◎ First Update ◎ 

Ten days before the beginning of winter, the harvesting of ‘winter stored cabbage’ begins in full swing. 

The weather had changed. Liang Baozhen exhaled a breath of white air when she got up. It was estimated that the temperature outside was almost zero degrees, so the thick cotton-padded jacket at home came in handy. 

Putting on a floral cotton jacket, she felt a lot warmer. 

“Sister-in-law, are you dressed warmly enough?” Xu Shengya reached her hand a few inches into her sister-in-law’s sleeves and touched a sweater inside her cotton-padded jacket. She nodded happily, “It’s warm.” 

Not only her sister-in-law, she also checked her brother’s, and felt relieved when she knew that everyone was dressed warmly. 

At three in the morning, Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie were getting ready to head out and join the line at the vegetable store. With winter drawing near, they had to act quickly to buy some cabbage before it froze. They needed to stock up now to prepare for the coming cold. 

They needed to buy several hundred pounds of cabbage all at once. Xu Shengjie had already prepared a cart to make multiple trips back and forth to transport it all home. 

Zhou Yun was elderly, and neither of them wanted to disturb their grandmother in the middle of the night. Xu Shengjie had insisted that Liang Baozhen didn’t need to go out so early; buying winter cabbage could take hours, and she could have gone later. However, Liang Baozhen was eager to experience it firsthand and had boasted the night before that she would definitely go. 

As a result, Liang Baozhen almost didn’t manage to get up in the middle of the night but forced herself out of bed because of the promises she made the night before. 

Xu Shengya had also gotten up by herself in the middle of the night. She wanted to follow them in her slippers, but her brother firmly refused. “Go back to sleep. It’s so cold. You’ll get sick.” 

Liang Baozhen agreed with Xu Shengjie. Xu Shengya was so young and sick, so her resistance was even weaker. How could she withstand the cold in the early morning? “Go back to bed quickly. Get some sleep. Your brother and I will be back soon.” 

“Okay, then I’ll go back to sleep.” Xu Shengya handed her brother a military water bottle she had filled with hot water to warm their stomach. 

At this moment, Xu Shengwei was still sleeping soundly in bed, with no signs of waking up. 

Every household in the courtyard went out, and some families even shared a cart. They also agreed to help each other carry the cabbage back. Liang Baozhen wore a cashmere hat on her head, which was very warm. The wind howled outside, and wearing the hat seemed to block out most of the cold. 

“Baozhen, you’re really willing to splurge!” Aunt Luo had just packed up and was ready to leave. When she looked around, she saw the thirty-yuan cashmere hat on Liang Baozhen’s head and felt a little envy. But envy aside, she couldn’t bring herself to spend that much! 

She didn’t expect that the daughter-in-law from the countryside was more extravagant than the women from the city. 

The wind was so strong that Liang Baozhen didn’t catch what Aunt Luo said. She just smiled back. She didn’t know how much the hat cost, but if she did, she would have told Xu Shengjie he was being too wasteful! 

But wasteful or not, freezing without it would be even worse. 

“Sister Caili, are you guys going out?” 

“Baozhen, we’re leaving first. Hurry up and catch up!” 

“Okay.” 

Liang Baozhen hurried to the west wing, where Liu Nianhua was getting ready to go out. It was her first time buying cabbage alone. The cold weather bit her face, and seeing other couples heading out together, she suddenly felt a bit lonely. 

“Sister Hua, come on, let’s go together.” Liang Baozhen had previously agreed with Xu Shengjie to help move Liu Nianhua’s cabbage as well. 

Liang Baozhen rushed out from the darkness. Liu Nianhua stamped her feet and walked over with a smile, “Let’s go!” 

“Mother! Wait for me!” 

She heard a noise behind her, and her son, Zhou Long, rushed out of the house, tugging at his clothes with one sleeve still hanging loose. “Mother, I’ll go with you!”  

*** 

These days, thousands of vegetable markets in the city are extremely busy, and every household is going out to line up for cabbage to store for the winter. 

It wasn’t too cold yet, and the sun still shone occasionally, so they had to hurry to buy cabbages and dry them in the sun since they would need to rely on them for the next few months. 

Liang Baozhen wore a big cotton-padded jacket and a cashmere hat. It was very cold in the early hours of the morning, and one could easily catch a cold. Even Xu Shengjie, who was resistant to the cold, wore something thicker. 

“How many pounds can we buy?” Xu Shengjie stood with his back to the wind, shielding Liang Baozhen from the cold. Liang Baozhen smiled and nudged him lightly. 

“First grade, ninety pounds; second grade, a hundred and forty; and third grade, fifty.” 

At the vegetable market, cabbage was divided into three grades. First grade was the best—large and fresh. Second grade was decent, and third grade was a bit wilted. 

Everyone wanted to buy the best grade of cabbage, but the store had a rule that they had to buy a mix.

Liu Nianhua recalled that at this time last year, she came here with Zhou Guoping. Together they bought more than 200 pounds of cabbage. This time, only Xiaolong was left by her side. 

“Mother, why are you so cold!” Zhou Long was bundled tightly by Liu Nianhua, and he also wore a woolen hat, which was knitted by Liu Nianhua herself, and it was quite warm. “Let me rub it for you.” 

“Look at Xiaolong, he’s so sensible.” Zhang Rong, who was standing behind them, praised Zhou Long, which made his face turn red. He rubbed his two little hands with his mother and gradually felt warm. 

“Alright, it’s warm now.” Liu Nianhua patted her son’s little head with a look of satisfaction. “Quick, put on your gloves and tuck them in your pockets, don’t get frostbite.” 

“Okay!” Zhou Long’s face still looked red, his neck was locked in his cotton jacket, and his face was like a red apple. 

Each family bought several hundred pounds of cabbage, which were loaded into bundles on the cart. Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie bought 300 pounds, which were piled as high as a small mountain. Xu Shengjie took a rope and wrapped it around the bundles several times to secure it and finally tied a knot on the side of the cart. 

“You guys watch over the cabbages. I’ll be back in a bit.” 

“Okay, slow down!” Liang Baozhen was breathing out white air as she watched the man’s figure gradually disappear into the dark. 

“Sister Hua, you’re going to work tomorrow, right?” 

“Yes, I’m actually a little nervous.” Liu Nianhua discussed with the bus team to go later because of her divorce, and she also had to wait for the shift to be arranged. From now on, she will be a regular ticket seller on the No. 5 bus. 

However, Liu Nianhua had never worked before. Since her father gave his job to Zhou Guoping, Liu Nianhua had stayed at home doing housework. After having two children, she hadn’t gone out that much. 

Every day she would only go from the courtyard to the grain and vegetable market and rarely went to other places. 

“Don’t be afraid! You’re capable; you’ll do well as a ticket seller too.” Liang Baozhen looked at the cabbages scattered all over the ground and thought of her home. She wondered if the cellar was already full of vegetables. “When you get your monthly salary, you’ll be even more motivated!” 

Salary? Liu Nianhua only received ten yuan from Zhou Guoping every month as living expenses before, and she had never earned a salary herself. 

Thinking about it, she was actually a bit excited. 

The neighbors in the courtyard helped each other and transported cartloads of cabbage back home. By the time the last cartload of cabbage from Zhang Rong’s home was unloaded, it was already dawn. 

Zhou Yun was stuffing their own cabbages into various nooks, waiting for them to dry so they could be slowly eaten. She also went to help the neighboring Fang family arrange their cabbages. 

“Baozhen, go back to the room and drink some hot water to warm your body.” Zhou Yun got up early and boiled some water. She waited for his grandson and his granddaughter-in-law to come back so that she could heat up the water. 

Seeing Liu Nianhua coming back, Zhou Yun also poured a bowl of water for her and Xiaolong. “Nianhua, Xiaolong, take a breath and drink some water.” 

It’s not easy for Liu Nianhua to support the family alone now. 

“Why don’t you thank Grandma Zhou?” Liu Nianhua looked at her son. 

Zhou Long raised his head and thanked her obediently, “Thank you, Grandma Zhou. Is Xiaowei home?” 

“He went to look for Binzi. Xiaohu got up this morning and was looking for his mother everywhere. I fed him a steamed bun and asked Xiaowei to take him out to play. You can just drink some water and go find him.” 

In the large courtyard that day, the yard was filled with cabbages. From the window to the yard, from the doorsteps to the stove edge, cabbages were drying everywhere. After one pile was dried, it was replaced by the next one. The days passed by as the cabbages dried in the sun. 

*** 

Liang Baozhen was writing furiously in the room, while Xu Shengjie was carrying a large thing in his arms. When he returned home, he deliberately stood at the door and coughed lightly. 

“What’s the matter?” Looking back, Liang Baozhen found that his clothes were bulging. “What’s that good thing?” 

“You know it’s a good thing?” 

“Can you bring back something bad?” 

Well… 

Xu Shengjie opened his clothes and revealed the thing—it was a radio! 

“A radio!” Liang Baozhen immediately put down her pen, stood up, and ran to Xu Shengjie’s side. “Did you buy it? Where did you get the ticket? Did you go to the black market again?” 

The factory just paid salaries today, and Liang Baozhen thought Xu Shengjie went out to spend a lot of money. 

Xu Shengjie was bombarded with questions from his wife, and he didn’t know which to answer first, but seeing her eyes squinting with joy made it clear that she liked it. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t go to the black market.” 

Xu Shengjie was sitting on the edge of the bed, but before he could even warm up, he was pulled up. 

Liang Baozhen frowned and looked at him. “Get up quickly! You just came back from outside; is there any dust on your pants? This is a new quilt; you can’t sit on it.” 

After she said this, she pushed Xu Shengjie to the stool, then pulled the quilt over and patted the slightly sunken spot where the man had sat.

“Okay, I know I made a mistake.” Xu Shengjie sat on the stool and looked at the paper and pen his wife had placed on the table, which had written questions for Chen Yong, the director of the State Cotton Factory. 

“Are you going to interview Chen Yong?” 

“Yes.” Liang Baozhen fiddled with the radio, trying to see what it could pick up, and replied without even raising her head, “I should have gone a long time ago, but Chen Yong was on a business trip last time, so it was delayed until now.” 

She raised her head and looked at Xu Shengjie. “Why isn’t it making any sound? Is it broken? Where did you buy it? If it’s not working, you should take it back and exchange it.” 

“It’s not broken, let me check.” Xu Shengjie took the radio, tapped it, and finally adjusted the channel by holding the antenna. “I didn’t buy it. I assembled it myself.” 

“You can assemble radios too?” Liang Baozhen listened to the broadcast coming from inside and was immediately attracted by the clear and crisp voice. 

She mentioned a while ago that she wanted to watch how the TV hosts broadcast the news, but she didn’t have a TV at home. Not only were TVs expensive, but TV tickets were also hard to come by, even on the black market. 

Unexpectedly, Xu Shengjie came back with a radio not long after. 

“You can listen to it from now on. It’s not much different from a TV; it’s just about hearing the sound.” 

“You’re really impressive, you can even do this.” 

“I used to love tinkering with things. It took me a long time to find all the materials; otherwise, I could have finished it earlier. Xiaowei and Xiaoya also keep asking for a radio.” 

At dinnertime, the Xu family home is lively. You can hear the cheerful sound of the radio, which seems to make the meal more delicious. 

“Xiaowei, Xiaoya, here’s your pocket money, five cents each. Take it.” 

Liang Baozhen received a salary of forty yuan this month, plus Xu Shengjie’s salary and subsidies, a total of ninety yuan. She set aside sixty yuan to save, and the rest was for the family’s living expenses and pocket money. 

There are some for the two little ones too. Liang Baozhen thought it was better not to spoil the kids too much, but it was nice to be able to buy them something they liked. 

“Thank you, sister-in-law!” Xu Shengwei took it happily, looked at the money over and over again, and finally put it in his pocket. 

“Sister-in-law, I, I don’t want it.” Xu Shengya shook her head and didn’t want to take it. 

“Xiaowei has taken his share; how can you not have yours? Take it quickly.” Liang Baozhen stuffed the money into Xiaoya’s hand. 

The next day, after preparing the questions, Liang Baozhen reviewed the content with Huang Cuie before going to the factory director’s office together. 

After reviewing the content, she remembered that the Chen Yong she saw in the book was a dignified father who had high expectations for his two sons and was kind to his daughter-in-law. However, he didn’t care when his son mistreated his daughter-in-law and only offered a superficial warning. 

Don’t affect his reputation.