◎First update◎
Ten days before the beginning of winter, the 'winter storage of Chinese cabbage' begins again in full swing.
The weather had changed. Liang Baozhen exhaled a puff of white air as she got up. The temperature outside was estimated to be almost zero degrees, so the thick cotton jacket at home came in handy.
I put on a floral cotton shirt and felt a lot warmer.
"Sister-in-law, are you dressed enough?" Xu Shengya reached her hand a few inches into her sister-in-law's sleeves and felt a sweater inside the quilted jacket. She nodded happily, "It's warm."
She checked not only her sister-in-law, she also checked her brother's, and felt relieved only when she knew that everyone was dressed warmly.
It is three o'clock in the morning. Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie are getting ready to go out and queue up at the vegetable store to buy Chinese cabbage. Winter is coming soon. If they wait any longer, the Chinese cabbage will freeze and spoil. They must be sold to the citizens and stored in their homes.
In order to buy several hundred kilograms of cabbage at one time, Xu Shengjie prepared a cart in advance and was ready to transport the cabbage home in batches.
Zhou Yun was older, and neither of them had to wake up their grandmother in the middle of the night. Originally, Xu Shengjie didn't want Liang Baozhen to go so early, as the queue for buying cabbage for winter storage could easily take several hours. She could go out later and queue up first. However, Liang Baozhen wanted to go and see the place, so she boasted last night that she would go with him.
As a result, I almost couldn't get up in the early morning, and I only managed to get up because of what he said last night.
Xu Shengya had gotten up by herself in the middle of the night. She wanted to follow him in her slippers, but her brother firmly refused, "Go back to sleep. It's so cold, you'll get sick from the cold."
Liang Baozhen also stood on the same front with Xu Shengjie. Xu Shengya was so young and sick, so her resistance was even weaker. How could she withstand the cold in the early morning? "Go back to bed quickly. Your brother and I will be back soon."
"Okay, then I'll go back to sleep." Xu Shengya handed the military water bottle to her eldest brother on his back. She had already filled a bottle with hot water to warm his stomach.
Xu Shengwei was still lying on the bed, sleeping soundly, with no intention of waking up at all.
Every household in the compound went out to help. Some families shared a cart and agreed to help each other carry the cabbage. Liang Baozhen wore a cashmere hat, which was very warm. The wind was howling outside, and wearing the hat seemed to block out most of the cold.
"Baozhen, you are really willing to give it up." Aunt Luo had just packed up and was ready to leave. She looked at the thirty-yuan cashmere scissors on Liang Baozhen's head and felt a little jealous. But no matter how greedy she was, she couldn't bear to give it up!
I didn't expect that the daughter-in-law from the country would be even more wasteful than the girls from the city.
The wind was too strong and Liang Baozhen didn't hear clearly what Aunt Luo said. She just smiled at her. She didn't know the price of the hat on her head. If she knew, she would definitely say Xu Shengjie, you're a spendthrift!
But you still have to buy it even if you lose money, and it will be even worse if it freezes and goes bad.
"Sister Caili, are you guys going out?"
"Baozhen, we're leaving first, hold on tight."
"OK."
Liang Baozhen trotted to the west room and saw Liu Nianhua packing up to go out. This was her first time to buy cabbage by herself. The weather was cold, and seeing other men and women going out together, she suddenly felt a little sad.
"Sister Hua, come on, let's go together." Liang Baozhen had agreed with Xu Shengjie in advance that they would move Liu Nianhua's family together when the time came.
Liang Baozhen rushed out of the darkness. Liu Nianhua stamped his feet and walked over with a smile, "Let's go!"
"Mom! Wait for me!"
There was a noise behind him. His son Zhou Long hurried out of the house, grabbing his clothes, and his right sleeve was not put on yet. "Mom, I'll go with you!"
——
In the past few days, thousands of vegetable markets in the city have been extremely busy, and every household has gone out to line up to buy cabbage, preparing to store it for the winter.
It’s not too cold now, and the sun is still shining occasionally. I hurried to buy some cabbages and let them dry in the sun. I will rely on them for the next few months.
Liang Baozhen wore a big cotton jacket and carried a pair of wool shears. It was very cold in the early morning. If one was not careful, one would easily catch a cold. Even Xu Shengjie, who was resistant to cold, wore thicker clothes.
"How many kilograms can we buy?" Xu Shengjie stood in the wind outlet to block the wind, and Liang Baozhen poked him.
"Level 1 is 90 kilograms, Level 2 is 140 kilograms, and Level 3 is 50 kilograms."
The vegetable market divides cabbage into three grades. Grade one is the best cabbage, which is big and juicy. Grade two is basically OK, and grade three is a little wilted.
Everyone wants to buy the best first-grade Chinese cabbage, but the vegetable shop has regulations and you have to buy them in pairs.
Liu Nianhua recalled that at this time last year, he came here with Zhou Guoping. The two of them bought more than 200 kilograms of cabbage. This time, only Xiaolong was left by his side.
"Mom, why are you so cold!" Zhou Long was wrapped up tightly by Liu Nianhua, and he was also wearing a woolen hat, which was knitted by Liu Nianhua himself, and it was quite warm. "Let me rub it for you."
"Look at Xiaolong, he's so sensible." Zhang Rong, who was standing behind a few people, praised him, making Zhou Long blush. He rubbed his two little hands with his mother and gradually felt warm.
"Okay, it's warm now." Liu Nianhua patted his son's head, looking relieved. "Hurry up and put on your gloves and put them in your pocket, so as not to get frostbite."
"Okay!" Zhou Long's face flushed red, his neck locked in the cotton jacket, his face looked like a red apple.
Each family bought several hundred kilograms of cabbage, which were loaded onto the cart in bundles. Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie bought three hundred kilograms, which were piled as high as a small mountain. Xu Shengjie took a rope and wrapped it around the bundles several times to secure it, and finally tied a knot on the side of the cart.
"You guys take care of the cabbages. I'll be back in a while."
"Okay, slow down!" Liang Baozhen exhaled all over her mouth as she watched the man's figure gradually disappear into the night.
"Sister Hua, are you going to work tomorrow?"
"Yes, I'm actually a little nervous." Liu Nianhua discussed with the bus team to go later because of her divorce, and she also had to wait for the shift to be arranged. From now on, she will be a regular conductor on the No. 5 bus.
However, Liu Nianhua has never worked. Ever since her father gave his job to Zhou Guoping, Liu Nianhua has been doing housework at home. After she gave birth to two children, she has never gone out.
She would go from the compound to the grain and vegetable stations every day, and rarely went to other places.
"Don't be afraid! You are so capable normally, you can definitely be a good ticket seller." Liang Baozhen looked at the cabbages all over the ground and thought of her home, wondering if the cellar was already full of vegetables. "When the monthly salary is paid, you will be even more capable!"
Pay wages? Liu Nianhua only received 10 yuan from Zhou Guoping every month as living expenses before, and she had never received a salary.
Come to think of it, I’m actually a little bit looking forward to it.
The neighbors in the large courtyard helped each other to transport cartloads of cabbage back home. By the time the last load of cabbage from Zhang Rong's family was unloaded, it was already daybreak.
Zhou Yun was stuffing his own cabbage into every crevices, waiting for it to be dried enough so that he could eat it slowly. He was busy helping the Fang family next door to arrange the cabbage.
"Baozhen, go back to the room and drink some hot water to warm your body." Zhou Yun got up early to boil some water, and waited for his grandson and granddaughter-in-law to come back to heat up the water.
Seeing Liu Nianhua coming back, Zhou Yun also poured a bowl of water for her and Xiaolong, "Nianhua, Xiaolong, take a break and drink some water."
Now it is not easy for Liu Nianhua to support the family alone.
"Why don't you thank Grandma Zhou?" Liu Nianhua looked at his son.
Zhou Long raised his head and thanked her obediently, "Thank you, Grandma Zhou. Is Xiao Wei home?"
"I went to look for Binzi. Xiaohu woke up this morning and looked for his mother everywhere. I fed him some Wowotou and asked Xiaowei to take him out to play. You can just drink some water and go find him."
On this day, the large courtyard was filled with cabbages. From the windowsill to the yard, from the eaves at the door to the stove, cabbages were drying in the sun. After one pile was dried, it was replaced by the next. The days passed by in the sun.
.......
Liang Baozhen was writing furiously in the house, while Xu Shengjie was carrying everyone in his arms. When he went home, he deliberately stood at the door and coughed lightly.
"What's the matter?" Looking back, Liang Baozhen found that his clothes were bulging. "What good stuff?"
“You know it’s good stuff?”
"You can still bring back the bad stuff?"
Too.
Xu Shengjie opened his clothes, revealing a thing, a radio!
"Radio!" Liang Baozhen immediately put down her pen, stood up and ran to Xu Shengjie's side, "Did you buy it? Where did you get the ticket? Did you go to the black market again?"
The factory had just paid wages today, and Liang Baozhen thought Xu Shengjie had gone out to spend a lot of money.
Xu Shengjie was bombarded with questions from his wife and didn't know which answer to choose. However, seeing that her eyes were almost narrowed into slits due to smiling, he knew that she liked it.
"Don't worry, I didn't go to the black market."
Xu Shengjie was sitting on the edge of the bed, but before he could even warm up, he was pulled up.
Liang Baozhen frowned and looked at him, "Get up quickly! You just came back from outside, is there any dust on your pants? This is a new quilt, you can't sit on it."
As he said this, he pushed Xu Shengjie onto the stool, then he pulled the quilt and patted the slightly sunken area where the man had just sat.
"Okay, I know I was wrong." Xu Shengjie sat on the stool and looked at the paper and pen his wife had placed on the table, on which were written questions for Chen Yong, the director of the National Cotton Mill.
"Are you going to interview Chen Yong?"
"Yeah." Liang Baozhen fiddled with the radio, trying to hear what she could hear, and replied without raising her head, "I should have gone a long time ago, but Chen Yong was on a business trip last time, so I was delayed until now."
He raised his head and looked at Xu Shengjie, "Why doesn't it make any sound? Is it broken? Where did you buy it? If it doesn't work, take it back and change it."
"It's OK. Let me take a look." Xu Shengjie took the radio, patted it, fiddled with it, and finally tuned the antenna to the right channel. "I didn't buy it. I assembled it myself."
"Can you assemble a radio?" Liang Baozhen listened to the broadcast coming from inside and was immediately attracted by the standard and clear voice.
She mentioned a while ago that she wanted to watch what the TV hosts were reporting, but she didn't have a TV at home. Not only were TVs expensive, but TV tickets were hard to come by and might not even be found on the black market.
Unexpectedly, Xu Shengjie came back with a radio not long after.
"You can listen to it from now on. It's not much different from a TV. You just listen to the sound."
"You're really amazing. You can even do this."
"I used to love to think about it. It took me a long time to find all the materials. Otherwise, I would have finished it earlier. Xiaowei and Xiaoya also clamored for a radio."
The Xu family is lively during dinner time. You can hear the lively sound of the radio every time, and it seems that the food tastes even better.
"Xiaowei, Xiaoya, here's five cents of pocket money for each of you."
Liang Baozhen received a salary of 40 yuan this month, plus Xu Shengjie's salary and allowance, a total of 92 yuan. She took out 60 yuan in advance and put it aside to save, and the rest was for family living expenses and pocket money.
There are also some for the two little ones. Liang Baozhen thinks that children should not be too greedy, so it is nice to buy whatever they like.
"Thank you, sister-in-law!" Xu Shengwei took it happily, looked at the ticket over and over again, and finally put it in his pocket.
"Sister-in-law, I, I don't want it anymore." Xu Shengya shook her head, not wanting to take it.
"Xiao Wei has it all, how can you not have it? Take it quickly." Liang Baozhen stuffed the money into Xiaoya's hand.
The next day, after preparing the questions, Liang Baozhen reviewed the content with Huang Cui'e before going to the factory director's office together.
The Chen Yong she saw in the book was a stern parent who had high expectations for his two sons but was kind to his daughter-in-law. However, he did not care when his son beat his daughter-in-law, and only symbolically told her to be careful about the consequences.
Don't damage his reputation.
The author has something to say:
Thanks to the cutie who irrigated the nutrient solution: Zhai A Zhai 2 bottles; Li Yu 1 bottle;
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
