Chapter 955 New Year’s Day
Asking Chen Xiangdong to put the two sacks in an out-of-the-way corner of the courtyard, Lu Miao looked at Xiulian and asked:
"Are there any shovels in the yard?"
"Yes."
Xiulian responded quickly.
Although she didn't know what Lu Miao wanted the shovel for, Xiulian quickly got it.
Lu Miao took the shovel and handed it to Chen Xiangdong, then turned to carry the iron bucket with Xiulian to fetch water.
The winter in northern Beijing is very difficult.
The first few times he came here, Lu Miao noticed that the room on Master Zhou's side was very cold.
When she went back yesterday and was thinking about this, she said hello to Chen Xiangdong.
Let Chen Xiangdong not go to the courtyard over the Forbidden City when he is free today, and go with her to the coal supply station.
There are several prices for coal on the market. The most expensive is raw coal, which costs seven cents per pound.
Next is briquettes, which cost five cents a pound.
The cheapest coal is produced when coal is mined, transported or processed.
For ordinary people, it is also the most economical and affordable, costing only two cents per pound.
When you buy it home, mix it with water, mix it with a little loess and Yihe, build it into random blocks with a shovel, and burn it when it's dry.
Lu Miao only found out about this thing when she came home from get off work and saw her neighbors doing it.
Yesterday, Master Zhou talked about giving a kickback, but she didn't agree.
She estimated that if she brought some serious coal over, Master Zhou would definitely not be able to take it.
So I thought of this trick and called Chen Xiangdong to shovel two big bags of coal noodles at the coal supply station...
After working here for a while, until the corner of the yard was filled with long rows of irregular coal blocks, Lu Miao put down the iron bucket and water ladle.
She and Chen Xiangdong washed their hands and put the tools back into place.
Entrusting Xiulian to help clean up the black coal marks on the ground in the courtyard, she and Chen Xiangdong went home first.
It was a little troublesome to come here this time, but fortunately the things were given out.
After all, she has made so much money through Master Zhou. Being able to solve some life problems for the elderly can be regarded as a little bit of feedback from her.
Lu Miao thought so.
Although Chen Xiangdong came here to do such a job, he had nothing to say after understanding the twists and turns.
Even thinking about establishing a long-term cooperative relationship, he took the initiative and said:
"Sister-in-law, it's getting cold. I'll come here every half month."
"Yeah."
Lu Miao nodded and said:
"The two yuan and forty cents I paid for coal noodles today will go to the public account. When I go back, let the finance department record it. In the future, as long as it is a public expense, I will remember it every penny. I must also tell you in time when I add money."
"Okay."
"Yeah."
This matter was so busy that Shi An's yard at home was also freed up.
Chen Xiangdong stared at the courtyard on the other side of the Forbidden City, but Lu Miao did not disturb him for the time being.
Letting Meizi continue to visit the small courtyard of the factory, Lu Miao put on plain clothes and took Lin Xian to clean up first.
Pick up all the useless things and throw them in the yard. If you can burn them later, you chop them up and use them as firewood. If you really can't use them, just throw them away.
This yard has been rented to others, and the inside and outside of the house are kept clean.
Lu Miao cleared out the things and basically swept the dust off the walls.
In the past, Fu Jingyou was at home, and Fu Jingyou took care of all these tasks.
Now he travels back and forth between Beijing and Tianjin every day, and it is extremely stressful every day.
Lu Miao didn't tell him anything about the yard.
Lu Miao slowly studied the repairs and painting of doors and windows by herself. She cut a square piece of cloth early, folded it diagonally in half every time she came to work, and tied it behind her head to act as a face mask.
She found sandpaper and sanded it along the door panels and wooden windows, then cleaned and painted. Although she was not familiar with the movements, she was busy in and out, and it looked quite normal.
There were some things that she really couldn't handle, so Liu Chunxiang often asked her younger brother Liu Xiaozhu to come over and help when she wasn't busy.
On New Year's Day of 1983, the factory yard and the engineering team had a day off.
Chen Xiangdong greeted people in advance and came back with a few bags of painting materials. He installed the circuits in the yard and painted the walls.
Afterwards, while waiting for the walls to dry and the smell to dissipate, Lu Miao invited the insiders to have a meal at home.
It turned out that we were going to a state-owned hotel.
However, several nearby restaurants did not have heating facilities. It was freezing when sitting there, so Lu Miao simply changed her mind.
Taking people home for dinner would increase Tang Mei's workload.
Lu Miao only let Tang Mei look after a few children and didn't keep her busy.
She got up early and bought some beef, mutton, fish, seafood and big stick bones.
While Chen Xiangdong and Xie Fei were busy painting the walls, she had already prepared the soup, fish fillets and fish balls at home.
When everyone came over in the afternoon, the table was filled with meat and vegetable hot pot ingredients.
When the weather is cold, nothing beats eating hot pot.
There was no mandarin duck pot at home, so Gu Ying couldn't eat spicy food, so the pot could only be filled with soup base.
But it didn't matter. Lu Miao cut the butter that had been boiled into small pieces, put it on a plate and served it to the table.
Anyone who likes spicy food can just put a piece of it in the bowl and ladle out some soup to melt it.
Everyone took their seats one after another.
Lu Miao was fully prepared. When Chen Xiangdong was eating the mutton-boiled meat, he mentioned that the copper pots in his hometown of Jinmen were also very famous.
Everyone chatted all over the place and had a great time eating the meal from the afternoon until Fu Jingyou came back in the evening.
At that time, there was a knock on the courtyard door. Lu Miao put on her clothes and went to open the door.
When I walked into the yard, I found that the sky was pattering and it was snowing for the first time at the end of the year.
She breathed in the air-conditioning and quickened her pace to open the latch of the courtyard door.
"Brother You!"
Seeing the person who came back clearly, Lu Miao was happy at first, and then frowned.
There was an outsider at home, but Lu Miao didn't say anything. She turned sideways to let him in. She quickly locked the door and pushed him into the house:
"Come in and stay warm, I left some ingredients for you, just sit down and eat together!"
Fu Jingyou nodded, took her hand behind his back, wrapped his warm hand around her little hand, and led her into the house.
They have a good relationship as a young couple and everyone is accustomed to their close behavior.
Before, only Lu Miao was there, and Chen Xiangdong and the others couldn't say anything. Now that Fu Jingyou came back, everyone looked at him and asked if they had any wine. They sat down to have a drink together.
Fu Jingyou took off his coat and looked back at Lu Miao teasingly.
Lu Miao glared at him, took away his coat, put it on a chair, and placed it next to the chimney stove to dry.
She turned around and came back with an unopened bottle of Erguotou in her hand:
"Just have a taste and it's enough. Don't drink too much. You'll have something to do tomorrow!"
"I know, sister-in-law!"
Lu Miao nodded and brought over all the ingredients left in the kitchen.
There were not enough leaves and vegetables, so she opened the greenhouse and picked some more.
Gu Ying had already finished her meal and left the table.
Tang Mei didn't let her stay outside.
Let her go inside first and get on the kang to warm up and rest with the children.
After Lu Miao finished serving the guests in the main room, the men poured spicy butter base into the pot, and she followed them into the room.