Cheng Liguo got a permit and went to get daily necessities and some rations. He then went to the coal supply point to get coal and borrowed a cart. It took him five trips to pull all the coal briquettes.
"Brother Yuan, these coals are for you. Also, these sausages are sent by my daughter. Try them."
Cheng Liguo brought the last two trucks of coal to Yuan Guangming's place, ate half a month's worth of his food rations, and slept on his kang for half a month. He now had to pay back what he owed. It had not been easy for anyone.
Yuan Guangming saw that Cheng Liguo was spending lavishly and had received two large packages today. He thought they must have been sent by his daughter or his friend.
"Xiao Cheng, my daughter sent a package."
"Yes, Brother Yuan, here it is. My daughter put it in a cotton-padded jacket and sent it with the package. There are two packages, one for each of us."
Cheng Liguo handed the "Pegasus" brand cigarettes in his hand to Yuan Guangming. Yuan Guangming's eyes lit up when he saw the cigarettes. He quickly took it, opened his mouth carefully, and took out one.
He was reluctant to smoke right away, but instead held the cigarette under his nose and smelled it for a long time before lighting it. He took a deep breath, and the smoke slowly came out, forming circles that floated upwards.
He reluctantly threw away the cigarette until it burned his fingers, and then returned the remaining pack of cigarettes to Cheng Liguo. This place was short of everything, and cigarettes were a scarce commodity.
"Take it. I have another pack here. I don't smoke a lot. I only smoke when I'm bored."
Cheng Liguo shook his head. He was actually a heavy smoker, but his daughter wrote in the letter that cigarettes were the most harmful to the lungs, so he must slowly reduce the frequency of smoking. In addition, she would send him a package every month.
Yuan Guangming nodded, put the cigarette into his pocket and patted it with his hand. He looked so cautious, which made Cheng Liguo feel sad.
Yuan Guangming's family is also a capitalist. He has lived a life of luxury for most of his life, but when he is old, he is sent here to suffer hardship. It is a big blow both mentally and in life.
Moreover, when he was in the most difficult time, his wife and children ran away with his money. It was said that they ran to the other side of the sea, which made his already difficult life even worse.
"Xiao Cheng, don't worry about me. I believe that light will come eventually, just like my name."
Cheng Liguo nodded, and the two brothers started to cook. Cheng Liguo took out the white rice, and Yuan Guangming quickly took out a large spoonful of sorghum rice and mixed it in. You know, their daily workload is not small, so their appetite is huge.
"What matters to us now is to have enough to eat, not to eat well."
Cheng Liguo nodded. After working as deputy factory director for so many years, he almost forgot the hard life in the past. He needed to reflect on himself.
"Let me tell you about your daughter. She is very capable to prepare so many things for you in such a short time."
When Yuan Guangming saw Cheng Liguo put a sausage in the pot and steam it with rice, he asked curiously.
"My daughter is a spoiled child who doesn't know the dangers of the world. She was tricked by the fake daughter-in-law I found. Now it's my turn."
Yuan Guangming grew up in a large family, so he knew the trick as soon as he heard it. He shook his head involuntarily. Women are creatures that you either treat well or stay away from. Otherwise, you will suffer the consequences.
"My daughter went to the countryside and married a local man. These things should have been obtained by this man. Of course, the money must have been provided by my daughter."
"Oh, your son-in-law seems to be a capable man to be able to get such good things at a time like this."
"Humph, as long as he treats my daughter well, I will recognize him. Otherwise, when I am free, I will naturally go and settle accounts with him."
Li Huan's ears suddenly started to itch, so he took off his gloves and cleaned his ears, but his ears were clean and there was nothing inside.
"Li Huan, what's wrong with you?"
Cheng Qiao, who was taking things out of a house in the county town, was surprised to see Li Huan suddenly stop moving.
"Coincidentally, my ears are itchy, but there's nothing in them."
"Then someone must be thinking about you."
Li Huan shook his head. In his life, besides his mother and sister, there was only Cheng Qiao. Who else could care about him? He shook his head and continued to take notes with a pen.
"What a coincidence! This batch of stuff can probably be sold at a good price. Right now the market is short of meat, rice, fruit, and fish. You can even get fish out. That's amazing."
Cheng Qiao took out a few skewers of oden and handed them to Li Huan, and then took out a few skewers for herself and started eating. After pregnancy, she got hungry easily, so Cheng Qiao had to eat something from time to time.
"Li Huan, do you need anything else?"
"Is there any cotton? Uncle Niu told me last time that he wanted to make a cotton coat, but I forgot."
Cheng Qiao took out two quilts weighing eight kilograms from the space. There was no cotton, but she could take it out from the quilts. She also had no cloth, so she could only take off the quilt cover.
"Wife, this quilt can be sold for a hundred yuan in the market. Do you have any left? Take out some and sell it to send the money to your father. He will definitely need money and tickets."
Cheng Qiao nodded and took out two more quilts. There was no other way, as she only had space for two quilts. After taking them all, she had to wait for the empty space to be automatically filled before she could take more.
In a blink of an eye, the two rooms on the second entrance were filled with supplies, and at this time, the door of the second entrance was knocked violently.
Li Huan's heart shuddered. This was not the skinny monkey's secret signal for knocking on the door, and from the sound of the knocking, he knew there were a lot of people outside.
"Li Huan, is Skinny Monkey here? Why are you here so early today?"
"Coincidence, no, we are exposed."
Cheng Qiao's face also changed. With a thought, all the things in one room were collected into the space. He then ran to another room and collected the things as well.
Li Huan took a look at the empty room, then ran to the door in a calm mood to open it. A man with a fat face was about to kick the door, but unexpectedly the door opened suddenly. Without the force point, one of his legs naturally fell across the ground.
"ah… "
The ligaments of a fat man are not so loose, and he screamed in pain when he did a split. Li Huan tried his best to hold back his laughter, ran forward, and helped the man up.
"Comrade, why are you kicking my door? I don't seem to know you, and it's impossible for me to owe you money."
The man took Li Huan's hand and stood up with force. He kept rubbing his legs. It was so painful. Then he squinted his eyes and looked at Li Huan. He looked like a ruffian, not like a black marketeer at all.
"I received a report that you were engaging in speculation here, so I came to conduct a search."
"Comrade, you must have made a mistake. I am a farmer. Whose chicken did I steal and whose broom did I knock over?"
"Search..."
The fat man was not willing to waste time with Li Huan, so he waved his hand and ordered people to go in and search immediately.