He held the tightly wrapped bag against his chest with his arms around it, holding it tightly.
Ding Dayong became busy. Once on a business trip, he would be on a five or six day trip, or a seven or eight day trip. After coming back to rest for a day, he would immediately have to follow the car again.
However, under the guidance of the master, I would sell some things along the way and earn some pocket money.
Ding Dayong was very sensible. He poured food and drank some soup behind his master. He did not show too much enthusiasm and focused his main energy on learning driving and car maintenance.
The master was very satisfied with his attitude.
Ding Guo gave Ding Dayong two hundred yuan and asked him to buy local specialties.
Ding Dayong was worried that his sister would go to the black market, but when he thought of his sister's skills, he felt a little relieved, but he still gave her a few warnings.
Ding Guo didn't want to make Ding Dayong worry, so he said, "I'll respond to the favor."
Ding Dayong thought of the package his sister received from the capital, and nodded, "That's a gift to be returned."
Ding Guo was indeed thinking about the black market, but what she wanted to sell was not the local specialties that Ding Dayong bought, but the batch of watches in her hands.
With so many watches, and since she wasn't planning on collecting them, she naturally wanted to exchange them for money as quickly as possible.
In fact, there is another method. Tongzi said it can be recycled, but what is exchanged is not cash, but internal consumption value.
Ding Guo was of course not happy about it, she also wanted to sell things from the system mall and exchange the internal consumption value for cash. After the watch was recycled by the system, she still had to sell other things, which was a bit redundant.
But she could just sell the watch directly... She didn't know whether the man had been caught later. If he hadn't been caught, was he waiting for her to show up? Once the watch appeared on the market, she would be exposed.
We can let Dayong take it to other places to sell, but it's not just one or two yuan. With so many of them, how many times will it take to sell them all? If the people in their team find out, the risk will be great.
And she didn't want to involve Dayong.
After being dragged back and forth like this, the bag of watches just remained in the space.
Fortunately, these watches will not depreciate in the short term, so she can deal with them slowly. When the Chinese New Year holiday comes, she plans to go back to Huiyang for the New Year, find an opportunity to stay in the capital for two days, and go to the capital's black market to sell a few watches.
I will find opportunities to release the rest after the Chinese New Year.
However, when Ding Guo was transferred to the night shift, she still went to several black markets in the city that she knew during the day. She didn't need to buy food and the like, she bought them directly from the mall, but the system mall did not sell living things, so when she saw someone selling a live chicken, she bought it.
Seeing an old man selling embroidered insoles that he had made himself, which were also not available in the system mall, Ding Guo saw that the insoles were thick and had fine stitching, so he bought two pairs according to his own size, and also bought two pairs for Ding Dayong and Pei Che respectively.
I also bought three new clay jars at the black market in the East District to pickle vegetables.
Back in Zaohua Lane, Ding Guo poked open the stove after entering the house, and then stared at the chicken he had bought.
She didn't dare kill the chicken!
Even though the original owner had never killed a chicken, he had seen others killing chickens when he was in the countryside. They cut the chicken's neck with a clean cut to drain all the blood, then scald it with hot water to pluck the feathers, and then cut open the chicken's belly to remove the internal organs.
This is the process, but taking action is another matter.
Ding Guo held the chicken's neck with both hands and squeezed it, feeling the warmth coming from under the thick chicken feathers. His hands still trembled, and he still didn't dare to twist it hard. Even if it was only for a moment, he still couldn't do it.
Finally discouraged!
"Let's keep him alive first, and kill him when Dayong comes back from his business trip."
She had never raised chickens in her previous life, but fortunately the original owner's experience of feeding chickens when she was a child gave her some experience. She immediately untied the rope, tied one of the legs, and then connected a hemp rope and tied it to the toon tree next to it.
I grabbed a handful of millet from the space and scattered it on the ground, letting the chicken eat something to calm its nerves.
There is no chicken coop at home, so let’s tie up the chicken first and wait for Dayong to come back and kill it and make a roast chicken.
The temperature in the room rose. Ding Guo mixed some dough and prepared to bake some bread of different flavors and store them in the room so that he could eat them whenever he wanted.
After baking bread and sweet potatoes, I also baked a few steamed buns.
Ordinary steamed buns are baked until they are golden brown and crispy, which enriches the taste. Ding Guo loves to eat them.
This bread kiln was designed to her heart's content and she put it to good use.
When Ding Dayong came back from his business trip, he slaughtered the chicken that he had raised for two days. Under his sister's instruction, Ding Dayong plucked the chicken's feathers cleanly and learned how to marinate and massage the chicken with seasoning water. When he finally put the chicken into the oven, Ding Dayong sighed, "It took me an hour just to wait for the chicken to taste good. If it doesn't taste good after roasting, I'll be sorry for all my hard work."
As a result, halfway through the roasting, Ding Guo directed him to pull the chicken out of the oven and coat it with honey.
Ding Dayong said that he had traveled a lot and had seen the world, and he had learned new insights from his sister.
When the roast chicken came out of the oven, Ding Dayong took a bite and his eyes lit up. He said, "Sister, this is better than roast chicken!"
The next day, Ding Dayong took a break and rode his bike around most of Fengning, and brought back another chicken...
Life was so busy that Ding Guo even forgot the day when Ding Jianshe was transferred to the factory. It was Ding Guo who went to the factory to tell her.
"Auntie almost died from crying, and grandpa has lost a lot of weight in the past two days." Ding Tao was a little indignant. "I don't know what's wrong with Auntie's brain. She acted as if Ding Jianshe had done a great deed by being demoted, and all the previous mistakes were wiped out. My cousin's wife complained about the bicycle being sold, and Auntie jumped up as if someone stepped on her tail and said that my cousin's wife was petty and that Jianshe had been demoted, so why was she still fussing about the bicycle."
He also told his cousin's wife not to learn from Ding Guo, and as usual, he scolded Ding Guo for being cold-hearted.
Ding Guo thought, no wonder she has been so active backstage these days.
She gave Ding Tao a steamed bun and a piece of bread. Ding Tao was so moved that she said, "Sister, this is not useful news. I just came to talk to you."
Ding Guo looked at her thinner face and sighed, "This is not a reward, just eat it if I give it to you."
Then I asked her about her plans for the New Year: "Are you going back to your hometown or staying in Fengning?"
Ding Tao missed home. After all, this was the first time she had been away from home for such a long time since she was born, but she didn't want to spend the travel expenses.
Her mother had said before that she would stay in Fengning for the New Year and didn't want her to travel back and forth because it would cost money.
"Where are you and Dayong?"
Ding Guo: "We plan to go back to Huiyang."
Ding Tao nodded with some envy and said, "It's good for you and Dayong to go back to Huiyang. If you stay in Fengning, when the uncle and aunt call you back to celebrate the New Year, it will be bad for you to go back, and it will be bad for you not to go back either."
Given the situation at home, if I go back for the New Year, I'm sure there will be anger, and my aunt might even have to ask Ding Guo for money; if I don't go back for the New Year, I'm afraid those gossipy people in the staff quarters will talk nonsense.
You don't have to worry about these things when you go back home.
As soon as Ding Guo saw her expression, he knew that she would not say this for no reason.
Ding Tao knew what her sister must have guessed from the look in Ding Guo's eyes. She sighed and said, "During this period, Auntie has been saying bad things about you in the family compound. Many people stand on Auntie's side and say bad things about you."
Some people said Ding Guo was cruel. After all, she was Yue Hongmei's biological daughter and Ding Jianshe's elder sister. Even though such a big thing happened at home, Ding Guo didn't even go back to take a look.
Yue Hongmei couldn't even invite him back even if she went to invite him in person. She is so cruel.
"That's it!" Ding Guo thought there was something else.
It is impossible for the wind to always be on her side. Even if Yue Hongmei and Ding Zhigang did something wrong, over time, people will inevitably say "there are no parents who are not wrong", accusing her of having a bad temper and thinking that she is ignorant.
Ding Guo had no plans to move back home, so naturally she didn't care what the people in the staff quarters said. She began to plan to go back to her hometown for the New Year.
When Dayong came back from another business trip, I measured his height, chest and waist circumference and prepared to make him clothes for the New Year.
"Sister, the Chinese New Year is almost a month away. And we don't have to make clothes. We can get labor insurance before the New Year, and a set of work clothes."
As formal workers, the transport team has better labor insurance benefits than the food factory.
Ding Guo said: "Clothes must be prepared in advance. Work clothes are work clothes, and daily wear... Hey, Dayong, have you grown taller?"
"Have you grown taller?" Ding Dayong was even slower than Ding Guo. He lowered his head to look at his trouser legs and said, "No wonder my ankles feel cold when I wear these trousers."
Work clothes are already baggy, so I can't feel the difference. But when I change into my regular clothes, especially the pants that fit me perfectly before, I feel my ankles are cold when I wear them recently. This is because the pants are too short.
He just endured the coldness of his ankles and didn't bother to figure out why they were cold.
Ding Dayong scratched his head and said happily, "I thought it wouldn't grow any longer."
After following his sister to the city, the food he ate was better than at home, with plenty of oil and meat, which supplemented his nutrition. Unexpectedly, his height had increased a little after not moving for about a year.
Ding Guo was also happy: "When you make clothes, put more of it in. Try to be more motivated and keep climbing up."
The next day, Ding Guo went to the post office to mail a package to his hometown. He bought a few pieces of cloth for his uncle and aunt, as well as some local specialties that Ding Dayong had bought from various places. He packed them all together and sent them back.
After leaving the post office, I went to the tailor shop on the central street and gestured to the old tailor about my requirements. I asked for a style that wasn't too exaggerated and just a slightly waisted look.
Dayong's clothes are the regular style of that era.
The cloth was bought from the mall. She tore a piece of blue cloth with small floral prints to make a jacket, and a piece of dark grey twill cloth to make pants. She also ordered two pairs of new cotton boots from the tailor.
Ding Dayong was given a uniform of military green.
After exchanging letters with Pei Che a few times, time flew by and it was the end of the year.
Ding Guo received several packages in total, including the ones sent by Pei Che and several from the capital.
One of them turned out to be Mr. Pei.
A big bag of wolfberries, a woolen sweater, a piece of camel-colored woolen cloth, as well as dates, beef jerky, and black fungus.
Ding Guo immediately broke out in a sweat.
She had never sent anything to the old man, and she didn't expect that he would send her something. She called Pei Che, who smiled easily on the phone and said, "That wasn't prepared by grandpa, it was sent by my parents. They were afraid that if they sent it directly to you it would scare you, so they asked the old man to help forward it."
Ding Guo held the microphone and said, "Should I return the gift?"
Pei Che smiled and said, "No, since they didn't say it clearly, you don't have to go back. My grandfather doesn't care about this at all. By the way, are you going to spend the New Year in Fengning or back to Huiyang?"
Ding Guo: "Back to Huiyang, but I will probably go to the capital during the Chinese New Year, and then I'll go to the old man's house to pay him New Year's greetings."
Pei Che's cheerful laughter came through the microphone: "This is the best return gift."
After hanging up the phone, Ding Guo counted the various things Ding Dayong had brought back from various places during this period, divided them into several parts, packed them up and sent them out.
The Huang and Song families also have return gifts for Aunt Yu.
Even though Pei Che said on the phone that there was no need to return the gift, she still sent some specialties from the surrounding areas to the old man.
The light yellow wool sweater was very warm but it pricked the skin. Ding Guo wore an undershirt underneath and tied a small silk scarf around her neck to separate it from the collar of the sweater. She happily attended the factory's year-end meeting.
As expected, she was named an advanced individual in the factory.
Because of his achievements in product innovation, he was named a model worker in the district and received two certificates, a bonus, and a bunch of labor protection supplies.
She took a photo with the big red flower. After the photo was developed, she took the negative to a photo studio on the street and had it developed urgently for an extra copy, which she took with her when she returned home.
Xiao Haifeng asked someone to buy two sleeper tickets.
But it's not from Fengning to Wuxin, so there's no need to buy a sleeper ticket for this section. Ding Guo didn't even plan to queue up to buy a ticket. He could just get on the bus and buy the ticket when the time comes.
The section that Xiao Haifeng bought for Ding Guo was the one that started from Wuxin, which was also the longest section.
Ding Guo immediately packed some dry goods such as black fungus, red dates, vermicelli, etc. and sent them over to express his gratitude.
By the way, I wish Xiao Haifeng a happy new year in advance.
Xiao Haifeng had just returned from a meeting in the city. He was in high spirits and shared a piece of good news with Ding Guo. Due to his outstanding achievements this year, he should be able to move up next year.
However, the specific position and location are still uncertain.
In short, it will definitely be a promotion.
After tidying up the house, Ding Guo gave some homemade biscuits to his neighbors and asked them to help take care of the house. Then he went to the station with Ding Dayong and started his journey home.
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