usatvline Chapter 108 Exchange of gifts
Chapter 108 Exchange of gifts
Not to mention how many times the gossip has been talked about among the villagers, even in this cold winter when it is inconvenient to travel, the rumors can spread to several nearby brigades, which shows how enthusiastic the locals are about gossiping.
After the sumptuous and delicious New Year’s Eve dinner, the gift-exchanging session that Xue Li was most looking forward to arrived.
Jiang Yu took out five wooden boxes with mortise and tenon joints. She made them by herself after observing several households in the village using old-style window frames. They were a bit crude.
Xue Li prepared 5 small cloth bags.
The gifts given by male educated youth were also different.
Everyone can choose one gift from the ones in front of them.
Jiang Yu placed the gift he had chosen in front of him and opened it with everyone else.
The gifts Fu Biao prepared were very practical, they were sugar coupons and cloth coupons, both of which were very hard to come by in the countryside.
Xiong Lijin was the rich man in the group, and each member of the group had a white shirt, which he brought back from buying goods in the south.
Chen Jinghan took out the batteries that she had bought from somewhere else in advance, 10 per person, which was really not a small amount;
Wu Aiqing prepared homemade herbal bags to repel insects and prevent moisture, which are also daily necessities and have a light fragrance that smells good;
As for Xue Li, she prepared a pair of pure handmade woolen gloves and a pair of coarse woolen socks for everyone. All of them were finely constructed and it was obvious that she put a lot of thought into them.
Jiang Yu's gift must be the best tonight. She made models of all the transportation tools she had seen on the market with iron wire, including bicycles, tractors, cars, minibuses and trains.
Generally speaking, men all like cars, and with Xue Li being able to appreciate armored vehicles with exaggerated shapes, everyone couldn't put down the small and exquisite model and would occasionally exclaim in amazement at some of the details on the model.
For a moment, everyone had a deeper understanding of Jiang Yu's dexterity.
"Jiang Yu, do you want to try making a model of an ancient building?" Xiong Lijin happened to have an old geographical magazine, which was a collection of treasures published in earlier years. It compiled famous places of interest across the country, which was different from the usual style of their magazine.
He said this simply because Jiang Yu's work can be almost 100% restored to the real thing, so why not challenge some difficult buildings? Of course, it doesn't mean to do the most difficult ones right away, just start with the simple ones.
And she is also studying mortise and tenon structures. It just so happens that mortise and tenon structures are widely used in ancient architecture. If one wants to study it in depth, she can use it as a practice.
Jiang Yu didn't know much about this, but she was good at making models. "Can I take a look at what they look like first? I've never observed ancient buildings before, so I don't have any idea."
"Wait a minute, I'll get it for you." Xiong Lijin quickly put down the model, jumped off the kang, and went back to the room to rummage through the box.
Fu Biao took the car model he won. The tires could also turn and were very smooth. Jiang Yu must have been lubricated. It was too delicate! The tough guy sighed.
I want this too. It would look so nice if the sedan and the minibus were put together!
Soon Xiong Lijin came back with a thick magazine. He handed it to Jiang Yu and said, "You probably can't buy this now. Be careful when you read it."
Jiang Yu nodded. These days everything is in short supply, including books.
A few people chatted and laughed until midnight, and only returned to their rooms after two cannon shots were fired in the village.
On the first day of the new year, Jiang Yu held the magazine and read it all day long.
In the evening, an unexpected guest came.
Tuanzi had a small cloth bag hanging around his neck. He climbed over the wall of the educated youth site, pulled on Jiangyu's window and stood up, calling out in a very quiet voice, "Woo woo."
If Jiang Yu didn't have sensitive hearing, she might not have heard it. She turned her head and looked outside. Tuanzi's big round eyes were as bright as small light bulbs under the light.
Jiang Yu quickly opened the window, and Tuanzi flexibly flipped sideways into the room. He knew not to shake off the snow on the kang, so he landed directly and started shaking his fur.
Jiangyu closed the window, rubbed Tuanzi's head, and asked it softly, "Why are you here?"
Tuanzi put his front paws on the edge of the kang and tilted his head back to show her the small cloth bag around his neck.
Jiang Yu puzzledly untied the knot behind Tuanzi's neck, took down the small cloth bag, put it on the table and opened it. Inside was a slender wooden box. As soon as it was removed from the cloth wrapping, it exuded a light and elegant fragrance. Different from the sandalwood last time, this time the fragrance was fresher.
There was a buckle on the front of the wooden box. Jiang Yu pushed open the ivory buckle and opened the box. On the black velvet was a green string of millet beads. There was also a small note underneath with the words "New Year's gift" written on it.
Well, this gift must be worth a lot, much more valuable than the cloth she gave.
Jiang Yu held her forehead with her hand. Yi Chi was like this every time, which only made her feel pressured. It was the same with the radio last time. If the two of them were just having normal interactions, there was really no need to use such an expensive thing as a gift.
Jiang Yu took out a notebook from the box, tore half of it and began to write: It's too expensive, I can't accept it. If you want to give me a gift in return, I would rather receive delicious food.
After writing, I put it in the small box, closed the lid, and wrapped it up again. Then I touched Tuanzi's head and asked it to take the gift back.
Tuanzi didn't understand, so he just blinked his eyes, then jumped out of Jiangyu's window obediently, put force on his feet, easily climbed over the wall, and disappeared.
After packing up his things, Jiang Yu washed up and went to bed, flipping through a magazine and getting ready to sleep.
Over there, Yi Chi received a gift that he hadn't given out, and buried his head in Tuanzi's belly in distress, "Giving gifts is so difficult~"
"Ahh?" Tuanzi didn't understand. He kicked the head on his belly twice with his hind legs. Seeing that the other party was unwilling to leave, he stopped struggling. His body softened and he lay down.
The New Year gradually fades away with the sound of firecrackers, and after March, the temperature gradually rises.
During this period, Jiang Yu handed over the two bicycles that had been dragged for a long time to Xiong Lijin, and let him decide how to deal with them.
The notice to take up the post that Zhuang Mingde had been waiting for all winter finally arrived.
Uncle Liu sat on the edge of the kang and watched his son open the letter. He didn't know what was written inside, but he could still see that his son's expression was getting worse and worse.
"What's wrong?" Uncle Liu couldn't sit still anymore.
Zhuang Mingde finished reading the letter, took two deep breaths, and then replied dejectedly, "The job is confirmed, but it's not a good one. I'm working as a clerk in the security department of the cannery."
"What? Not even a section chief?" Uncle Liu was shocked. His son was a deputy company commander in the army, so how come he could only be a section clerk after transferring to the local area? One was a level 17 worker and the other was a level 23 worker. Isn't that too much of a drop?
"And it's the cannery on the west side of the town." Although Zhuang Mingde was out of town, his father was still in the village and would tell him about new things from time to time. Naturally, he knew the current situation of the cannery on the west side of the town.
The Hongqi Commune Canning Factory initially produced canned fish and meat. Then, a few years ago, the leadership changed and they added a line of canned fruit. However, because most of the fruits here are pears, their sales volume cannot be compared with canned fruits such as yellow peaches and oranges, so the factory's profits have been dragged down, and it has been in a slump until now.
Uncle Liu clenched his fists suddenly, his mind was in a mess, and he wanted to ask his old leader for help again, but his old leader's personality...
Then he thought of Yang Lijuan's miscarriage, and the death of his wife and children, and those so-called retributions. He hesitated again, and felt very twisted.
"Dad?" Zhuang Mingde saw his strange expression and called him quickly, "Dad, it's good to be a good person. It's a job after all. Others want to get this job but have no place to work."