Chapter 500: Retrieving the Documents
Chapter 500: Retrieving the Documents
Jiang Xia woke up to find that her parents had already left for work, leaving a large bag of items on the cabinet by the door, all carefully packed by her parents with instructions for Zhou Chenglei to bring home.
The bag contained clothes and toys her father had bought on a business trip, as well as various snacks and fruits.
Jiang Xia took a glance inside: "They say that out of ten daughters, nine are thieves, and this saying is true."
Every time she returned, she would bring back a large bag of things.
Zhou Chenglei said, "It's a gift from Mom and Dad."
His father had not only bought clothes for the children but also for her.
Jiang Xia picked up a few sets of children's clothes and suggested, "Why don't we leave these sets here? Then, when we bring the kids over, we won't need to bring extra clothes."
The couple also had their clothes here, so they wouldn't need to pack when staying overnight.
Zhou Chenglei agreed, "Okay, I'll wash them first and leave a note asking Mom and Dad to help put them away in the wardrobe."
"Okay."
So, Zhou Chenglei took the few sets of clothes Jiang Xia had set aside and went to wash them.
Jiang Xia headed to her father's study to write the note and looked for a book to read in the living room to pass the time.
Jiang Xia was engrossed in her reading when suddenly, she heard the sound of the door opening.
She thought it might be Feng Yi, but when she turned around, she was surprised to see Lei Yuzhen.
Lei Yuzhen and another middle-aged woman were both startled to see someone in the room.
Lei Yuzhen was the first to react, greeting Jiang Xia warmly, "Sister-in-law."
The other woman was the factory's procurement officer, and she recognized Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia used to play at the factory when she was younger, and she smiled and greeted Jiang Xia, "Xia Xia, the factory manager asked us to pick up a procurement report. She forgot to bring it back to the factory and said it was in the study at home."
Jiang Xia nodded and stood up, "I'll get it for you."
Zhou Chenglei, who was in the bathroom, heard the voices and quickly came out. He saw the two women.
Lei Yuzhen called out, "Brother-in-law."
The procurement officer also greeted, "Comrade Zhou."
Zhou Chenglei nodded without showing much expression.
Jiang Xia explained, "My mom asked them to come and get the procurement report. I'll go to the study to find it for them."
After saying this, Jiang Xia walked into the study.
Since the bathroom was inside the kitchen, Zhou Chenglei had come out from the kitchen. Lei Yuzhen saw him with his sleeves rolled up and his hands wet, and she assumed he had been washing dishes. She thought to herself, 'Brother-in-law married a young mistress and now has to do the dishes at his in-laws' house.'
"Please sit down," Zhou Chenglei invited them to sit.
Under Zhou Chenglei's stern demeanor, the procurement officer sat down awkwardly.
Lei Yuzhen intentionally acted friendly towards Zhou Chenglei in front of the procurement officer, engaging in small talk: "Brother-in-law, has Xu Ling and her boyfriend decided on their wedding? I heard from my aunt that they're planning to get married?"
Zhou Chenglei glanced at the Jiang family's keys in Lei Yuzhen's hand and replied indifferently, "I don't know."
He hadn't paid much attention to such matters, only vaguely remembering Jiang Xia mentioning that Xu Ling had chosen a date in September for her wedding. But he generally didn't involve himself in other people's affairs.
Jiang Xia quickly returned with a file bag and asked the procurement officer, "Is this the one?"
The procurement officer stood up, took the file bag with both hands, opened it, and confirmed with a smile, "Yes, this is it. We should be off then; we still need to go and order some fabric."
"Okay."
Lei Yuzhen smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, sister-in-law, we're off!"
"Okay!" Jiang Xia glanced at her and replied.
Lei Yuzhen had been working at the factory for over two months, and her skin had become much fairer. Her clothing and style had also become more fashionable, making her even more beautiful.
As the two women left, they closed the door behind them.
Zhou Chenglei returned to finish washing the clothes, hung them out to dry, and then the couple also left. They were going to buy a small wooden boat.
Zhou Chenglei carried the two large bags with one hand and held Jiang Xia's hand with the other as they went downstairs and drove off in the tractor to buy the boat.
This time, they purchased small wooden boats, so they didn't need to go to the city's shipyard.
There was a small boat factory in town that had ready-made small wooden boats, the kind without engines, relying solely on human power to row and move the boat.
Of course, they could also install engines and other equipment.
Zhou Chenglei bought two wooden boats, each about three meters long and less than a meter wide. He wanted boats with engines, so they were a bit more expensive, costing nearly four thousand yuan.
One boat would be kept at Big Fish Island for feeding fish, and the other would be reserved for Pearl Island's pearl farming, ensuring they had two boats for convenience.
It would take four days before they could bring the boats back.
They decided to return home first.
The next day, Boss Yu arrived with his team, and Zhou Chenglei resumed his early departures and late returns to the sea to install the net cages.
A day later, Zhou Chenglei's military buddy also arrived. At noon, he treated his friend to a meal at a restaurant in town and then took him out to sea to learn about net cage installation. In the evening, he accompanied his friend for dinner in the city and settled him in before returning home.
Early on the fourth day, Zhou Chenglei and his father rode their motorcycles to the small boat factory to bring the boats back.
When the two boats arrived at the village wharf, there were still quite a few people around.
Seeing that Zhou Chenglei had bought two new boats, the villagers gathered around.
Although the boats were small, they were the largest ones on the wharf, and they had no engines.
"Yongfu, Ah Lei bought boats again? Why such small boats this time?"
"Do the two boats together cost four thousand yuan? Why didn't you order a larger boat? These boats can't catch many fish."
Zhou's father laughed and said, "These two boats are mainly for feeding fish, not for fishing. Ah Lei is using net cages to farm fish, and it's too time-consuming to use fishing boats for feeding. That's why he bought two smaller boats."
Many villagers had mixed feelings upon hearing this.
The boats specifically purchased for fish farming were better than their own, at least having engines, so they didn't need to rely on human power to row.
One villager regretted hearing this: "If I had known you were buying boats for feeding fish, I would have sold you my boat. I was planning to sell my boat and get a bigger one. If you helped me buy it, I'd sell it to you for seven hundred yuan! Why do you need a new boat for feeding fish? Boats have become much more expensive this year; your boat must be worth at least two thousand yuan each, right?"
Zhou's father laughed, "It doesn't cost two thousand. I didn't know you were planning to change boats. We've been asking the shipyard to keep an eye out for a long time, but no one was selling. The net cages will be ready soon, so we couldn't wait and bought new ones."
Although Zhou's father said this, he thought to himself that the man's boat was an old one from the production team that was almost ready to be scrapped. After repairing it for two or three years, he still wanted seven hundred yuan!
He wasn't a fool!
Did he think a new coat of paint made it a new boat?
The man continued, "You're also farming Qingkou, right? Won't two small boats be enough? Do you want mine? Seven hundred yuan is all it takes! Ah Lei can earn that in a day!"
Zhou's father smiled, "No need, I think two is already too much. Ah Lei just doesn't listen to me."
At this moment, Zhou's mother, Jiang Xia, and Tian Caifen arrived, pushing two strings of firecrackers and some offerings.
Li Xiuxian also followed.
"I'll go set off the firecrackers first," Zhou's father said, hurrying ashore to carry the firecrackers onto the boat.
Tian Caifen eagerly examined the two boats: "Ah Lei, how much did these two boats cost? Is it fifteen hundred yuan each?"
"About that," Zhou Chenglei replied.
Li Xiuxian looked at the two brand-new boats purchased for feeding fish, her emotions stirred.
The cost of the boats for feeding fish was already as much as her family's boat.
(End of Chapter)
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