Chapter 71 Preparations before the Lunar New Year 2
After shopping, Su Tao didn't forget to go to the post office to call home. He said he was calling home, but in fact he was calling the state-owned restaurant where his father worked. Su Tao didn't have a phone at home. In those days, telephones were not common and the installation fee was extremely expensive. Only some government and state-owned enterprises had telephones.
Su Tao called the state-owned hotel and said, "Hello, could you please help me find Su Ziqiang?"
"Hello." After a while, the familiar voice of his old father sounded, and Su Tao suddenly choked up.
"Dad, it's me, Taotao." Su Tao's voice was tinged with tears. Su Tao was an orphan in her original world, having never received parental love since childhood. Although she had transmigrated through a book, she could see the love her parents had for her during this time, and she treated them like her own parents.
"What's wrong with my dear girl? Why are you crying? Are you bullied?" Dad Su asked anxiously when he heard Su Tao crying.
Su Tao wiped his tears, calmed down and said, "No, Dad, I just miss you and Mom."
It was now February 1977. Even if she wanted to pass the college entrance examination and return to the city, it would still take more than half a year until the end of the year before she could go home to see Su's father and mother.
Then Su Tao chatted with her father about some family matters, telling him about her interesting experiences in the countryside and mentioning He Chuan's family, but she didn't mention her relationship yet. Su's father was a daughter slave, and he valued Su Tao more than his own eyes. If he knew that his daughter was snatched away by a country boy, he would be furious.
Su Taotao (the female supporting character in the original novel) had signed up for the rural service for Shen Ziqian, despite finding a good job at home. Her father was so angry that he was hospitalized. This time, Su Tao didn't dare tell her father directly. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to go back to take care of him if she got sick. She decided to wait until she returned to the city and tell him slowly. She believed he would approve of it when he saw He Chuan in person.
"Then Dad, you and Mom should take care of your health. Don't worry about me. I'm doing well and not suffering at all." Su Tao said this in a reassuring way.
After the call, Su Tao paid the money and took He Yanzhi back home.
On the way back, Su Tao bought some paper-cuts for the New Year window decorations on the roadside. They were made by the elderly villagers and sold at very low prices. He also bought a few blessing characters and a few couplets.
Shopping makes people happy, and it seems to be like this in any era. The two women, who have gained a lot, return home with a full sense of happiness.
After returning home, Su Tao and He Yanzhi put their things away and cleaned the house inside and out. They also took out the window decorations and blessing couplets they had bought today and prepared to paste them up.
"Yanzhi? Do you think it would look good if it's pasted here?" Su Tao was holding a window paper-cut and gesturing on the glass window.
"Yeah, it looks good." The little girl nodded heavily.
With the little girl's approval, Su Tao pasted window grilles on all the windows.
Next, we need to paste the word "Fu" and couplets. This is a technical job and must be done by two people. One person pastes while the other stands at a distance to help check whether they are pasted correctly. If they are pasted crookedly, it will not look good and the meaning will not be good.
Su Tao found a chair, stood on it, and held up the square word "Fu".
"Left, a little more to the left. After passing it, a little more to the side." He Yanzhi stood in the distance, directing Su Tao's movements.
"Is it here? Is it okay?" Su Tao followed the little girl's instructions, looked back at the words and slowly adjusted their position.
It took a lot of effort to finally stick the two characters "Fu" on the door. The two characters were stuck in the middle of the vermilion wooden door, which looked particularly solemn and festive.
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