Chapter 43 The Forty-Third Day of Not Running Anymore The forty-third day of not running...

Chapter 43 The Forty-Third Day of Not Running Anymore The forty-third day of not running...

"Don't take what these people say to heart."

On the way back, Wen Chan saw Chen Bo with a furrowed brow and couldn't help but say a few words to mediate.

No matter how capable Chen Bozheng may seem, he is still just a young man in his early twenties. Young people are prone to being soft-hearted and having a strong sense of pride. It's inevitable that he will feel bad after being offended by a few words.

Chen Bozheng didn't react at first, but seeing Wen Chan looking at him with concern, he came to his senses, smiled, and touched his nose. "I've already forgotten what that person said. I was thinking of taking advantage of my free time these past few days to inquire about the market prices for building factories and the prices of cement and steel bars."

So that's what it was about.

Wen Chan said, "You really need to take this seriously. Building a factory is no different from other things. If you don't take it seriously, you don't know how many times you'll get ripped off."

Putting aside everything else, the price of steel bars, cement, and hardware alone is a topic of much discussion.

The same ton of cement can be sold for 120 yuan per ton or 230 yuan per ton. It's the same product, but they sell it at different prices, which is a rip-off for laymen.

Chen Bozheng said, "Then you just take care of the family. Don't worry about the New Year's goods. I'll ask Fengzi's mother to help with that."

Wen Chan readily agreed, but in reality, he didn't listen to him at all.

If we're talking about other things, then forget about it, but preparing for the New Year is a really fun thing.

Even though Wen Chan is currently in poor health and too lazy to move, she is still willing to join in the fun.

As the year draws to a close, the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year grows stronger.

Every now and then, you can hear the sound of firecrackers going off in the streets and alleys, as well as the laughter of children running in and out.

One advantage of living in a tenement is that you are well-informed; even without asking around, you can hear a lot of news from the neighbors.

For example, someone's future son-in-law or daughter-in-law came to visit, or someone bought a color TV and invited everyone to their house to watch the Spring Festival Gala during the Chinese New Year.

Liu Yan was still busy with her clothing business. She had invested in Chen Bozheng's auto repair shop, but she was a diligent person, and since the clothing business was good at the end of the year, she did not neglect her original business.

She brought Wen Chan a down jacket early this morning.

After Wen Chan put it on, Liu Yan looked her up and down and praised, "This dress is only suitable for you. It looks really stylish. Girl, if you weren't unwell, I would like to invite you to be a model next to our stall. Just standing there, I guarantee that many people would be willing to pay for it."

Wen Chan took off her down jacket: "Sister Yanzi, don't be so modest. You have a great figure, and this jacket is great too. How could it not sell?"

She wanted to return the clothes to Liu Yan.

Liu Yan pressed her hand down firmly, "No, take it, take it. This dress was specially picked out for you. You sent our family so many local specialties from Shanghai before, and we don't have anything to give back. If you don't mind, take this dress back and wear it."

Wen Chan knew that Liu Yan could afford the gift, so she didn't stand on ceremony. "Thank you very much. When do you close your business? It's almost New Year's Eve."

Liu Yan said, "It's still early. I'm thinking of selling for a morning on New Year's Eve and coming back around noon."

"Why are you working so hard?" Wen Chan asked in surprise, "Will there be anyone on the streets on New Year's Eve?"

A hint of helplessness flashed across Liu Yan's face. "Staying at home, my parents nag me every day. It's better to go out and do some business, earn some money, and at least have some peace and quiet."

As Liu Yan was speaking, she caught a glimpse of Lin Qingfeng's mother coming in with her two children. She looked somewhat embarrassed, greeted Lin's mother and the others, and then left.

Wen Chan noticed that Lin's mother's expression was also somewhat subtle, but pretended not to know and said to Lin's mother, "Auntie, let me pack my things, and we'll go buy New Year's goods now."

Chen Bo was rushing around the city and outskirts, inquiring about the price of cement and steel bars for building factories, all in preparation for the end of the year.

He had many friends and was willing to spend money, so he quickly learned how to distinguish between good and bad cement and whether the steel bars were new.

He was also careless, and it wasn't until New Year's Eve that he realized that Wen Chan had been running around with Lin's mother and the others buying New Year's goods for the past few days.

On New Year's Eve, we eat dumplings.

I pulled out two plump, fresh cabbages from the pile of cabbages by the kitchen door, peeled off their outer leaves, and cut off the outer stems on the cutting board. The fresh aroma of the cabbages wafted out.

As Chen Bo was chopping cabbage, he glanced at Wen Chan and said, "You're quite good at keeping secrets. If Aunt Lin hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you'd been running around outside these past few days."

The fat man spent the New Year with them and was assigned the task of kneading dough and rolling dumpling wrappers.

As he worked, he laughed and said, "No wonder you bought so many New Year's goods this year. Aunt Lin would never have bought so much. It's definitely my sister-in-law who bought them."

Wen Chan felt a little guilty, "I didn't buy much."

Chen Bo laughed angrily, pointing to two cases of Coke and Beibingyang soda in the corner of the living room, lotus root slices, fried meatballs, large ribbonfish, and fat chicken and duck on the table, as well as stuffed sausages, "This is not a lot. This stuff is more than enough to eat for half a month."

"And here's a big bag of snacks, chocolates and candies. Who in our family can eat all of that?"

As Chen Bozheng was saying this, he went over and picked up the bag of snacks, saying, "These things are confiscated."

"No, please." Wen Chan quickly grabbed his hand, a smile on her face. "Chen Bozheng, I bought these for the children. Think about it, during the holidays, when people come to visit, we have to prepare some New Year's goods to entertain them."

Chen Bo pointed to the bag: "Did you buy this for them?"

Wen Chan felt guilty and breathless. "Well, it's not excessive for me to eat one or two chocolates occasionally."

"The doctor said you can't eat these." Chen Bo's expression was unusually serious. "Forget about those fatty chickens and ducks, but do you want to die if you eat these things?"

Wen Chan looked at the bag of chocolates and candies, feeling like crying but unable to.

In her past life, she struggled to make ends meet. When she was studying, it was because of poverty, and when she was working, it was because she was busy with work, especially watching the food, making it difficult to eat on time. As a result, she developed a habit of always keeping chocolates and candies on the table.

Chen Bozheng gave her a lot of foreign exchange certificates, which could be used to buy foreign goods at the Friendship Store. Wen Chan didn't buy anything else, but she bought a lot of ice cream, chocolate and candy.

She had even planned it out, secretly hiding it in her room, and sneaking away one or two later. She wouldn't eat much, but she really craved it.

Little did I expect that just yesterday, after I bought the items, I ran into Chen Bozheng coming home, and he confiscated them.

"Fine, you can keep it, I won't eat it." Wen Chan reluctantly turned her head away.

Chen Bozheng softened when he saw her like that. "I learned to make cabbage dumplings from Grandpa Guo. They taste really good. I also have boiled peanuts. If you're craving something sweet, have these."

Wen Chan stared at Chen Bozheng, speechless and choked with emotion.

Who's craving boiled peanuts?

Fortunately, Chen Bozheng wasn't exaggerating. The cabbage dumplings he made were really delicious. The cabbage was fresh and sweet this season. He chopped it up, mixed it with some minced meat, added some scallion and ginger water for seasoning, and served it with authentic Shanxi vinegar. It tasted better than any Western food.

If Wen Chan were to say what she was most satisfied with about Chen Bozheng, it would be that his cooking skills were truly excellent.

We ate dinner around four or five in the evening. Although there were only three of us, the table was full of dishes. Chen Bozheng even made a Qianlong cabbage for Wen Chan, just like coaxing a child.

After dinner, all the children from each household ran out to play.

The Chen family home suddenly became lively. Knowing that Chen Bozheng and Wen Chan were being generous, the children from the large courtyard all came over to offer their New Year's greetings, dressed in new clothes.

Chen Bo was handing the bag of chocolates to Wen Chan.

Wen Chan glanced at him, then smiled and grabbed one hand for each of the children.

"It's a gold coin chocolate!?"

Lin Qingfeng's younger siblings said with delight.

What is chocolate?

"Erniu, you really don't know anything. It's something foreigners eat. It's delicious, but very expensive. You can only buy it at the Friendship Store."

The child who said that clearly has some knowledge.

Don't be fooled by Beijing being the capital; the gap between the rich and poor is enormous. In their courtyard, things are considered relatively good, at least the children can afford to go to school and their parents have jobs. In some shantytowns, however, the parents are all temporary workers, and the children, let alone go to school, have to learn to do odd jobs when they are five or six years old, such as picking up coal nuggets or collecting rotten vegetable leaves at the market.

These kids probably've never even heard of chocolate.

Hearing that there were chocolates and candies available, all the children flocked to the Chen family's house.

Although Wen Chan had interacted with many of her neighbors, she knew quite a bit who was a child from the tenement and who wasn't.

She recognized many of the children as being from other courtyards, but she didn't say it aloud; instead, she gave each of them two.

Children from poor families eat little good food; even during the Lunar New Year, their meals are at most slightly better than usual.

The monk's mother came over to join in the fun, and seeing those unfamiliar faces, she exclaimed, "Hey, you guys, you're not from our courtyard, why are you here to wish us a Happy New Year?"

"Mom!" The monk pulled his mother up.

The children looked embarrassed, their faces flushed, holding the chocolates and candies, unsure whether to accept them or not.

Wen Chan laughed and said, "What's the big deal? It's the New Year, the more people, the more lively it is. Take it and eat it, and say 'Wishing you prosperity'."

"May you be happy and prosperous."

An older girl reacted quickly and sweetly said, "Uncle and Auntie, may you have a baby soon."

Wen Chan: "..."

With that child taking the lead, the other children followed suit, chattering about auspicious things.

Wen Chan distributed the items among them, and those who arrived late were given a handful of peanuts and melon seeds as a token of appreciation.

Not long after the monk and his mother arrived, Lin Qingfeng's family followed, and Liu Yan also came quickly. She only stayed for a short while before leaving, saying she had to go home to keep watch at night.

Wen Chan didn't think much of it. She was in a good mood today. In her past life, every New Year was a time of gloom and misery for her family. Her father was a gambling addict who owed a lot of debts. At the end of the year, creditors would come knocking on the door, and they would be too busy hiding to have any energy to celebrate the New Year.

Every year, she envies other people's homes, which are bustling with activity, joy, and crowds of people.

Later, when he had money, he was all alone in a foreign land. Even though he was rich, he didn't feel like celebrating the New Year by himself.

Although this was her first time celebrating the Lunar New Year, it was the happiest year she had ever had in all her years.

After the midnight countdown at the Spring Festival Gala, everyone went home.

Wen Chan was also feeling sleepy and was about to go back to her room to sleep when Chen Bozheng called her back.

Chen Bo took a red brocade bag out of his pocket and stuffed it into Wen Chan's hand, saying, "Here's your New Year's money."

After saying this, he turned and went back into the house.

They walked in a hurry.

Wen Chan looked at the red satin bag with surprise. It had a small embroidered button on it. When she opened it, she found a golden heart necklace inside.

Wen Chan paused for a moment, stared at the necklace for a long time, then hurriedly put it away and hid it in her pocket.