Chapter 54 Preparing to Repair the House (Part 3)

In those days, private buying and selling was not allowed. It was said that some craftsmen in the brigade would secretly trade furniture and other items for money or food. The brigade headquarters turned a blind eye to this, as it was a case of "if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate."

But Qishui Brigade has its own rules. In this day and age, everyone values ​​grain and meat. In the countryside, work points are equivalent to money. The craftsmen in the brigade would send their finished products to the brigade headquarters for inspection. If they were sold, the brigade headquarters would collect money and give the craftsmen work points. At the end of the year, they could use their work points to distribute grain and meat.

In this way, they can openly do work to increase their family's income, and the brigade can also generate revenue as a result.

The most important thing is safety!

Once again, I feel that Qishui Brigade is really a great place.

Bai Nuo followed the brigade leader to the brigade headquarters warehouse and selected two kang cabinets that were 40 centimeters deep and 1.5 meters wide, a double-door wardrobe, and two wooden basins, one large and one small. Bai Nuo planned to buy these troublesome items with money to avoid wasting time.

She also picked out a door and window, choosing a wooden door covered with sheet metal as the backyard gate. This type of door is not commonly used in the countryside, but it is common in urban tenement buildings and is more secure than a plain wooden door. She heard from the brigade that this door was brought back from the county town by the brigade headquarters, but few villagers use it, and the remaining few are kept in the warehouse.

Then they chose a wooden door with a small glass window as the door to the backyard, and a six-pane window, but neither door nor window had glass, so they had to go to the county town to get it.

In addition, they selected several round logs over two meters long and about ten bamboo stalks as thick as a wrist. These thick bamboo stalks should have been freshly cut, still bright green, perfect for making bamboo doors for the bathroom and storage room. Bai Nuo had a way to preserve the natural color of the bamboo, so the finished product would definitely look good. They also selected a large bundle of thin bamboo poles to cover the roof of the small house, a bucket of furniture preservative paint, and borrowed some tools.

Although she had better tools, probably no one would believe that she would bring furniture-making tools with her when she went to the countryside, so she had to borrow some commonly used ones to cover it up.

Finally, the accountant did the math and, including the materials for building the wall, the kang (heated brick bed), and the stove, plus the cost of the furniture and labor, the total came to 28.96 yuan. He refunded 1.04 yuan without even needing a receipt.

Bai Nuo felt he made a great deal.

Just before leaving, Bai Nuo saw an abandoned old stone millstone and several thick wooden stakes in the corner of the warehouse.

"Uncle, can I have this old millstone and the wooden stake together?"

"What use do you have for this thing?"

The captain looked at the little girl strangely. He almost suspected that her family had fallen on hard times. Not only did she make her own furniture to save money, but she also took those junk items that they had no use for.

Bai Nuo smiled and looked up, saying calmly, "Take it back and make a table and chair set to put in the yard. You can have a drink of water or read a book there when you're resting."

"Can this thing be used to make tables and chairs?"

The brigade leader looked at the old millstone strangely. It was a piece that had been retired from their brigade's threshing ground. Since no one wanted it, it was temporarily put in the warehouse. As for the tree stumps, they were used by the villagers to chop firewood. They dug up a lot of dead tree stumps from the mountains, and since no one wanted the remaining ones, they piled them up in this warehouse.

He really couldn't understand how those two things could turn into tables and chairs.

"Yes, I can. I'm pretty good at crafts. Although I can't exchange what I make for anything else, I can still use it myself."

The captain smiled helplessly and waved his hand: "Take it back if you want it. It's not really useful anyway, it's just sitting there. You don't need to pay for it."

"Thank you, Captain Uncle." Bai Nuo's smile widened, looking like she had gotten a bargain, which made the captain even more suspicious that the girl's family might really be in dire straits.

The brigade leader went home and called his two sons to help Bai Nuo carry her things. He followed Bai Nuo, his curiosity growing, and couldn't help but ask, "You don't seem like an unloved girl. How come you're so young and you've come to the countryside? Are you really the only one left in the family who can go to the countryside?"

Bai Nuo glanced at the captain, pursed her lips, her smile fading slightly, and said softly, "To be honest, it's just me and my brother left in my family. My mother was in the Air Force and sacrificed her life on the battlefield a few years ago. Later, my brother also joined the army, so I signed up to go to the countryside as soon as I graduated from high school. After all, I'm already so old, and it's not easy to find a job in the city after graduating from high school. I can't keep being supported by my relatives. As a young person of the new era, I naturally have to strive to learn self-reliance. Only when I become strong can I live up to the country's cultivation of me, and I can't tarnish the reputation of my mother and brother. They are heroes, and they can't have a weak daughter and sister."

"Not bad, not bad. You look so small, but you have great ambitions. Once you're in our Qishui Brigade, live well, but don't push yourself too hard. Do what you can. If you have any difficulties, go to the organization or the leaders. If there's anything you can't say, go to your Aunt Cui'e. She's kind-hearted and straightforward, so don't worry about bothering her."

As a veteran, Wei Zhongping found it hard not to look at the children of fallen martyrs with special regard, especially since the girl herself was sensible and well-behaved.

This immediately softened the heart of the tough and upright captain, who even considered giving him special treatment in secret.

"Thank you, Captain Uncle. It's truly an honor for me to be assigned to our Qishui Brigade as an educated youth and join our big family. I'm so happy. It must be my mother's good fortune that brought me this."

Bai Nuo dared not speak of the spirit in heaven or anything like that. Although she was usually arrogant and domineering, she was very self-aware and pragmatic. She knew clearly that she could not be powerful enough to go against the legal system of the entire country.

Therefore, she has a very strong skill in speaking to people in a human way and to ghosts in a ghost way.

The brigade leader's two sons followed behind, each driving a horse-drawn carriage, watching their father and the young educated youth's backs with great curiosity.

"Brother, this is really strange. I actually saw heartache and tenderness on Dad's face. My God, even our sister doesn't have this ability."

Wei Qiang, the eldest son of the Wei family, rolled his eyes and said, "Our sister is such a tomboy that she often makes Dad think he has five sons. It's good enough if she can keep Dad from wielding the fire poker a few more times. Gentle? What are you thinking!"

Wei Jian, the second son of the Wei family, twitched his lips, glanced at the little girl walking not far ahead, and then thought of his own big and burly (not really) younger sister, and sighed softly.

He felt he couldn't refute his older brother.

When Bai Nuo returned to the educated youth compound, all the educated youth had already returned for their lunch break. Hearing the commotion, only Xie, an educated youth, came out. After greeting the brigade leader and his two sons, he helped move things.