Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 104 - 102 Nylon Socks at Midnight

Chapter 104: 102 Nylon Socks at Midnight

Before lunch, their truck arrived at Lower Ridge under the Li Family Village Production Team, and after unloading the goods, the driver left because he had to deliver food for the month. Qin Xi quickly took some items and rushed to retrieve her bicycle.

Qin Zhen couldn’t wait either, he was eager to wear his new rain boots and take a stroll, so he also grabbed a few bags and ran off, leaving only Li Xianglu and her grandfather.

Just while waiting for others, a loud voice shouted from the ridge: "Xiangxiang!"

Li Xianglu looked up to see a black figure rushing down from the ridge, so fast it seemed as though it ignored the ice on the ridge.

The person was Qu Yeyu, running down swiftly with her face all flushed, excitedly said: "Xiangxiang, you’re back, weren’t you supposed to be gone for over ten days?" As she spoke, she helped carry a big bag of items.

Seeing her friend, Li Xianglu also happily showed a row of millet-sized teeth: "Yes, we were supposed to stay a few more days, but Grandpa had some issues so we came back early." After saying this, she also picked up a bundle of cotton-padded clothes and said to her grandfather: "Grandpa, I’m going back with Yeyu first."

Mr. Li waved his hand: "Go ahead."

So the two left Mr. Li there to watch the items and cheerfully went up the ridge.

Back in the small courtyard, Li Xianglu unlocked the iron-locked door, opened it wide, and then went with Qu Yeyu to the kitchen, which was also locked.

Qu Yeyu, always diligent, seeing the kitchen with cold stove and pots, quickly grabbed some firewood and started a fire. Li Xianglu added a large pot of water, and then put some of the kindled fire into the two kang (heated brick beds), and added more firewood.

Meanwhile, Qin Xi returned with the Phoenix Head bicycle. Because there were guests, he unloaded everything in Mr. Li’s room, and then went next door to bring out some items he had taken earlier to Grandpa Li’s side before greeting and went off to tidy up.

The house had been empty for several days, and Qin Zhen had run off who knows where, he needed to start heating up the kang.

After finishing up, Li Xianglu carrying a big bundle entered the kitchen, and said to Qu Yeyu who was tending the fire: "Quick, wash your hands, look at the clothes I brought for you."

Qu Yeyu was thrilled, she had been anxiously waiting these days, even dreaming about wearing new clothes at night. Seeing Xiangxiang by coincidence wasn’t just luck; she had been checking several times a day. Just today, after finishing her lunch and cleaning up the courtyard, she saw a few people standing under the ridge and recognized Xiangxiang almost immediately.

Now hearing that new clothes were bought for her, Qu Yeyu became flustered, she wiped her slightly dirty hands from tending the fire and uncomfortably sat down near the table.

At this moment, Li Xianglu had already started taking out the clothes, first a few blue shirts, then a watermelon-red one, handed it over with a smile: "Try it on, it’s new."

Qu Yeyu couldn’t believe it, the color was so vibrant, even brighter than the one Xiangxiang had. A bride from the production team got married a few days ago, and her red wasn’t as deep, certainly not as nice as this one.

Carefully unfolding the stacked clothes, she sized it up against herself, it was just right, wide and large, perfect to wear over other clothes in winter, her eyes crinkled with a smile: "Xiangxiang, these clothes must be expensive, they’re beautiful." saying this, she started demonstrating.

Li Xianglu smiled and nodded, "Yes, it’s a bit more expensive than what we get in our county, thirteen yuan for one, but the fabric is really the best, and so is the color. I bought it for you, along with the blue shirt you wanted, and a pair of rain boots."

And guess what! Qu Yeyu couldn’t believe it; she thought that such a cloak should cost at least twenty yuan, and still be able to buy other things.

She carefully folded her red cloak, placed it aside, and then picked up the blue cloak to look at it. Yep, it’s huge, this was meant for her uncle to buy from her aunt, plus a size 39 pair of rain boots, though there were slight flaws, they were newer than the genuine brands in the county town.

Li Xianglu pulled out some socks from her bag and said, "These are three pairs of nylon socks, the elastics are a bit problematic, 70 cents a pair, you saved two yuan, I used it to buy these socks for you."

Qu Yeyu excitedly took the high-quality nylon socks; these were in high demand in the county, and annoyingly, they required industrial coupons!

A few days ago, she went to the county with her aunt to shop, and because they had no industrial coupons, they couldn’t buy even a single pair, returning very frustrated. She didn’t expect to get hold of three pairs today, perhaps God had heard her prayers.

Li Xianglu looked at Qu Yeyu, whose emotions fluctuated greatly, and said with annoyance, "Look at you, getting excited over a pair of nylon socks, folks in Shanghai don’t even like to wear them, they are not breathable."

Qu Yeyu, disbelieving, thought, how could that be? These are high-quality socks; how could anyone not want to wear them, how foolish!

After distributing the items, Qu Yeyu hurriedly left. Li Xianglu didn’t hold her back and simply tidied up the place, then quickly took out some flour, energetically kneaded a few pieces of tougher dough, took down a piece of cured meat, and went outside planning to get some vegetables from the cellar when she saw Qin Xi arriving.

As soon as Qin Xi saw Li Xianglu’s situation, he said unhappily, "Don’t do these things yourself in the future; it’s too dangerous for a girl to go into such a deep cellar." After speaking, he parked his bicycle, took the basket from Li Xianglu, and went down.

Li Xianglu pouted her lips and quickly poured some hot water into the basin.

On this side, Qin Xi not only took some radishes but also brought out stored potatoes and a few cabbages, all placed in the distance farthest from the stove in the kitchen. Due to the heat, vegetables could sprout; they could only take a little to eat and get more later.

After arranging them, he washed his hands with the hot water Li Xianglu had prepared and asked, "I’m going to your uncle’s house to take back the grains, do you have any message for him?"

Li Xianglu thought for a bit and said, "Tell my uncle that I’ll come over with some stuff when it gets dark."

Qin Xi nodded understandingly and then pushed the cart out.

Meanwhile, Li Xianglu quickly peeled and chopped the ingredients, and fried a large pot of Saozi.

Grandpa Li went to Jishui to find Xue Baimei and brought her some fabric. When he returned, he smelled the aroma of stir-fried chili. He walked in and saw his granddaughter dropping finely sliced Saozi Noodles into the pot, exclaiming, "Ah, the food outside no matter how refined, cannot compare to a bowl of Saozi Noodles from home." Saying this, he shouted towards the Qin Family’s courtyard.

Qin Xi, after storing the grains, saw on the table a large bowl of hot and spicy shredded pickles and cured radish. Grandpa Li had already picked up a bowl of steaming noodles filled with Saozi and begun eating.

Li Xianglu saw someone coming in and hurriedly called out, "Don’t just stand there, wash your hands quickly, the next batch of noodles will be ready soon."

PS: Today I’m resting at home, so I wrote all morning. I’ll mooch a meal at noon, and then come back to write more. I feel today’s monthly ticket seems mysterious; I might have to post four updates, I should come back early to deal with you little demons!

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