Qin Yang tidied up and went out with him.
The radiators were easy to buy, all made of cast iron without many options to choose from, but it was necessary to pick a good stove, and I heard Master Zhang was an expert in this area.
Qin Yang was responsible for making paynts.
In less than an hour, they returned with two carts following them, loaded with stoves and radiators.
Lin Chuxia had already tidied up the house as much as possible; the remaining tables and cabinets required so lifting and moving, so they would have to wait for Qin Yang.
Master Zhang was in his forties, slightly chubby, and looked very sturdy.
He easily lifted the half-ter-tall cast iron stove off the cart by himself.
Qin Yang helped him from behind, and Lin Chuxia didn’t interfere anymore.
Hearing the noisy commotion outside, she knew that the cabbage delivery truck had arrived at the residential compound.
In the Northwest, storing cabbage for the winter is essential. Lin Chuxia inford Qin Yang and then stepped outside.
Just as she left the main door, she ran into Sister-in-law Fu from next door.
"I was about to call you, the cabbage seller is here. Are you guys going back to your hotown for the New Year? If not, you should store more. If you don’t buy now, you’ll have to go to the market yourself later."
She added in a whisper, "The cabbages provided by the unit are cheaper than those in the market."
"I know, sister," Lin Chuxia said with a smile, her eyes curving into crescents.
The tractor carrying the cabbages was already on the main road of the residential compound, surrounded by quite a crowd.
Everyone was busy moving cabbages from the truck, setting them aside first; they would only start moving them ho after the seller had weighed and they had paid.
Seeing the crowd, Sister-in-law Fu hurriedly pulled Lin Chuxia, "Hurry, or we won’t get any," and then she trotted towards the tractor.
Lin Chuxia was indifferent; she hadn’t planned to store too many cabbages, but she hadn’t experienced such an atmosphere in many years.
At the front of the tractor, so quick movers were already weighing their cabbages.
They placed the cabbages in sacks made from tarpaulin, each with four corners suspended from the hooks of the large scale.
A rough wooden stick with an iron shovel passed through the scale’s lifting rope, with both the seller and buyer holding one end each.
The cabbage swayed as it was lifted, and the seller quickly adjusted the scale until the scale’s arm nearly balanced.
The buyers would seize the mont to instruct, "Weigh a little more, move it inward."
At such tis, the seller would usually adjust the scale a few notches inward.
The thick scale arm then tilted upwards significantly.
"82 jin and 3, quite high."
The buyer also bead with joy.
Lin Chuxia spotted Jiang Hong in the crowd, struggling to move cabbages from the truck with a pregnant belly.
"Why are you still moving cabbages yourself?"
Lin Chuxia took the cabbage from her hands, disapprovingly.
Her belly was already rather large, around five or six months along.
Jiang Hong was nonchalant, "This bit of work is nothing. Back in my hotown, I’d still be carrying water."
"Still, you should be careful. You watch, and I’ll do the lifting."
Jiang Hong thought, given Lin Chuxia’s delicate appearance, clearly not accustod to farm work, she might not even perform as well as she did.
Yet she saw that woman effortlessly picking up two cabbages to put in front, then two more to stack on top, effortlessly grabbing four cabbages at once.
Jiang Hong: "..."
Mr. Qin’s wife, looking so dainty, seed stronger than won who had done farm work.
Handling these big green cabbages, each weighing over ten jin, she moved four at once.
She herself, not pregnant, wouldn’t dare to lift them like that.
While others moved cabbages one or two at a ti, Lin Chuxia handled four at a ti, swiftly piling two heaps in front of Jiang Hong.
The big pile is Jiang Hong’s; they’re not planning to go back to their hotown this Spring Festival.
Jiang Hong is pregnant, and by then it’ll be nearly ti for her to give birth, going back and forth would be inconvenient.
The smaller pile is Lin Chuxia’s, just about a dozen or so.
A tractor full of Chinese cabbages was divided up in no ti, and what remained was waiting for the vegetable seller to weigh them before everyone carried them ho using various thods.
At that mont, Sister-in-law Feng arrived late, dragging Feng Jingjing with her.
Seeing that all the vegetables on the cart had been moved, she was frantic, scratching her head in desperation.
She asked the vegetable seller if they could bring another cart.
The vegetable seller, being straightforward, imdiately asked, "You want a whole cart?"
Of course, Sister-in-law Feng couldn’t take an entire cart.
Hearing she only wanted about one to two hundred pounds, he flatly said, "None left."
Sister-in-law Feng was out of options, but she wasn’t ready to give up; her eyes darted around, finally settling on Lin Chuxia and Jiang Hong.
The mont she appeared, Lin Chuxia knew this woman was up to no good again.
She would look at the sky, the ground, talk to Jiang Hong, all but avoiding looking at her.
Jiang Hong did the sa.
But regardless of their disregard, Sister-in-law Feng didn’t plan to let them off the hook.
"Li Wei’s family, you bought so much cabbage?"
Picking on the soft ones, Sister-in-law Feng had hit many snags with Lin Chuxia before and didn’t dare to provoke Lin Chuxia this ti.
Jiang Hong nodded, "We aren’t going back to our hotown for Spring Festival, so we stored a little more to eat over the winter."
In those tis, there weren’t off-season vegetables. In winter, cabbages and tofu ruled.
"That’s quite a lot of vegetables! It’s just the two of you at ho; you can’t finish it all daily, can you? Storing too much cabbage, it’ll spoil over ti—that would be a waste of money. How about this, hand over a few to , it’ll save you the inconvenience of moving them around with your big belly. Later, my daughter and I can help you carry them."
Jiang Hong had long disliked Sister-in-law Feng. It’s just that her husband, Li Wei, didn’t have as high a position as Feng Dajun, and she dared not offend people easily.
Knowing Feng Dajun had also been transferred here, Jiang Hong had been avoiding Sister-in-law Feng.
Now that the matter had co to this, Jiang Hong wanted to decline but feared losing face for Sister-in-law Feng in front of neighbors, which might lead Feng Dajun to make things difficult for her own husband.
Caught in a dilemma, she then heard Lin Chuxia speak up from nearby, "Sister-in-law Feng, you even brought your child with you, how could we let you help? We’ve already discussed this, I’ll help her later."
Sister-in-law Feng hadn’t expected Lin Chuxia to speak up for Jiang Hong; she chuckled awkwardly, "Is that so? Well then... that’s good, that’s good."
Watching the mother-daughter pair walk away dejected, Jiang Hong breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much for today; I really didn’t know how to refuse her."
Back in the Northwest, Li Wei was under Qin Yang and had no connection with Feng Dajun.
Now that he had been transferred here, Li Wei was feeling overwheld, and Feng Dajun wasn’t soone easy to offend.
"It’s okay. If she troubles you next ti, just have your husband let Feng Dajun know, or make a bigger issue out of it. Everyone lives in the sa residential compound, who doesn’t know who? She can’t continue being shaless while you just tolerate her bullying."
Lin Chuxia wouldn’t tolerate her.
Initially, she might have given Sister-in-law Feng so face because of Feng Dajun, but now, Feng Dajun’s favor had run out.
Soon it was their turn to weigh their goods, and after paying, they could carry them ho.
Sister-in-law Fu had a small cart; Lin Chuxia hadn’t bought much, so she and Sister-in-law Fu managed to cart it back in one trip.
After carrying her own, she borrowed Sister-in-law Fu’s small cart again to help Jiang Hong with hers.
Jiang Hongyuan had planned to transport them slowly herself, and if really needed, wait for Li Wei to co back to help. Now with everything sorted out, she thanked Lin Chuxia profusely.
"No need to be polite, it’s just lending a hand."
After unloading the last cabbage, Lin Chuxia dusted off her hands.
"If you really want to thank , co to my house early this weekend. We plan to host a al for everyone; you can co over and give a hand."
She and Qin Yang had finally decided to host a al for everyone.
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