Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 795 Heartfelt Intentions

Xiao Wei, Chen Hui, and Director Qin stood in the living room talking with Director Huang's father. Director Qin said, "I really liked this living room of this house. It's comfortable. It saves us from having to let guests come in and sit on the bed. The whole family can sit here, watch TV, and chat. It's so nice."

In those days, houses didn't have living rooms. Living rooms were a product of elevator buildings, brought in by real estate developers from Singapore and Hong Kong Island. In the 1990s, elevator buildings were a standard feature and a sign of status. By the late 1990s, with the popularization of commercial housing, they gradually became more common.

Mr. Huang looked around the room and said, "It's nice and spacious, but it's a bit wasteful. Several people could fit in here if you squeezed in."

Xiao Hong and Chen Xiao came up carrying the child: "Are you hungry? I got some cake and bread, let the child have a few bites first." Xiao Hong handed the bag to Xiao Wei. Xiao Hui stared with wide eyes, holding a piece of cake with cake crumbs and drool all over his face. He looked at Chen Hui, grinned, and handed the cake to Chen Hui, saying "Mmm."

Chen Hui kissed his son on the cheek: "Dad doesn't want to eat it, you eat it."

Xiao Wei asked, "Where's Geng Hui? I've noticed that since she had the baby, she doesn't really want to go out anymore; she just stays indoors all day."

Chen Xiao said, "It'll be better in a while. It's not easy to manage a small baby. We have to bring a lot of things when we go out, and we have to feed the baby eighteen times a day. It's inconvenient. I see all the things are piled up outside. Why don't you pack them up? What are you waiting for?"

Xiao Wei said, "They've gone to get the furniture. This is Grandpa Huang. Grandpa, this is Xiao Hui's wife, and this is my wife." Grandma Huang pulled Huang Yuting out of the house and said, "Old man, what about lunch? Our granddaughter is hungry."

Xiao Wei said, "This is Auntie, and this is Huang Yuting. I brought this cake. Whoever is hungry can have a bite first. We'll eat dinner when the furniture comes back. It's all ready." He handed the cake over, and Auntie Huang took it and gave it to her granddaughter, saying, "Oh my, this is good stuff, it smells so good." She handed Huang Yuting a big piece.

Xiao Hong took the birthday cake base, broke it up and picked it up without it looking very nice.

Huang Yuting took a bite and her eyes lit up: "Delicious, really delicious. I know there's a cake bakery across the street, right? I can smell it." The air in this area is filled with the aroma of baking bread and cakes all day long, sweet and fragrant, and it does smell really good.

Huang's mother said, "Don't you have so many questions? This house was built by this uncle, why don't you ask him?"

Huang Yuting felt a little embarrassed, so she lowered her head, ate her cake, and hid behind her grandmother.

A car honked downstairs. Director Qin glanced at his watch and said, "The furniture's back. Come on, is the floor all mopped? Let's go out and have them move it inside. Sister-in-law, you direct how they put it all."

Huang Yuting asked her grandmother in a low voice, "Grandma, what's furniture?"

Aunt Huang said, "It's just a bed, a table, and a cabinet. Otherwise, would you really sleep on the floor?" The little girl twisted her body shyly.

A short while later, a group of police officers carried in the belongings—beds, cabinets, sofas—arranging them room by room. They also helped move in the items that had been piled up outside. The Huang family began to tidy up and arrange the furniture. One of the police officers asked, "Captain Qin, where do we put the extra beds?"

Director Qin said, "Take it upstairs, find the biggest room, and put it in the master bedroom. Bring me the key."

Several policemen carried a television up, followed by a washing machine and a refrigerator. Grandpa Huang said, "I don't have any of these. There must be a mistake!"

Several policemen said, "That's right, Chief Lu and his men brought it over. We're just helping to carry it." The new TV was placed in Chief Huang's room, along with a washing machine, a refrigerator, and two floor fans.

Huang's wife came over: "Dad, is this the TV and the washing machine?"

Grandpa Huang said, "It was bought for Jianya by his work unit. It's a token of their appreciation, so I'll keep it and remember their kindness."

Director Lu, Xiao Liu, and the instructor came in. Director Lu looked around and said, "Except for the lack of an elevator, it's not much different from the other buildings. Xiao Wei's house is well-built."

Hao Dawei came in with two other people carrying things: "Xiaowei, where should we put this?"

Xiao Wei said, "Put it in the kitchen, separate the two sides, and arrange and pack it properly."

After the washing machine and refrigerator were set up, the police carried the packing boxes out. The house was almost tidied up, the bed was made, and the clothes were put into the closet. Huang Jianzhong and Huang Jianguo came out of the house, both quite happy, no longer having to squeeze onto a small kang bed.

Hao Dawei led the two men to install the stove, connect the gas pipe, and test it with a lighter. The gas was supplied from unit 606, so there was plenty of gas and the flame was strong.

Grandma Huang said to Huang Yuting, "See? From now on, we won't burn coal anymore, we'll just use this, it's cleaner."

Huang Yuting stared at the stove with wide eyes in surprise and said, "We don't have to carry soil and coal anymore, that's great!"

Xiao Wei said, "Alright, are you done tidying up? Let's go downstairs for lunch. We'll just grab something to eat in the cafeteria today."

Everyone went downstairs to the courtyard of the noodle food factory across the street, went up to the second floor and sat down in the canteen.

The smell of grilled food here is even stronger, overpowering the aroma of the rice and vegetables.

Huang Yuting leaned against her mother and whispered, "Mom, I see it! It's all bread and cakes! Those uncles and aunts are so lucky." In the early 90s, bread, cakes, and instant noodles were not foods that ordinary families could afford.

Xiao Hong reached out and patted Huang Yuting's head, smiling as she said, "Yuting will be happy from now on. You can eat whatever you want here, as much as you want, Auntie will make sure you have plenty, okay?"

Huang Yuting blushed and hid behind her mother, her eyes full of hope, but she shook her head and said, "No, my family doesn't have any money." Xiao Hong's eyes immediately reddened, and she smiled and said, "It's free, Auntie will give it to you."

Huang Yuting didn't know how to answer and looked up at her mother. Her sister-in-law said, "Don't spoil her. Children believe everything they hear. This is all money."

Xiaohong said, "Sister-in-law, won't you be coming to work here too? There will be benefits every day. We have two kinds of bread and cakes. Fresh ones are sold on the same day and won't be kept overnight. The ones that aren't sold at night can be taken home by everyone to eat. The quantity is uncertain, but there will always be some every few days."

Chen Xiao said, "The cafeteria here is free, with three meals a day. You can bring Yuting here to eat too, but you'll have to get up early in the morning." Aunt Huang was a little embarrassed and said, "I'm clumsy and not very good at anything, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it well."

Xiao Hong said, "It's okay. They just arrived and don't know anything yet. They'll learn slowly. It's actually quite simple. I can even steam cakes in a rice cooker at home now."

Huang Yuting asked quietly from the side, "Auntie, what kind of pot is a rice cooker?"

Xiaohong said, "A rice cooker is a pot for cooking rice. You plug it in, put in rice and water, and press the switch, and it cooks the rice by itself. You have one at home too, so you can use it from now on."

Huang Yuting blushed and said, "Now I know why a refrigerator is called a refrigerator—it's cool inside when you open it. An electric fan just turns on when you plug it in and blows air. I don't know about washing machines yet; can they wash clothes by themselves?"

Xiaohong said, "Someone has to put it in. Put the dirty clothes in, add laundry detergent, then add water, and then it can wash. After it washes, someone has to take the clothes out and hang them up to dry."

The little girl suddenly frowned: "Oh dear, there's nowhere to hang clothes to dry at home, there's nowhere."

(End of this chapter)