Title: How to Thrive in the Sixties
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 74 - In the future, she would treat Yan Xiaofang as a good friend (3)
Su Dazhi and Liu Mei were also stunned by the charcoal stove.
"Sis, why did you spend money on this? We have a stove at home," Su Dazhi curiously asked.
Su Lin gave him a cold look and unhappily said, "What do you mean? You're not the one cooking. It's so hard for me to cook every day. A brick stove is so smoky. I have to close my eyes when cooking! I have to pick up firewood every day on the way back from school to have enough wood to cook the meals." She started crying.
Su Dazhi blushed. As a person that didn't cook, none of this had occurred to him. Hearing his younger sister tearfully complain, he felt extremely guilty.
"Alright enough, why are you crying? That's what I had to do for so many years. That's how most people in the compound live too," Su Yu patted Su Lin's shoulder.
Su Xiaozhi sneered and contemptuously said, "Yeah, if it wasn't for your love of beauty, Sis wouldn't have to suffer all these years. Our family could have bought a charcoal stove a long time ago if Sis didn't trade our family's industrial tickets to get new clothes for you."
Su Lin: "..."
Su Yu smiled. "We're a family. I don't blame you. Now that our family is working together, our days will get better. It'll be easier for Little Lin to cook now that we have a charcoal stove. In addition, I plan on taking apart the brick stove, moving the wall there forward a bit, putting a bed on the right side of the door, and putting a small partition around it. Dazhi and Little Mei will have their own room."
Su Dazhi and Liu Mei were surprised. Soon after, their eyes glowed with excitement. Their biggest dream was to have their own room, even if it was only big enough to fit a bed.
Su Dazhi thought he knew why Sis had bought a charcoal stove now. It was to make more room for him.
"Sis -"
Su Yu didn't wait for him to express his emotions and interrupted, "Xiaozhi will have your current sleeping spot. Tomorrow is a holiday, you can move then."
Su Xiaozhi had been a bit jealous, but he immediately became excited. "Sis, I'll do what you say!" Yay, he finally didn't have to share a bunk bed with his younger sister. He finally had a bed of his own.
In the evening, Su Dazhi moved the iron pot to the charcoal stove and Su Lin started cooking. This was their family's first time eating a meal cooked on the charcoal stove at home. Although they were eating simple corn mush, they were very happy. Just as Sis said, their lives were getting better.
After dinner, Su Yu told Su Dazhi and Su Xiaozhi she had collected their wages.
"Sis, it's fine that you take it. You don't have to tell us," Su Xiaozhi proudly said.
"Yeah, we agreed to it." Su Dazhi also nodded. Sis's arrangements were so thoughtful. He had no opinion of it.
Su Yu smiled and looked at Liu Mei.
Liu Mei rubbed her fingers together, stood up, and took out 10 yuan from her bag. She was an apprentice and only earned 20 yuan a month. She also took out 15 catties of food tickets.
This was agreed upon, and Su Yu took the money and tickets from Liu Mei. And then, she took out one catty meat ticket and one yuan and gave it to Su Lin.
"Go buy meat tomorrow. There's still flour at home. We can eat dumplings on National Day."
Everyone's eyes lit up. Even though they had already eaten, they felt hungry again. They couldn't wait to have a taste of dumplings.
"I'll line up early in the morning to buy meat," Su Lin said.
That night, other than Su Yu, everyone else was too excited to sleep. They were eager for tomorrow when they could eat dumplings and remodel their home to have their own space.
—
Early next morning, when Su Yu was still asleep, she was awoken by thudding noises. She opened her eyes and saw that the front door closed. The sound came from outside the home.
She gave up on sleeping, changed her clothes from behind her bed curtain, brushed her hair, and went out with her washbasin to wash her face.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw the Su brothers were bustling about, even Liu Mei had a towel on her head and was helping out by moving the trash to the side.
Seeing Su Yu, Su Dazhi wiped his sweat and said, "Sis, did we wake you up?"
"No, but you guys woke up so early to work?" The brick stove was gone and dismantled into neatly stacked bricks.
Su Xiaozhi said with a smile, "Yeah, we woke up early today. We took advantage of the morning sun to take up apart the stove. We can use the bricks from the stove to make a wall. If it's not enough, we'll use wooden boards for now.
For this matter, Su Xiaozhi and Su Dazhi had endless energy.
Su Yu was quite satisfied to see the two brothers' enthusiasm.
"Work hard, we'll eat dumplings at noon to celebrate." If you want a horse to run fast, you have to use the right incentive.
The people in the courtyard had been watching the Su family since early morning after finding out that the Su family had brought a charcoal stove and were building a room for Su Dazhi.