Chapter 94 Red Envelope
On the 29th of the lunar year, the supply and marketing cooperative closed early, and by 2 p.m., no one was allowed to enter. Customers who had already entered left through the back door. By 4:30 p.m., everyone had finished taking inventory and doing the final cleaning.
After cleaning, Director Gao gathered everyone together for a brief meeting. The purpose was twofold: first, to inform everyone of the Spring Festival holiday schedule, and second, to remind everyone to be careful during the holiday, get a good rest, and be ready to work again after the holiday.
After the meeting, Director Gao said, "Before you leave, please check the doors and windows. If everything is alright, you can go back now."
Everyone cheered. As the New Year approached, other units were getting less and less busy, but the supply and marketing cooperative was getting busier and busier. This morning, long queues even formed at several counters. The sales staff were so busy that Director Gao had to arrange for people from the upstairs office to come down and help.
Now that we can finally have a holiday, how can everyone not be happy?
As soon as the meeting ended, some people spontaneously went to check the windows. Lin Qingqing and Director Gao walked upstairs together. On the way, Director Gao asked, "Did you buy all the remaining apples?"
“Yes, we moved to our new house a few days ago, and yesterday we invited some friends over for dinner. They all said the apples from the supply and marketing cooperative were delicious and asked me if we had any left. They all said they wanted to buy some.” Lin Qingqing nodded and said, “I figured we’d sell the rest of the apples anyway, so I bought them all.”
Director Gao hummed in agreement; it was just a casual question, and she didn't intend to pursue the matter further with Lin Qingqing. Her attention was then drawn to another matter mentioned in Lin Qingqing's words: "You moved? Where are you living now?"
"It's still the family compound of the military base." Lin Qingqing told them about how they moved from row houses to a detached house.
Director Gao said, "That's good. The house we live in now is too small, and we can't change houses even if we want to."
"It will be better in a few years," Lin Qingqing said.
"It will only get more crowded in a few years." Director Gao felt that Lin Qingqing's statement showed a lack of understanding of the situation.
The military has a special situation because those who can accompany the troops are either deputy battalion-level officers or family members of soldiers who have served for more than 15 years. Therefore, the houses built by the military are at least two bedrooms and two living rooms, and the better ones are detached houses with three bedrooms and two living rooms.
Other companies don't offer such good benefits. Larger companies are a bit better; factories usually build residential compounds for employees' families, but the houses are smaller.
Even in large organizations, the situation is different from that in the military. When soldiers reach a certain age, they either get promoted or retire and return to their hometowns. Therefore, soldiers don't usually bring their families with them; at most, a young couple might live with their children, and they generally have spacious accommodations. In contrast, only the earliest employees in organizations could enjoy housing benefits. Now, those who join factories no longer have this privilege and can only live with their parents, which causes a lot of problems for many young people.
Director Gao's family is in a slightly better situation. First, both of them are employed, and the house they were allocated was large. Second, their child is still young and not yet of marriageable age.
But not having to worry now doesn't mean she won't have to worry in the future. Her eldest son is already sixteen, and if he can't go to university, he'll be working and getting married within the next few years. Once her eldest son gets married, he definitely won't be able to live with her younger son anymore, and her daughter will also need her own room. In that case, she'll have to live in a separate room from the living room, which is really a headache.
Although Lin Qingqing didn't know about Director Gao's family situation, she knew from her words that she had misunderstood.
Lin Qingqing said this because the reform and opening up would begin in seven or eight years, and the market would be free. There weren't enough houses now, but by then, one could find a way to buy one. And by the late 1980s, the real estate industry would also see significant development, so as long as one had money, life would be quite comfortable.
However, it was too early to say such things now. Lin Qingqing did not explain, but smiled and parted ways with Director Gao, returning to her office.
The work before the New Year was over, and Lin Qingqing didn't stay in the office for long. She just tidied up her desk, said goodbye to the accountant, and took the apples downstairs. There were still more than ten kilograms of apples left, and it was a bit difficult for Lin Qingqing to carry them all by herself. Fortunately, she ran into a male colleague from the purchasing department who was coming downstairs when she passed the main office. He helped her carry the apples downstairs and even helped her tie them to the back of her bicycle.
...
Although Xie Wei didn't get a holiday for the Spring Festival, he could go home every night, so he was already back when Lin Qingqing arrived home. Seeing a large snakeskin bag tied to the back of her bicycle, he asked, "What's this?"
"Apples, didn't Sister Chen and Commander Ding's wife want some?" Lin Qingqing said.
Xie Wei said, "Commander Ding and the others took a car home this morning."
"Huh?" Lin Qingqing suddenly remembered that Commander Ding and his wife had mentioned going home today yesterday. "Why did Commander Ding's wife ask me to share some apples with her?"
Xie Wei had no idea what Commander Ding's wife was thinking, and guessed, "Maybe she forgot."
"What about the apples? Should we save them for her?" Although apples keep well, they don't taste as crisp and sweet after a while, so Lin Qingqing was unsure whether to save them for Commander Ding's family.
Xie Wei carried the apples into the house and said, "Let's divide them up first. If there are any left, keep two; if not, that's fine."
"Okay then." Lin Qingqing nodded. "I'll take the apples to Sister Chen after I finish eating."
"Let's go now. They said they want us to have dinner at their house." Xie Wei opened the snakeskin bag and took out an apple.
This batch of apples all looked good, large and bright red, so there was no need to pick them carefully. Xie Wei picked out half of the apples and put them in a bamboo basket, then lifted it up to test the weight and asked Lin Qingqing, "About five pounds, do you think that's enough?"
"You can weigh it by hand?" Lin Qingqing didn't believe it, but she still picked up the bamboo basket and felt it. Hmm... it felt quite light, but she couldn't say the exact weight.
Xie Wei smiled, but his tone was confident: "Then weigh it?"
Lin Qingqing looked at it and decided to trust him this time. She added an apple and said, "That should be enough. If it's not enough, we'll send them some more later."
Although Jiang Feng and his wife invited them to dinner, Lin Qingqing didn't intend to go empty-handed, so she went to check out the kitchen.
In preparation for the Chinese New Year, she had bought a lot of groceries these past few days. Xie Wei had also bought several pounds of pork today, and there was still some beef left over from yesterday. Lin Qingqing figured the Jiang family should have some pork, so she cut up a piece of beef to take with her, just in time to add a dish to her meal.
However, Lin Qingqing had miscalculated. Shen Yufen, anticipating their arrival for dinner, had already started cooking. When they arrived, the food was already simmering in the pot, and there was no time to stir-fry the beef. But Lin Qingqing still gave the beef to Shen Yufen; if they couldn't eat it today, they could have it for their New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow.
“I went to the supply and marketing cooperative this morning to ask, but no one wanted any apples, so I bought the rest.” Lin Qingqing pointed to the bamboo basket Xie Wei had placed on the ground and said, “Xie Wei weighed it by hand and said it weighed five jin. Do you want to ask someone to weigh it again?”
“Old Xie said five jin is definitely enough.” Jiang Feng and Xie Wei are old comrades-in-arms, and he knows that his weighing and steelyard balance are not much different.
"Then see if five catties is enough. If not, we have more at home," Lin Qingqing said.
Shen Yufen said, "That should be enough."
Lin Qingqing nodded: "That's settled for now. If you need more, just ask me."
Shen Yufen agreed and went to the main house to count the money and give it to Lin Qingqing. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts, so Lin Qingqing didn't intend to pretend to be generous and say she didn't need any money. However, the amount Shen Yufen gave her seemed wrong at first glance. She took out the money meant for buying apples and said, "You gave too much; this is enough."
“There’s still money left to buy the wardrobe. I’ve discussed it with you, and the wardrobe is too valuable; we can’t just take it for free,” Shen Yufen explained.
When Xie Wei drove the wardrobe to the Jiang family's courtyard in the afternoon, Shen Yufen was stunned. She was initially reluctant to accept it, but Xie Wei insisted that he had already spoken to Jiang Feng and that the car belonged to the military and he had to return it; it couldn't stay parked outside the courtyard indefinitely. Fearing that Xie Wei would cause trouble, Shen Yufen didn't insist on waiting for Jiang Feng to return and instead had Xie Wei and the guard move the wardrobe inside.
Shen Yufen originally said that it would be fine to put it in the living room and wait for Jiang Feng to come back before deciding on the rest. However, Xie Wei, being more cunning, simply moved the old wardrobe out of the room and put the new wardrobe inside. Xie Wei didn't touch the things in the wardrobe, leaving her to tidy them up herself, which made her both amused and exasperated.
When Jiang Feng returned, Shen Yufen complained to him, saying that he dared to accept anything.
However, Xie Wei didn't tell Shen Yufen the truth, but he didn't hide it from Jiang Feng, because he was afraid that Jiang Feng wouldn't know the situation and would cause trouble with Shen Yufen. So when Shen Yufen complained to him, he told her Xie Wei's explanation.
It was only then that Shen Yufen realized that Xie Wei had never told Jiang Feng about this before. He wanted to repay the favor for the quilt, and after hearing Jiang Feng mention that the wardrobe at home was broken, he secretly bought a wardrobe and lied to her that Jiang Feng knew about it, and then moved the wardrobe into the main house.
After learning the whole story, the couple discussed it and decided to keep the wardrobe. However, considering that the wardrobe was much more expensive than the quilt, they couldn't accept such a large piece of furniture without feeling at ease. They were also worried that Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei would cause trouble, so they planned to give the money to Lin Qingqing during dinner that night.
Originally, the money was intended to be given after the meal, but since Lin Qingqing brought apples, Shen Yufen decided to give it to her along with the meal.
But Lin Qingqing knew that Xie Wei bought the wardrobe to repay a favor for the quilt, so she refused to accept the money. She only accepted the money for the apples and said, "Who accepts money for a gift? What kind of people would we be? Take the money back."
“We wouldn’t dare accept such a valuable item as a gift,” Shen Yufen said.
Jiang Feng also said, "If it's a gift, then you should hurry up and take the wardrobe back."
"Should I carry the wardrobe back and bring you the blankets?" Xie Wei said, using Lin Qingqing's name as an excuse. "Are you really going to let Qingqing catch a cold during the New Year?"
Jiang Feng asked irritably, "So, if your sister-in-law gets sick in the future, it'll all be my fault?"
Xie Wei corrected him, saying, "If you refuse to put away the wardrobe, we'll return the quilt to you."
Jiang Feng rolled his eyes: "What's wrong with me giving you a quilt? Do you have to return something to me? Are we even brothers?"
Xie Wei retorted with a similar statement: "So what if I gave you a wardrobe? You even gave me money, doesn't that mean you don't consider me a brother?"
Jiang Feng was furious and was about to retort, but he remembered Xie Wei's sharp tongue and knew he would counter with a single word. He needed to deliver a decisive blow. But what could he say that would be the perfect solution? Jiang Feng was speechless.
Shen Yufen patted Jiang Feng's hand and said, "It's not that we don't want to accept it, it's just that the wardrobe is too valuable. The quilts we give you are made from cotton grown at home and processed by someone, so they're not worth much. But this wardrobe, you definitely can't buy it for less than a few dozen yuan. The difference in value is too great."
“That’s right!” Jiang Feng said.
Shen Yufen continued, "If we accept the wardrobe, we won't feel at ease using it. If you really refuse to accept the money, then how about this: after deducting the cost of the quilt, I'll give you the extra money, okay?"
"No—" Jiang Feng, who was about to agree, realized something was wrong and looked at Shen Yufen. Why did they have to charge for the quilt?
Shen Yufen only glanced at him, her eyes conveying, "Didn't you see their attitude? They definitely wouldn't accept it even if it were given to them for free."
Having understood his wife's meaning, Jiang Feng said, "That's right!"
Xie Wei glanced at Jiang Feng, his eyes seeming to say that he was a good-for-nothing.
If it were anyone else, Jiang Feng might have stood up and argued, but Xie Wei had even given up drinking because of his wife's words, so how could he be called a loser? Therefore, Jiang Feng looked directly at Xie Wei with the same gaze.
Seeing the two of them exchanging glances, Lin Qingqing said, "Then let's round it down to the nearest ten yuan." She took two ten-yuan bills from the stack of money.
Shen Yufen felt it wasn't enough, saying, "How can a quilt be so expensive?" as she picked up the remaining money on the table and tried to stuff it into Lin Qingqing's hand. But Lin Qingqing said, "You can't calculate it like that. If you hadn't lent us the quilt, I'm afraid I would have had to go to the clinic every few days, just like Xie Wei said."
Xie Wei felt something was wrong when he heard this. He looked at Lin Qingqing and wondered when he had said that she needed to go to the clinic every few days.
Lin Qingqing raised her chin at Jiang Feng and his wife, and Xie Wei looked away and said, "Let's leave it at that, let's eat. I didn't eat much at noon."
The couple worked together in unison, leaving Shen Yufen with no choice but to take back the remaining money and go to the kitchen to get the food.
...
The residents of the family compound come from different places, and their New Year's customs vary. For example, some people eat New Year's Eve dinner in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening. But no matter when they eat New Year's Eve dinner, the custom of setting off firecrackers before the meal remains the same.
So the next morning, Lin Qingqing was woken up by the sound of firecrackers.
She first tried to cover her ears, but the place where the firecrackers were set off was too close, and Lin Qingqing really couldn't sleep, so she had to get up and wash up.
Xie Wei had just returned from washing up. He didn't have to go to the military camp early today, so he went for a run as usual. He came into the house and saw Lin Qingqing already making breakfast. He asked in surprise, "Why are you up so early?"
As the weather got colder, Lin Qingqing loved to stay in bed longer each day. She couldn't help it when she was at work, but when she was resting, she would stay in bed with her eyes open until dawn.
Xie Wei glanced outside; it was still dark.
"The firecrackers were too loud," Lin Qingqing said with a mournful expression, as if she hadn't slept enough.
Xie Wei suddenly realized what was going on, walked over to her, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Let's just have some porridge for breakfast," Lin Qingqing said, adding water to the rice steamer and putting it on the coal stove to cook. "We'll steam some buns for lunch, and then have a proper meal for dinner, how about that?"
"Okay." Xie Wei had no objection to what they ate.
Seeing that Xie Wei agreed, Lin Qingqing took out flour from the cupboard, added water, and started kneading the dough. When she was halfway through, Xie Wei took over the task. Although the Xie family didn't eat steamed buns or mantou much, Li Xingfang would occasionally cook some noodles. Xie Wei knew how to knead dough, and he was strong, so this task wasn't as strenuous for him as it was for Lin Qingqing.
While he was kneading the dough, Lin Qingqing made two dishes: a stir-fried potato salad and a stir-fried rapeseed.
After Lin Qingqing finished cooking the vegetables, the porridge was almost ready. Xie Wei kneaded the dough and waited for it to ferment before starting to eat breakfast.
By this time, it was already broad daylight, but Lin Qingqing was still a little sleepy.
Since they got a blanket and he no longer worried about her catching a cold, Xie Wei has become a bit more indulgent at night. Especially since Lin Qingqing is off work today, Xie Wei kept her up until the early hours of the morning last night, and she can't help but yawn while eating now.
Xie Wei looked at it and asked, "Do you want to take a nap after you finish eating?"
Lin Qingqing rubbed her face and nodded. She needed to take a nap, otherwise she would be busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner in the afternoon.
...
Actually, Lin Qingqing hadn't made steamed buns many times, not because she found it troublesome, but because no one would eat them.
In her previous life, after graduating from university, she shared an apartment with others for two years, but the girls living in that apartment were not very close. They bought their own pots, pans, rice, oil, and salt, and they rarely cooked together or went to other people's places to eat and drink for free.
Later, when she had a little more money, Lin Qingqing started renting single apartments, which made her feel even more lonely than when she shared with others. It wasn't that she didn't have any friends, but everyone had their own lives. Before her friends started dating, she would see them once a week, but after they started dating, the frequency of their meetings gradually decreased to once a month.
Under these circumstances, Lin Qingqing rarely makes steamed buns, mantou, or cakes, because it's harder to make small batches of these things than large ones. And if she makes too many, it's difficult for one person to finish them all.
However, she has some talent in cooking, perhaps because she has watched a lot of cooking videos. Although she has not made them many times, she makes the buns very beautifully, and can even make them into flower shapes.
Xie Wei was surprised when he saw it. It was the first time he had seen Lin Qingqing make steamed buns. He held the bun in his hand, looked at it from left to right, and asked, "Are you good at making steamed buns?"
"I've done it a few times," Lin Qingqing said honestly.
"It's wrapped very nicely," Xie Wei said, putting the bun down.
Lin Qingqing laughed: "I also think it's very pretty, it's just a pity I don't know how to make soup dumplings, the pleats like this would look even better."
Xie Wei had heard of soup dumplings, which were said to have thin skins and lots of juicy fillings, but he had never eaten or seen them before. He said, "They look very nice, and they should taste delicious too."
Lin Qingqing nodded, then wrapped a few more buns and said, "Let's steam a pot first."
They didn't have a proper steamer, so they had to use a rice steamer, but the rice steamer was too small, only able to steam five or six at a time. Lin Qingqing was making at least twenty buns, so they definitely had to steam them in batches.
"I'll do it." Xie Wei took the bowl of steamed buns into the kitchen. Although he didn't know how to wrap steamed buns, he could still do something as simple as steaming them.
Making steamed buns is mainly troublesome and time-consuming in the preparation stage, but the speed is fast once you start wrapping them. Lin Qingqing finished wrapping more than twenty steamed buns in just over ten minutes. Steaming the buns was not as quick, but she had already counted the first batch of steamed buns by the time she finished wrapping them.
It was past midnight, so Lin Qingqing heated up the leftover porridge and vegetables from the morning, and she and Xie Wei finished the porridge with steamed buns.
Because the buns were made by Lin Qingqing, Xie Wei was very enthusiastic and ate four buns, a bowl of porridge, and several dishes before finally stopping because he couldn't eat anymore.
Although Lin Qingqing felt she had performed well, she only had a big appetite and ate two steamed buns and drank half a bowl of porridge.
After eating and drinking her fill, Lin Qingqing finished the remaining buns.
She made twenty-four steamed buns in total. She and Xie Wei ate six at noon, leaving eighteen left. They'd be having New Year's Eve dinner tonight, so they definitely wouldn't be able to eat all the buns. Although it's cold now and the buns could be kept until tomorrow, they couldn't eat them for every meal. They could only eat them for breakfast at most, and then they'd have twelve left.
Lin Qingqing thought about it and discussed with Xie Wei about sending some to the neighbors' houses.
Xie Wei had no objection, so Lin Qingqing delivered five steamed buns to Sister Fu's house and four to Deputy Chief of Staff Wang's house, according to the number of people. As for the neighbor on the right and Regiment Commander Ding's house, no one was home because they had gone back to their hometown. And for the neighbors further away, since there were few steamed buns left, no more were delivered to them.
After delivering all the buns, there were still nine left. Lin Qingqing put three in a large bowl and asked Xie Wei to deliver them.
When Xie Wei arrived at the Jiang family's house, they were all sunbathing in the yard. He greeted them and went inside with Jiang Feng, saying, "Qingqing made some steamed buns for lunch and asked me to bring you a few."
"Since my sister-in-law made these buns, I have to try them."
As Jiang Feng spoke, he reached for a steamed bun, but before he could eat it, Xie Wei said, "You've been out in the wind all the way here, it's probably cold by now. The bun is meat-filled, it's best to heat it up before eating."
Shen Yufen took the steamed buns from Jiang Feng's hands, carried the large bowl into the kitchen, put them on a plate and steamed them in a pot, then took the bowl out and returned it to Xie Wei, saying Happy New Year and telling him to stay at home for a while and have some water before leaving.
But Xie Wei, thinking that Lin Qingqing was at home, didn't stay for a drink of water. Instead, he beckoned Jiang Peng over and asked, "Aren't you supposed to wish me a Happy New Year?"
Jiang Peng had been instructed by Shen Yufen when he woke up that morning. Hearing her words, he smiled and said, "Wishing you prosperity, give me a red envelope!"
Xie Wei took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Peng, patted his head and said, "Then I'll go back first."
Hearing this, Jiang Feng didn't keep him any longer and escorted him out of the courtyard before returning.
Upon returning home, Jiang Feng went straight inside. He was still thinking about the steamed buns Lin Qingqing had made and wanted to see if they were ready so he could eat them while they were hot. However, he saw Shen Yufen standing in the living room, holding the red envelope Xie Wei had just given Jiang Peng, her brows furrowed. She asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"Thank you for the red envelope, Commander Xie..."
Since it was a red envelope for the child, Jiang Feng didn't pay much attention to it and interrupted Shen Yufen, saying, "Hey, a red envelope is just a token of affection. No matter how much it is, just accept it."
"That's too much." After saying the last part, Shen Yufen handed the money in the red envelope to Jiang Feng.
Two crisp ten-yuan bills—exactly the amount they had returned to Xie Wei and his wife yesterday. Jiang Feng looked at the money, both amused and annoyed: "That old Xie!"
"Should we return it?"
"Keep it," Jiang Feng said. "They might have a baby this year. We'll give them a big red envelope when the baby is born."
Hearing Jiang Feng say that, Shen Yufen stopped insisting on returning the money. As she stuffed the money into the red envelope and put it in her pocket, she saw her son standing to the side, staring longingly at the red envelope in her hand. She resorted to her old trick, saying gently, "Pengpeng, be good. Mom will keep this money for you and give it to you when you grow up."
Jiang Peng, who was only six years old: "..."
Although he is young, he has a good memory and clearly remembers that his mother said the same thing when he received a red envelope last Chinese New Year.
So here's the question: when will he be considered grown up and able to receive red envelope money?
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