Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

Xu Bei snapped out of his daze and looked at Song Guodong, who was dressed in thick clothes with only his eyes and nose showing, without beating around the bush.

"I came to tell you that my parents had a fight and are getting a divorce, so we've moved to your uncle's house temporarily. You and Dahei can go there to get the stools tomorrow night."

Song Guodong stared in shock, after all, he and his sister had gone to their house with some things just yesterday.

"What's wrong with your aunt and uncle that they're getting a divorce? Didn't your grandma and uncle just come all the way from their hometown?"

Xu Bei smirked and said coldly, "Yeah, it's because of them. Otherwise, all the arguing might not have led to this divorce."

Song Guodong guessed that the conflict between his mother and daughter-in-law had become irreconcilable, so he did not press the matter further.

"Every family has its own problems, and mine is no exception. Whenever my grandma comes over from her home in the city, chaos ensues. By the way, does Big Black know about this now?"

Xu Bei also knew some things about the Song family, especially the older generation's mother-in-law, who always liked to torment and make things difficult for her daughter-in-law. Even though Song's mother was a factory worker, she still suffered the same fate.

"I went to his workplace, but I didn't see him. I guess I'll have to go to his house."

Song Guodong hurriedly said, "Then you don't need to go, I'll go. You and my aunt just moved into my uncle's house, so you probably have a lot of work to do."

Xu Bei didn't stand on ceremony with him, "Sure, then you'll have to make the trip."

Song Guodong waved his hand, "Given our relationship, it's not too formal for us to say that."

Afterwards, Xu Bei left the timber yard and did not go directly back to his new residence. Instead, he went to the grain and oil food distribution department under the grain depot to buy grain at a negotiated price.

In 1983, urban residents could purchase grain at grain stores using grain coupons and certificates. The price of rice and wheat flour was a little over one cent per kilogram, and soybean oil was around eight cents.

If you negotiate the price of grain, you can buy it as long as you have the money, but the price will be much higher and will fluctuate at any time.

However, Xu Bei was not short of money.

Even if you use the money from the legitimate channels, you can still buy quite a lot.

Therefore, after arriving at the grain store, he spent twice the price of regular grain to buy five catties each of rice and wheat flour, and a bottle of soybean oil.

Then I went to the grocery store, which is a place that sells cooked food.

I bought a roast chicken for two yuan and fifty cents.

At that time, there were no plastic bags for packing roast chicken. The salesperson wrapped it in a rough piece of greaseproof paper, tied it with hemp rope, and then handed it to Xu Bei.

In those days, it was a matter of pride to walk down the street carrying a bag of cooked food from a grocery store.

Unfortunately, it was already getting dark, and Xu Bei was rather low-key in the freezing cold, so passersby wouldn't know that there was a roast chicken in the bicycle basket.

It wasn't until Xu Bei returned to his new home and the mother and her two daughters came out to greet him that they discovered his extravagant purchase of rice, flour, soybean oil, and roast chicken.

But since they've already bought it, they might only grumble about it a few times.

"Brother, you men really go all out when you buy things. That money doesn't come from thin air, buying so much at once."

"Son, let me give you some more money. Are you about to run out of your commission and pocket money from your salary?"

Xu Bei chuckled and said, "I'll have to buy them sooner or later anyway, so buying more will save me trouble. Mom, I still have some left. I'll definitely ask you for some when I run out."

Xu Juan is now the only one in the family who is still in school and not earning money. Seeing her brother spending so much money, she feels a little sorry for him.

"Brother, why didn't you buy any whole grains?"

"Coarse grains are too harsh on the throat, so from now on we'll eat refined grains every day."

Xu Bei made a bold statement, but seeing that his mother and sister were about to speak again, he changed the subject, "Besides, this is our first meal in our new home, so it has to be decent and plentiful, otherwise it would look so pitiful."

Upon hearing this, the mother and her two daughters realized it made sense and stopped commenting on the extravagant spending.

Although the large iron pot was seasoned again with lard, it was clearly not suitable to cook rice directly on it.

So after rinsing some rice, Zhao Fengying put it in an aluminum basin, then put water in a pot and steamed the rice using this method of steaming in a basin.

Then, I felt that the rice in the pot was almost cooked and had a rich aroma of rice.

She then sat on the humming stove with the large ladle she had brought from the other house and stir-fried shredded potatoes.

Soon, under the warm yellow light, the four of them sat around the cleaned kang table and enjoyed their first dinner, a balanced meal of meat and vegetables, including roast chicken and rice.

Xu Bei didn't know about others, but he certainly didn't feel uncomfortable at all, and ate with great relish.

Because, in his view, home is wherever his mother is.

After dinner, once the dishes were cleared away, Xu Li was still reluctant to leave, even considering staying to spend the night with them.

However, they were persuaded to leave by Zhao Fengying and Xu Bei, the brother and sister.

After all, Zhu Wenliang and his family already know about the divorce proceedings, and they might even be waiting for Xu Li to go back and tell them the details.

In addition, they only had three sets of luggage and bedding. Spending the night in a room that had been unoccupied for a while, whether they shared a bed with Zhao Fengying or Xu Juan, they were prone to catching a cold.

After seeing Xu Li off, it wasn't too late yet. Xu Bei locked the front and back doors and then lay down on the quilt laid out on the kang (a heated brick bed).

A lot happened and a lot was done in a short period of time today, and the mother and her two children were all sleepy.

And there wasn't even a radio to listen to the sounds, so they quickly chatted for a while and then rested.

Of course, because the fire would cool down quickly, not only did Xu Bei wake up midway to refill the stove, but Zhao Fengying did the same.

Therefore, they did not suffer from the cold that night.

It was early morning, before dawn.

Xu Li then brought Zhu Wenliang over, carrying a lot of things.

In addition to a set of luggage, there were some small daily necessities, dried potatoes and radishes, and several kinds of pickled vegetables in canning jars.

"Look at you, you've come all this way, why did you bring so much stuff?"

Zhao Fengying was still somewhat embarrassed and worried in front of her son-in-law. After all, at her age, getting a divorce would cause concern among others.

Zhu Wenliang was a smart man, and he could easily guess what his mother-in-law was thinking. He tried his best to act the same as before, saying, "Mom, I didn't bring much. It's all food and things we can use."

Xu Bei sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), smoothed his messy hair, yawned, and said, "Yes, Mom, this is all out of concern from my sister and brother-in-law. We're all family, so there's no need to overthink it."

Xu Li immediately chimed in, "That's right, my brother is absolutely right! Wenliang even brought bricklaying and carpentry tools. Let's see where everything needs fixing and repairing, and get some done before we go to work."

Xu Bei had actually repaired part of it yesterday, but there must be more than one problem with the old house. "Okay, then I'll take my brother-in-law to fix the plastic sheeting outside the windows properly and add some strips."

So, after breakfast, Xu Bei and Zhu Wenliang checked and repaired all the windows in the front and back of the house, making them even more airtight and preventing cold drafts from getting in.

Not long after Xu Li and Zhu Wenliang went to work, Xu Bei also left home.

He took the small forest train to the city to find Old Scar...