Chapter 397: Queuing
Chapter 397: Queuing
After having lunch at her parents' house, Jiang Xia took a short nap and woke up an hour later. By then, both her father and mother had left for work.
Jiang Xia's mother had packed two bags of baby items for her to take home, one with clothes, swaddles, and diapers made from the softest and most breathable fabrics, and another with maternity wear that she had personally selected.
The factory would start its holiday break in January, and with the year-end approaching, it was a relatively quiet period. However, the summer collection would soon be in production.
Jiang Xia left two chickens and a pound of sea cucumbers for her parents, asking her aunt to slaughter the chickens and store them in the refrigerator before leaving with Zhou Chenglei.
The couple first went to register their tractor.
There wasn't enough time in the morning to complete this task.
Fortunately, they had already submitted the necessary documents for the registration, and the license plate was ready. They could now directly install the plate.
After finishing the registration, they headed to the Friendship Mall. Jiang Xia wanted to buy bras, so she went in alone while asking Zhou Chenglei to look at other items.
The selection of bras was limited, but luckily, she was still young and attractive, so she didn't need any special features.
Jiang Xia picked out a few comfortable sports bras and vintage cotton bras.
After her purchase, she went to find Zhou Chenglei.
Seeing something in his hand, Jiang Xia asked, "What did you buy?"
"Clothes and a hairdryer," he replied.
Jiang Xia smiled, "You managed to get a hairdryer?"
It was often out of stock whenever they came.
Jiang Xia glanced at the items and noticed he had bought two sets of clothes for her.
"There are too many clothes already. I don't need more, and my mom also gave me a bag of clothes today."
"These two sets aren't that thick, and the weather isn't that cold yet. I bought them because I thought they'd look good on you," he explained.
"Now the wardrobe is full," Jiang Xia said.
"There's still an empty room on the second floor. We can add more wardrobes later to store the clothes," he suggested.
Zhou Chenglei took the items from Jiang Xia's hands and carried them himself.
Jiang Xia asked, "Did you get the water heater?"
"It's out of stock," he replied.
Jiang Xia's father had mentioned that the water heater might be out of stock, as it was still winter, and water heaters were in high demand.
The main reason was that during this era, the only domestic water heater available was the Yuhuan direct vent water heater, and the four major water heater brands had not yet emerged.
Zhou Chenglei inquired about the availability of stock, and the salesperson informed him that there would be stock available the next day, and it was a first-come, first-served basis.
Jiang Xia's father offered to buy one for them, but Zhou Chenglei wanted to purchase three, at least two.
One for the first floor and another for the second floor.
He considered asking someone else to help with the purchase but didn't want to trouble Jiang Xia's father.
The couple then bought three ceiling fans and saw that there were three Diamond Brand floor fans and one ceiling fan available.
Zhou Chenglei immediately used industrial coupons to purchase all of them.
Otherwise, during the summer, it would be challenging to find fans, and there would be long queues.
By the time they finished their errands, it was already past five in the afternoon.
Usually, Zhou Chenglei would have headed home, but at six, it was already dark, and driving the tractor in the dark was not safe.
With Jiang Xia by his side, he decided not to take the risk and opted to stay at Jiang's house for the night.
Zhou Chenglei called his mother to inform her that he would be staying at Jiang's house for the night and would return home the next day.
The next day, he woke up at 4:30 AM to queue for the electric water heater.
When he arrived, it was not yet five, and there was no one else in line.
The streets were also empty, probably due to the cold weather.
After a while, Jiang Xia's father joined the queue.
"Dad, it's so early, and it's freezing. Why did you get up so early? Go back and rest! I'll handle the queue," Zhou Chenglei said.
Jiang Xia's father laughed, "I exercise early every day. It's no problem. Let's queue together and buy one more. That way, both floors will have one."
Knowing that their new house had three floors, he realized that one water heater might not be enough.
Since he exercised early every day, he decided to join the queue.
Thus, father-in-law and son-in-law stood in the biting cold wind, chatting and waiting.
In the dimly lit street, their breath was visible as they spoke.
Before long, people started arriving, and the crowd gradually grew.
By dawn, the line had become quite long.
At 6:30 a.m., someone came to sell steamed buns to the people in line.
Zhou Chenglei bought some buns, but Jiang Fu reminded him not to buy too many as Jiang Mu would bring breakfast.
Zhou Chenglei bought four buns, two for himself and one each for Jiang Fu and Jiang Mu.
After eating the hot buns, they didn't feel as cold anymore.
At 7:30 a.m., Jiang Mu drove with Jiang Xia to bring breakfast for the two of them.
The mother and daughter got out of the car and said, "We brought breakfast; you can eat in the car! We'll join the line."
Jiang Xia added, "Dad, you can go to work after breakfast! Mom, you too. I'll handle the line."
"Okay," Jiang Fu replied, removing the scarf from his neck and wrapping it around his daughter's neck.
A passing journalist quickly captured this scene.
Only after ensuring his daughter was warm did Jiang Fu get into the car with his son-in-law to eat breakfast.
Neither of them had eaten enough, having only had two buns to fill their stomachs.
The people in line looked at the car and then at the mother and daughter.
Even with their wealth, they still had to get up early to line up for a water heater?
Some even recognized Jiang Fu, which shocked them even more! Everyone in line knew that the first few people had arrived before 5:00 a.m.!
After finishing his breakfast, Zhou Chenglei returned to his place in line.
Jiang Mu reminded the couple to be careful on their way home and then left for work with Jiang Fu.
At exactly 8:00 a.m., the store opened.
Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei each bought a water heater.
When asked why they were buying two, Zhou Chenglei replied, "One is for my parents."
He carried one water heater in one hand and went back to the Jiang family's home with Jiang Xia, driving the tractor back to the village and making a stop at the textile factory.
The fabric Jiang Xia had ordered was ready, and they successfully brought it home.
Upon returning to the village, it was only a little past 9:00 a.m.
Zhou Mu was busy stuffing sausages.
The courtyard was filled with slabs of dried ham, alternating between lean and fatty cuts.
After washing her hands, Jiang Xia put on an apron and sleeves and went to help.
Zhou Mu smiled and said, "I made pig's foot vinegar; you should try some."
Jiang Xia replied, "I'll eat later. Did you make all the sausages and ham from one pig?"
"Almost. I kept some lean meat, and the pig's leg meat is in the acquisition center's refrigerator for freshness. Alei said to keep it for making pork jerky. The pig's head, pig's blood, and offal were given to the neighbors. I have some pig's blood and a pig's stomach left, and I plan to make a pig stomach soup with chicken today. Your eldest sister-in-law wanted to sell half of her pig and keep the other half for ham. I took the other half and made it into ham and sausages. When Alei needs to send gifts at the end of the year, he can use them."
"We have one more pig. We can slaughter it the day before we move to the new house, so we won't need to buy pork. The remaining half will be given to your eldest brother."
"Okay," Jiang Xia replied.
Jiang Xia was skilled at stuffing sausages, and after Zhou Chenglei had moved all the necessary items, he joined in to help.
All three of them were efficient workers, and they finished stuffing several dozen pounds of meat in just one hour.
Zhou Chenglei took the sausages to dry on the rooftop of the new house.
Zhou Mu brought a few skewers to prick small holes in the sausages. In the living room, she noticed several fans on the floor, "Why did you buy so many fans?"
Jiang Xia laughed, "Perfect! Now we can have one fan per person per room, and the ceiling fan in the dining room will keep us cool during the summer when we eat and sleep."
Jiang Xia imagined the installation of the ceiling fan, thinking it wouldn't look bad, and even if it did, practicality was more important. Eating in the summer heat was truly uncomfortable!
"You're spending too much money on us," Zhou Mu thought, feeling both touched and concerned.
How could she not be happy when her son and daughter-in-law were so filial, always buying the best for them and never skimping?
The next day, the production team personally delivered the newspaper that Zhou Chenglei had ordered, excitedly saying, "You're in the newspaper!"
(End of Chapter)
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