Chapter 25: Buying Furniture

After walking for twenty-five minutes, they finally arrived at Uncle Shen’s home.

Shen Qiuxia looked at the familiar courtyard and called out in a hoarse voice, “Dongxu, are you home?”

Shen Dongxu was busy inside the house. Hearing the voice, he immediately put down his work and came out with a big smile.

“Sis, brother-in-law, Yueyatu, why are you all here? So, this is Yueyue’s fiancé.”

Su Yue smiled and introduced, “Uncle, this is my fiancé, Li Xiangbei.”

Li Xiangbei quickly stepped forward, “Hello, Uncle!”

“Oh, good, good, come inside, let’s have a chat,” Shen Dongxu warmly invited the four inside.

The Shen family lived near the mountains, close to the Hongqi commune, surrounded by green hills, peaceful and quiet.

Just as they reached the door, Shen Dongxu noticed the things everyone was carrying and pretended to be displeased, “Since you’re here, why are you bringing things? Don’t be so formal with family.”
Once inside, Shen Qiuxia looked around and asked with a smile, “Where’s my sister-in-law and the kids?”

Shen Dongxu smiled, “Mu Yang has the day off today, so Xiu’er took the kids back to her parents. They’ll probably come back after dinner.”

Shen Qiuxia nodded and signaled Su Yue to take out the blueprints.

“Dongxu, Yueyue and Xiangbei are getting married on October 1st, so we came to you to buy furniture.”

“Oh wow, that’s so soon! In the blink of an eye, Yueyatu is getting married,” Shen Dongxu said with a full smile, “Yueyatu, congratulations! Tell me what furniture you need, and I’ll deliver it to you directly.”

Su Yue smiled, “Uncle, I only have one table and a few chairs. Everything else is missing.”

While chatting, they arrived at Shen Dongxu’s furniture storage. When the door opened, Li Xiangbei exclaimed, “Uncle, you’re amazing! Wood is so scarce these days, but you have so much furniture here.”

Shen Dongxu sighed lightly, “There wasn’t this much before. Last summer, many families were raided, and the furniture piled up so much the collection station couldn’t hold it all. I felt sorry for the wood, so I dragged several carts from the station. Most of this furniture is made by me dismantling old pieces and remaking them. If you don’t mind, you can take whatever you want.”

Li Xiangbei hurriedly said, “Uncle, with such great craftsmanship, how could we mind?”

Shen Dongxu shook his head helplessly, his expression tinged with a little sadness, “The wood here is top quality, but with the current situation, I dare not do any carving and can only make ordinary styles. But don’t worry, though the designs are simple, the quality is solid.”

As they listened to Shen Dongxu, they began picking out furniture.

“Uncle, we want the big wardrobe, the cabinet, the top chest, and these two five-drawer chests!”

Shen Dongxu laughed heartily, “Alright! I’ll borrow an ox cart from the commune and load whatever you pick. Let’s take it all away.” Saying this, he quickly walked toward the commune near the mountains.

Shen Qiuxia knew her daughter liked baths, so she picked a bathtub, four wooden basins, and a washbasin rack.

Su Dahai chose a side table, two kang tables, and a writing desk.

While choosing, Su Yue’s eyes lit up when she saw a kang bed.

“Xiangbei, we’ll take this kang bed too! We can put it by the window and lie down for a nap in the afternoon sunshine. Just thinking about it makes me happy.”

Li Xiangbei smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Yueyue, let’s replace the table and chairs we use now too.”

Su Yue tilted her head and smiled, “Sure!”

The four had nearly finished picking out the furniture when Shen Dongxu returned with the ox cart.

Su Yue smiled and said, “Uncle, time to settle the bill.”

Shen Dongxu immediately put on a stern face, pretending to be angry, “Settle what bill? I told you, these are made from old wood, not worth much. Just take them and use them.”

Su Yue playfully chided him, “Uncle, don’t try to fool me. You can’t get things from the scrap yard for free. Besides, you put so much effort into making these pieces. I’m not taking them without paying.”

With that, she pulled out the 260 yuan that Li Xiangbei had given her earlier and handed it to Shen Qiuxia.

Handling money like this was something she was really good at.

Shen Qiuxia took the money and immediately tried to give it to Shen Dongxu.

Shen Dongxu tried to refuse, saying, “No, no. My niece is getting married, as her uncle it’s nothing to spend a little effort.”

Seeing her brother still trying to dodge, Shen Qiuxia directly shoved the money into Shen Dongxu’s pants pocket.

“Hey, sis, don’t pull my pants! You’re gonna pull them off!”

Shen Qiuxia ignored him, pulling harder and saying, “Don’t try to dodge me. If I really pull your pants off, don’t cry, okay?”

As soon as she said that, Shen Qiuxia suddenly burst out laughing. Her laughter grew louder and she laughed until she was practically bent over.

Su Dahai remembered when he and Qiuxia got married, he gave six-year-old Shen Dongxu a few malt candies. Dongxu was reluctant to eat them, licked twice, then put them back in his pocket. The village kids swarmed to snatch them, and in the chaos, Dongxu’s pants were pulled off, and he cried all day.

Thinking of this, Su Dahai also couldn’t help but laugh.

The couple laughed harder and harder, finally unable to stand straight, supporting each other and almost crying with laughter.

Su Yue and Li Xiangbei stood aside, looking at each other with puzzled faces.
Su Yue couldn’t help but ask, “Dad, Mom, what are you two laughing about?”

Seeing this, Shen Dongxu quickly waved his hands, a faint blush on his face, “Nothing, nothing.”

Then he hurriedly said to Shen Qiuxia and Su Dahai, “Sis, brother-in-law, I’ll take the money, okay? Stop making fun of me.”

But as soon as he said that Shen Qiuxia and Su Dahai laughed even more uncontrollably. Their laughter echoed through the warehouse, making Su Yue and Li Xiangbei even more confused.

After everyone finally calmed down and looked at the furniture piled up around them, they started worrying.

There was just too much stuff; moving it all at once was obviously impractical. After some discussion, they decided to move one batch today as a trial run to get familiar with the route. The rest would be delivered slowly by Su Dahai and Shen Dongxu over time anyway, since the wedding was still several months away.

They loaded the big wardrobe and some small miscellaneous items onto the ox cart.

Shen Dongxu and Su Dahai tied the furniture firmly with ropes to ensure nothing would shake loose during transport.

Li Xiangbei smiled and said to Shen Qiuxia, “Mom, the cart is full. You and Yueyue should take the bus.”

Shen Qiuxia politely declined, “You guys go ahead, I’ll stay.”

Su Yue tugged at Shen Qiuxia and coaxed, “Mom, you should go. When we come back, we’ll take the cart together.”

Shen Qiuxia, being easygoing, agreed.
Mother and daughter linked arms, chatting and laughing as they walked to the commune’s bus stop. It took only half an hour to get to the county by bus. After getting off, they headed toward the steel factory.